My very first post on AR was a hunt report, at the urging of my PH, for a leopard / tuskless adventure with Charlton McCallum Safaris back in 2011. A very memorable hunt in Makuti where my youngest son accompanied me. Rich Tabor was the PH with Blake Welhelmi as appy. That we finally scored is a testament to Rich's incredible drive as a professional and his "never give up" attitude.

At noon on day 12 of a scheduled 14 day hunt, we had 0 cats feeding with 11 of 12 baits checked. I had all but resigned myself that success was not in the cards this time. That final remaining bait site, checked around 1:00pm on day 12 had been totally smashed. Rich developed a plan and we finally outsmarted the old boy at first light on day 13 after listening to him munch on a buffalo hind quarter for a couple of hours before shooting light at a distance of 35 yards. Longest period of time I can remember while waiting for daylight!!

I prioritize my taxidermy work as funds allow as I'm more interested in hunting now while I can, with most of my mounts to be completed later. That said, I received my leopard a little while back and am just now getting around to posting a photo. I find photos of cats to be challenging in terms of capturing all of the detail and representing them accurately. That said, here is the final outcome from that hunt. I'm very pleased with the result.

Beautiful!! Who mounted it?

Roy Holdridge of True Life Taxidermy in Granbury, TX did the mount. He does outstanding work. If not mistaken, he was one of the sponsors on the Boddington on Leopard DVD that Safari Clasics produced.

That's a very impressive mount, Todd. It's something that will bring fond memories every time you look at it.

Beautiful!!! A great memory for sure!

Best regards, D. Nelson

Nice! Very nice. That's one animal still on my list.

Nice Todd.

Super taxidermy work with a very natural look.

Looks good Todd.


Mike

Very nice mount Todd - the trophy and the memories are priceless!

Pretty cool

Pretty Kitty brother!

Very Nice! Congrats you will enjoy that for all the years to come.

Todd:
Very nice. I'm impress with good cat mounts. The body portion is generally easy to do and realistic on most, if not all, cat mounts. There met be something difficult about the face of a cat mount as so many have idiotic expressions--so many so I never had a cat mount done. Yours captures the true look of a leopard. Congratulations on both the hunt and the mount.
Cal

Beautifull sir ,a lifetime trophy .

I agree with Cal; cats are tough, especially lions. My taxidermist (Southwest Wildlife) does a superb job on cats.

Well done!

Congratulations Todd! That is a beautiful cat!

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Fantastic leopard and a beautiful mount.

We are going to be in MAKUTI in May for a 16 day buffalo, leopard, elephant hunt plus the odd plains game.

We shall be hunting with Tanya Blake and Dean Kendal. Would anyone mind sharing their thoughts on MAKUTI.

Makuti is hilly, bordering on mountainous. Best to be in really good shape to hunt that area. It's an absolutely beautiful place however.

I hope you have a good hunt there.

Indeed a beautiful cat...

Very nice
Someday I want to shoot one of those

Beautiful!!!