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I am told that seeing a Caracal is a rarity. This one stood in the trail of fresh Kudu tracks we were following about ninety minutes out of camp. I thought about a hundred yards, put the crosshairs on the chest and squeezed the trigger. Boom! Six inches low. Left barrel, same sight picture, Boom! Six inches low again. PH ranges the cat, who is still standing there looking at the dirt splashes. Two hundred yards, not one hundred. Place the crosshairs on the top of his head, Boom! Dead cat. Hit him right at the bottom of the rib cage, cat facing to the left.

Reon tells me this is only the second time he has ever seen one. A good start on the hunt.

Rich

Nice job. Sounds like he had a death wish!

Lots of gue coming out of him. What did ya whack him with?

I had no idea Walter had a twin brother....

I saw my first one run across the road last September. Nice cat, though it looks like your 9.3 did a number on it. Can you get it imported/mounted?

very cool!

Very luck my friend, congrats on what appears to be an excellent trip.

the cool thing about game ranches, cats are vermin and calf/newborn antelope killers. Our landowner host told me: "two things, one not to do, one to do.".
Do not shoot the Sussex cattle.
Do shoot every cat you see. My cost on the Caracal is the $10 export permit. We saw leopard tracks one morning. It would have cost me $500 for that export permit.

I will have a full mount, draped across a log done on this one.

Rich

Awesome!
Smoke a cigarette after that one

great kitty!

bite your tongue Boomie!!

How about a nice Cuban Cohiba SIGLO II around the fire with a tall Tanqueray & Tonic instead...?

Rich

I likey that cat...Cool

Amazing animals. Thanks for sharing - Looks like a youngster on his first season away from mum, which is probably why he stood around.

I saw a movie clip of one jumping 10 feet in the air to catch a Vervet monkey! I still get goose bumps thinking of it.

Fantastic animal! Congrats!

quote:

Originally posted by Idaho Sharpshooter:
bite your tongue Boomie!!

How about a nice Cuban Cohiba SIGLO II around the fire with a tall Tanqueray & Tonic instead...?

Rich

We just wont tell the little woman you got some %$#@ in Africa

congrats Rich! is that the Chapius in the pic? So how was your trip? I've been waiting for you to get back so I can read all about it! Take care!

Rich,

I've never seen a live caracal. You are very lucky. Congrats on an exceptionally rare trophy.

Mark

The odds against anyone having this sort of luck are huge. I just am beginning to realize that from what people here have posted.

Thank you Lord...

Rich

What's an ISS?

Once in SA I was about to shoot a big caracal, but the wise and sage PH stopped me. Later that day I asked why?

He had never seen one before and didn't know what it was!! Pretty rare and a good snag Rich.

BTW, I have always been under the mistaken impression that you were a lot better looking.

Will,

I am a lot better looking, you just need to have your prescription updated...

Rich
ISS

quote:

BTW, I have always been under the mistaken impression that you were a lot better looking.

Rich is a great cross between Santa and a retired hells angel.

A lot of interesting info here...

Was intrigued to learn of them being tamed as house cats and hunting cats like a hunting dog!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caracal

The caracal is distributed over Africa and the Middle East. Its chief habitat is dry steppes and semideserts, but it also inhabits woodlands, savannah, and scrub forest[7]. It dwells either alone or in pairs. The caracal may survive without drinking for a long period — the water demand is satisfied with the body fluids of its prey.

It hunts at night (but in colder seasons also in the daytime) for rodents and hares; rarely it attacks animals larger than itself, such as gazelles, small antelopes, or young ostriches. It is a picky eater, and discards the internal organs of the mammals it catches, partially plucks the fur off hyraxes and larger kills, and avoids eating hair by shearing meat neatly from the skin. However, it will eat the feathers of small birds and is tolerant of rotten meat. It is among the smallest felids to attack prey larger than itself.

It is best known for its spectacular skill at hunting birds, able to snatch a bird in flight, sometimes more than one at a time. It can jump and climb exceptionally well, which enables it to catch hyraxes better than probably any other carnivore. Its life expectancy in the wild is 12 years, and 17 years in captivity. Since it is also surprisingly easy to tame, it has been used as a hunting cat in Iran and India[3].

The caracal was reasonably well known in India until about 40 years ago. Today it is extremely rare and found only in small parts of western India - about a tenth of its original range in the sub-continent.

Like the cheetah, it was trained to hunt small gazelle, hares and birds. There are records of champion cats taking 9 partridge or sand-grouse from a single covey!

quote:

I thought about a hundred yards, put the crosshairs on the chest and squeezed the trigger. Boom! Six inches low. Left barrel, same sight picture, Boom! Six inches low again.

So much for 'sharpshooter'

Wonderful trophy, congrats!

I'm told that aside from hunting a good spot in the dark or running them with hounds, you can't expect to get one.

quote:

Originally posted by RyanB:
I'm told that aside from hunting a good spot in the dark or running them with hounds, you can't expect to get one.

pretty much. . . 10 years of guiding and Ive only ever seen 3-4 in the day. . . shot 2 the other guys didnt want one

so well done on an opportunity of a life time
Dave

quote:

Originally posted by Will:
What's an ISS?

Once in SA I was about to shoot a big caracal, but the wise and sage PH stopped me. Later that day I asked why?

He had never seen one before and didn't know what it was!! Pretty rare and a good snag Rich.

BTW, I have always been under the mistaken impression that you were a lot better looking.

Will,
ISS looks like a cross between Mark Young and Walter best I can tell. I doubt the DNA would help much as whatever it would match would be frightening.

quote:

We saw leopard tracks one morning. It would have cost me $500 for that export permit.

Congrats on the caracal. I've looked for one every time over and have never had the opportunity.
I'd be careful about thumping a leopard in RSA unless the permits have already been obtained. As I understand it, the game department is pretty stingy with them.

Sounds like a great stroke of luck!

A friend of mine just returned from SA and was successful in taking a good one with hounds. PH had cautioned to be ready to shoot quick and accurate as they generally don't stick around even with a pack of hound below.

Being in love with double guns I'm curious as to why you switched rifles for the photo?

BR;

Mike O

he didn't!

the rifle in the picture is my Chapuis 9,3x74R. I thought the Searcy .470 NE was a bit overkill.
The big rifle in some of the pictures was my .470.
I used it to anchor the Gemsbuck, since the shot in all that jess was going to be measured in feet not yards. Gemsbuck are awfully hard to kill.

Rich

quote:

Originally posted by DLS:

quote:

I thought about a hundred yards, put the crosshairs on the chest and squeezed the trigger. Boom! Six inches low. Left barrel, same sight picture, Boom! Six inches low again.

So much for 'sharpshooter'

About time someone took a swing at that meatball...

Neat looking critter. Congrats!

Hi Rich,

It seems you had an enjoyable trip and that is great!
Fine shooting! May you have many, many more.

Rich:

Congrats on all four species. The kudu is fantastic, as are all of your animals. Welcome home.

Best,

Fantastic, Rich

OOOPS!!!!

I need to quite looking at this forum after a long day and a heavy "adult beverage" I could have sworn that was a heavy single barrel!

Still a great story and a great stroke of luck!

BR

Mike O