All,

Looking for all thoughts/comments/opinions on this:

A) Booking your first African hunt for Leopard/plainsgame (14 day - Vaughan Fulton in Namibia). Is this too much, should a rookie just book a plainsgame safari?

B) Would the smart thing be to fly to Frankfurt/Windhoek to avoid RSA and new firearms regs?

Thanks,

1st Timer,

Your main consideration for the hunt you propose is are you willing to dedicate the safari to the leopard? As you may have read in the recent report from the gentleman that hunted leopard with Vaughan most of each day was taken up with checking and replacing baits. What you might find is that you go home from your first safari with no cat and only a few bait animals which usually are not trophy quality.

I personally have been very lucky with leopards but others try for them even in the best of areas multiple times without even seeing one.

If you do book a plains game/leopard combo try to stack the cards in your favor by booking early in the season and on the dark of the moon. Early in the season it is harder for the leopards to hunt since the antelope have not dropped their young yet. Later on there are babies all over and your baits are less attractive because of the abundance of natural food. Also earlier in the season it is cooler and your baits will last much longer. When there is no moon the cats have a more difficult time hunting because obviously they can't see as well as when the moon is full. Moon phases are available by doing a search in the internet.

When that cat all of a sudden appears at the last possible shooting light and you make a good shot the feeling is like no other but I personally don't think I would make a first safari about a leopard. Long hours in the blind and long hours riding around checking baits can really wear on a guy and make you wonder why you are doing it.

Regards,

Mark

Can't comment about leopard hunting - seems kinda touch and go in that area - but I can say you'll have a grand time hunting plains game with Vaughan. My father and I went in June of this year for our first safari and absolutely loved it. Search back in the Hunt Reports forum and you'll several reports on Vaughan's operation.