I just did a search, going back a year and I know this topic has been discussed but why not Namibia for leopard? Also, on a 14 day leopard hunt how many other animals can you expect to take?

Mark- Last year SBT and I went on a 10 day hunt in Namibia. SBT shot 8 plainsgame animals and I shot 6. SBT also tried for leopard and although we would see good tom tracks almost daily, the bait was never hit. There's no reason that I know of not to hunt leopard in Namibia.

John

Holly and I both shot leopards and lots of Plains Game in Namibia last year. We loved Namibia and look forward to going back again.

Here are links to our photos and information about the PH we shot the leopards with:

http://www.scilowcountry.org/mark_&_holly_peterson_in_namibia.htm

http://www.scilowcountry.org/namibia_plains_game_safari.htm

Thanks Mark. I had looked at your's and Hollys photos when I did the search. Looks like you had a great time.

I would seriously consider Wildfarm Felseneck near Okahandja if I was going to try to whack a leopard. Ph is named Helgaard van der Vyver. In the last 2 1/2 years they have killed 8 or 10 leopards without baits .. My partner and I each got one on our 14 day hunt in 2002. Last year I spent 6 weeks up near Kamanjab. That outfitter is named Cristie de Sousa and there are always three or four leopards leaving tracks . They killed a real buster after we left. I'm sort of caught up on them .. but if you need any more info just sent me an e mail. scruffy7@telus.net
Richard

I believe you can also hunt with dogs in Namibia. It would probably be more exciting than sitting in a blind all night too.

It is my understanding that Leopard hunting in Namibia is more "iffy" than in other parts of Africa. They don't have to come to bait because they are the top predator. However baiting is still used and they do come to bait sometimes. I hunted at Felseneck last year (2004) we hunted hard over bait every single day, and later hunted with dogs. No luck. I can't blame Helgaard though, as he did every thing he could. We even hunted at a different farm where they had a recent calf kill, without success. So, hunting Leopard in Namibia is certainly cheaper than elsewhere, but I think that the success rate may be less. However, some on this forum have been successful at Felseneck. Hunting Leopard is certainly time consuming.
Peter.

As 30ot6 said, I hunted leopard in Namibia last year without success. I am told they are harder to hunt there as they are ranch leopards and have persecuted for over 100 years.

We went at the end of May, first of June. Dark of the moon. But, there were baby gemsbok and warthog piglets everywhere. No reason to come to bait.

If leopard was my primary animal, I would not chose Namibia. However, if I was going for plains game I would definetly tell the PH I wanted leopard and would look at it as a bonus. My experience was that there was no additonal charge, only pay the trophy fee upon success and the trophy fee was reasonable.

I've never hunted leopard in Namibia, but have hunted there off and on since '79. Thanks to the value placed on them by hunters leopards are becoming much more common, but they're clever because, as one guy wrote, they've been persecuted for a century. That's true, but there are big leopards and some PH's seem to be doing pretty well getting them. Anywhere you hunt leopard you need to find a PH who is good at hunting them. Given that, Namibia is a viable option today (it wasn't 25 years ago). Give it plenty of time, at least 14 days, and understand that even then it's not a 100% deal. But then, there aren't many places (if any) where it is . . .

I have heard of some PHs in Namibian ranches using sheep/goats as bait.
Does anyone know if this is more effective?
--I know live bait was v popular 'in the day' but seems to have gone out of fashion...is this due to legislation, or convenience?
It would feel a bit like waiting for the tiger from a high machan!

In my opinion the way to hunt leopards in Namibia, at least in Vaughan's concession near Etosha is with dogs. You could parachute into his concession and in 100 yards find leopard tracks. Vaughan went on 2 problem leopard hunts with a man that runs a pack and confirms the man has good dogs and knows what he is doing.

Mike

So are the odds of getting a leopard that much better in Zimbabwe? Is hunting leopard in Zim. worth the extra $2k to $4k?

You guy's are depressing me!! I will be hunting this June out of the Kamanjab area for 16 days with Christie DeSousa. He feels that my chances are very good for a chance at one. They use donkey, warthog etc for bait. He will pre-bait for me. What do you fellas think of this set up, this is my first trip to Africa.

Wolfgar, I wish you the best of luck! Does DeSousa have a web page? Would you like to share more details about your hunt?

Wolfgar,

Hell of a way to start hunting in Africa! I started with "just a plainsgame Hunt"
16 days should be plenty of time.

The pre baiting is a good idea, I didn't have my PH pre bait, I took 2 clients with me, we all had our own PH and we all hunted Leopard. Did a 14 day hunt, day 9, or I should say night 9, Jack got his Leopard. Night 11 Frank got his Leopard. Night 12 I got mine. None of us had pre baits, I think if we did there would have been earlier action. Believe me I'm not complaining, we all saw Leopards before we got ours! I had a incredable safari!

Good luck to you! and most of all have a safe and fun trip!! I want to see photo's of your leopard when you get back!

Widowmaker416,

Maybe I missed something, but did you and your clients take 3 leopards in Namibia? Either way I'd sure like some more datails.

Here's a photo of our 3 Leopards and the PH's

(left to right)
PH Brent Leesmay - Me * Frank - PH Mark Valaro * PH George Hallamore - Jack

Pictured also is a 53 inch Kudu - a 33+ Waterbuck - 60 inch Kudu

mark65X55,

These leopards were taken in Zimbabwe. What else would you like to know, give me a yell.........

Wolfgar- Relax, you'll get your leopard!! You are hunting in a good area and I have heard good things about your PH regarding his leopard hunting abilities.

Boghossian- From what little I have seen, they use sheep and goats to catch cheetahs.

John

Namibia should certainly be a viable leopard country, but I don't think the leopards average as big as Zimbabwe or Tanzania. That's my impression anyway.

As a sidenote, I don't really care for the way leopards are hunted in Zimbabwe, with the lights, microphones, and other related techno-stuff that is often employed. I hunted (unsuccessfully) for leopard in this manner with John Sharp in Zimbabwe, and I really didn't care for it. Of course, if I would have scored I'd still be dancing a jig, I'm sure!

My Tanzania leopard experience remains one of the top high-points of my hunting career. No lights, no ham-radio junk -- nothing more than a blind, a bait that the cat came to, and just enough light in the morning to shoot by......

AD

Allen day,

Not all of Zim is "night Hunting" Any Naional Parks is, hunting till dark.(half an hour sunset) I'm hunting this August in a National Park, "Bait-Blind." The last leopard hunt was with "Bait-Blind-Microphone-lantern." I'll post a pro vs. con on both when I get back...(that would be a good topic, by the way!!

Allen Day "just enought light in the morning to shoot by"? Did you stay in the blind all night, or just revisit in the am?
peter.

Wolfgar .. Cristie is a very good PH and a very nice guy .. You'll like him very much. There are leopards throughout the property .. and when I was there in July/August there were often tracks on the dusty roads .. including one gigantic male that had my partner drooling ..I really don't like to see 60 year old men drooling up close and personal.. Ha! Ha! . I hope that you whack him (the old male leopard) .. Lots of big kudu and gemsbok, also... I'll be back in early July and over a glass of Scotch I hope that Cristie will show me some digital pictures of your cat !!!

Peter, we stayed all night in the blind.

AD

Thanks for the reply's fellas. Scruffy, Christie does seem like a great guy. How do you think my chances are for the 16 days?? Thank you all for wishing me luck, we'll see!!
What do you mean when you talk about using a microphone in Zim?? Are we talking about a predator call here?

Wolfgar,

About the microphone in Zim, the Ph places a microphone on the bait, on private land you can sit and shoot all night, usually you sit from 3 in the afternon till 11 or 12 at night, depending on the cat, (friend of mine, Frank, shot his cat a 3:30 in the am, the cat came in around 10:00pm, left, and they desided to wait him out, he got a 7 foot plus cat!) anyway, it's pitch black out, your sitting trying to be motionless, (just scratching your nose sounds like a earthquake) you have a speaker in the blind, a cat starts to feed on the bait, you can hear him chewing, what a alsome sound! Let Mr. Spots get comfortable and eat for awhile, you get to listen to him, bones crunching, the whole bit. the most incredable sound I ever heard, - - - - - - - - no, maybe not, the Lion last year, I think he was a bit more intense breaking the leg bones of the buffalo! Back to the cat, you then get ready, the PH turns on the red light, deside if he's a shooter and the rest should be a great, great memory!
That's what the microphone is all about, alot of times you are far enouph from the bait that you can't hear the cat when it jumps into the tree, you sure can't see it.
I may have gotten a little carried away explaining it. You'll have the same problem, trying to shut up about your Leopard that is!!

allen Day,

You sound a bit on the bitter side about the hunt in Zim, did we have a bad time with John Sharp? or was it a bad hunt because you didn't get a cat?

Also what is all the "Techno" stuff your talking about? you already said the Mic and the speaker, what else?