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The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Hunting African Big Game Hunting Buff or Leapord?Go | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
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I asked a similar question a long time ago, but wanted to revise it slightly. For a first timer on safari buff + pg, or leapord + pg? Also where would you go and why? Note: Not on a Tanzania budget. I guess a secondary goal would be a big kudu but the DG is far more important. I didn't go up there to die, I went up there to live. | ||
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T Man I would strongly suggest doing a buff plains game for your first African hunt. As amazing as it is to see your leopard "in the tree" it is ALOT of driving checking baits dragging- repeat repeat repeat and repeat again! Your first hunt should be action packed which is what a buff will give you. Hunting buff you will not be restricted to the same route daily as you are on a leopard hunt but will be free to go explore as as a whole buff are wide spread through the better concessions. Good Luck cheers Buzz | |||
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I think almost everyone will agree with Buzz. Lepoard hunting has alot lower success rate than buff hunting. For a first timer the buff hunt will be alot more fun to boot. I have walked in the foot prints of the elephant, listened to lion roar and met the buffalo on his turf. I shall never be the same. | |||
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Buzz has it 100% - too much time dedicated to baits for a typical 1st safari. Unless you are there 21 days, you will miss a lot of real hunting time. Good Hunting, Tim Herald Worldwide Trophy Adventures tim@trophyadventures.com | |||
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Book a Buff/Plainsgame hunt in the Save conservancy or Zambezi Valley, Zimbabwe with either: Charlton McCallum Safaris Roger Whittall Safaris or Zambezi Hunters Mike With kind regards Mike Mike Taylor Sporting Hunting, Fishing & Photographic Safaris Worldwide +44 7930 524 097 mtaylorsporting@gmail.com Instagram - miketaylorsporting | |||
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If you are on a Budget then I suggest Mozambique. There are plenty of great operators there. Take some of the money you save on taxidermy and get David Hulme down there with a camera and his laptop and Frederick from Infinito on the video camera. You will get the most safari for your money that way and would have used up your normal taxidermy fees on a gift that you can give to others or enjoy over and over yourself. Once the buff bug has bitten then you go to a country where you can export and forget about everything else. Just get 2 buff on quota and spend 14 days doing nothing but chasing 40" dagga boys. When you get the monster then you ship him home and let him stare down his nose at you for the rest of you life. If you would like some recommendations for operators in Moz then send me a PM. Good luck HQ | |||
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That really struck a cord with me, thanks for posting that. Now to figure out how to pay to do it. | |||
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Bottom line is because of the more days required to hunt leopard a leopard hunt is more lucrative for me and the safari operator but unless a client insists I recommend a buffalo/PG for the first DG safari. As others have basically said a leopard can be just plain work and until your tom is in the salt your focus has to be on checkng and replenishing those baits each day. Your first DG safari should be fun and for me I always suggest the Save Conservancy as I know the excellent level of safari experience offered there. There are also lots of buffalo and vert good buffalo plus there is loads of PG. All this equals a great safari. Leave the leopard for a future safari when it will be easier to focus on that one species. Now if someone does choose a leopard and can afford a little more expensive hunt it is going to be almost impossible to beat a daylight hunt in the Luangwa valley of Zambia. It would fairly common to have 2-3 males feeding at the same time and to kill your leopard very early on in the safari. Mark MARK H. YOUNG MARK'S EXCLUSIVE ADVENTURES 7094 Oakleigh Dr. Las Vegas, NV 89110 Office 702-848-1693 Cell, Whats App, Signal 307-250-1156 PREFERRED E-mail markttc@msn.com Website: myexclusiveadventures.com Skype: markhyhunter Check us out on https://www.facebook.com/pages...ures/627027353990716 | |||
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I'll echo the advice you have been getting to go with Buffalo/PG first.That's my recommendation from the vantage point of having tried the Leopard/PG option first. Got some nice larger PG, shot a lot of bait because of the Feb heat in Namibia, drove many hundreds of miles placing and checking baits, but no Leopard despite that being the priority. I still enjoyed the hunt and wouldn't mind doing that one again, but would understand I enjoy the process and might not get the Leopard. Keep in mind there are no guaranties anywhere else either... Since then, I've gotten a couple of Buffalo and a huge Leopard in Zimbabwe. Like others with great experiences on their hunts, I'd recommend my PH (Ade Langley) and Manzunga Safaries in the Bubye Valley Conservancy without hesitation. I suspect Zimbabwe costs are as reasonable as you are likely to find for a quality hunt. Regards, | |||
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Mark you know it all Nec Timor Nec Temeritas | |||
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mbb, I hardly know it all but the Luangwa is loaded with leopards. Mark MARK H. YOUNG MARK'S EXCLUSIVE ADVENTURES 7094 Oakleigh Dr. Las Vegas, NV 89110 Office 702-848-1693 Cell, Whats App, Signal 307-250-1156 PREFERRED E-mail markttc@msn.com Website: myexclusiveadventures.com Skype: markhyhunter Check us out on https://www.facebook.com/pages...ures/627027353990716 | |||
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I would have to agree with Mark, Hands down the easiest place to kill a leopard. That said What Buzz said. Even in Zambia Hours of hanging baits riding min. of total exictment. NRA LIFE MEMBER DU DIAMOND SPONSOR IN PERPETUITY DALLAS SAFARI CLUB LIFE MEMBER SCI FOUNDATION MEMBER | |||
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I may be out on a limb here but if you plan on hunting Leopard, the longer you wait, the more the chances of a change in policy, CITES permitting or the usual SNAFU. One thing I can assure you: prices won't go down unless there's something to that Mayan calendar. If you hunt areas with a good population of Leopard, use an experienced Leopard PH, or consider private property in Zim; you can hunt at night, giving you ample time to locate and hunt all indigenous plains game. Buffalo are scattered all over Africa and good deals may be had if your willing to hunt short notice or late season. Offers coming from some of our top PH's here on AR in some great areas if you stay on top of things. Compare the cost of a Leopard hunt versus a Buffalo hunt: Leopard costs more due to supply and demand. Not every hunt is successful, that's hunting, but put the odds in your favor and enjoy the experience, and most of all, go while you can. LDK Gray Ghost Hunting Safaris http://grayghostsafaris.com Phone: 615-860-4333 Email: hunts@grayghostsafaris.com NRA Benefactor DSC Professional Member SCI Member RMEF Life Member NWTF Guardian Life Sponsor NAHC Life Member Rowland Ward - SCI Scorer Took the wife the Eastern Cape for her first hunt: http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/6881000262 Hunting in the Stormberg, Winterberg and Hankey Mountains of the Eastern Cape 2018 http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/4801073142 Hunting the Eastern Cape, RSA May 22nd - June 15th 2007 http://forums.accuratereloadin...=810104007#810104007 16 Days in Zimbabwe: Leopard, plains game, fowl and more: http://forums.accuratereloadin...=212108409#212108409 Natal: Rhino, Croc, Nyala, Bushbuck and more http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/6341092311 Recent hunt in the Eastern Cape, August 2010: Pics added http://forums.accuratereloadin...261039941#9261039941 10 days in the Stormberg Mountains http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/7781081322 Back in the Stormberg Mountains with friends: May-June 2017 http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/6001078232 "Peace is that brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading" - Thomas Jefferson Every morning the Zebra wakes up knowing it must outrun the fastest Lion if it wants to stay alive. Every morning the Lion wakes up knowing it must outrun the slowest Zebra or it will starve. It makes no difference if you are a Zebra or a Lion; when the Sun comes up in Africa, you must wake up running...... "If you're being chased by a Lion, you don't have to be faster than the Lion, you just have to be faster than the person next to you." | |||
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Jeff - Ya, its true - killing a leopard in the Luangwa is usually 100%. Same holds true in the Selous for example - but just as the Selous, the cats in the Luangwa are generally "small". Average male, 120 - 135lbs! Of course JMO, but if a Leopard was my real target, and I did not have another specific reason to go the Luangwa (other species, etc) the Luangwa would be one of the LAST places I would go for a dedicated leopard hunt. Especially when you consider the same dedicated leopard hunt can be taken for at least 30% less money in Moz/Zim, also with great success, and some places where the cats on average, are bigger! Now a dedicated leopard hunt in the Kafue of Zambia, totally different story. Some very big cats there my friend! | |||
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Aaron, I would agree with you about the Luangwa if a guy is only looking for a leoaprd and the bait animals it takes to get one. A dedicated leopard hunt can be had less expensvely in Zim for sure. Now if a guy is looking for a daylight leopard hunt, a buffalo (sketchy in the Kafue), hippo/croc (almost a slam dunk in the Luangwa),Cookson's wildebeest (only indigenous to the Luangwa) then we have a different story. Additionally a more expensive hunt in the Luangwa may be less expensive in the long run if your virtually assured of killing one on the first attempt. Mark MARK H. YOUNG MARK'S EXCLUSIVE ADVENTURES 7094 Oakleigh Dr. Las Vegas, NV 89110 Office 702-848-1693 Cell, Whats App, Signal 307-250-1156 PREFERRED E-mail markttc@msn.com Website: myexclusiveadventures.com Skype: markhyhunter Check us out on https://www.facebook.com/pages...ures/627027353990716 | |||
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Absolutely! It is not uncommon to see two or three leopard in broad daylight while hunting other game in the Luangwa Valley. To take leopard you must book at least 14 days, but that is the shortest I'd book for leopard anyplace! There are very good Cape Buffalo in the Valley as well, and lots of plains game that exists almost nowhere else. Very good Puku, and Cocksons wildebeast are pleantiful there. The Valley's upper and lower Lupande are my favorite places to hunt Africa. ......................................................................  ....Mac >>>===(x)===> MacD37, ...and DUGABOY1 DRSS Charter member "If I die today, I've had a life well spent, for I've been to see the Elephant, and smelled the smoke of Africa!"~ME 1982 Hands of Old Elmer Keith  | |||
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Having done both in the last 4 years, I would do the buffalo hunt first (which I did). Its a little shorter of a safari with more action in my opinion. On the leopard hunt, all you seem to do is bounce around in that damn truck going from bait to bait. Plus, that gut bucket will gag a maggot by day 5. Both of my hunts were done in Zim. NRA Life Member DSC Life Member Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves. Ronald Reagan | |||
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Carlos: Baiting either Lion or Leopard can indeed be a pain in the butt. The PH however will(or should have)have distanced the baits sufficiently apart from each other on a route that would also permit you to hunt between one bait and the other. Only if an active bait is extremely close to where you intend firing a shot should caution be exercised. | |||
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This question was asked about 3 months ago with most advising to go for the leopard first. Now, most are advising to go for the Buff first. Go figure. My suggestion would be, as it was previously, to book the Buff hunt first. Lots more action and less time bouncing around the truck checking baits which can be very time consuming. We had 11 baits spread over 96 Kilometers. I just think you'll get more excitement out of the Buff hunt for your first time out. You're also very likely to be successful on the Buff hunt. Leopard can be an iffy proposition. I'm 2 for 2 on spotted cats but that isn't the norm and my last one was taken with Buzz's outfit on the 13th morning of a 14 day hunt with no cats feeding by noon on the 12th day with 1 remaining bait to check! I had a great PH in a great area but we got lucky that late in the game! I enjoyed the hunt greatly but had some perspective at that point. If it had been my first safari, I think I would have had a different opinion of the first 12 days. | |||
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My leopard hunt was in Chete area of Zim. The roads were absolutley terrible. Lots of rocks that the cruiser had to crawl over. We had six baits going at once with the hippo I had taken. It literally took all day to check those baits. We did take a decent tom on the seventh night. Unfortunately, both my leopard and hippo were lost in the recent fire in Zim. NRA Life Member DSC Life Member Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves. Ronald Reagan | |||
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Buzz had it right with the first response. Unless you have a lot of time and the budget for a "best" area (whatever that is), leave the leopard for a second hunt. Even in the very best area, getting a leopard on bait depends on the leopard...there are indeed areas that are near (repeat NEAR) 100%--but on what day? To hunt leopard properly you must concentrate. If you do 21 days in a great area--30 better--then go for it, but on a 10-14 day hunt you are much better off hunting buffalo and plains game, save the leopard for the second hunt when you can really concentrate, and not get sidetracked or concerned that the trophy shed isn't filling up. There are many great areas for buffalo, and many great areas for plains game...but not many remaining that are really good for both. Consider the big conservancies in southern Zimbabwe or coastal Mozambique. Plan well and have a great safari! Craig | |||
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