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Originally posted by ledvm:
I am curious if the leopard was hit where the shooter was aiming?

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Originally posted by MARK H. YOUNG:
Yes! As a PH you might want the client to shoot at the leopard while he was resting not feeding as he would be stationary but if the client is confident with the shot why not take it? As in Saeed's story the leopard just might jump out of the tree as fast as he got into it. I've killed a leopard presenting a far worse shot on a lion bait. He was lying on his side facing me at a slightly down angle. I put a 300 gr bullet where the neck meets the shoulder and the Tom never moved.

Mark

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Originally posted by Aaron Neilson:

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Originally posted by ledvm:
I am curious if the leopard was hit where the shooter was aiming?

I hope so, since I was the shooter!

All I know for certain Lane, is the bullet most likely hit where the crosshairs were at when I pulled the trigger. What's all this talking about where I was aiming?

Have a great day my friend.

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Originally posted by crbutler:
At 50 yards with a rest? Not an issue if you feel comfortable...

The only issue is that as mentioned above, they move fast and if he is not staying still, you could have a mess on your hands if he decided to move quickly.

I assume that you had ID'ed him as a male before the video? I am not so good with Leopard as to make the call on sex from that video bite, but if the PH gave the go ahead, I would have tried to do as well as you did.

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Originally posted by Aaron Neilson:
Lavaca, crbutler and Fujo - Yes, we had long since made sure he was a male. It was easy to see his "batteries" as Chris called them, when he first went into the tree - so we both knew we were good to go and knew he was a mature male. Keep in mind, this clip starts after he's been there for a couple of minutes already - it really was a no-brainer on the male ID.

Lavaca, no actually the PH never said a word - other than we both gave each other the "thumbs up" once we knew he was a shooter. An experienced hunter should NEVER need someone else to tell him/her when to shoot, nor should one be waiting for that either. If you are not sure of a good shot from a bad one, you probably shouldn't be there in the first place. Regardless of an animal's position, the anatomy never changes - only the angle of the shot does.

As a guide, I've long since stopped telling clients "when" to shoot, as it only seems to force them to shoot when they aren't ready. In my 24 years of experience guiding literally a couple hundred hunters now, I found they shoot best when allowed to do so without someone chirping in their ear, getting them flustered. I'll certainly tell them to "wait" if its a bad angle or something like that, or if they are asking for help, but when I'm hunting with an experienced hunter - I say nothing other than take him when "you" are ready. Otherwise I stay quiet, so he stays as calm and comfortable as possible - focusing only on the task at hand.

Honestly, Chris Trent was easily one of the best, most experienced PH's I have ever hunted with. He had the perfect demeanor/professionalism, and was happy to let me do my own thing too. I really enjoyed hunting with him, and I learned a lot from him on that 3 week safari. This leopard was one example of that. He kept telling me, big male leopards show up late in the morning - so be patient! We will sit until 8:30am - I thought he was drinking! This guy showed up at 8am, I was stunned - and Chris looked like a genius.

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That is the post of a man who has been there and done that. Pretty sage response on taking the shot.

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Originally posted by fujotupu:

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That is the post of a man who has been there and done that. Pretty sage response on taking the shot.

"been there and done that" ... more than several times over ..... cool as a cucumber, no jittery nerves.

Aaron, you cannot compare yourself with a first timer on Leopard or even worse, the guy who has made the journey several times and never got one.

You know, we know, there was no real need for Chris Trent being in the blind other than for the required formality of having a PH on the hunt. Same scenario applies to the 14 or so Lions under your belt, save maybe the first 2 or 3.

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I rarely think wounded leopards result in taking a bad shot, but rather the shooter making a bad shot - would you agree?

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Originally posted by fujotupu:

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I rarely think wounded leopards result in taking a bad shot, but rather the shooter making a bad shot - would you agree?

Most definitely so though a bad shot is not limited to the nervy first timer either; however, patience is the answer at gaining the chance of achieving a "perfect shot".

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Originally posted by lavaca:
Some think you shouldn't set up under 100 yards. The difference is substantial.

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Originally posted by Aaron Neilson:
He kept telling me, big male leopards show up late in the morning - so be patient! We will sit until 8:30am - I thought he was drinking! This guy showed up at 8am, I was stunned - and Chris looked like a genius.