Namibia seem to have had one of the best leopard years ever. Here is a few pics of leopard that where taken by my clients in 2008.
Hope you enjoy!










Note how the position/ angle and a little sand under the cat, makes it look even bigger.

A fine collection of cats Karl, congratulations to all the hunters

Dave

nice cats!!!!
what area do you hunt cats in?

I have attempted to get Mr. Spots twice with no luck------someday I hope get one as nice as the ones above

Karl,

Lovely big leopards. They are my favorite animals to hunt.

Quickshot,

Leopard hunting does not have to be hard. With several operators you can expect 90%+ success on mature toms. Personally I shot 3 leopards and have set in leopard blinds a total of 6 times and all in daylight.

Mark

Love the pose on the 2nd tom!

I'm with Mark. Once you hunt them, they become your favorite, and you develop an obsession with the spotted cat. That one cat with the tracker in the blue coveralls looks like it's alive! It looks like they stopped the truck so he could pick it up for a picture pose!

quote:

Originally posted by Use Enough Gun:
I'm with Mark. Once you hunt them, they become your favorite, and you develop an obsession with the spotted cat. That one cat with the tracker in the blue coveralls looks like it's alive! It looks like they stopped the truck so he could pick it up for a picture pose!

Beautiful cats! I recognize that last guy!

quote:

nice cats!!!!
what area do you hunt cats in?

I have attempted to get Mr. Spots twice with no luck------someday I hope get one as nice as the ones above

quickshot, we mainly hunt leopards in the Khomas Hochland and Kalahari of Namibia. We have a very high success rate on hunts with hounds, and also a reasonably high success rate with baits only. I have a problem cat available right now, for a very good price (the hunt will only have to be after the 8th of November, as that is the only time I am free myself.)
Otherwise, I am willing to drop the prices on these hunts (WITH hounds)to US$ 11 250 (normal price US$ 15 000) for anyone booking and paying now (while the N$ is over 10 to the US$) for any future (2009) hunt. Furthermore, if you do a dog hunt, and do not get your leopard in the 12 hunting days ( 2 travelling days), you will get the US$ 3000 trophy fee back (normal price US$ 4K), as well as 40% of your dayfees (US$ 3300). These trophy fees and other rates are of course the discounted (by 25%) rates, that will only be valid while the US$ is worth more than NS$10.

Frank, yes, that's Francois driver. (Seun Ross) He helped me out as an extra driver when we hunt this part of the Kalahari, as the staff quarters are far away, and I cannot send my own driver (Gottfried) on trips to and fro to transport the cleaning and cooking staff.

Karl, kudos to you and your staff... Love those big rosettes on that first cat... That last one is huge...

Mike

I am trying to develop a taste for leopard hunting for 2010; Zimbabwe probably. My problem is that I'm not interested in hunting with hounds; and can't see how hunting from a blind would be that exciting. Maybe I'm wrong. Perhaps the preparation and anticipation make it very exciting. (I'm going to keep talking to myself.)

It is going to turn into leopard in Africa, or Moose in Canada. I just can't make up my mind.

Very nice cats you have collected for your clients Karl.
That 3rd cat is very nice. Keep up the good work.

I'd check the pulse on leopard No 2.

quote:

Originally posted by Kensco:
I am trying to develop a taste for leopard hunting for 2010; Zimbabwe probably. My problem is that I'm not interested in hunting with hounds; and can't see how hunting from a blind would be that exciting. Maybe I'm wrong. Perhaps the preparation and anticipation make it very exciting. (I'm going to keep talking to myself.)

It is going to turn into leopard in Africa, or Moose in Canada. I just can't make up my mind.

leopard or Canadian moose? i have hunted and taken both- NO COMPARISON. forget the moose!!!!!!!

quote:

Quickshot,

Leopard hunting does not have to be hard. With several operators you can expect 90%+ success on mature toms. Personally I shot 3 leopards and have set in leopard blinds a total of 6 times and all in daylight.

Mark

WOW! that is some darn good luck!

My first hunt for Mr. spots was in Zim-- no luck

My second attempt was with hounds (april 08) with no luck. On my hunt in Namibia it was sold as nearly 100% success and if you don't get your cat, you would receive $3.5K back---no luck on the cat-frankly, I didn't see crap for sign of any cats either.
Mr. spots maybe easy for you---but not so easy for me---yet!

Karl

Is that first hunter named Jim? Looks like one of our clients...

Cheers
Matt

quickshot,

Luck of course plays a part in all hunting but the area and the operator are more important. DuPlooy on the Luangwa river in Zambia is probably close to 98% on daylight leopards. Mokore Safaris, Zambezi Hunters and Pro-Safaris are all about 90% on night hunts for really big leopards on the Save Conservancyin Zim. With the right operator and a dark of the moon booking in May-July everyone should get a shot at a mature tom leopard.

I read your report on your last hunt and I just don't think there were enough leopards there to justify a hunt. In a good leopard area you will find leopard sign in every dry water course.

Mark

Karl,

Haven't you told these people they don't need to make those nasty holes in those beautiful hides and get all that blood on the fur? You don't choke the cats for them?

Mark

Am I correct that some places in Zimbabwe allow a spotlight at night, while others require natural light only. How big a difference does that make to your success rate numbers?

Kensco

I will take the liberty of answering this one as best I can. In Zim it is permitted to use a spotlight only on private land, not in government controlled safari areas, ie the Zambezi Valley. Success rates are higher with a spotlight in the equation, but this also depends on the area hunted. Obviously, if leopards are very thin on the ground in a particular area, it wouldn't make a difference how many nights you spent out or what candle power your light was. I have worked for Roger Whittall Safaris for the past five years and have accompanied leopard hunts in the lowveld (spotlight permitted) and in the Valley. We have enjoyed greater success in the lowveld, but have had splendid results in the Valley as well. I posted a thread a while back of leopards shot by RWS in 2007, with cats from both the lowveld and the Valley. As I recall, it was a pretty even split, bearing in mind that 2007 was a fantastic leopard year for RWS in Chewore. I shall try to dig out the thread and caption the cats with the areas they were taken.

Dave

Kensco

As David has said private land hunts in Zim can be conducted after dark and the cat shot with aid of a spotlight. In areas like the Save these hunts are very successful and produce some huge cats. In government areas where hunting is only legal in daylight the success year in and year out is probably 10%-15% less overall but picking dates on the dark of the moon and early in the season can increase the success.

Zambia on the Luangwa river with the Du Plooys or other top operators may be the best leopard hunting in Africa even though the hunting is all in daylight.

Mark

Matt, yes that hunter's name is Jim. He has hunted with me quite a lot, and has told me about his hunt "Down Under".

Quickshot, you have a PM.

miles58, I try and refrain from having to choke any more of these beauties, though that last one did bite onto my gun barrel! The client shot him high on the shoulder, severing his spine. I ran in to pull the dogs off him, saw that he was immobilised from the shoulders back, and poked his head away with my .450's barrel, while dragging the lead dog off him. He grabbed a hold of my barrel in an instant, and I had to pull real hard to get it out of his mouth!

Quickshot
I spent 45 day on 5 different trips. I feel your pain my friend. I agree with Mark. The Deplooys in Zambia is where you need to go. Hunt with Alister
He was 100% when I got my in June of this year.
Shot mine on the 5th day. had 2 cats feeding.
They got a bunch of leopard there and they ain't the sharpest tools in the shed. Zim cats have been hunted so hard in areas they you cannot pay them to come to a bait. Good luck

Maybe I'll see one of those in person next year! Nice cats