quote:

Originally posted by Pondoro:
Georgeld, by no means no....merely discussing the pluses/minuses by the different hunting methods....in that way this thread is educating....I see good arguments for both approaches now..

quote:

Originally posted by df06:
I am headed to Africa for my third safari in late July. So far I have not hunted cats. May hunt them some day.
When I hunt cats, I will be sure to do it the "right way" and I will make that determination, with my PH.
Thanks

I am not sure there is a "right way" to hunt cats. Baiting them seems odd to me, as does spotlighting them at night. Tracking is tough/impossible in most areas. I also am not keen on hoping to bump into one and shoot him.
Calling them is an option for sure.

You see, I struggle shooting deer/hogs/turkeys over a feeder or a food plot. Is that any different than hanging baits everywhere, building a blind and plunking one as it eats?

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:

quote:

Originally posted by Beretta682E:

Any sane PH would most likely do the follow up in a vehicle . So there goes the fantasy of a "old school" tracking hunt.


Mike

There are places a vehicle won't go. Don't know if Andrew qualifies as insane but we followed up my Lion on foot. A vehicle would have never been able to get into the thick cover the Lion took to.

Bolt rifle in 375 H&H
300 grain Barnes TSX
Swarovski illuminated scope

Andrew carried my 450 NE

If the terrain in such that there is a choice between using a vehicle and doing it old school on foot even Andrew would use a vehicle is my guess.

When I was in Burkina the camp had a old beat up mitsubishi pajero. I asked what it was and I was told for camp upper management to visit town for the nightlife and for follow ups on wounded lions. They wanted a vehicle with windows so the lion could not get in. The suv did not look like it would do anymore off road activity than a honda civic. Decided early on I did not want to do a follow up in Burkina. Refocused on the advice I was given by Leon Duplessis of Save Safaris - break the shoulder with the first shot.

Mike

What's all this interest in hunting big cats anyway??? I much prefer plains game!!

Aaron
Do not comment on subjects you know so little about such as cat hunting!!!!! LOL

I've shot one leopard, no lion. I spent several night in blinds for chui and got disgusted. I really didn't want to drygulch the poor bugger. I wound up doing a hound hunt in Namibia, and THAT was exciting and a great chase. Actually, it was several great chases because most are unsuccessful. Bait is used to locate a proper specimen, then the tracking begins with the hounds. It is truly sporting.

quote:

Originally posted by Beretta682E:

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:

quote:

Originally posted by Beretta682E:

Any sane PH would most likely do the follow up in a vehicle . So there goes the fantasy of a "old school" tracking hunt.


Mike

There are places a vehicle won't go. Don't know if Andrew qualifies as insane but we followed up my Lion on foot. A vehicle would have never been able to get into the thick cover the Lion took to.

Bolt rifle in 375 H&H
300 grain Barnes TSX
Swarovski illuminated scope

Andrew carried my 450 NE

If the terrain in such that there is a choice between using a vehicle and doing it old school on foot even Andrew would use a vehicle is my guess.

Not sure! Only been involved in one with him.

I am always amazed that people feel baiting cats to be "unsporting" when I would suspect less than 1/3 of all baited leopard hunts on average yield positive results. Of course, there are areas and PHs with much better stats, but continent wide I can't imagine more than 1/3 of hunts score a cat. I don't have hard numbers in front of me, but I'll bet similar things could be said about lion hunts. Maybe what...50% success on all legit lion hunts? Less? What would you guess, Aaron? In short, regardless of the actual success rates, no one claims these various hunting methods to be unsporting when they yield much higher success rates on other species so why the focus on cats? Are we getting soft? Are we influenced by the anti-hunters?

It seems to me that almost every animal on the planet is hunted (at least to some degree) by exploiting the animals need for food, their desire for sex, or their tendency to fight. Few people declare these methods less than ideal. Baiting cats is no different really than bugling in Elk, hunting Roe deer in a pasture where they graze, or rattling in a whitetail. Using other methods (tracking) might be more interesting, but also might yield a really long wait for success. Even if one does decide to track, it's not like the hunter is going to just bumble around in the woods looking for tracks. He is, of course, going to track from a kill or water source, or food source. Is that really so different than just waiting at the food source and shooting the animal when he returns?

quote:

Originally posted by Aaron Neilson:
What's all this interest in hunting big cats anyway??? I much prefer plains game!!

Offcourse you do......