I'm soliciting input for a destination. I've Hunted RSA, Zim (lowveldt) and the Zambezi delta in Mozambique. I'm looking for a leopard hunt, perhaps with the possibility of hippo on land and buff as secondaries. Non-trophy elephant could go into the mix, or wait for another trip. I'd likely be looking at about 14 days.
I am hesitant about Zim with the current situation. I don't thnk I can afford Tanzania. Mozambique has great appeal again since it is pretty unpopulated and "wild." The area I hunted last year was quite wonderful, but no cats because foot rot due to the low coastal floodplain area. (I was with JP Kleinhans Safaries in the Mahimba concession.)
I'm thinking about another part of Mozambique which offers the opportunities I want.
Any suggestions for operators, or other countries I haven't considered?

My first safari was TZ for 21 days in two different location and was very successful. I too have hunted RSA but I think the safari I enjoyed the most overall was Namibia. I was raised in a ranching family and thought I was just going to hunt south Texas when I went to Namibia but the desert there is much prettier than south Texas for sure. The critters are great and the food and folks are super. With where all else you have already been and with what you experienced there you might enjoy desert hunting.
I have not been on a bad safari yet not matter the country.

www.kambakosafaris.com with Jumbo Moore's team in Cabo Del Gado Provence of northern Mozambique.
A wild area with good numbers of day light leopard, just have to pick the big one and I would suggest not camping out. Too many Grande Leo.
No non trophy Ele.

Marty,

Have a look at Hunt Mozambique and once in the webpage scroll down to Thcuma Tchato.

Leopard is almost a given and same for hippo/ croc. PLUS you'll have the opportunity of hunting lone dagha boys time permitting.

Regards,

Chris

Marty,

As I spoke of in the PM the best leopard hunting in Africa is along the Luangwa in Zambia. It is not unusual to see leopards in daylight there and everyone has a shooting opportunity. Impala occur in huge numbers in the riverine habitat making hunting very easy for the leopards. I would expect you to have several leopards feeding at the same time.

The buffalo hunting is very good and the densities of hippo and crocs in the river are truly amazing. The Luangwa is a much smaller stream than the Zambesi so hunting the aquatic animals is much easier.

This is a truly classic safari area being very wild with elephants common and lions roaring every night.

This area with John DuPlooy's Muchinga Adventures is always my first recommendation for a serious leopard hunter. It is more expensive than Zim but less than the pricing I've seen in mozambique and definitely less than Tanzania.

If you really want a good leopard the Luangwa is a great choice.

Mark

from what little i know about it - the biggest cats come from the lowveld.(150# often +) mozm cats are on the smaller side (120#). luangwa cats are inbetween. being on the fussy side it took me several days in lowveld to find one big enuf to shoot. spotted cats are my favorite and in going back for another with much in mind like you do, i'm going back with john duploy, especially having such great success with him this year, and having been in the luangwa before, it is one of my favorite areas, if not #1. there is just so much stuff there in such beautiful country. Gonna cost a bit more, but with zim in the question mark that it is, i believe the cost is more than justified.

Judging Leopards by weight is a complete waste of time and means absolutely nothing. Weights will change dramatically dependant on such things as when the cat last ate & whether he's been mating recently etc etc. A much more relevant way of judging them is the way it's done by the record books.... skull measurement.

There's no doubt Zim produces big Leopards but they also occur in many other places. At the bottom of this post is one I took with a client this year in Botswana. Skull measurement was a tad over 17 inches - The second biggest I've ever taken.

From my personal experience, the biggest I've seen have all come from the eastern Selous in Tanzania..... those are really huge. But it ain't cheap..... I do have pics of a few of them, but don't have copyright, so I'm not sure if I can post them on a public forum..... (?)

Marty- I will second what Mark Young had to say. I hunted there last year and got a real nice Leopard. My PH, Alister Norton (Johnny DuPlooy's nephew) is a super "cat man". As a matter of fact, he is a 100% on both Lion and Leopard. This year, his biggest buffalo was 45" and his average for the season was 41". The only downside is you will have to hunt elephant elsewhere as they are not importable to the U.S. from Zambia. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Bwanamrm and SBT also hunted there last year. SBT got one helluva Lion!!

John