Just finished an Elephant / Leopard combo hunt...

I'm not one that really has the patience to sit in a leopard blind night after night so when three different Toms hit our baits on the same night (1st hunting day) we picked the one with the largest track, replenished the bait and set up the trail cameras...

The following morning we figured out that Mr. Spots had fed at 7pm...

So we built a blind, set up our lights (and other equipment) and at 6pm we settled in...

At 6:45 the leopard was in the tree... (see trail cam pic below)



At 7:05pm it was dead on the ground...




And by 8:30pm we were busy sipping Moet et Chandon next to the fire...

Much better than sitting in an Office and MUCH better than sitting in a blind...

Good hunting!

Why not just pay someone to shoot one for you and save the whole hour and a half of hunting altogether? You could have had your Moet et Chardon at 7:05 when you heard the shot.

Probably not the laud you expected but this kind of techno-hunting makes me sick.

Value is typically defined by the amount of work it takes to achieve something, this leopard is of little value, in my opinion. And no, I don;t have my own story to tell, and if my PH offered this setup i'd pass. This type of hunting is great for filling quotas or space on the wall/floor, but it provides nothing as far as what most consider the true trophy of hunting; experience.

_Baxter

Chris - Beautiful cat, thanks for showing the pics!

BaxterB,

are you trying to horn in on my spot? I am the official curmudgeon here...

That is one nice cat. Congratulations!

Rich
DRSS

Nice cat, but in truth I see it like Baxter..

Bit different if your trying to get rid of a "problem animal", but otherwise not my cup of tea..

Did you shoot the bait animal?

Great cat Chris

From the photos I can see that your cat was shoot probably in the evening and with you taking some more pictures in the morning? I would be concerned that it was not skinned at once. Anyone else here have some experience? Can a cat wait to be skinned 12 hours without hair slippage on the finished mount?
Carl Frederik

From the photos I can see that your cat was shoot probably in the evening and with you taking some more pictures in the morning? I would be concerned that it was not skinned at once. Anyone else here have some experience? Can a cat wait to be skinned 12 hours without hair slippage on the finished mount?
Carl Frederik

Great leopard. Must be nice to have three males on bait.

I shot my leopard at 7PM, and ran out of gas on the way back to camp . We took more pics in the morning at around 8AM, then shinned him with no damage to the skin.

quote:

I am the official curmudgeon here...

quote:

BaxterB,

are you trying to horn in on my spot? I am the official curmudgeon here...

Hell no man, you are curmudgeon #1 around here :-)

i guess everyone draws the line somewhere, like maybe not flying to africa, maybe walking not driving, maybe using patch and ball but to each his own a very nice leopard congrats

Nice leopard! I have game cams out too to keep an eye on the local whitetails. Just because I collect images of them doesn't necessarily mean I'll be successful killing one.

Great leopard well done. Don't understand the nay sayers,guess they wanted you to sit 3 nights and check on the leopard then shoot him on the 4th night.Let us know how the ele turns out.
Wesley

Nice cat. I'm sure your client was very happy with the hunt and the hard work you put into making it successful for him. I know I would after all the nights I've spent freezing my ass off in leopard blinds.

Chris,

Beautiful big tom. Having three leopards feeding at once is not common in most areas. I guess somefolks would be disappointed if everything fell into place 1-2-3???? Often that is not the case. I've shot 3 leopards myself 2 of which I shot on the first evening in the blind. Should I have passed waiting for them to feed at a later date? Congrats on outsmarting a great cat.

We still have to do something together.

Mark

What they did has nothing to do with hunting.

quote:

congrats on outsmarting a great cat

That is funny

Nice cat . . . period.

I use a camera for leopard and find it to be an invaluable tool.

I guess the naysayers would also condemn the use of a vehicle, light, blind, scoped rifle, gun rest, modern bullets, a jet to fly over the ocean, etc, etc, etc.

Any baited leopard is a trophy to be proud of. Those internet leopard experts that say otherwise are WAY off base IMO.

+1.

The camera helped them tell if it was a male or not. It didn't help pick the bait site. it didn't help them hang the bait. It didn't help them build the blind. It didn't help them sit quietly. It didn't help the client shoot.

I don't get some of this holier than thou BS around here sometimes.

I have never used a trail cam but IMO its a very good tool when hunting spots.... Its not easy to see a set of balls in low light.

As Mark Young wrote on another thread
- I swear to God some days I think some of you guys could suck the fun out of anything

And many people are wondering why we see so few reports on AR ??? BECAUSE EVERYONE of them gets

quote:

Originally posted by Sunshine:
What they did has nothing to do with hunting.

Maybe, maybe not, but it's what the client wanted and paid for. The PH delivered. Where's the problem? Win, win as far as I am concerned.

quote:

Originally posted by safari-lawyer:
Nice cat . . . period.

I use a camera for leopard and find it to be an invaluable tool.

I guess the naysayers would also condemn the use of a vehicle, light, blind, scoped rifle, gun rest, modern bullets, a jet to fly over the ocean, etc, etc, etc.

Any baited leopard is a trophy to be proud of. Those internet leopard experts that say otherwise are WAY off base IMO.

Well said Will, Wonder how many of the nay sayers have every sat in a blind. I have at least 40 hours in my first 4 unsucessful trips on leopard.
Africa gives you a gift you take it.

Good job Werner and Chris! Very nice Tom! Thanks for sharing the pictures with us.

I don't have the patience, either, to sit and sit and sit at a bait (or on a deer stand during the day back in the States, for that matter)... especially at night when you're unable to at least see other wildlife, terrain, etc. On Spring black bear baits here in Wyoming, we will frequently see other game, coyotes, birds, etc. since it isn't dark while we are sitting...I mean hunting! Being outside after a long winter and seeing life roam and new growth makes the sitting more pleasant and bearable. But I'd rather spot and stalk or hike so I haven't sat on a bear bait even in our beautiful Wyoming springs in years. I probably will again at some point as I am not ethically opposed to baiting or to trail cameras to see if a bait is being hit and by what (or to hunting behind hounds which is also criticized by some). Hiking in to check and replenish baits is more fun, for me than the sitting... Craig Boddington's early stories of several trips to Africa to bag a leopard without success over baits soured me on the thought of MY hunting leopard as I would not enjoy sitting on a bait at night as much as hunting ANYTHING else by day and would nor be able to afford multiple trips dedicated primarily to bagging a Tom. Many others feel very different about this and that is fine, too. "To thine ownself be true!"

A lot of words to say, again, congratulations Werner and Chris! Nice Tom! Thanks for sharing the pictures!

jpj3

Great cat! I would like to have read the details of the rifle, shot placement etc. & it dropped DRT or ran a bit...etc.

Thanks for posting.

Not my style, but I like the cat.

quote:

Originally posted by wesley timmerman:
Great leopard well done. Don't understand the nay sayers,guess they wanted you to sit 3 nights and check on the leopard then shoot him on the 4th night.Let us know how the ele turns out.
Wesley

The ele hunt turned out well... The client used 300gr handloaded solids (kindly donated to me by JPJ3 after his buff hunt with me last year) in his .375H&H. The solid crashed through a rib, destroyed the top of the heart and imbedded itself in the rib cage on the opposite side. The ele only went for 80 yards so I guess this was too "easy" too...



In contrast to our "easy" and "unethical" leopard hunt, it took us 8 days to get the ele bull. But before giving more fuel for critisism from the seasoned elephant hunters out there I'll stick to these details on the ele...

Ammo used on the leopard were factory PMP softs also in .375H&H. The leopard was in the process of getting out of the tree and partially hidden behind a thick tree limb when the client made a perfect shot that entered through the right front shoulder and exited behind the left shoulder. We could hear the "thud" as the cat hit the ground and it only managed to crawl for about 7 yards from where it fell.

Pete E, no - the client shot his own impala for bait. But thanks to "technology" he only had to shoot (and pay for) ONE.

Sunshine, thank you for your valued input... I'm sure you've hunted 100's of leopard down there in the Western Cape so You shoud know what you're talking about...

And with regards to "outsmarting a cat"... I can only repeat what Larry said i.e:

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
The camera helped them tell if it was a male or not. It didn't help pick the bait site. it didn't help them hang the bait. It didn't help them build the blind. It didn't help them sit quietly. It didn't help the client shoot.

Like Kevin (Doctari) Robertson says on his DVD "The Perfect Shot: "You hunt Elephant with your feet, Lion with your heart, Buffalo with your guts and a Leopard with your BRAINS"

Regards,

Chris,

Congratulations on a great hunt and as for those who criticise the methods used for the leopard perhaps they could tell us how many leopards they've hunted and how they did it?

Leopard hunting is like a chess game and the skill is in getting a suitable/shootable cat on bait and in a shootbable position..... not in the actual shot at the cat.

I wonder how many of those who criticise the use of a bit of modern technology to get the cat into that position would have the testicular fortitude to go out into that dark night ALONE to face the cat they've wounded because they chose not to use that technology?

quote:

Originally posted by shakari:

I wonder how many of those who criticise the use of a bit of modern technology to get the cat into that position would have the testicular fortitude to go out into that dark night ALONE to face the cat they've wounded because they chose not to use that technology?

Yeah, and what about the guys who have had to pick their tiny, female kittens up by the tail and stuff them into the cooler box, because they chose not to use the technology? What about the PH who has to pay the 5 grand fine (in Zim) and stands a chance of losing his license, because he chose not to use the technology. So many negatives in not using the technology - not being able to bandy photos of your big tom around because it isn't a big tom, hat-band instead of a full mount....etc.

Miaow(sp), stop being catty guys, super leopard Chris, well done.

David

Thanks for all the positive comments.

It is evident that those who "have been there" understand that there's a whole lot more to leopard hunting than using a field camera to make some kind of prediction / estimation (which is not necessarily accurate) on when the cat will come in. Having a leopard come in at 7pm on the first night does not guarantee that it will come in at the same time again the following night. So truth is that we were very fortunate only having to spend an hour in the blind on this particular occasion.

Either way; it's not as if the camera killed the Tom! It's not as if the camera told us the leopard was in the tree at 6:45pm! And it was not the camera that helped us to be quiet and have the client shoot straight... FWIW, the trail camera uses an infrared flash and takes infrared photos so the role the camera played in the actual hunt was minor as far as I'm concerned... It certainly didn't alert us to the fact that the leopard was there when we were sitting in the blind...

Some of the responses here make it sound as if the trail camera (technology) was the sole contributing factor towards a successful hunt. Yet, the only role the camera played was to give us an indication of when the leopard came in on the night that the camera was set up the first time. Coincidentally; the pictures of the first night didn't even show the leopard... We could see that the camera went off at 7pm and inspection of the bait and surrounding area revealed that the leopard had fed but that was it... For all that matters it might have been a hyena that triggered the camera the first time around (although we had good suspicion that it was not)... The camera that took this particular picture was aimed at the base of the tree - not the bait itself so we didn't know for sure if the camera had missed the leopard getting into the tree or if something else had triggered it at the time.

Granted - having now had some experience under the tutorship of a very seasoned leopard hunter it is true that leopard do seem to follow certain paterns but still there are never any guarantees!

I do not consider myself as an expert at leopard hunting, Yet, in my view one should use all the means available to get a client his cat and of course this excludes tactics employed by some... e.g. canned hunting... One poster mentioned being on FOUR unsuccessful leopard hunts and 40 hours in the blind before he got his leopard. With the limited number of tags available for leopard and the higher Daily Rates charged by Outfitters for leopard hunts, surely it is our responsibility to do everything (ethically / legally) within our means to have our best go at a successful hunt.

And for those who are so vehemently opposed to using technology as an aid to hunting a word of caution... there ARE operators out there who will sell leopard hunts and collect Daily Rates from several clients each year without having ANY intention of shooting a leopard... So if you enjoy the "thrill" of sitting in a blind for hours of end wait for Mr. Spots to come in then maybe these are exactly the operators you should be looking for. (I have names of some if you're interested)... And maybe... you will get lucky one day and get your leopard (either when a leopard comes in unexpectedly - surprising the heck out of the Operator in the process - or when these "true blue" hunters resort to using other tactics... such as using trail cameras...)

Best to you all and one thing is for sure: My client is (and has reason to be) VERY happy with and proud of his Tom... and all the work put into getting him one (which BTW included a helluva lot more than setting up a trail camera)!

quote:

Originally posted by David Hulme:

quote:

Originally posted by shakari:

I wonder how many of those who criticise the use of a bit of modern technology to get the cat into that position would have the testicular fortitude to go out into that dark night ALONE to face the cat they've wounded because they chose not to use that technology?

Yeah, and what about the guys who have had to pick their tiny, female kittens up by the tail and stuff them into the cooler box, because they chose not to use the technology? What about the PH who has to pay the 5 grand fine (in Zim) and stands a chance of losing his license, because he chose not to use the technology. So many negatives in not using the technology - not being able to bandy photos of your big tom around because it isn't a big tom, hat-band instead of a full mount....etc.

Miaow(sp), stop being catty guys, super leopard Chris, well done.

David

The most unfortunate case scenario of all (for the guys who choose not to use the technology) would be being gnawed upon by the tiny female cub before putting it into the cooler box.

Chris, nice cat. Let the boys bi**h. Seems like that's all that goes on anymore, not just this forum, but a lot of others!


Mad Dog

Congrats on a great hunt for your client with two very nice animals. I like the use of the trail cam. Perhaps I missed it in your post but where was the hunt conducted?

great leopard and a great elephant, both animals are tough to get and you had a great hunt congrats

Congrats nice cat.

Nice cat Chris. I for one love the technology, as do I scopes on most of my rifles (.450 Rigby of course excluded.) I also have now switched to this new clean burning stuff, called nitro cellulose...

Using a camera to avoid accidently shooting a female is a smart move and should be encouraged. Great Cat!

Great Cat! All the naysayers have not sat in a leopard blind. I have 30 hrs and no cat. I vote for technology.

quote:

Originally posted by BaxterB:
Probably not the laud you expected but this kind of techno-hunting makes me sick.

_Baxter

so, you hunt barehanded and naked, right, as otherwise you are just bitching about something you don't LIKE, but you are willing to use all the other technohunting...

you don't fish in a desert, do you?

i bet you use a metal knife, a SCOPE, leather shoes, a jacketed bullet in a brass case, with smokeless powders and a primer ... and chui has been taken with a simple spear, .. a broken branch, by barefoot natives

can't stand hypocrites

It is each of our' prerogative to draw that "line in the sand" as far as technology and our own personal limits on usage.

As a good lawyer friend once told me "I love this case. It's perfect. It could be argued from either side...".

It has provoked a tremendous response, and made an awful lot of folks evaluate their positions. That is good.

Rich

It looks like you have a very happy client. Congrats on two very nice animals!

Like a lot of things, sometimes you get lucky and everything goes your way. Sometimes it doesn't. Personally, I don't b*tch when I have good luck or Diana smiles on me!

Pete

You can do all the prep work right and the leopard may not come to the bait... or the leopard may come to the bait tree and then leave... or you may miss or wound the leopard etc...

I view this a lot like trapping. If anyone has done much trapping, they will know what I am talking about. The set up can be perfect and everything you have control over has been accounted for. The i's are dotted and the t's are crossed. Trouble is there are things you have no control over, mainly what that leopard will or will not do next. You can stack the odds in your favor but it is not a done deal until the cat is dead.

Saeed has often said that there is a large element of luck in hunting and I could not agree more. I say enjoy the luck when you get it because you will not always get it.

Having everything go as planned every now and then is just as important as having things go wrong every now and then. You learn from both.

Congrats on the leopard!