Much to my great delight my daughter has just requested that I take her to Africa to hunt Leopard. My daughter has successfully hunted White Tail deer and Black Bear and I am no stranger to Africa, having hunted Plains Game, Ellie and Buff but I have never hunted Leopard. We are planning this hunt for 2014 so have lots of time to plan. My question is where to go, to have an above average Hunt for Leopard and Plains Game?

How much dollars do you want to spend ?

Ethiopia ? Zimbabwe ? C.A.R. ? Tanzania ? Zambia

Speak to Buzz, CM Safaris Or Roger Whittall Safaris, Zimbabwe.

Check with Mark Young on this board. He can hook you up with Terry Anders. He can hunt you on the sentinel ranch which is 5 star lodging in southern Zimbabwae.

If you want a daytime hunt from a blind over bait, my father and I had a great hunt with Karl Stumpfe in Namibia.

quote:

Originally posted by A.Dahlgren:
How much dollars do you want to spend ?

Ethiopia ? Zimbabwe ? C.A.R. ? Tanzania ? Zambia

Zambia is open in 2014.

John, leopard is my favourite hunt. PM me for various options in Zimbabwe and Mozambique or email me on phthierrylabat@gmail.com
A few things you should think of when deciding are:

1 do you mind shooting at night with artificial light?
2 are you after size or just the experience or both?
3 do you want to hunt with hounds or out of a blind?

I am sure the are other things to take into consideration, which other people on the forum will contribute with. Good luck with the research and enjoy it!

John:
Are you going to take your 8-bore?
Cheers,
Cal

I've hunted leopard three times, twice from a blind, once with hounds. I vote for hounds. Far more exciting and, in my opinion a lot more sporting than dry-gulching chui.

Charlton McCallum Safaris, June 2011.

Here's another suggestion in Zim:
John Sharp Safaris

Just take a look at his record and awards for cats. jorge

Me I would go with Mr Labat.

Hey John,

Nuanetsi is based in Zimbabwe's South Eastern Lowveld and was recently reopened to hunting after being closed to all hunting. Leopard hunting here is very good - 2 out of the 7 Leopard shot here in 2012 were shot during daylight hours.

Take a look at the 2 links below to give you a better idea of what our cats are about.

http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/3651051381

http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/3411011181

Let me know if you would like an further information.

Cheers,
Brent

Great video Anton.

Judging by Will's multiple successes, I'd sure try to book with Thierry Labat.

Having said that, I hunted with SSG do to limited funds, but killed a great leopard.

quote:

Originally posted by Brice:
I've hunted leopard three times, twice from a blind, once with hounds. I vote for hounds. Far more exciting and, in my opinion a lot more sporting than dry-gulching chui.

EXACT SAME EXPERIENCE!
let the flaming begin!

John,

Check with Rich Elliott who posts here regarding the monster leopards they shoot in Ethiopia.

Non-importable for U.S. citizens but I see you are from Canada.


Daylight shooting and some really unique plainsgame.

Best of luck.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXsUnriXQ9M

Link to Archie Nesbitt's Ethiopian leopard/plainsgame hunt.

Ethiopia is an unbelievable country, I really loved going there in 2009.

I hear that Labat fellow is pretty good at hunting Mr Spots.

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:
Me I would go with Mr Labat.

He certainly has the track record. In personal conversation I also found Thierry very up front and honest in his description of types of Leopard hunts. As he mentioned in his post above it is good to first decide what a Leopard hunt should be in your mind. Daylight vs spotlight, size, dogs, etc.

I ended up booking Joyce and I for His & Her Leopards with Derek Littleton of Luwire in Niassa, Mozambique. Smaller Leopards but high success on daylight Leopards, which was important to us.

I would not hesitate for a second to hunt with Thierry and if I ever do Bongo or Lord Derby we shall hunt side by side.

Thanks for all the imput, some names I know some are new to me, lots of decisions to make now. This going to be a great hunt just because I will be with my daughter, very different to all my previous Safaris.

No Cal I think this time I will leave the 8 Bore at home, I am in love with a trim little 7lb K95, time to retire the fat lady and leave her at home. Well maybe just one more Buff with her next Spring!

Brice & Jdollar
Could you please tell me where did you hunt leopard with hounds , when and how it was ?
Thank you very much.

quote:

Originally posted by Thierry Labat:
John, leopard is my favourite hunt. PM me for various options in Zimbabwe and Mozambique or email me on phthierrylabat@gmail.com
A few things you should think of when deciding are:

1 do you mind shooting at night with artificial light?
2 are you after size or just the experience or both?
3 do you want to hunt with hounds or out of a blind?

I am sure the are other things to take into consideration, which other people on the forum will contribute with. Good luck with the research and enjoy it!

Thierry- You are way to modest. Post your record!

John,
Just an observation, here, but the cat Archie took in Ethiopia is hands down the most beautiful cat I have ever seen--in person or on TV. Good luck, whatever you decide, you are blessed to have a daughter who wants to hunt with her father.

Thierry is currently "the man".

Hi John,
I was asking the exact same question 2 years ago & decided to book with Thierry Labat
in Sango. It's been a tough two years to wait but we leave in about 6-7 weeks. As you
see from the above posts, he has a great reputation & a very good leopard area.
Even so, it's still leopard hunting & nothing is 100%.
Luckily I took a good leopard in Tanzania a couple of years ago, but I really love
the strategy & discipline required for good cat hunting & can hardly wait for
this years hunt. Hopefully will have a positive hunt report to post in June!

John, unrelated to leopards, I bought that lovely 1903 Rigby Farquharson 400/350
single shot from you a couple of years ago. I took a nice Mule Deer with it this year.
Just thought you might like to have an update on the old girl!

Good luck with your leopard hunt decision!

Jim

No question when I can. Thierry Labat. I just want to go on safari with him to hunt anything.

Terry Anders would be a good choice as well.

Justin.

Butch Coaton was my ph and put in an incredible effort over 15 days last year.

Good grief that is a horse of a Leopard. Well done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...3jlE&feature=related

A good destination for a hunt with family.
Quality hunting, Comfortable main camp and beach lodge, Classic African Wilderness, quality trophy's and quality outfit team With Leopard taken during daylight hours.

quote:

Originally posted by Kathi:

Check with Rich Elliott who posts here regarding the monster leopards they shoot in Ethiopia.

Non-importable for U.S. citizens but I see you are from Canada.

With the added potential of shooting a melanistic cat. I believe they are more common in Ethiopia.

My vote is for Thierry!
Obvious reasons.





And he can find big 60"+ kudu as well!!

quote:

Originally posted by Indi:
Brice & Jdollar
Could you please tell me where did you hunt leopard with hounds , when and how it was ?
Thank you very much.

the Kalahari in Botswana with Greg Butler- sadly no longer available, thanks to their anti-hunting president. great fun, took the leopard on the second day, after stopping a charge with SSG at 3-4 yards.

Well just back from SCI, this year I took both my daughter and my wife. We (my daughter and I) booked a Leopard hunt with Karl Stumpfe, for 2015, well to be honest a 21 day Safari so my daughter can "back me up" on another Ellie, may even dust of the old 8 Bore again. It was tough choice on who to book with, but I have never hunted in Namibia before and I have known Karl for many years so everything just fell into place. The point of this post was to request if anyone has any recommendations on good books on Leopard hunting. I have never hunted Leopard before and it is time to do my homework.

You and family will enjoy the hunt with Karl. He runs a good camp and the food is outstanding. If you can find a copy of "Into the Thorns", buy it. I saw some new copies of the original printing at Safari Press or Trophy Room Books for $100 at SCI.

Hunting in Nuanetsi or with Thierry are great choices. You may also consider talking to Wayne Grant, author of "Into the Thorns", about hunting in the Matobo Hills region of Zimbabwe or with Lou Hallemnore, author of "Chui". Both specialize in leopard hunting, and along with Thierry and Brent, probably represent the best Zim has to offer for hunting Mbada.

quote:

Originally posted by Thierry Labat:
John, leopard is my favourite hunt. PM me for various options in Zimbabwe and Mozambique or email me on phthierrylabat@gmail.com
A few things you should think of when deciding are:

1 do you mind shooting at night with artificial light?
2 are you after size or just the experience or both?
3 do you want to hunt with hounds or out of a blind?

I am sure the are other things to take into consideration, which other people on the forum will contribute with. Good luck with the research and enjoy it!

[QUOTWE] Originally posted by Brice: I've hunted leopard three times, twice from a blind, once with hounds. I vote for hounds. Far more exciting and, in my opinion a lot more sporting than dry-gulching chui.[QUOTE]

Hi John

Everyone is going to have an opinion. My opinion is you don't want to expose your daughter to the dangers of a hound hunt for leopard, it can turn quite nasty quite fast. I certainly would not with my daughters. In addition, your daughter would in most cases have to be stout enough to keep up with the dogs in very rough country, probably a bit to much to ask of most daughters

Thierry is a very good choice from everything I have read and the people I know who know him. He is spot on with his questions of your particular wants

Leopard in Zim can only be hunted during daylight hours in National Parks designated safari areas. However they can be hunted at night from a blind with artificial light in communal areas. In the right area this quite confidently assures you of bringing a shootable cat (male) to bait, whereas not so confidently can you get a cat into bait in daylight. Some hunters have tried several times and spent a lot of money before they have been able to collect Mr Spots from a blind in daylight shooting hours. The night hunt with artificial light obviously has its detractors. However you feel personally about it, please be aware that it is not for the faint of heart as the shot can be quite difficult and the follow up is in absolute darkness, a very scary situation if unsure about the current health and disposition of the cat.

A very good area a few years ago for cats is the enscarpment area above the Zambezi Valley and Lake Kariba. There you will find the Charara Safari Area and adjacent communal areas. You can hunt BOTH areas at the same time and from my experience there is a very high density of leopards in the area. In other words, if you have a reasonable cat that likes to feed while the sun is out, you can target that cat. If none are reasonable about coming along in daylight, you have the option of hunting at night with night vision to see the cat coming in and a torch to light it up for a shot. To give you an example, I hunted there with Warren Thorne, now representing Thorne Safaris and was able to get a very nice cat on the third day (night) of the safari. What is more impressive is that we had 14 baits out by the end of the 2nd day and 8 of them were hit by the third. All the hits were in the communal area. I think they are hungrier living in the communal area. The size of the cats in this area are middle of the road-not quite as big normally as those in the Lowveld areas, bigger than most in the valley areas. My cat weighed around 160 LBS with a huge head, which by most opinions would be a very nice cat. Warren still has access to this area and is a very capable, honest and hard working PH. The Chapungu Camp is in the Charara safari area and about a 20 minute cruiser drive to the start of the communal area. You can Google Thorne Safaris and get in touch with him if you would like to see if the cats in this area are still as dense as they were a few years ago. I am sure he would be happy to answer any questions you may have and I personally will vouch for him. As far as booking agents I believe John Barth is still representing him along with Butch Mannasse Outdoors. It is quite possible that Thierry has access to this area as well and perhaps would have the same input as I. I personally would value any input he has, certainly more than my suggestions.

I hope this gives you a bit more information than you had previously

As far as books go, most other fellows on this forum would have better advise than I

Rory

quote:

I am in love with a trim little 7lb K95,

John, are they not the most elegant little jewels? I have a high-grade K-95 in 7 mag...just a sweetheart of a stalking rifle.

Another vote for Wayne Grant's "Into the Thorns" - his passion for Leopard hunting exudes from every chapter and it's very informative - my 2c

Those books are both great. You'll also enjoy the "Boddington on Leopard" DVD.