A friend who's just back from a safari told me that his PH bragged about taking several tracked leopards with a 600NE double rifle using just iron sights.

Is this possible? I mean even with a soft point, wouldn't a 600 penetrate clean through the cat with no effective expansion? And how close do you have to get to a tracked leopard in order to shoot it on open sights and a load that is not exactly known for flat trajectory?

What do you think?

Was his first name Mark?

That does sound like Sullivan. I don't know of any other PH's using a 600 Nitro and only a couple using a 577.

JP577,

To takee a leopard with a 600NE is nothing. Even without any bullet expansion whatsoever it makes a BIG hole on entry, and it being a very heavy bullet, also a BIG hole on exit. Nothing to bragg about!

The old rifle makers knew how to make express sights that re easy and quick to use. Any Ph should be able to take a killing shot at a leopard from 1 to 75 yards, or a bit beyond. Really nothing to bragg about using only iron sights to shoot leopard.

To track a leopard and then shoot it? Well that really is something worthwhile! To have done it a number of times? Not that is something to bragg about! It is one thing for a PH and trackers to follow the blood spoor of a wounded leopard, one that is likely to hole up. It is also an accomplishment for a game guide to track a healthy leopard to show his guests where it was going and what it was doing. But to track one and get close enough for a shot with a 600NE? Well IMHO that is really something to bragg about. Hats off the the tracker and/or team!

Who was the PH?

In good hunting.

Andrew McLaren

I don't think I should tell who the PH was, especially that we're speaking about something that may turn out to be a lie.

So what you are saying is that it is very unlikely he did so?

JP

Due to the fact that it is hard to have several rifles in most countries of Africa, your info could be true.

Think about it, not many rifles, regardless of calibre/expansion would make as big a hole as a 600 Nitro.

Both the Ph's I have hunted with used a 458 Win Mag as backup for everything, because that is what they HAD.

Also, I don't know of any PH's that would use a scoped rifle to follow up a leopard...and there probably isn't a scoped 600NE double in the world.

Thank you all very much. Quick and informative responses.

If this guy was hunting in the Botswana Kalahari with Bushmen tracking the Leopard, it is certainly possible. It would not be uncommon to track quite a few Leopard in a year.

I know one outfit in Botswana who (used to) hunt 30 leopard/year this way. Not all with the same ph though. Still, the few ph's he had got quite a bit of Leopard experience.

They would almost never put up a bait, always hunted them by tracking.

The trick isn't killing trhe cat with the 600. It is carrying a 16 lb rifle on a long distance track!

465H&H

Old Tom won't last too long with a 60 plus caliber hole in his hide, he will run out of juice pronto!!

I agree that carrying a 16 pound rifle on a trek is folley when a 270 fwt. for instance would work just as well.

quote:

Originally posted by yukon delta:
...and there probably isn't a scoped 600NE double in the world.

Sorry, wrong. Mayard Buehler of the scope mount company used to run an ad promoting the strength of his mount with a scoped .600 Jeffrey snap action underlever.

Just putting out the facts!