Pardon a beginner.

I have read in Kevin Robertson's book "The perfect shot" about hunting lion and leopard by tracking. As I am a bit short on patience I think that would suit me better than spending a lot of time in a blind.

Who to contact for such a hunt? Success rate? Is it also possible/legal/ethical/etc to hunt lioness this way? Liones is more within my budget I guess and I want the thrill of the hunt more than the mount in my trophy room (all though I certainly would not mind the trophy as a bonus .)

I trust I find a load of information about this here. You guys are just great!

Thanks for the post, I've had the exact ?'s on my mind...I know in Mexico there are natives who track mule deer over rocky, desert terrain...I expect there are outfitters in Africa who do so on lion(ess')?

few years back i looked at a hunt which was in Namibia, which used bushmen to track lions. ended up that the guy lost his area and i didn't go, but you might take a look for it

A.Dahlgren, thanks for the link!

Very interesting!

there are a lot of lion tracking hunts in RSA- JUST BE CAREFUL OF THE ELECTRIC FENCE. oh, that's right, they all crossed over the Bots/Zim border and just happen to be in the neighborhood when you arrived and are killing the hell out of cattle.

We have hunted lion by tracking a few times in Zimbabwe.

On two occasions were succesful.

But, on one occasion, which I will never forget, we followed him until he walked all teh way to the next concession.

Walking back to the truck, I remember coming over a hill and seeing the truck far in teh distance.

It was one of the most beautiful site I have seen on a hunt!

It was a very hard, long and HOT tracking day.

It was in Chete, in late October!

Way back in 1986 (or 1987? - getting real old! ) I helped a friend hunt a lion in Botswana's southern Kalahari. We employed two local San - real bushmen - as trackers.

We picked up the spoor early on the last morning of the hunting season, which was in mid November. That time of the year it is really very hot in the Kalahari! The trackers, my friend as hunter and I as back-up gun easily followed the spoor in the soft sand. The Land Cruiser followed at a safe distance behind the hunting the tracking/hunting party to not interfere with the hunt. When the Land Cruiser eventually stopped to pick up the dead lion it was 17 kilometres from where we first picked up the spoor. Tracking in such soft sand is very easy - if the hunters were not required to watch out for the lions, we could have followed the spoor ourselves, but the bushmen could literally track at a trotting pace!

Hunting a lion by tracking one is entirely possible – although in some terrain it would be quite difficult to track fast enough.

In good hunting.

Andrew McLaren

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:
there are a lot of lion tracking hunts in RSA- JUST BE CAREFUL OF THE ELECTRIC FENCE. oh, that's right, they all crossed over the Bots/Zim border and just happen to be in the neighborhood when you arrived and are killing the hell out of cattle.

+1

I successfully hunted with Buzz Charlton back in October 2005 for a lioness in Chewore North. It was a tracking hunt, much more affordable than a male and much more exciting than sitting in a blind. I believe Zimbabwe is currently issuing lioness permits. It would be better to go later in the season, before the rains. It will be very hot, but the vegetation will have dried up making the tracking easier and visibility better. Buzz has sinced teamed with Myles McCallum to form CM Safaris based out of Harare, Zimbabwe.

September/ October with Ian Gibson in Chewore North.
Best hunt amongst plenty of great hunts so far but it helps to be fit during the hot and dry time of the year!

quote:

Originally posted by ozhunter:
September/ October with Ian Gibson in Chewore North.
Best hunt amongst plenty of great hunts so far but it helps to be fit during the hot and dry time of the year!

Nice looking cat Ozzie ! any other poses?

An excellent bet for this type of hunt would be to hunt late season on the Bubye Valley Conservancy. I hunted lioness there in 2010 and saw 39 lions in ten days, including this guy



While we hung baits, I did not shoot my lioness from a blind. A tracking hunt, or spot and stalk is a realistic option there.



Contact Brent Hein at www.brentheinsafaris.com I've hunted with him a bunch and he runs a first class outfit.

David W,

Great photo of a great Lion.

Stalking Lion on foot is one of huntings great adventures, however it is fraught with difficulty and my experience is that it has led to poor shooting and hence wounding. The PH has to make a quick call and it may not be the right one.

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:
David W,

Great photo of a great Lion.

Stalking Lion on foot is one of huntings great adventures, however it is fraught with difficulty and my experience is that it has led to poor shooting and hence wounding. The PH has to make a quick call and it may not be the right one.

This also applies to hunting ALL animals on foot, rather than from a blind.

That is why it is called hunting, and one takes his chances.

Agreed but plains game does not stir the emotions like Lion and this is one animal that will not tolerate any nonsense.

Thanks every one for your help. And thanks for posting pictures of fantastic trophy animals and telling us about your hunts. Really inspiring!
I will be looking in to the different outfitters and PHs mentioned. I think I have caught the Lion bug .

Klein vars i Sverige befinner du dig ?

Sundsvallstrakten. Och du?

Umää

quote:

Originally posted by A.Dahlgren:
Klein vars i Sverige befinner du dig ?

I think you might want to check your wireless keyboard.

you should understand that alot of Swedes in your part of the world

Campbell Smith is a specialist at this type of Lion hunting in Bots. His contact info is on our website on the links page. www.echolsrifles.com This hunt is not for the faint of heart

I thought all lion hunting in Botswana was currently closed?

quote:

Originally posted by A.Dahlgren:
you should understand that alot of Swedes in your part of the world

There are a lot of everything in my part of the world. Just joshing you Anton.

List of languages spoken in the Anchorage School District.

I think you're correct, I was hoping Graeme Pollock might chime in.

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:
David W,

Great photo of a great Lion.

Stalking Lion on foot is one of huntings great adventures, however it is fraught with difficulty and my experience is that it has led to poor shooting and hence wounding. The PH has to make a quick call and it may not be the right one.

You mean there isn't time to take and develope the dental xrays, check his nose color, look for facial scars, measure mane hair length, weigh him, check the local pride for cubs, do DNA studies to determine if the cubs are his, ETC, ETC,ETC ? FORGET IT!! and lion hunting in Bots was stopped years ago.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:
David W,

Great photo of a great Lion.

Stalking Lion on foot is one of huntings great adventures, however it is fraught with difficulty and my experience is that it has led to poor shooting and hence wounding. The PH has to make a quick call and it may not be the right one.

This also applies to hunting ALL animals on foot, rather than from a blind.

That is why it is called hunting, and one takes his chances.

If folks prefer things easier-less challenging,hypothetically,[putting what is/isnt permissible by law aside] they should just shoot all their game over a bait,water hole or feeder.
..,...in ethical terms[relating to recreational hunting], I dont see much difference between the three...I see them all as equally unsporting.

quote:

in Namibia, which used bushmen to track lions

Google a little bit and you will find some outfitter.

Here are two on the first view:
http://www.google.de/#sclient=...e93&biw=1440&bih=648

Lion huntin on foot in the Kalahari, walk and stalk.
Kind regards

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:
David W,

Great photo of a great Lion.

Stalking Lion on foot is one of huntings great adventures, however it is fraught with difficulty and my experience is that it has led to poor shooting and hence wounding. The PH has to make a quick call and it may not be the right one.

You mean there isn't time to take and develope the dental xrays, check his nose color, look for facial scars, measure mane hair length, weigh him, check the local pride for cubs, do DNA studies to determine if the cubs are his, ETC, ETC,ETC ? FORGET IT!! and lion hunting in Bots was stopped years ago.

Something like that.

quote:

Originally posted by Trax:

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:
David W,

Great photo of a great Lion.

Stalking Lion on foot is one of huntings great adventures, however it is fraught with difficulty and my experience is that it has led to poor shooting and hence wounding. The PH has to make a quick call and it may not be the right one.

This also applies to hunting ALL animals on foot, rather than from a blind.

That is why it is called hunting, and one takes his chances.

If folks prefer things easier-less challenging,hypothetically,[putting what is/isnt permissible by law aside] they should just shoot all their game over a bait,water hole or feeder.
..,...in ethical terms[relating to recreational hunting], I dont see much difference between the three...I see them all as equally unsporting.

Quite a big statement. Not sure the duck hunters will agree.

Klein: I've done both and of course found the tracked lion hunt far more fulfilling. I did the baited lion hunt first in Tanz, yet ironically shot a great lion that wasn't on the bait. I took an even better lion a couple years later in Bots. 100% tracked. It was one of the best moments I've experienced in dangerous game hunting.

If you're only going to shoot one lion in your lifetime and have the patience and selectivity to hold out for just the right lion, go with the tracked lion hunt.

Alot of it depends on the kind of hunter you are and where you are in your hunting career.

quote:

Originally posted by Bwana Moja:
Klein: I've done both and of course found the tracked lion hunt far more fulfilling. I did the baited lion hunt first in Tanz, yet ironically shot a great lion that wasn't on the bait. I took an even better lion a couple years later in Bots. 100% tracked. It was one of the best moments I've experienced in dangerous game hunting.

If you're only going to shoot one lion in your lifetime and have the patience and selectivity to hold out for just the right lion, go with the tracked lion hunt.

Alot of it depends on the kind of hunter you are and where you are in your hunting career.

You are not going to track Lion up in Zam or Zim unless the conditions are suitable which for the most they are not. Does not matter where you are in your hunting career.

Tracked lion are perfectly feasable in Western zim (thank you ian Karma for stopping the hunting across the border from me- it has done wonders for trophy quality!

Still, you need to hang baits ect so you have lion coming in for the tracker to easily pick up spoor and don't run down a bait and blind hunt they are still be very exciting.

If you have a tracker like the bushman (san) that I use you will have a fair idea of what the male looks like before you shoot - any San tracker will tell you approximate size and mane type within 500m of following the tracks, but as noted above, there is no time for trophy judging once you catch up with the lion. If you are lucky you get a couple of seconds before he is vanishing into the distance or getting awfully close awfully quickly.

Andrew the "where" reference in my above post had nothing to do with "location". I was referring to the skill level and experience of the hunter as to the feasibility and desirability of such a hunt.

Agree with you totally Ganyana as far as Bushmen go. Hands down the Sans are the best at tracking lion. Good point as well on the hanging of baits.

quote:

Originally posted by Ganyana:
Tracked lion are perfectly feasable in Western zim (thank you ian Karma for stopping the hunting across the border from me- it has done wonders for trophy quality!

Still, you need to hang baits ect so you have lion coming in for the tracker to easily pick up spoor and don't run down a bait and blind hunt they are still be very exciting.

If you have a tracker like the bushman (san) that I use you will have a fair idea of what the male looks like before you shoot - any San tracker will tell you approximate size and mane type within 500m of following the tracks, but as noted above, there is no time for trophy judging once you catch up with the lion. If you are lucky you get a couple of seconds before he is vanishing into the distance or getting awfully close awfully quickly.

do the bushman get dental xrays while tracking? everyone knows you shouldn't shoot a lion unless you ABSOLUTELY KNOW HIS AGE PLUS OR MINUS A YEAR and size and mane make no difference !!??

There are some PH's that are masters at conducting "tracked" Lion hunts in Zimabawe - irrespective of location, but, (and I mean absolutely no disrespect to any PH's themselves) you will find that these Ph's will have a 'magician' tracker which they will rely on bigtime e.g Ozhunter posted above his photo of a Lion he hunted with Ian Gibson or 'Gibbo' as we know him. Gibbo and one of his trackers, Robert, are a seriously deadly combination when hunting Lions.

Granted, the SAN are good but there are damn fine Shona, Ndebele, Shangaan, Tonga, etc trackers in Zim

quote:

Originally posted by MANDLAZIM:. Gibbo and one of his trackers, Robert, are a seriously deadly combination when hunting Lions.