Here is a "short" 4 minute video of a leopard that tried to jump into the back of the cruzer with us. We were hunting with Jeff Rann in Botswana. It was a notorious cattle killer in the area. We tracked this cat for 3 full days. Jeff had warned it wasnt an if he comes its a when he comes. I think the math worked out to be about 188 lbs or so. I have a full 20 min version profiling the entire hunt if anybody would like to take a gander.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcyvV4k8hY8

PAC leopard that brings legitimacy to the able-bodied, and well prepared hunter shooting from the truck.
Shotgun worked there, eh?
Nice work when you can get it.
Not a routine sport hunting method, I assume,
but the protective low fence around the back of the truck is a clue that someone has been there and done that before.
I would want a complete shark cage and shoot between the bars.

Wow! What thrill and excitement!

I would love to have been in the truck with the shotgun!

Nobody else would have enjoyed being in there with me. That would make my pants smell bad. Damn that was exciting.

Seriously guy's would you really call this HUNTING??

I'm sure that it was exciting as hell but you didn't hunt this cat...you simply shot it from the back of a truck! There was even a nice short fence back there to keep you safe.

If you were following the dogs on foot and not from the comfort/safety of the truck then I would say that you did the ultimate dangerous game hunt as surely you would have faced a point blank charge/shot. The way it was done....sorry fellas to burst your bubble but I was rooting for the Leopard.

I'm sure that I will get flamed from some of you but this is my opinion....you posted on a public forum so you have to expect comments.

I have no problem with your hunt since it is legal but don't pat yourself on the back doing hi-fives thinking that you faced death...because you took the safe way out.

You actually cheated yourself ouf of a legit hunting experience.

That is EXCITING!!!

Constructive criticism I know.. but.. I tend to disagree saying it wasnt hunting. We followed this cat for 3 days on foot. Arm and arm with the bushmen looking for THIS cat. Not any other. It was THE cat we were after. We all tracked it and sifted through tracks sun up to sun down for 3 days. We came across 2 different kills which it did not feed on. It could have came then. I'm sure you have been to that area of the Kalahari, there are no trees. The cats simply run and run then to turn to fight. We made the decision to spare the dogs lives by staying with them no matter how fast they ran, thus the truck. I have done numerous blind hunts and 4 other dog hunts and this was by far the most dangerous and sporting. It wasnt IF he charges its an always. If you want to save the dogs.. My 2 pennies. Its a short version video but if you want the complete back story I have it all complete with history of that style of hunt from Jeff Rann.

Congrats on a great cat, really enjoyed the video,thanks for taking the time, and welcome...
Butch

Hello, Jeff,
You are a gentleman so please don't be offended by my remarks!
If you did target that specific cat for 3 days with incredable Bushman trackers then I take back my remarks when I said that you did not hunt your cat because you certainly did.
You may have had your reasons for making the kill from the truck but I think that you ruined an otherwise pure, primordial, experience by doing so. Can you imagine the feeling if you made the kill on foot?

The Leopard was a warrior...2 guys with shotguns from the safety of the truck?? It just looked wrong.

Sorry to rain on your parade but the kill ruined it for me.

Would any of you shoot an Elephant or Cape Buffalo from the truck?

WOW That was exciting!
Anybody who has not shot a leopard has no idea.

Regardless whether one agrees on the method used to take this problem cat, it was probably the most appropriate given the circumstances. Is taking a baited cat from blind more of a hunt? I think not.

Had the cat been able to get into the truck, there would certainly have been some serious injuries sustained by Ryan and Rann. How many of us experienced cat hunters would be cool enough to pull one off like this? My compliments to Ryan and Jeff Rann.

Geoff

Ryan: So no trophy for you with it being a PAC cat, correct?

Had the cat been able to get into the truck,

Geoff[/QUOTE]

But it didn't Geoff did it?? The fence made sure of that. At least with a baited hunt you must walk up to the last place you saw your Leopard go, and if it's not lying there dead you must follow it up on foot.

Seriously, would any of you shoot an Elephant, Cape Buffalo, or Lion from the truck?? I sure as hell wouldn't!

In retrospect, I apologise to Ryan for my reply's to his post. He seems like a gentleman and posted his hunt report in good faith and with great enthusisiam....who am I to dump on his legally conducted hunt?? Sorry for that Ryan.

Not my cup of tea and I will leave it at that and I congratulate Ryan on his experience

That has been done this year. At least with one sick, injured and dying lion that I know of.

quote:

Originally posted by Use Enough Gun:
That has been done this year. At least with one sick, injured and dying lion that I know of.

If one were not physically able to follow-up their wounded Lion on foot then I wouldn't fault them for shooting it from the truck, other than that I think that they didn't face their fears on their own two feet.

Vaughn, in your opinion, would you have felt as thrilled about your huge Leopard if you shot it out of the back of John's truck??

That happened quick heh? Any idea how many rounds y'all put in the cat?

What load or loads were y'all using in the shotguns? I would imagine 00 Buck?

Good thing you had automatics right!!!

I wouldn't want the camera behind me if I was there, it would get to good of a picture of the brown stain in my pants!

First of all, a problem animal needs to be dealt with as quickly as possible will everyone's safety in mind.
Your laundry people gotta know the true story but if that wasn't a pucker story I don't know what would. Anyhow to me it was with great dignity that this cat was taken, more sporting to me than shooting it off a bait, if I had an inkling for a cat and the brass to go along with it I would do it that way, hats off to you guys that kept your cool. Did the PH get the cat with the ricochet off the frame, and was it Buck shot and how many lethal hits where made

Frank(Leopardtrack): No, I would have note shot my leopard from the truck, nor would John Hunt have let me. However, here is the difference as I see it with this particular situation. Ryan and Jeff shot a cattle killing PAC leopard. Ryan will not be able to claim it as a trophy. As long as he doesn't infer to others that it was a real leopard hunt, as leopard hunts typically go, and people fully understand that it was a PAC hunt conducted partially from the truck(as he has), then I have no problem with it. Was it exciting? Yes, it appears to have been! Another friend of mine once shot a sick, dying and injured male lion from the truck at night to put it out of its misery. It was not a hunt, even though it was a respectable male lion. It was a mercy killing and nothing else. As long as the inference and actual facts reveal that it was not a hunt, but a mercy killing or a PAC situation like this one, and everyone is advised up front of the real facts, then other people can make their own judgments and come to their own conclusions as to whether or not it was a hunt within what most of us would consider normal ethical hunting standards for dangerous game. Just my 2 cents worth.

Vaughn,

If that's the case where the Leopard was a PAC animal (maybe I missed that?) or an animal killed as a cattle killer etc then I have absolutley NO PROBLEM with killing the Leopard the way it was killed...but there is no way that the manner in which this cat was killed could be called sporting, ethical, "hunted" or killed honorably...if in fact the hunter called it a hunted-trophy animal. From Ryan's origional post it did read to me that it was a sport hunt and not the killing of an animal as a pest.

Again, if this was a PAC animal then I fully understand that the animal needed to be killed and in that case then it really dosen't matter if it was shot, trapped, or run over by the truck for that matter because the Leopard had to be killed...just don't call it "Hunting". It's death would be no different (or sporting) than trapping a rat in your kitchen and dumping it in the trash.

If that's the case where this Leopard was killed as a pest and not taken as a trophy animal then "Hell Yes!!" that was an exciting experience and I would have loved to have been there beside Ryan.

quote:

Originally posted by Use Enough Gun:
Frank(Leopardtrack): No, I would have note shot my leopard from the truck, nor would John Hunt have let me. However, here is the difference as I see it with this particular situation. Ryan and Jeff shot a cattle killing PAC leopard. Ryan will not be able to claim it as a trophy. As long as he doesn't infer to others that it was a real leopard hunt, as leopard hunts typically go, and people fully understand that it was a PAC hunt conducted from the truck(as he has), then I have no problem with it. Was it exciting? Yes, it appears to have been! Another friend of mine once shot a sick, dying and injured male lion from the truck at night to put it out of its misery. There was some inference later on that he was offered a lion hunt as a consolation for not taking a leopard. It was not a hunt, even though it was a respectable male lion. It was a mercy killing and nothing else. As long as the inference and actual facts reveal that it was not a hunt, but a mercy killing or a PAC situation like this one, and everyone is advised up front of the real facts, then other people can make their own judgments and come to their own conclusions as to whether or not it was a hunt within what most of us would consider normal ethical hunting standards. Just my 2 cents worth.

So much for the theory that shotguns don't work.

Hey Frank: I supposed it was a PAC leopard, as I believe that lion and leopard hunting in Botswana ended some years back, did it not? And, RIP (the expert that he is) indicated PAC leopard. . .as did some others.

quote:

Originally posted by Use Enough Gun:
... RIP (the expert that he is) indicated PAC leopard. . .as did some others.

UEG,
Sir, I resemble that remark!
Yes, I labeled it a PAC merely from the "notorious cattle killer" remark by Ryan, and others are also willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
I was hoping to draw this information out.
Now you have given me the call to ask explicitly, since others above are asking too.
I did not want to rain on the parade, but this now needs to be answered by Ryan:
PAC or no?
Leopard trophy or no?

First to clarify, I was the idiot holding the camera and did the editing etc. The hunter is very good friend. I've got about 44 weeks on the ground hunting in Africa which isn't a lot compared to the knowledge around here but I thought it enough to start posting (with my real name) instead of watching for the last few years. We were using Bennelli's super black eagles with buck shot. In that area of the Kalahari in Botswana Jeff Rann has I believe, 2 permits for leopard, and yes you get to export them. We had a government official with us the whole time. We could have ran a number of other cats as long as we originated the tracks from outside the wildlife area (park). This big boy had terrorized a group of cattle farmers numerous times and had been killing calves so we set our sites on him. He started killing indiscriminately both wild game and domestic. We found pellets from what appeared three shots. The first as it jumped up (hind end) a few splattered pellets in the face through the gate as it was trying to climb over and the final shot. Was it sporting, hell ya. Was it a non-traditional means of leopard hunting, hell ya. Was it the most dangerous hunt I have ever done, hell ya. Leopards in that area need to be harvested, there are lots of cats! Will traditional means of taking them work? No, from their experience it doesn't. The government official told us that if they dont keep harvesting big cats from around the ranches than leopard hunting will be lost for good in the area. He mounted it in the same pose as when it came over the top of the truck. Ears pinned back, eyes dead ahead saying "I'm coming for you". I'm loving the feedback!

Ladies and Gentlemen: We have our answers. You can all now finish drawing your own conclusions and finalize your opinions as I have done with mine. Thanks Ryan for the additional information.

Leopard track, Hunting a big cattle killer is not a normal hunt. This cat is a killer and pushed hard enough he would have killed each and every dog one at a time. One bite and or swipe disemboweled. Have you ever chased after hounds chasing a fox, coyote or lion? We are talking miles and you would be run into the ground.


Mike

Hunting leopards with shotguns and dogs out of a truck in Botswana would be a heck of a lot of fun. I guess it appeals to the redneck in me, because that is how we would do it if we had Mr. Spots in Alabama!

Seems much more fun than sitting in a blind, watching bait in a tree with a spotlight.

This is not an unusual leopard hunt in the Kalahari in Botswana. It may not be your cup of tea, but it is how it has been done for years.

Well,
Let's give the videographer a hand, as he had the most heroic human part in this video.
Here's one for the dogs on the ground too.

OK I understand the situation better.
The only thing I would do different is use my Model 12 Winchester pump action, as I can shoot it about as fast as any semi-auto, and I am hardwired for it.
If I used a semi-auto in that situation, I would be trying to pump the forearm.
I don't trust a semi-auto like I trust a pump.

quote:

Originally posted by TerryR:
This is not an unusual leopard hunt in the Kalahari in Botswana. It may not be your cup of tea, but it is how it has been done for years.

That is how Clive Eaton (owner Tholo Safaris) hunts them. Sounds like great (but expensive) fun.

Toss in a few cases of beer in the cruiser, and it would be redneck hunting heaven!

RIP

Loving the battleur.

BNagel,
Thanks.
I think we need to capitalize the proper spelling as "Bateleur."
It comes from the French word bateleur for a tightrope walker using a balancing pole.
The canting motions of the Bateleur's wings as it soars overhead suggested the balancing act,
so to distinguish it from the French acrobat, call it "Bateleur."
I think the Frenchman pronouncing it sounds to the ear like the English "battler" with stronger accent on first syllable but the preferred English pronunciation is more like "battle lure" with stronger accent on the last syllable,
though the alternate English pronunciation is just like the French,
The schwa sound of the first "e" in "Bateleur"
is slurred over and has little emphasis.
So, you can say it with 3 syllables as "battle lure" or 2 syllables as "battler."

Back to topic:
I am sure the "okes on the ground," or the "okes on the truck" in Botswana would often look up and see the Bateleur soaring overhead,
just like they do in Tanzania.
I was charmed by it in Botswana in 2001,
and in Tanzania in 2010.
Walter is continuously charmed by it.
He grins everytime he looks up and sees one overhead.
Maybe he should take up falconry and get himself a Bateleur.
As big as falconry is amongst the Arabs, I wonder if there are any Bateleur Eagles catching wild fowl or varmints in UAE?

Let me bring a differnet perspective to this discussion - of the local people who live in the environment day in & day out.

In India cattle killers were very common until the 70s. Even today leopards do come into urban areas and cause havoc.

Once a large cat - leopard, lion or tiger - becomes a habitual livestock killer, it is VERY DANGEROUS. It has lost the basic fear of man. Leopards are the worst - more cunning, much smaller and very much quicker. Their sheer ferocity is unbelievable. The key issue is that animal is just a short step or two from becoming a maneater!

If you think the truck and the mesh is a sure safe place, think again. In Boriville national park, BOMBAY CITY - yes a BIG city, man eating leopards are a regular problem.

Leopards regularly enter poultry sheds with cages and mesh and take birds. I know of one farmer (large farm & educated farmer) who shot 6 leopards inside the chicken sheds over 2 years and finally shut the farm down.

If you get a chance to see a real live leopard that has been caught in a cage trap (or even see a video clip) you will get a better feel. I can assure you that the cage does little to make you feel safe. The stomach churns, the AH puckers up big time and the legs go jelly very quickly when you see the amber eyes and snarling angry cat. And the cat is inside the cage trap. He does not look like any leopard one normally sees in Animal planet or Youtube.

Hunting a wild leopard over bait is no where near as dangerous as hunting a specific known cattle killer. The cattle killer that is being chased WILL DEFINITELY CHARGE and the chances of him scratching you up are pretty high. The danger factor is up 100 fold or more. I am talking about that specific cat & not leopards in general. I suspect that the experienced leopard experts will agree.

That hunt video clip is a real HUNT for a VERY DANGEROUS animal. It may not be sport hunting but it is VERY SERIOUS hunting.

JMHO

for once, Naki and i agree. leopard hunting with dogs in the Kalahari is NOT for the feint of heart. a charge is almost a sure bet and it will happen quickly and at close range. i shot mine at 5-6 yards as he launched himself at me about 10 seconds after i dismounted the Cruiser and he dropped at my feet with a 12 bore load of SSG to the neck/upper chest. interestingly enough, the hound pack was a group of mountain lion dogs from Idaho owned by a forum member.

A lot of shots fired -- how many actually hit and how many pellets penetrated enough to do damage?

What ammo did you use -- pellet size etc.

With a mechanical right knee and left hip I do that hunt in a heartbeat - but I might borrow some gear from a lacrosse goalie.

Hope the driver had his window rolled up

Angry cat in the back of a caged truck-bed with two dudes with shotguns? Now that's hairy.

I remember seeing a video awhile about hunting in this area and a long segment was dedicated to hunting leopard using bushmen tracker's (and some rag-tag dogs) to track them. The PH and client rode in the back of the truck much like the OP listed.

The terrain was very stark with only a few "islands of grass" with a few trees here and there.

It got interesting when the bushmen went to ground - a minute they were running around trying to sort out so tracks and then, like magic, they were gone.

I'm not sure what happened next but I do clearly remember the leopard coming out of the grass charging the front of the truck and chewing the hell out of a tire on front, trying to bite thru the grill guard etc. This didn't last long and it ran back toward the island of grass as the shooter's shot and missed alot - he made another charge and as they were ready they shot the cat -- and all of a sudden the bushmen were back.

I'm an expericed hand with a shotgun but the speed the cat made - in the open - toward the truck when coupled with a fairly severe down angle made it a very difficult shot. When the cat retreated the shooter's should have had him before he got halfway back.

I wonder if the video is still available.

This is an exciting hunt and I would participate in a heart beat. I believe the only reason the leopard failed to get the hunter was that he was wounded. Being in the back of the landcruiser is no assurance of safety!

Exciting as hell I'm sure....but please don't call it a "Hunt" because it's not.