Something to look forward to .............

http://trophyroom.com/video/BIkAidNXYP/

a nightmare...

Wow,that was kind of interesting to get Monday kicked off on !
Thats a good website,there,s some good footage on it.
Thanks for finding that one londonhunter.

Pleasure

Glad you enjoy that

................

Honestly I do not understand if anyone of them has a shotgun loaded with bugshots. I always read that it is the best medicine for a wounded leopard.

However a real nifgtmare indeed, more over for the attacked hunter, the last shot was very dangerously close to him, from head to feet.

I agree with Steve, unless forbidden by local laws, a 12 mag. shotgun, loaded with 00 buckshots would have been the best choice by far. The most frightening is certainly that risky last shot, that I wouldn't be able to take; on the whole, they seem to me a bunch of unwary and reckless guys. A footage that I wouldn't be proud of.

I receied this from my cousin in the states and according to second hand information - there were NO shotguns there. All double rifles and rifles. Did you see the guide coming forward with his home made axe. I think its more human instinct than anything. According to my cousin they are all very experience hunter the guide has over 40 confirmed hunts of leopard on foot (not hide) still this happens. It just shows ...............

Anyway I can see that this clip has waken a few people after the weekend.........

The leopard was shot the night before from a blind over bait and was wounded. It was followed up the next day when there was enough light.

I think there's been quite a discussion over on the African Forum as a couple of the guys know the fellas involved.

He was lucky not to have his foot shot off especially when the guy doing the shooting had backed off significantly at the charge.

I thought it interesting to see how the cat attempted to get his hind legs into the victims abdominal area in usual leopard style, the legs were bunched up all the while the guy was trying to kick it off.

It definately shows the Dangereous bit in Leopard hunting!!

FB

Hi Kiri

Do you charge more to arrange a hunt like that ?

Ben, thanks for finding something else for me to waste my working day on!!

It certainly looks like the guy directly in front of the camera has a large caliber double rather than a shotgun. This guy with the double certainly hit the cat with his second shot, the cat was pretty sick when it hit the guy with no sleeves. He is a lucky hunter in more ways than one, the final shot must have passed over, or just past him, by no more than a foot or two.

Hi Ben,

I've currently got no horse in that race!!

It's early day s yet and I'm trying to stick to what I know.

Anyway, you don't want a hunt like that, you trap shooters need targets that are going away from you not coming closer!!


Rgds,
K

There are a lot of knowledgeable PH’s who prefer double rifles to shotguns fr Leopard. The type of arm used is often a subjective decision that depends on a number of factors including the PH's personal preferences, his experience with a particular type of firearm and the local circumstances. Availability will also play a part as not every PH can afford or get hold of a quality double rifle and maybe even the availability of ammo could be an issue..
I would therefore say the issue of "what’s best" for dealing with a wounded leopard is far from clear cut and I certainly wouldn’t want to second guess the guys choice in this particular case...

Why didn't the guy with the double rifle hold onto it? He was resting the fore end on his finger tips and had NO control of the rifle during recoil. Looked like a very inexperienced shooter to me.

If you are talking about the guy just in front of the camera, IMO it's not a double rifle, but a SxS shotgun (12 gauge?) with sights; anyway your remark about poor gun control is justified.

When I shot my leopard in Zimbabwe I shared the camp for a few days with another hunter and his PH. The client wounded a rather small female leopard (less than 100 pounds and probably 10 or 15 pounds less) just at dark and they decided not to follow it up right away but rather wait until the next morning. They both had shotguns -- the client a side-by-side 12ga and the PH had a repeater of some sort. The leopard had been only lightly wounded and they did receive a charge from the small leopard.

They came back to camp and I went to the skinning shack to take a look ---- it turned out they had fired 5 shots and all the pellets but one failed to penetrate enough to do any real damage. Most were just under the skin and there were several that had flatted, but not penetrated the skull. One pellet had somehow hit the cat in the eye and that one pellet entered the brain and stopped the charge. I don't know the distances at which they fired or even the size or type of ammuniton used but they were lucky --- very lucky --- that nobody was injured.

I also had the misfortune of making a poorly placed 1st shot as the leopard moved just as I shot and the much larger leopard took the shot high in the chest just under the spine. He fell to the ground and ran off into the short grass just about 30 minutes until it would be dark. We decided to follow up immediately becasue there were quite a few hyaena in the area and I did't want to hide ruined if they happened to find him.

We were fortunate to have a brief warning before the leopard charged from behind a bush. I shot him in the chest and the 300gr Nosler from my 375 went all the way thru him exiting just to the side of the base of his tail (I was kneeling for the shot) and he turned almost a complete 180 degrees falling close enough that, after long steps I could touch him with the end of the barrel. If had a shotgun loaded with copper-plated buckshot I would have used it and I "think" it would have been effective at such close range but who knows.

I do know of a very sucessfull PH who used a Benelli M! with a short barrel and extended magazine to good effect but he literally waits until the last moment to fire.

I also know a PH that hunts leopards with dogs and frequently has to stop a point-blank charge especially when he's guiding clients who hunt with a bow. His weapon of choice is a side-by-side double rifle chambered in 9.3x74R.

Sustaining a leopard charge, especailly when nobody gets hurt, is one those things in life that's hard to describe and while nobody in their right mind wants that experience, it's something you don't ever forget.

Bill, congratulations on your leopard hunt, an unforgettable experience for sure; of course, I have no experience with leopards but I've seen several boars killed with buckshots and talked with hunters that still use them, despite they are strictly forbidden here since, at least, 30 years.
You said that all the buckshots were found just under the skin and failed to penetrate the skull (excepted one). That makes me believe that those were bad quality cartridges, or were old, or, more likely, were shot too far.
The "experts" say that buckshots must be shot with long and chocked barrels, at least 71 cm/30" and 3/4 of full choke, no more than 40 meters far.
May be 15 years ago, I made some empirical tests with my Remington 870 with a short/cylindrical barrel and I found the dispersion of 00 Federal buckshots simply unacceptable, even at 25 meters.
The last boar shot with buckshots that I saw, was quite big, live weight +/- 80 kg, and had a perfect round "pattern" of 9 holes, just behind the shoulder, whose diameter was about 15-18 cm/6-7"; all got through the quite thick skin and long hairs, the vitals and were found under the skin at the opposite side; the boar fell on the spot.
The hunter had a O/U with looong barrels. Facing a charging leopard, I personally would have a good 12 mag. gauge semiauto with a long/chocked barrel, like a Benelli M1 and a 6/7 rounds magazine filled with good quality 00/000 buckshots, rather than a big bore rifle, but that's just me....