Zimbabwe 2015 Leopard Report

This is first time I have posted a hunt report - took me awhile to figure out embedding the pictures!

Zimbabwe – Oct 2015

Dates: Oct 9th – 23rd 2015

Hunt Area: Makuti Pool and Hurungwe District Area 2 - Rengwe

Zim PH: Johan Bezuidenhout

Agent & RSA PH: Johann Combrink & Numzaan Safaris

Travel Agent: Self-Organized

Firearms: Ruger Alaskan in 416 Ruger w/ Trijicon 1-4 scope and handloaded 350 gr Barnes TSX and Barnes 350GR Banded Solids. Remington 700 375 H&H w/ Swarovski Z5 3.5-16 and handloaded 250 gr Barnes TSX.

Animals seen: Warthogs, Livingstone Eland, Kudu, Waterbuck, Leopard, Jackal, Sable, Hippo, Duikers, Crocodile, Hippo, Common Reedbuck, Spotted Hyena, Elephant, Bush Pig, Baboons, Sharps Grysbok

Animals Taken: Leopard, Hippo Common Reedbuck, Baboons, Duiker

Prelude:

This trip actually began out of shear boredom… On December 4th, 2015 I broke my leg deer hunting with a friend. Sadly enough. there is no cool story, we were done hunting, deer already loaded in the truck and were checking ATV trails. I was moving a small log off the road when I lost my balance and basically flopped down on my butt. Only problem was my left foot was pinned under the log and decided to stay put. SNAP – I literally broke my foot off!

My son and I were supposed to leave for a 10-day pheasant and predator trip to South Dakota on the 11th of December – needless to say, that did not happen. The doc screwed and pinned my leg back together and I spent the next month staring out the windows of my office at the snow while going nuts. My wife and I had already booked everything for the SCI convention in February and I was going come hell or high water. I was also adamant I was not wearing the silly air boot the doc wanted me to wear – OK.. I’m hard headed

I did OK on the show floor and I walked it all day for 3 days albeit my foot was rather swollen each night! I spent some time with my good friend and RSA PH Johann Combrink of Numzaan Safaris while I was there (they always have a bottle of scotch at their booth)! I have hunted with him a lot in RSA and he is a good friend. I told him I had to figure out something to do I in the late fall or I would go nuts. We talked about spending a week or two just chasing PG at his place near Thabazimbi but I mentioned it seemed like a good time to go to Zimbabwe and support the guys who were hurting on bookings. Tuskless prices were great and I did not care about importing an elephant, just hunting them. Johann contacted a good friend of his – Terry Fenn who has Chinanga Safaris and put together a really good deal for me on a 10day tuskless hunt in the Makuti area. Granted there are better areas for hunting tuskless and definitely better areas than Makuti for a guy that had broke his leg 9 months prior but it was in my budget and to be honest, I just wanted to get back in the bush!!

Johann and his outfit Numzaan Safaris acted as my “booking agent”. I paid everything to Numzaan and they handled all the financial transactions with Terry in Zimbabwe. I only carried enough cash for tips and incidentals. I trust Johann implicitly and this process is easy and efficient for me. Johann accompanied me on the hunt so I had two Johanns to keep me straight!

Travel:

This was my 6th trip to Africa, first to Zimbabwe. I have flown both SAA and Emirates and have had great service from both. I live in Ohio and have family in Gettysburg, PA. so I always fly direct out of Dulles. I drive over a day or so before and spend some time with family and it’s a little over an hour drive to Dulles from there. I always park at the Dulles Airport Hilton and take their shuttle to the airport. The shuttle drops you off right in front of the SAA counter, which is right next to the TSA booth – very convenient! I routinely travel internationally for business so the entire travel process does not worry me but when I am traveling with firearms I am always extra early to the airport. Check in was quick and easy, I had to wait about 30 min for the counter to open and then 20 min later I was through security and having a beer. Our flight ended up being delayed 4 hours due to one of the crew becoming ill so they had to change out crews and deal with crew rest, etc..

Of course, that blew my connecting flight to Harare. I texted Johann to please call Afton House and make me a reservation and to please pick me up at the airport. He also changed his flight to the next morning. I could not change my flight until I arrived in Joberg which was somewhat concerning but nothing I could do about it so why worry – another beer please!!

Flight was fine and uneventful. I fly coach but upgrade to exit row seating and “go zombie” once we are underway. When I arrived in JNB I went to the international transfer desk and rebooked on the morning flight with Johann. I was lucky as it was a full flight to Harare! Funny but there was a guy in front of me that was forced to take a later flight to HRE. He was being a real ass to the gal working the desk. Now granted, she didn’t exactly have the greatest attitude but I have learned that politeness and humbleness go a long way! Surprisingly she found me a seat on that morning flight My rifles and bag were checked straight through to HRE and remained in transit so all I did was head on out to arrivals and meet my ride to Afton. Rugby was on the TV by the bar and there were cold Castles in the fridge – heaven!!

A good night’s sleep and back to JNB in the morning after a great breakfast. Met Johann at the airport, bought a couple bottles of scotch and headed to Harare. Immigration at HRE was very easy and it was a welcome sight to see my bag and rifle case come around on the luggage belt. Of course, an enterprising young man immediately offered to assist with getting my guns cleared and to be honest, he was very helpful and grateful for a $5.00 tip. The officer cleared my guns in minutes and we met Johann Bezuidenhout and Jan Stander in arrivals.

We stopped at Johann’s home in Harare to change clothes and grab something to eat and drink and headed out as we wanted to make it to the lodge before dark. After traveling the R3 during the daytime, I understood why he did not want to do it after dark!

The area and lodging:
With traffic, tolls booths and checkpoints, we made it to our destination in about 5 hrs. We stayed at the Makuti Travel Lodge, right at the intersection of the R3 and the road that goes to Kariba. Originally we were supposed to stay in a new camp that was being built but the tents and camp supplies were stuck in transit somewhere between RSA and Zim. It worked out better as the lodge sits on top of a hill and was much cooler at night than where the camp was being built. We had to travel a little further each day but the bar and restaurant was very convenient.

Old-fashioned hotel at the turn-off to Kariba on main Harare-Chirundu road.

My biggest question (and concern) was African Sleeping Sickness! The feedback I got from several sources was the Tsetse flies were very bad in the Makuti area and so was the rate of sleeping sickness. Fortunately, we had no serious issues with them, I only got bit 2 – 3 times during the entire trip – which, by the way, was enough!

Hunt Details

The area, more specifically – the area in October.. Through plenty of research, I knew I would be hunting in pretty rugged terrain. Notes from Buzz and several AR members that were familiar with the area confirmed my research! I think I saw maybe two flat spots. It was extremely dry with very few waterholes and while there was definitely wildlife there, it was very tough to find..

The roads were in very poor condition- the bakkie got a workout everyday!

Very rugged terrain!

As is the case all over Africa, poaching was very evident and the poachers had set numerous fires. The fire and smoke, combined with limited water, made hunting elephant very difficult. Small herds came in the area at night but moved out during the day. We covered many miles trying to position ourselves to intercept the herds heading out of our hunting area but the fast moving fires thwarted us over and over again. The couple of times that we were able to close on a herd, there were no tuskless in that herd or they had a dependent calves..

The fires made the hunting very difficult. A couple times the wind turned on us and things would get a bit dicey – the fire moved incredibly fast through the dry grass.

We ran into meat poachers on Day 4. When we came around the ridge on the bakkie we spotted them moving along the ridgeline. They dropped everything and took off. While the men got away, we killed 5 of their 6 dogs. The game scout said they would take the dead dogs to the local village and they villagers could identify the owners.

That evening, Jan Stander came by for a visit. Jan is the owner of Hurungwe Safaris. In the course of the conversations, Jan updated us on remaining quota. We found out there was still Leopard on quota and since it was nearly November, I could take one for just the trophy fee. We had seen lots of cat sign over the past 4 days of hunting and after a quick discussion with my two trusted PHs, we decided to shift focus and go after Leopard! First order of business was bait so we made a plan and headed to Lake Kariba early the next morning to get a Hippo.

Lake Kariba was very low and we found a pod hanging about 90 yds from the shoreline. Johann did an amazing job calling the herd bull until he turned towards us and raised up to give me a clear brain shot. A single 250 GR TSX dead square in the triangle between the eyes and we had our bait.

We spotted a couple very large crocs, Johann B called Jan to check as see if there was quota left. Turns out the last quota was filled earlier that morning by another PH and his client. Oh well – part of the gamble hunting at the end of the season!
We also needed bait to drag and some ribcage to place over the hippo so we could hear the crunching. Keep in mind, this was not a planned Leopard hunt and both of my PHs were improvising all over the place. We had no trail cameras, no listening equipment, very little blind material and a single Q-Bean light with no battery to run it! We scrounged up a spool of fishing line and I “rented” a tractor battery from the anti-poaching team to run the Q-beam light. The fishing line was strung from the bait to the blind and tied to Johann’s finger to alert us if the bait moved. Turned out it wasn’t needed but is a cool idea.

I shot a nice Common Reedbuck for bait..

and few Baboons for drag baits…

We put up 5 baits on day 5. When driving to a spot in a dry riverbed to hang a bait we spotted a small leopard sitting in the grass looking at us in broad daylight. Needless to say that brightened our outlook on a long shot gamble! The next morning the bait where we saw the bait had been hit by two cats – the small one and a big tom. We proceeded to build the blind and prepare for the night. This is where things got serious but also rather funny. Johann B preferred to have the client lay down and basically nap until it was time to get in position for a shot, after all – it could be all night. Both Johann C and I told him it would never work. Johann C has sat in enough blinds with me to know – If I laid down in that blind, in 115 degree heat, I would be out like a light and… I snore like a freight train! Well we tried it – and it did not work.. The cat knew something was up and crossed the dry riverbed and walked right alongside the blind! We could hear him sniffing!! Now, it could have been the small cat and we believe it probably was. I felt like I had blown it by snoring… We only stayed in the blind a couple more hours and then snuck out. Johann B said if the cat came back and fed that night, we would kill it the next night.

Checking the bait the next morning confirmed, the big cat had fed that night. We convinced Johann B to try it my way that night – we grabbed a chair from the room, dug a pit in the blind behind my rifle, stuck the chair in the pit and me in the chair. I told them to tape my legs to the chair if I moved!! I was not going to blow this setup!

It had only been dark for maybe 2 hours when we heard the crunching of rib bones. I had always wondered if the practice of strapping the rifle on a rest was really necessary – I no longer wonder why! I consider myself a seasoned hunter and I am a combat vet. Been in some serious situations over the years and never felt nervous. When I heard those bones crunching I could feel my ears warm up and the anxiety kick in. Not bad enough to affect my accuracy or concentration but it was exhilarating none the less.

Johann B whispered to me to get ready. I leaned into my rifle and could see the cat through my scope in the moonlight. I knew I had to wait until it was verified it was a tom before shooting. Johann B hit it with the light, the cat turned and looked briefly at the light and went back to feeding. I set the crosshairs a little behind the front shoulder as he was quartering away just a little and when Johann B said shoot I gently squeezed the trigger, looked through the muzzle flash to see him drop to the riverbed. He let out a blood curdling growl, and about 15 yds and piled up.

We had done it!!! Shot a big tom leopard in two nights!!!

They estimated him to be in the high 170’s, possibly 180 lbs. He was an old leopard, with scars on his face and rump from fighting. I’m 6ft tall for reference.

Johann Bezuidenhout , myself and Johann Combrink

The ride back to camp was a raucous time for sure! The trackers and game scouts were singing and drumming on the roof and we emptied the cooler of Castles!

We killed a bottle of 18yr GlenFiddich that night in camp!

I love the Baobab trees!!

In Summary…

I have friends that have not taken a leopard in multiple leopard hunts – I recognize my good fortune for sure! Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would get to collect a beautiful, old leopard on this trip. If Johann C had not thought to ask Jan about leopard quota that night, it would have never happened.

Having two great PHs that both love to hunt leopard was a huge asset. There was lots of leopard (and some lion) sign everywhere and dining choices for the big cats was slim to none. I think the lack of smaller plains game increased our odds of attracting a hungry leopard.

We had other game opportunities over the course of the trip - we returned to chasing elephants the next day, the anti-poaching unit called that they had spotted a herd with several tuskless in it but before we could get there, the herd winded the scouts and headed out of the concession towards Mana Pools. There was buffalo quota remaining as well but there was mandate that we could only hunt dagga boys and not hunt the herds. We saw several nice bulls but they were always in a herd. We ran into a huge Livingstone Eland but lost him in all the smoke and burning grass. Sharps Grysbok popped up several times but never stood still for even a second, and I got a running shot (missed) at a big bushpig that was flushed out of a canyon by the fire. We called Hyenas and had a couple come running in but would not give us a shot. They had been shot at all season and were very wary.

I really like Zimbabwe and am planning a hunt in the Matetsi for Bull Elephant, Buffalo and Croc as I write this!

"At least once every human being should have to run for his life - to teach him that milk does not come from the supermarket, that safety does not come from policemen, and that news is not something that happens to other people." - Robert Heinlein

Posts: 894 | Location: Akron, OH | Registered: 07 March 2006

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