The deep tracks had wandered into a thickly wooded anthill and skirting round we walked into the rear end of a Buffalo. It was a bit too close for my liking but there was not much we could do now as the grazing buffalo turned to face us. My double rifle felt good in hand and I was fairly confident that between us we could sort out this boy. Two other bulls then rose up from grass and the odds did not look so good anymore. The middle bull snorted and shook the flies off his thick neck, took a step forward but still we remained rigid. I was thinking that I would have had to shoot this one in the face but the trio backed off and lumbered away to a safer distance. It was a classic picture as these brutes wheeled in the dust staring us down nostrils flared. Just as we relaxed a fourth erupted from the nearby cover and I told the Bwana (surefire7) to shoot it. Which he did and a little bit later in that morning we finally put him down. We were all elated as the hunt had been thrilling and we now had bait, lots of it. The safari had started very well indeed.




Shemmy, my son Ryan and Green.

The following morning the hind leg had been exposed and the grass skirt had been shredded and was now laying in pieces on the ground. A Leopard had found this bait, within hours of us hanging it, on the edge of the Mutambashi dambo across from camp. His marks all indicated that he was of a fair size. I put a camera up which later revealed a good Leopard but as time was on our side we continued to explore other likely looking areas with the hope of attracting a really big Kafue cat.



Last year we had seen signs of a monstrous cat in our southern area up against the communal belt and I was keen to try for this leopard. Anyway we had a few options and the safari was going well. Down the line the madam took a tank of a Hartebeest and fresh meat was added to some of the select baits. Our Leopard had fed well on the buffalo and we added to it. The camera now showing that he was feeding well into the light of day.



I think it was day five when pulling out of camp I noticed a big heavy track on the road heading towards the fore mentioned bait. I adjusted a few baits here and there in order to circle this cat. Unbeknown to us then he had already taken over the Mutambashi bait and was now dominating this site. It was only in the afternoon when flicking through some pictures the camera revealed a bigger cat. We let him feed and continued checking baits. The southern cat had not shown and another seriously oversized cat that I had hoped for was also absent which was a little frustrating as he had until this date been a frequent visitor. Time was ticking and we had this big leopard feeding and made the decision to take him. The next photo here I am using my son to give an indication of the size of the Leopard in other pictures.







This was a big mature Tom and everything my hunter had wanted. A thick grassy blind was built and we sat that afternoon. An hour or so later a couple of bushbuck revealed his whereabouts and he was leaving the thicket heading for the river and here on the floodplain the Puku whistled their alarm. We could relax a bit now and scratch those tsetse bites and shift our backsides. The Puku would let us know when he was to return. The colour of the bush dulled as the sun dipped below the horizon. Gold turned to silver in the grey light. An emerald spotted dove sang its mournful tune as a small family of bulbuls twittered in the nearby thicket. We had early that afternoon dropped one of the baits on the ground and as this magnificent animal stepped out of the bush to feed we shot him at the base of the tree.

The renowned PH Leon Kachelhoffer was waiting in camp and quickly responded to the shot and joined us in the follow up. On hindsight probably a little too quickly and we found the cat dying but very much alive. Note here Leon insisted I cover him whilst in front of the Leopard as he swapped softs for solids in his double. That was a nerve racking couple of seconds but being side by side and with good visibility we were fairly comfortable with the decision. It took four of us to lift the big body out of the tangled thicket.



As always I felt somewhat sad at taking his life but quickly reminded myself that without Royal Kafue and safari hunting incomes there would be no cats and indeed very little else. This Leopard would ultimately pay for the survival of others.









The Zambia Government has wisely set precautionary quotas for both Leopard and Lion. The one Leopard on my quota would now be aged and the data collected should be able to justify my quota and the continuity of not only the project but the hunting of Leopard in the future.



Meanwhile a couple of other trophies were added to the salt before we departed for the Kafue Flats for Lechwe.

Quality Safari!

Nicely done Andrew.

As usual, looks like you put on a great safari for your clients, the kitty is a toad, buffalo is absolutely beautiful

congrats to all involved

quote:

Originally posted by Gale Johnson:
As usual, looks like you put on a great safari for your clients, the kitty is a toad, buffalo is absolutely beautiful

congrats to all involved

Not to mention the Lichtenstein's! Congrats Andrew.. Keep up the good work. Zambia is on the right track it seems.

Nice cat and a well written account of the hunt.

Congratulations to everyone! Well done my friend.

Kafue Flats in photographs.

Very nice report and excellent Leopard, thanks for sharing.

Well done Andrew. Really glad for you mate.

Mr. Spots and the Kafue flats. Excellent! Congrats to all.

Mark

Very Cool! I miss Zambia.

Man that cat looks huge. Congrats to all.

Do you ever weigh them?

Awesome cat - congrats!

Beautiful cat! That waterbuck looks huge, also.

quote:

Originally posted by Fjold:
Beautiful cat! That waterbuck looks huge, also.

Lechwe but yes huge for sure.

Well done. That was one heck of a cat.

Surefire7 and his wife are the epitome of gentleman and gentlewoman?? hunters. Very good people. I am glad their safari ended as well as it started.

Well done to all, that is a fine cat and an impressive lechwe.

Great cat, and the rest of the animals are definitely nothing to sneeze at! Congratulations.

Thank you Andrew for posting this report for us. We are computer challenged when it comes to posting photos.

Thank you also Mike Burke for the kind words. We really enjoyed meeting you and Leon. And thanks to everyone else for your comments on the hunt.

I certainly cannot improve on Andrew's pen, but I will add the rifle battery we used. I decided to take a three rifle battery on this safari; 404 Jeffery, 35 Whelen, and 7mm Rem. Mag. This was our 7th safari and I had never taken a 35 Whelen. That oversight has now been corrected.

I only shot 400 gr. SAFs in the 404 @ 2300 fps. The 35 Whelen used 250 gr. NP @ 2550 fps. for all other animals, except the Oribi, which was taken with a 280 SAF and a 275 A-Square solid.

The 404 was used on the Buffalo, and everything else was taken with the 35 Whelen including the Leopard. I had planned to use the 7mm on the Lechwe, anticipating a possible long shot. As it turned out, the shot was 200 yds or less, and the Whelen did its job. That was fortunate, as the 7mm was out of action with a missing screw. Another case in point for taking more than one rifle on safari. In fact, in this case, three. I was grateful to not have to shoot the Lechwe with an open sighted 404J at that distance.

I considered our safari last year with Andrew the best we had ever experienced. I loved the Roan he found me, and the Reedbuck was outstanding. My wife's Zebra was gorgeous. However, taking yet another Buffalo, a monster Leopard and the Kafue Lechwe (and really good Oribi), I think Andrew surpassed himself.

Thanks again to Andrew and the Kaindu Community, particularly the Chief and his council, and Green, for the priviledge of hunting on Royal Kafue. Looking forward to safari #3 with Andrew on Royal...

Well done Everyone

Congratulations

Great cat and great photos.
Thanks for sharing

Congratultions to all.
Beautiful big Tom....Royal deivers again.

Great hunt, report and pictures.

Mike

Congrats to all involved. Well done Andrew.

Nice!!!

Congrats to all!!! Another fine safari!

Best regards, D. Nelson

Great safari and awesome cat. Enjoyed the read and the pictures. Thanks.

Congratulations on another great hunt.
A brute of a Tom for sure.
Looking forward to our adventure in November.

What a great hunt, very well done

Top notch Safari as usual Andrew. Congrats and thanks for posting.

congratulations nice Leopard and buff

wow, what a safari. Are your bushbuck chobe? has markings similar to a harnessed?

I

quote:

Originally posted by surefire7:


Thanks again to Andrew and the Kaindu Community, particularly the Chief and his council, and Green, for the priviledge of hunting on Royal Kafue. Looking forward to safari #3...

Great Leopard and wonderful to see Green back at it. We will be in Colorado again for Pronghorn and will give you a call.

Cheers
Jim & Joyce

Sounds great. Looking forward to it!

505 gibbs,

Yes, it was a Chobe Bushbuck. On our first safari in SA, I shot a Limpopo Bushbuck. In Zim, my wife shot a Chobe. I now have one to match hers from Zambia!

Beautiful creatures.

Well done on a beautiful cat!

Excellent Congrats!!!

congratulations nice cat

That picture of the leopard in the tree is amazing .
Thank you for such a nice report and congratulations to all involved.

Andrew......... no doubt about it. My next and probably last trip to the Dark Continent will be with you.