Outfitter – Sebra Hunting Safaris (http://www.sebrahunt.com/)
PH – Jan A. Duplessis
Rifles – Rented
Animals taken – Leopard, Spotted Hyena, Damara Dik Dik, Warthog, Kalahari Springbok, Small Spotted Genet, Black Backed Jackal and Hartmann’s Mountain Zebra.

After my safari in 2012 for Lion and Plains Game, I made plans to do a Leopard hunt for 2013. After a bit of searching, I found an offer on Accurate Reloading that met my criteria. It was for a baited hunted in Namibia for 14 days. It was an all-inclusive package that included pre-baiting and the price structure was such that it put more emphasis on the trophy fee than the daily rate. To me, it showed that the Outfitter also had a vested interest in getting the trophy. This was important to me as Leopard hunting is a lot of hard work on the Outfitter’s part and the home work starts well before the hunter even shows up, to help improve the chances of taking a trophy. Sadly, this time, my wife could not join me for the hunt as she was visiting family.

As I am temporarily living in Singapore and all my firearms are still in the US, I decided to rent rifles from the outfitter. Last year I actually flew back to the US to pick up my guns, but it had a lot to do with the fact that I wanted to take the lion with my double. I did not have the same inclination about the leopard, so any bolt gun would do for me. Also I did not want to deal with the extra travel.

When I first got there, there were three leopards already on bait, two of which were good size toms from looking at the tracks. We set up a blind on one that looked most promising. The rifle I was using was Jan’s 404 Jeffery with a 1-5X 28mm Leopold scope. We sat in the blind for two nights and it was apparent that the cat had moved on. He had fed there for 5 consecutive nights before I showed up.

On the third day, the other baits had gone cold too and only one female feeding actively. So, we decided to try our luck with spotted hyenas. We had seen some tracks and decided to sit by a waterhole. We did not get very lucky, but did see a lot of Gemsboks coming in. The hard drought this year made the animals very skittish and they were spending a lot of time up in the hills, where there still had food. A lot of them had even become somewhat nocturnal.

On the fourth day, one of Jan’s friends found a leopard kill. We checked it out and it looked very promising, so we set up another blind at a convenient location about 70 yds away. We came in to the blind in the afternoon and waited for the cat. He did not show up till late evening and problem struck. Even though I could see certain movements the cat made, I could not clearly make out the entire body or the crosshairs in the low light conditions. He fed for a good 3-5 mins before fleeing and the whole time I could not really take a shot. Neither Jan, nor I was very happy with what happened. It was my fault for not checking the equipment in low light actual shooting condition.



Next day, Jan managed to get me another rifle with a 3-9X 56mm Leopold scope. I was thinking the bigger bell would gather more light and help me see better. Bar that, I could try to zoom in such that I would have more of the vitals in my scope to take a calculated shot, even if I could not see the crosshairs exactly. This was new to me. I don’t have problem with my eyes or wear glasses. I have hunted at night before, though not extensively. I had used an illuminated reticle and had no issues with it.

So, we went back the next afternoon, hoping the cat would come back. He came back a little later than the previous night and this time I could see through the scope much better. He went down exactly where he sat. The bullet had passed diagonally between the neck and shoulder and exited out the end of the rib cage on the far side. It had taken out heart as well as parts of the lungs. Big celebration in the camp tonight. He was 6ft 4in long and weighed 125 lbs.





Next couple of days, we tried hard for zebra without any luck. We also tried for the Dik Dik and ended up taking a really mature old male. He was blind in one eye and his left horn was worn down about 1/2in more than the right. He was definitely a prized trophy for me. One of the days, I ended up falling on one of the hills, when a boulder I stepped on let loose and I was lucky I fell to the side and the boulder did not run over me, as that would have definitely broken some bones. I did hyperextend my left shoulder and lost most movement on it for a few days. In fact, it is still very sore as I type this.





I also ended up taking a very nice spotted hyena. This was what I wanted the most besides the leopard. I was told that it is difficult to sometimes get them both at the same hunt, as they are most active during different phases of the moon. Anyhow, I actually ended up taking him in daylight, which again is not very common.



Over the next few days, I took a Genet, warthog and a Kalahari Springbok. The Kalahari Springboks have bigger bodies and horn that their South African cousins I was pretty happy with all these trophies. The one I was having the most difficulty connecting with was the zebra. Over the day, we estimated that we had climbed and walked about 30 miles for them. Walking was not difficult, but the climbing over loose rocks had its challenges for a flatlander like myself.






Finally on the last day of the hunt, at about the last hour, we ended up getting on an old stallion and taking him. From the shot, it took us about 3-4 hours to actually retrieve him, as there was no ready access for vehicles to the area. In fact, if we didn’t have the Unimog, not sure how much longer it would have taken.





All in all, I am very happy with the hunt and the results speak for themselves. All the animals taken (that have a category in SCI) will make the SCI record books. Due to the drought, the plains game were a little more difficult. Leopard is as much luck as hard work. I would highly recommend Jan to any hunter looking to take a Leopard. He has access to a large amount of hunting area and during my time hunting there, saw multiple signs of leopard activity throughout the property.

Nice trophies - thanks for the report and photos.

Great first post. Thanks for the hunt report.

Nice looking cat!

Congratulations on some awesome trophies, especially Mr. Spots. I hunted in May 2013 with Jan as well as August 2012. I'm a little surprised you didn't rave about the food- Mariesje is simply a wonderful cook, not to mention she's a sweetheart.

I struck out there in April but glad to see you scored.

Nice cat. Congrats. Great report.

AR79.

Congratulations. What a fine hunt you had with Jan Duplessis. With a great leopard taken. The Hartman's mountain zebra, awesome. High on my wish list, someday ...

Great report with the finest pictures, thank you for taking the time to write and post.

Jytte

quote:

Originally posted by Bud Meadows:
Congratulations on some awesome trophies, especially Mr. Spots. I hunted in May 2013 with Jan as well as August 2012. I'm a little surprised you didn't rave about the food- Mariesje is simply a wonderful cook, not to mention she's a sweetheart.

You are absolutely right. The food was great. Mariesje is a very good cook and the company around the table was wonderful too.

quote:

Originally posted by AnotherAZWriter:
I struck out there in April but glad to see you scored.

I feel very lucky to have scored on the cat. After all the hard work, it can be frustrating not to have a leopard come to bait, but such is the game. Incidentally I ended up taking him on his kill as opposed to the areas that were baited. Again, very lucky that Jan's friend randomly found the kill and the fact that he came back the next day after I couldn't connect the first.

Beautiful cat. Some really good trophies. well done.

Tough to argue with those results! Well done!

That is a great cat. Jan and Mariesje are wonderful hosts. Congrats.

AR79

Very nice! Mr. Spots is my favorite,

Big Congrats!

Mark

Great report. Beautiful leopard.
lb

Great cat, thanks for posting the report.

Congratulations on your cat...Well done!
All wonderful trophies and looks like some big gemsbok at the watering hole...a fave of mine

Roland

quote:

Originally posted by Late-Bloomer:
Congratulations on your cat...Well done!
All wonderful trophies and looks like some big gemsbok at the watering hole...a fave of mine

Roland

I killed my first ever gemsbok last year exactly 214 yards from that same waterhole. The piping from the windmill to the waterhole was broken, so there was no water in the waterhole. I also killed a ration (cull) gemsbok this May from the same spot, Here's a picture of last year's bull- he was a fraction umder 40".

Thanks everyone. There are definitely some good gemsbok in the area. I wasn't really looking at taking one, but wouldn't turn down a 40 incher either. One morning we counted about 63 gemsbok within a couple of hours before we stopped counting them. Didn't run into a 40 incher or else you would have seen a pic.

I have to confess that when Mariesje sent me the pic of your leopard, my first thought was "He shot my leopard!". I was booked to hunt the first two weeks of August, and I didn't think there would be more leopards in the area that soon.
I was wrong. We saw so many leopard tracks and trail cam pics, that I knew it would be fun. And I got my cat after only 4 1/2 hours in the blind!
Congratulations to you. Beautiful animal.

Looks like you had a fantastic trip. CONGRATS!!!

quote:

Originally posted by mmassey338:
I have to confess that when Mariesje sent me the pic of your leopard, my first thought was "He shot my leopard!". I was booked to hunt the first two weeks of August, and I didn't think there would be more leopards in the area that soon.
I was wrong. We saw so many leopard tracks and trail cam pics, that I knew it would be fun. And I got my cat after only 4 1/2 hours in the blind!
Congratulations to you. Beautiful animal.

Thank you. I understand you took a very nice leopard. It is true about the amount of leopard activity in this area. The leopard survival rate in the area is probably high because of the terrain and easy to catch Rock Hyraxes. This would ensure survival of younger cats without major injuries. There is a big bruiser Jan has been trying to get for a bit. I was hoping you would get him as we saw his tracks on one of the baits before I left. Must be quite a cat judging from the track. Congratulations to you on a great cat.

Great report; thanks!

Thank you. Jan talked about the cat he's been after, and I would have loved to have gotten him, but I think your cat and mine are both excellent animals.
I enjoyed your hunt report very much, and welcome to the forum.

Thanks for posting a great report. Congratulations on your trophies.

quote:

Originally posted by mmassey338:
I have to confess that when Mariesje sent me the pic of your leopard, my first thought was "He shot my leopard!". I was booked to hunt the first two weeks of August, and I didn't think there would be more leopards in the area that soon.
I was wrong. We saw so many leopard tracks and trail cam pics, that I knew it would be fun. And I got my cat after only 4 1/2 hours in the blind!
Congratulations to you. Beautiful animal.

How about a hunt report Mike? Jan and Mariesje are two of my favorite people in the world. Did your daughter hang out with Yandi on the weekend?

Bud, I'll be posting one soon. The worst part of vacations is getting caught up when you return.
My daughter did not spend much time with Yandi, as this was also a time for us to spend together without tv, internet, texting and phoning.
I agree about Jan and Mariesje. I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with Jan in blinds. He is very intelligent and well read on many topics other than guns and hunting, and is an expert in those two areas. He also has a great sense of humor(or at least similar to my own).

great leopard, but my favorite is your wart hog with your hat'
Love it
Congratulation on your successful hunt
Your smile speaks for itself.

quote:

Originally posted by boarkiller:
great leopard, but my favorite is your wart hog with your hat'
Love it
Congratulation on your successful hunt
Your smile speaks for itself.

Thanks. Funny you mentioned about Mr. Pig, my wife likes that pic so much that she wants the mount to have a hat like that on it.

Great report. Nice cat

Some great trophies! Congrats!

Wonderful guy to hunt with. I enjoyed the pleasure of hunting with Jan in 2007, and took a 41" Gemsbok bull with him at that time. Leopard was a target of opportunity on that hunt. The last day we saw some tracks that were wide enough a round for my .375H&H just made it from edge to edge. Kept an eye out hoping to see that guy, but no luck.