Hope I can make this both interesting and informative. We are still suffering a little jet lag from 40 hours in airplanes and various terminal delays on the way home, but will try to write coherently and post a few pictures. We had a wonderful time on the hunt, the friendships we shared will be cherished and the accommodations were exceptional, and my wife even enjoyed it as a 29th anniversary trip. After an extremely successful trip in 2004 for most of the plains game, we decided to go back together and try specifically for a good leopard and a nice waterbuck.

Animals taken - Leopard, eland, waterbuck, Hartmann's zebra, blue wildebeest, gemsbok, warthog, jackal.

Animals seen - Both black and white rhino, giraffe, kudu, impala, springbok, hartebeest, black wildebeest, lion, crocodile, hippo, steenbok, duiker, honey badger, bat-eared fox, and hyena.

Rifle - Only one to take; Remington 700 BDL/SS in 375 H&H.

Ammo - Federal Premium with 260 grain Nosler AccuBond. 28 animals, 3 bullets recovered from eland/blue WB/zebra; all others exceptional terminal performance and exited.

Weather - Hot, humid, and afternoon rain for the first 7 days. Hot and clear for the next week. Temps. in the mid-80's.

We departed Idaho Falls on the 18th and arrived in Windhoek on the 20th of April. Flew thru Frankfurt and had no real difficulties. The day room at the Sheraton was a little expensive, but well worth it, as we were very tired. Baggage was checked all the way thru, and came in fine. I used Judy Noth again with TATUM INTERNATIONAL and the results were as good as before. She really gets the connections done right, and the timing is right for all your transfers.

They had started pre-baiting before I got there with some success on leopards. After sighting in my rifle and ensuring it hadn't been damaged, we went out the first afternoon and collected several more warthogs for additional baits and looked at the areas we would concentrate on. The first morning, we got a call from the dog handlers Zukeli and Punki, and they were super excited. A monster leopard had hit one of the baits up against the big mountain. We went over and checked it out and were stunned! The track was 12-13 cm, and my PH Corne Kruger said it was one of the largest he had seen in the last 5 years.

Turned out on the track, and we were off and running up the mountain. There are no roads in much of that country and we ran after the dogs for the next 3 hours without success. First time I have forgotten to take water, and really regretted it later. The cat got away onto another ranch which we did not have permission on, and was gone. Lost one dog for a day, but the rest were recovered. No canned hunting, or easy use of vehicles here. I knew that Motrin and knee/ankle braces would be my close friends for the next several weeks.

We continued to place baits in dense river bottoms and coulee areas where they had found cat tracks in the past. The second day, we had a female and a small male on several baits, but judged too small to run. The third day was much the same. Turn out at 0400 and check baits for several hours, go back for breakfast and collect my wife, then hunt and scout the rest of the day. We had a female on one bait, and late in the afternoon, found another well used trail and a female track. Rebaited and prayed that the weather would cooperate. Of course, it poured that night and well into morning. Quit around 0300, but upon checking, we found a big male had hit after the rain quit. Got everyone together, and turned out again. When you are almost 57 years old and 6 foot 2 inches tall, a 3-4 mile run in the mountain rocks to settle your breakfast is not a real good idea of fun!!!! We really had the youger guys half my age sweating. Man, I wished I had backed away from a few more meals in the 6 months before the hunt.

Jumped the cat after about a mile and stayed with him until he treed a little over an hour later. The dogs were going crazy and the big tom cat was in the top of an acacia tree. Too brushy for a good shot, and while maneuvering for a closer look, he bailed out to the ground. He looked like yellow flame, pouring down the rocks as he left. Luckily he went at a 90 degree angle to us, and crossed a rocky ravine. The roaring and snarling was incredible, and the dogs were going insane. They put him back up a big Kobas tree, and he decided to hide in the middle. As we tried to get closer, the apprentice guide who was my video man shouted at me "Don't move, there's a snake at your feet!" Turned out to be one of the larger non-poisonous ones, but still almost caused me haert failure. Got closer and grabbed a steady rest. I could only see two openings with small patches of spots in them. Cranking the Leupold scope up to 6X allowed me to see his head and neck turning, so I came down six inches to his shoulder and carefully touched it off. Must have clipped a branch, as the bullet made a large ugly hole going into the left shoulder, and an even bigger one coming out on the right side neck between the shoulder and jaw. As I came down from recoil, I saw him drop straight down, and the dogs indicated he was done.

Much excitement and congratulations, and we were off to collect our prize. Huge old tom and the dog handlers indicated it was one they thought they had run 3 previous times, always unsuccessfully. Took some video and still pictures, then loaded him up for the trip back to the ranch for all necessary weighing and measurements. Got the ranch on the radio and they picked up my wife and came to get our vehicles on the other side of the mountain, and brought them around.

The cat was 7 foot 6 inches (90 inches) long, and weighed 152 pounds. 30 inches high at the shoulder and had a 10.5 cm pad. It was the largest of 5 they have taken this year. The head was huge and blocky. Several days later after cleaning and drying, the skull measured 16 12/16 inches.





With him in the salt, our next priority was a good waterbuck. While checking various areas, we glassed a lone eland bull out on the plains. We decided to track and stalk it and see how it stacked up. After a mile of tracking, we found it hidden in a grove of trees, watching its backtrail, Finally seeing its horns , we knew it was a huge old "blue" bull, and well worth harvesting. One shot thru the right shoulder and lungs put it down within seconds. The 260 grain AccuBond is clearly visible in the picture. Measured 32 1/2 inches with extremely heavy bases. The bullet weighed 198 grains when I got home.



Next on the list was a good waterbuck. We tried spot and stalk for several days, but they just wouldn't cooperate. Finally gave in to watching a large open area from a blind, and found him sneaking thru heavy cover at about 50 yards. Another one shot kill and short recovery. Heavy old bull with almost translucent yellow horns, and nice worn down 26 1/2 inch length. Inches and scores are great, but age and mass are the true measuress of success for me. This one is wonderful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Our friends set up a remote fire, camp chairs, champage, and hors d'ouvers on a rocky kopje for us to watch the sun set and the stars and full moon rise. Our tracker stood watch with a rifle, as several large male lions had been in the area earlier. What a great way to spend an anniversary.

Spent quite a bit of time culling some gemsbok for the ranch owner to process, and got lots of positive results with the 260 grain Nosler AccuBond on numerous animals. It will continue to be my choice for plains game, and large animals like elk and bears here at home.

The problem with hunting early in the season
is the warm weather. We saw 3 black mambas, one puff adder, a rock python, and 2 non-poisonous whip snakes. The low point of our trip was losing one of the beloved Jack Russell hunting dogs to a mamba bite on the last day of hunting.

It was a great trip, and well worth the time for anyone thinking about Namibia for a future hunt. I know we will be saving up to try it again, and just can't wait.

That's a very nice cat and good trophies all around. Did you guys have a scale to get an actual weight? Most of the time, the guys seem to guesstimate the weight. Congratulations.

Yes, the cat was packed off the mountain whole and weighed at the ranch on an accurate scale. They checked and said he hadn't fed, and weight was cat alone. I am a real "doubting Thomas" by nature when anyone tells me how big something is, and was very interested and participated in the measurements myself. They maintain very accurate records for both the permits, and their own harvest data. There was no ground shrinkage on this one.

Congratulations on a truly great leopard! If anything, he looks bigger than the scale indicated!

Excellent old eland and waterbuck bulls, too.

You are making me a believer in the Accubond. I would say your bullets performed exceptionally well.

Good hunting and good shooting!

Blank,

Bloody great cat, mate.

I've never seen all of the black trackers kitted out in Sniper Camo before.........

And I thought a Rem 700 wasn't allowed for use on dangerous game

Awesome, and nice write-up!

Big congrats to you on both a successful hunt, but also on your 29th anniversary. Some of us get lucky; really, really lucky!

quote:

Originally posted by mrlexma:
... If anything, he looks bigger than the scale indicated!

Aaaah! I think that statement applies more often than not from pictures I've seen. 180 +lbs chui's seem to be very common around the fireplace

Congratulations on a very exciting hunt.

I am impressed that you could concentrate to shoot after the snake at your feet.

Very nice pictures also.

Blank,
Beautiful Leopard and great job!!
Who is doing the taxidermy? I hope that you are getting a full mount!

Blank,

Congratulations on the great trophies! Good report and the photos of the animals were GREAT! What camera were you using? The pictures just look so crisp and clear. I would really like to know what camera you use. Thanks. Great looking cat!

Congratulations! That is a huge leopard!

Very nice cat....didn't anyone tell you that a Remington in not a DG rifle....

Nice eland too...

Congratulations on a huge cat. Hunting leopard with dogs is definately exciting.

quote:

Originally posted by ROSCOE:
Very nice cat....didn't anyone tell you that a Remington in not a DG rifle....

Nice eland too...

Or with Accubonds

Well Done Blank!!

John

Great animals. The color of the sky in your waterbuck picture is incredible.

Congrats on a great cat and your anniversary! I'm a big fan of Accubonds myself. I'll be in the bush in 3 weeks. Enjoyed your report. Good hunting, David

Congratulations and thanks for sharing. That leopard is a very nice cat.

Thanks to everyone for the compliments. I wish you all as much luck in the future. It has been thru the support and interaction of AR members that a lot of my questions about hunting Africa in general, and leopards in particular, got answered in the first place.

1. To all the naysayers out there. Remingtons have always been my most accurate rifles. It is only DG if you muff the first shot, otherwise its just dead game.

2. This makes 41 animals to fall to the 375 H&H with 260 Accubonds in Africa for me on two trips. It sure has my support.

3. The camera I used for my pictures is the Canon Power Shot A630, with 8.0 megapixels and 4X optical zoom.

Here's a couple more to look at.

Nice trip and nice trophies.

I like your quote #1 above about dangerous game. I tend to agree.

Hello Blank

Congratulations, that is a beautiful Leopard. Thank you for the report and photographs.

Regards
Aziz

Excellent cat! Well done... I can't think of a better way to spend an anniversary! If I recall, the accomadations at Erindi are pretty nice... hope the little lady enjoyed it half as much as you.

quote:

Originally posted by Blank:
Thanks to everyone for the compliments. I wish you all as much luck in the future. It has been thru the support and interaction of AR members that a lot of my questions about hunting Africa in general, and leopards in particular, got answered in the first place.

1. To all the naysayers out there. Remingtons have always been my most accurate rifles. It is only DG if you muff the first shot, otherwise its just dead game.

2. This makes 41 animals to fall to the 375 H&H with 260 Accubonds in Africa for me on two trips. It sure has my support.

3. The camera I used for my pictures is the Canon Power Shot A630, with 8.0 megapixels and 4X optical zoom.

Here's a couple more to look at.

Good on you mate.

Good point on the Remington

Congratulations on the hunt. I will be there in July for a leopard hunt with dogs.

Hi blank!!

Thanks for a great hunt and a great story!!
Always apleasure to hunt with a great shot like you.
I got a 10,2" brown bear in Russia!!
Will send you some pictures!!

FANTASTIC! Congratulations and welcome home. A ten foot bear is great in anyone's book. T&R are up taking Ryan to his new base, and continuing on to bear hunt on Vancouver Island. Should be back next week.

Now you can get back to work, put your nose to the grindstone, and get your next client a leopard bigger than mine. Be careful out there, and have many more great hunts through the season.

Blank,

That looks like a fantastic hunt. Big cat and some super plainsgame.

Don't let anyone tell you that Remington is not a good gun. In the hands of a competent shooter that Remington is a killer.

Well done.

Dam nice cat congrats