Outfitter: Tandala Safaris

Booking Agent: Greg Brownlee, Neal and Brownlee LLC.

Airline: Emirates

Travel Agent: Travel With Guns, Fred Salinas took good care of us.

Location: Bili Bili GMA, South Western Kafue

Duration: 16 Glorious Days

Professional Hunter: Lance Higgins

Trackers: Ernest, Jaffet, and Jelus

Game Scout: Julius and his trusty, somewhat sketchy AK47. I called it his purse since it never left his side.

Chefs: John and Collins, assisted by wait staff Joseph and Phil.

Rifles: Mine - Custom P14 Enfield .416 Remington handload with 400gr TBBC at 2375fps; Wifes - Custom Mauser 7X57 handloads Swift 150gr Scirroco 2 at 2750fps. Both rifles were built by myself.

Game Taken: warthog, bushpig, grey duiker, chobe bushbuck, defassa waterbuck, impala, Sharpe's grysbok, Lichtenstein's hartebeest, cape buffalo, sable, leopard

Game available, seen, chased, missed, or otherwise not taken: baboon, reedbuck, kudu, oribi, roan (no animals wounded), a couple dozen mongoose, cheetah, lion, honey badger, jackal, too many birds to mention (we marked them all in a book).

Cameras Used: Panasonic ZS100, Olympus OM-D EM-1 Mark 2 with Oly 12-40 f2.8, Panasonic/Leica 100-400mm f4.0-6.3, Panasonic/Leica 14-150mm F3.5-5.6. The 100-400mm lens was on the Oly 90% of the time.

The story begins:
Around mid-May, I was driving to Arkansas for a meeting at one of our company's plants and due to the unbelievably sterile nature of that drive, I needed something to do. So, I called Greg Brownlee to discuss an offer he had sent about elephant. Details were exchanged, and the conversation moved to a cancellation email he had just sent about some buffalo, leopard and sable that no longer had takers.

If we rewind back to January, my wife, Cathy, and I were toddling around the DSC show gawking at a wide variety of things, and every time we walked by a sable mount, she would become more certain that this was her next target. She has a simpler philosophy on hunting that I do. Pick an animal, and shoot that animal, then enjoy the rest of the hunt as a spectator. I am unable to do that and treat Africa similar to potato chips, good cookies, beer where you can't have just one. At the time I did not quite grasp just how much my wife wanted to get a sable so I didn't expect the answer I later got.

At this point in my journey to the land of cotton (eastern Arkansas is mostly cotton fields), I stopped for a splendidly mediocre lunch at a truck stop, and called Cathy to discuss the elephant hunt offer and this cancellation offer. We had been planning the elephant for 2020, and narrowed that down to a few options, but this cancellation was intriguing since it checked off several wants. Cathy read the offer on email while we talked, asked if we were looking at the buffalo, leopard, sable option for 16 days, and then she simply said book it. And that is how we paid for Greg Brownlee's groceries for the next several months.

August 11th. Travel day numero uno. A day that came remarkably fast since that phone tag match from mid-May. Since then, we had organized, practiced, destroyed and replaced a scope on my .416, run out of 7mm 160gr Nosler Partitions for reloading (someone put 140gr ballistic tips into a 160gr Partition box and didn't mark it, what a jerk), and finally got it all put together for the trip. Our sweet, yet rambunctious, doodle dog was deposited with friends, and we started our journey east, way east.

Our flights were smooth with the exception of an Emirates supervisor in Dubai that I am certain combs his ass in the morning certain it is his head. In honesty, I couldn’t distinguish the two either. But that is another story, and in the end all of our stuff arrived in Lusaka with us at the same time.

Sian Higgins (pronounced like Shawn) met us at the airport, and efficiently moved us through to the charter plane for an hour plus hop to Ngoma airstrip. Here we met Lance and the crew, and also met his former client who I will call A. “A” had a hell of a hunt that will influence mine a bit later on.

From here we mounted the truck and spent 2 hours navigating what appeared to be random two track roads as the sun went down. It was a beautiful drive in and we saw a lot of game. All of which were new sights to the two of us.

Once at camp, we were directed to our tent complete with wood floor, en suite bathroom with tub, and all the comforts of home. The perfect place to lay awake listening to elephant, bushbabies screech, hyena giggle and laugh, bushbuck bark at the camp leopard, that leopard calling, lions roaring just on the other side of the skinning shed most of the night, and one of three baboon troops freaking out any time a twig snapped. We loved every second of it.

We cleaned up from our long journey, moseyed to the fire and wrangled a couple of drinks before dinner. This evening, we got to meet the whole of Tandala Safaris: Lance Higgins, Greg Street, and Olliver (business partner, and fun guy in camp, loves fishing). Greg and Ollie were there to resupply the camp, and took off the next day. It was nice to meet them, and learn more about the area and outfit. Ollie and his wife would pop in a couple more times during our hunt and provided some great conversation and fun. Late in the hunt we also met Jody Higgins, Lance's younger brother who is also a PH.

The cast and crew in camp were Phil and Joseph who waited on us and took wonderful care of us. John and Collins provided the chef skills in the kitchen with great success. The food was top notch featuring a wide variety of wild game cooked in French influenced styles. They even obliged us in preparing some of the odd cuts like buffalo tongue and kidney.

Lawrence (I am sure I am not spelling this correctly) was the head skinner, and had 3 fellows under him whose names I didn't get in the initial introductions. My ears had not adjusted to the accent yet and we didn't talk with them much later on. The skinning and trophy prep was very well done. Great attention to detail, and they used scalpels for the caping of the heads which I was both surprised and impressed with. I wandered over to the skinning shed a few times and have no concerns.

Now, I have written enough to get you into camp, and I can write much more about the experience, but I think, it is better shown through photos. I'll narrate where needed and focus primarily on the hunting. I hope you enjoy these photos and report. If you don't, keep it to yourself or my snowflake ego might melt.

One comment on my photos. I switched to an Olympus system from Canon and am working out the best settings and RAW processing methods for it. So, some aren't quite what I want, and others look good on my home computer screen, but are a little off on other screens (my screen calibration needs attention). It was completely worth the size/weight reduction to switch systems. It took my travel kit from 20lbs +/- down to 8lbs, increased the reach from 600mm to 800mm and it all fits in the bottom of my backpack. My prior kit had its own dedicated rolling bag and I would pack a separate backpack. This system is a pleasure to travel with.




Elephant on the runway. Apologies for the photo, but it’s the best I got on such short notice.


Ngoma Airport


The airstrip staff had tents set up inside for quarters since there were no doors. Those tents were the only refuge from the vampire flies.



Cathy in the high seat on the 2 hour ride to camp. After the sun retreated, she was almost unrecognizable under the crush of blankets she was using to stay warm. Temps were in the mid 70’s during the day and very pleasant, but dipped into the 40’s at night. It frosted a couple of mornings in lower areas.















Each evening, Phil would stow hot water bottles in our bed to warm it up for us. Each morning, Cathy would wrap her clothes in them to warm them up, then she would warm up her hands.


Coffee delivered by Phil each morning. Phil was awesome.


Cathy supervising us hanging a leopard bait.


The hunt started slowly on day one with a missed opportunity on bushpig in the middle of the day and several false starts on hartebeest. By day two, the rust was cleaned off, and things started to gel.

As we passed by a large thicket, Ernest gave the pssst, pssst sound that we came to know as the signal for game spotted. I couldn’t see what the heck he was looking at in the middle of this mess of sticks and twigs. Lance gets out and pulls the sticks out. I take this as my queue to get a rifle and get off the truck. He sets up the sticks and guides me to a patch of white fur buried in the thicket. Once I get on it, I realize it is a snoozing bushpig. Lance gives me the go ahead, and I send a 400gr bullet on its way.





We tooled back to camp for lunch after a tour of the area that morning to skin the pig so it could be hung for bait. Now we were in business. That afternoon, we came around a corner, and spotted a pair of lions about 30 yards off the road. I’m thinking, that is incredible, and start shooting photos. The older lion has no interest in us, but the younger one to the right drops into a crouch. Uh Oh! With a snarl, and lots of roaring, here they came. Lance punches it, and I somehow figure out how to keep my camera safe while snatching up my big rifle. My hands work the bolt, and my mind is thinking we are going to need to repel boarders. It becomes apparent that I am alone in this endeavor. Both trackers and our game scout have compacted themselves under the high seat. The big boy comes up about 5 feet short and his little bastard buddy careens in from behind about 15 feet back. They pad after us for another 100 yards before roaring once more and giving up.

My compatriots reappear giggling and laughing and, of course, I join in. I was half thinking that Jaffet was going to jettison half a pig as an offering.




The baits were hung on a branch with care in hopes that Mr. Spots soon would be there. That is a hallmark of leopard hunting, hope. If you aren’t an optimistic person, this is not for you. Did I mention that this is try #2? I already spent 14 days in Namibia trying for a cat. Wonderful trip in 2014, but again, I digress. That is another story for another time.

Day 3 brought us face to face once more with our two lion friends. This time they were 300 yards up the road, and we decided to turn and go around them. However, that young one once again decided to have a go at us. Both start the charge at about 200 yards and cover the distance with ridiculous speed. Lance hits the gas, and we start yelling at them, then we stop, and this they take notice of. They stop, snarling and roaring, but unsure what to do now. We’ve had enough, and a warning shot is fired into the dirt between them. They fire out of there like a couple of tawny missiles.




A bit later in the morning, we rouded a corner and a great chobe bushbuck was spotted about 50 yards away on my side of the truck. We stop, and I slide off the truck with my rifle on the side opposite to him. The buck is standing in the shade of the brush looking at us at this point, and is getting a bit froggy, so I crouch move to the front of the truck, pop up and hammer him offhand. Prior to the hunt I knew these were beautiful antelope, but underestimated how pretty they really are. We would see several more great bucks over the course of the hunt and as I write this, I am a little sorry that I didn’t shoot another. I may never get the chance again.




Just before lunch we cam across a big oribi and worked into about 200 yards of him. He is broadside standing, and I promptly shoot over his back. He then stops facing straight on, and we work into 150 yards for the shot. I miss once more. Probably to the left, but who knows. He bolts and we never see him again.

At this point, it is time for lunch, so we drive to a waterhole for lunch. All of our lunches were at water holes unless we went back to camp. It was nice to watch the various critters get a drink and of course there was always the possibility of a trophy showing himself. On our way, we ran into a bachelor group of impala with one worth shooting. A quick stalk gave me an opening and I shot him, but hit high in the shoulder (I grabbed my wifes 7X57). This shot slowed him, and I followed it up with a proper poke through the lungs. Unfortunately, that first shot blew the hair off the top of the opposite shoulder, likely ruining the cape. Still, I am quite happy with this impala.


Day 5 started at 6 am and we were off to check the north loop of baits. As we drove along through one of the vast expanses of forest, I spotted a lone sable about 200 yards off the road. It may have been the only animal that I spotted first, and got to say psssst first. Once the binoculars were on it, it was apparent this was a good bull. I snapped up Cathy’s rifle and put a round in the chamber, safety on, and handed it to her ready to go. Lance skid out and loosed the sticks, then we started to stalk the bull. He knew we were there, so we ran a tack parallel, but slightly toward him. At about 150 yards out, he stopped and gave a great broadside look facing to our left. Cathy was on the sticks, and squeezed off the shot at the same instant he bolted.

A quick reload, and we started his way again. We caught up shortly, and he again gave Cathy a good look at 200 yards. This time, she hit him well, and he took off. We took to the chase, but he was staying out farther than Cathy was comfortable shooting, so she gave me the green light to finish him. Lance and I moved up and the bull gave us a look at about 250 yards. I shot, and he dropped. Upon final inspection, he was probably done before I shot. Cathy’s shot was good. Tough animals those sable.





It turned out that she hit him with both shots. That first one neatly ventilated his tail.


Day 6 found us checking baits as all good leopard hunters do. No takers yet. It was cool to cold out which was good and bad. The baits would last a long time, but would take longer to get good and smelly. Oh well, you don’t get to dictate what mother nature does. About 8:30 we came into a long valley, and a lone hartebeest was walking up the bottom about 500 yards away. He was a big bodied animal, so we gave chase. After a ¼ mile of following him we had pulled within 200 yards, and it was time to try a shot. I got on the sticks with Cathy’s rifle (better for longer shooting) and Lance whistled. The bull turned sideways, and I shot. It looked good, but he took off up and over a hill to the right.

We followed and he gave me another try at 250 yards as he was going up the side of the next hill. My first shot went high and I jacked in another round. This time my shot was true, and he staggered and fell. My shooting with my wife’s rifle wasn’t good, and it rattled me a bit. Typically, I shoot her rifle well. It used to be mine. I got it when I turned 11 and it was a .243 Winchester. I rebarreled it for my wife in 7X57 since it has a 12” LOP stock that fits her well.
At any rate, I got my hartebeest. One of the coolest of the antelope, in my opinion.




Days 7 was pretty routine, but we saw our first roan. A young bull. Stunning animal. About mid-afternoon, we spotted a duiker on an anthill that looked decent. He bolted, and we confirmed that we was very good, so we gave him a moment to settle, then pursued. We didn’t go very far and spotted hm laying under a bush certain that we couldn’t see him. I slipped a solid into my .416, and killed him at about 75 yards. The smaller antelope fascinate me. They are plentiful, and each is unique. They exist in such a tough environment with so many possible predators beyond humans.



Day 8 was going to be a day to target a known lone buffalo bull that had been reliably frequenting a certain water hole. However, it was not to be. On day 6 we had eaten lunch at this waterhole and this buffalo’s tracks were evident in the mud. By the morning of day 8, poachers had moved in, shot him, shot a small sow warthog, and departed with everything except the skulls. A pity and shame.


It had to take several guys to get that buffalo out. We figured they moved it a couple of kilometers to a fleet of bicycles. When we got back to camp that evening, Lance got hold of the authorities and reported it. A patrol was dispatched, and they pulled several snares from further down that valley. A day later we would pull 6 snares from farther up the valley. Thankfully, this was the only poaching activity we found.

All was not lost that day, though. Early afternoon found us driving from bait to bait. Because we are all about punishing ourselves with the routine of leopard hunting at this point. And we come across a really good warthog. He bolts to the left, and disappears into the trees. Lance turns the truck around, and we loop around to get ahead of where we think he was travelling. From here we start a slow line toward where we had come from looking for the warthog. And low and behold, there he is. This was Cathy’s #2 animal. She was determined to get one larger than the one my dad shot in Namibia. We, my wife and I, never got a shot at a good one there, and it stuck with my wife. One shot at 100 yards, and she had her warthog.



The last bait was checked with no takers. I’m not sure what to think since we have cut several leopard tracks of all sizes, but they are just not feeding. Ultimately, I’m an optimist, and feel it is just a matter of time. But damn that waiting is hard. On the way, out we come across a large herd of waterbuck that we have seen almost every time we have travelled this way. It has a couple of bulls, but no big ones. Lance stops to look them over, and let them cross the road, and I put my camera up for some photos until Lance says “do you see that bull?” Yes, I do indeed. Shoot it. Ernest takes the camera, and I snag the rifle on top. It happens to be my wife’s. I slide off the side of the truck, and come around the front for a shot. The bull is about 125 yards away broadside, and I pull up and shoot. He drops at the shot and kicks, then his head is up. My mind registers spine shot, and I put another into him. That does it. What an animal these are. I read that they are stinky and oily. At least for this Defassa waterbuck, that wasn’t’ the case. Our Rocky Mountain elk smell stronger. I was taken by how thick the horns are, and just how pretty the facial markings are.



Day 9 came and went with no animals taken. However, we did get a good hit on a bait, but the camera angles made it hard to judge the cat. We constructed a blind for a sit that evening. What looked promising turned into a large female and her grown cub. They came in about 20 minutes before dark. Incredible. This is the first leopard that I have seen in the fur and we have a superb view. Simply stunning. Mama fed for a while, then junior climbed up. We watched well after dark with the cats illuminated by flashlight. The trackers were called in and we headed back to camp. On the way those darn lions popped back up, but no theatrics this time around.

Day 10 was a sleepy morning. A bushbaby screamed all night in camp at our local leopard who also decided to serenade us. I wish that I would have recorded it. As usual the bait checking commenced. We did run across this warthog, and decided it was a good opportunity so I swatted it with my wife’s rifle. At the shot he bolted like greased lightening, and I thought that I missed. Not sure how, but he sure didn’t look hit. Upon further investigation, we found blood a few feet from where he was standing, and 100 yards later there he was. Perfect lung shot. Just a tough pig.



The next days came and went following our routine of checking baits. Wonderful days spent in the field. So many things happen and are seen. I’ll add several photos at the end to hopefully convey some of what we saw.

Day 14 found us on the northern circuit again, this time we found buffalo had crossed the road at night on the way to a water hole. We followed the road that direction, and parked about ¼ mile from the water. It was still early in the morning, and there was a chance they would be at the water. We geared up for a long day following the buffalo and were off. At the water hole it became apparent there was a herd and not just a few as we had previously thought. There were also lions in attendance.

We trailed the buffalo for about ½ mile before coming onto them as they fed up the side of the valley. In front of us and to the right were about 20 with another 15-20 directly in front. A few were also behind a large anthill. The closest were 150 yards out spreading to 250 yards. At this point, Lance, Ernest and myself broke away from Cathy, Julius, Jaffet and Jelus to cut the distance. We worked up from bush to bush until we were 30-40 yards from the nearest animal, then the survey started.

Cathy was keeping tabs on everything through her binocs when she heard a low growl. She turns to Jelus, and he just shrugs and smiles. Julius looks a bit pale, and clearly isn’t keen on lions being close, but has no other choice. Jaffet, as usual, has no expression, and is just waiting quietly.

Lance can’t see anything of interest in the group to the right, and I point him toward two bulls at the back near the anthill to our left. One is big bodied, but stubbornly keeping his head down. The other pops his up briefly, and that is enough. He is our boy. Lance takes the sticks, and he and I crawl forward about 50 yards to get a better angle. We slowly stand. In one slow, but fluid motion the sticks go up in unison with my rifle. I took the safety off already and wait for the signal. See the one to the left of that dead tree? Yes. That’s the one. Shoot when you’re ready. My crosshair is already settled. He is hard quartering away, so I’m lined up on the last rib imagining a direct line to his offside shoulder. I press the trigger home, and the rifle bucks with the recoil, but I don’t lose my target. Then, all of that practice I did back home, just falls out of my brain. So much for those drills where I reload on the sticks instantly after the first shot. Like a rank amateur, which I guess I am, I pull the rifle down to do something, but I’m not sure what. Then it hits me, of yeah, reload you moron, and shoot again. I cycle the action. The crosshairs swing onto a buffalo, but is that the right one? Yes, that’s him. Boom and he is gone. Time slowing to a crawl, but taking a scant a few seconds. I know the first shot was on the money. The follow up, I have no clue. We, or rather, I gather our wits, and proceed to follow up the bull.

One thing that became obvious was our underestimation of the number of buffalo. We were looking at 30-40. After the first shot, 80 plus streamed by. No idea where the lions went.

The rest of the crew joins us with the exception of Jaffet and Julius who are dispatched to get the truck. Which may take a while. Jaffet can, but will not leave first gear.

In the meantime, we come around the anthill the buffalo were near, and crest the ridge which is marks a large wooded flat. Almost immediately we spot my bull. He is down on his side, and there is no movement save the froth of blood oozing from his side. We choose to wait for the truck. Lance is quite correct in his observation that the dead ones are the most dangerous.

About 15 minutes later, the truck can be heard, so we advance on my bull and verify his demise. Insurance isn’t necessary at this point. We find that both bullets were true to the mark. The first angling through the lungs and into the offside shoulder. My follow up hit about 10” further back ending up passing through the liver and part of the stomach before departing the animal.

Granted this wasn’t a days long tracking hunt for dagga boys, the poachers somewhat robbed us of that fun, but I am overjoyed with this bull. I can now see why folks go back just for this. What a rush. What an animal. I know that I will return just for this one day, and perhaps many days.





Later that day we finish checking baits and find this pair has taken over. The lions here are persistent, and there are a bunch of them.



Day 15 had a slow start. We sat on a bait the evening before with no luck. A decent male had hit, but never showed. He eventually showed at 1am. This was our first decent male, and this evening we would try again. Lunch time came and found us at camp after we did the south bait circuit that morning. As we relaxed for a bit, a Land Cruiser pulled in. And we got to meet Jody Higgins, Lance’s younger brother. Jody is also a PH and had just finished at another camp not too far away. Good fellow. I could hunt with him, no problem. He had a couple of days off at this point, and decided to visit his brother before heading home. That afternoon, he accompanied us checking the remaining baits.

One bait was on a tree called the lucky tree. This tree had produced a big lion the previous year and we had cut three leopard tracks on the road near it; a female, a big male, and a huge male. The female had fed on the bait a few days prior, but abandoned it after two feedings. Today, it had been hit again, and there were scratchings under the tree. Unfortunately, the camera on this bait had not been turned on, so we had no idea which cat hit. The tracks around the base of the tree were smudged and didn’t help.

We pulled out and a big Sharpe’s grysbok darted to the side which I promptly missed. A huge whiff on my part. Sad really. It’s a small antelope, but at 30 yards, come on man! We continued down the road, everyone snickering at my poor shooting, and Jody says stop the truck. He hops off along with Ernest and then Lance. I join them and slowly figure out that they are looking at a huge leopard track heading away from the bait. We are about ½ mile away by road, but only ¼ mile as the vulture flies. This is the track we saw earlier that vanished. We follow it for several hundred yards, and it turns into a big thicket along the dry riverbed. 20 yards further and we see the same track coming from the other direction leading into this thicket. We turn around and build a blind.

It’s late afternoon now, and I’m seated in the blind. The trackers left an hour ago. Cathy elected to stay in camp.

This sit is different. I’ve got nearly a dozen sits under my belt and this one was entirely different. At about 5:30pm a pair of woodpeckers visited, then departed 15-20 minutes later. After that, beyond the subtle drone of flies and bees, the forest was silent. This was new to me. Previously, you could hear the forest creatures track the cat, or go about their nocturnal business. This time, there was no sound.

At 6pm, I heard it. Softly at first, slowly gaining in volume. Footsteps. Crunch, crunch, crunch. No pause. No hesitation. Deliberate, and unceasing. They passed within 20 yards of the blind and sounded like an elephant passing by to me. I looked at Lance, and he looked worried. The footsteps were replaced with lapping. We had buried a 5 gallon bucket at the base of the tree and filled it with water. This cat was thirsty. Lance slowly raised his binoculars. I pretended to be a sculpture. Slurp, slurp, slurp. It went on forever, then paused, followed by a heavy sigh. Slurp, slurp, slurp. After several days, I could hear the cat scratching and scent marking. Then back to the water.

Suddenly, claws on bark and wood met my ears, and I eased up to the rifle. The scope was close, and I gently adjusted its position. My eye adjusted to the dim light, and a cat materialized in my scope. He went straight for the bait. His right paw reaching down and easily pulling half a warthog up to the top of the branch.

I chanced a look at Lance for the thumbs up signal. The blind was dark and I couldn’t see my own hand in front of my face, so seeing Lance’s signal was out. He just tapped me on the shoulder. I waited for the cat to pause, and shot. My aim was for the heart/lungs since he was stretched out a bit holding the bait. I felt a shoulder shot would be too far forward and I didn't know the position of his offside shoulder.

At the shot, he sprang out of the scope and off the branch. He thudded on the ground, then tore at the earth in a sprint to safety. I helplessly listened as the leopard tore through the brush, then he hit a tree. He recovered, and was off again only to hit another tree. I could hear the leaves rustle, then thrashing that no longer moved further away. Then silence.

A few minutes later we heard the truck start up, and come our way. Lance and I got our lights out and gathered our gear. The truck came. So, here is where things got interesting. You see, "A", had a bit of trouble on his hunt and they had to do a followup on a wounded cat. The cat charged and things got real in a hurry. After some theatrics it was finally dispatched. They don’t know where A’s initial shot was since there were too many holes in the hide to figure it out during skinning. There is more to this story, but since it isn’t mine, I don’t feel right telling it all. Suffice to say, the trackers and Julius were on pins and needles with this follow up.

Jaffet drove the truck, I stood in the back with a spot light, and my rifle ready. Lance took his shotgun, Ernest had the .500 NE double, Jelus had an axe, and Julius was ready with his bayonet out on his faithful AK47. Julius was crouched low and looked like he was entering a fire fight. I felt safer in the truck that on the ground with them. You couldn't squeeze a sheet of paper between any of them. The three trackers were a single mass crouched and slowly, not gracefully, sliding behind Lance. Everyone had at least one flashlight illuminating somewhat random patches of the forest. Jaffet kept to the right of the team and about 15 feet behind slowly negotiating trees, and I'm sure happy he was in the truck.

I scanned in the direction of travel with the spot light, and tried to take direction as to where the blood was leading them. And there was blood. Lots of it.

60 yards arcing to the right were covered as a crawl before everyone froze. I trained the spotlight on the ground, and slowly my cat came into focus laying on its side pointing toward us. I hopped off the truck and Lance and I moved in to check. One. Dead. Cat. 15 days into a 16 day hunt. 29 days trying to not only get a cat on bait, but to get him to show up when I was also there. Many long sits in silence with only the voices in my head to entertain me all the while on edge listening for any sign of a cat.

All I could do was stand there, in awe of such a creature. My hands shook and when I touched the fur, held the head in my hands, I shed a tear for what I had done. Although I am an optimist, I’m certain that I’ll never again take a leopard the equal of this one. You only get one first, and I am grateful for this one.
My view from the blind:

The camp was turned out when we arrived.

The crew. From left to right, Ernest, Julius, Jaffet, and Jelus.

Mr. Spots.








Day 16 was a late morning. The previous night went late with singing and celebration. I’ve never seen anything like it, and felt honored to be a part of it.

This day was quiet and slow. A good end to our hunt. But we weren’t quite done yet and finished up with the smallest antelope. Just before dark, after driving all day from bait to bait, dropping them, or setting up baits for the next hunt, we finally came across a worthy grysbok. And I couldn’t get a shot at him. He ran away, and we continued on. Then another jumped up from an anthill near the road. This one was also worthy. A quick stalk and I hit him with a solid. Our hunt was done.




The following are some of the photos from the hunt that I took and thought you may enjoy. The landscape here isn’t highly diverse, but there were a few areas different from others. It is large wooded flats cut by shallow wide valleys. Most were dry, some had a few water holes still present. Only a couple had anything resembling flowing water. Drought had strangled the landscape, and it was made more stark in some areas by ill timed burning. I can imagine what it looks like after the rains. It must be quite beautiful.

Fantastic photos and trophies there!


Thanks for posting all the details!

Great Kafue Safari.

Congrats!

Zambia well represented here on AR lately.

Great report.

Very nicely done!

Thanks for sharing.

Great report. Enjoyed it very much.
Congratulations on some fine trophies.

Awesome

Great report and photos. Congratulations! Thanks for posting this report.

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+ 1

Great report and pictures. What a superb bag!

Congrats to all involved and thanks for sharing.

Charlie

Ps love the sable!

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What a fantastic safari, congratulations on some excellent trophies and you took some amazing pictures of the live animals and scenario, love the cheetah and daylight genet! Well done

Great report and wonderful cat!

A leopard/buff hunt in Zambia. It doesn't get much better than that!

Thank you. A wonderful, heartfelt report. Congratulations on your first leopard.

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Originally posted by ManuelM:
What a fantastic safari, congratulations on some excellent trophies and you took some amazing pictures of the live animals and scenario, love the cheetah and daylight genet! Well done

That little genet was snoozing in the tree and darted up to the highest branch it could get to when we decided to hang a bait in his tree. We didn't notice him until we were driving away, and saw it up there.

Thanks for all the comments everyone. It was a tremendous trip for both my wife and I.

Jeremy

That is just wonderful.

Question..Is Bili Bili the same as Mulobezi?

Lots of great pics and a great hunt report!

Congratulations

Wonderful report, pix, trophies and a great safari. Huge congrats to you and your wife. Just "Well done" on all. The Kafue has given up some tremendous bags this year.

Mark

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Coming back on one point if I may, looks to me like both of the warthog are boars / males with 2 sets ie 4 warts on their faces - and right good pigs they are! But called as a sow or did I misunderstand something ? Just a question from my corner of the world.

Cheers

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Fantastic report and stellar pix! Agree with the previous posters on the photo of the genet. In all of my safaris I don't remember seeing one during the day, much less having the opportunity to photograph it. That's cool... as is sharing the trip with the better half. Well done!

Safari2: Molubezi was split into two GMA's in 2015. Bili Bili is the north GMA, north of the Mulubezi river, and Molubezi is south of the river. Which was a bummer because we saw a huge kudu on the evening of day 3 on the wrong side of the river.

Charlie64: You are correct. It was a boar. Post edited. Not sure why I wrote it that way. I think I must have been reading my notes and typing at the same time. Multitasking is bad. We saw a large group of warthogs just before and there were little ones all over.

Jeremy

Outstanding hunt and pics!

Great hunt and report, thank you for taking the time to post it.

Wondeful. I don't think the African experience can get any better.
Cal

Wonderful trip.
Great trophies

Awesome trophies and Hunting Report. Well played!

Congrats! I really enjoyed your post and pics.

Great report from Zambia. Superb photos and looks like Lance and Greg looked after you very well indeed.

Congratulations on your superb Leopard

Congratulations! What a special time in the bush and you finally found the right cat. Thanks for sharing.

Ski+3
Whitefish, MT

Thank you Andrew and Ski+3.

It really didn't sink in how good a cat I shot until much later. He is truly what you go to the Kafue to shoot. Old and just big.

When he came in, we heard him for a long time, and Lance was worried that it was a lion from the sound. We had already had three baits taken over by lions, so our luck was not good in that respect.

Jeremy

Amazing Safari!!! Congrats

Enjoyed your report and pictures very much! Thanks for sharing.