The generator had been turned off many hours ago and the rest of our hunting party, along with the camp staff, had been much wiser than we were and were in bed!!! Steve and I sat around the coals of the mopane fire and reminisced about the fantastic times we had just had over the past two weeks in the August of ’08 – we were in Zimbabwe’s Zambezi Valley and were on the banks of the Zambezi river at the firepit of Chifuti Safaris’, Shamashanga camp. We had just completed a Safari on which Steve had collected some fine trophies including a Huge Hippo Bull, 14 foot Nile Croc, Tuskless Ele, Hyena, Zebra and a beauty of a Waterbuck! This was one of those hunts where everything clicked and we couldn’t go wrong. Sharing this Safari with Steve, were his two daughters and his partner, which had worried him a little, as he hoped his girls would enjoy the African bush he’d grown to love – he need not have worried as they’d had a fabulous time. While staring into his glass of scotch he was swirling around, Steve had thrown some ideas around with reference to what Safari he would want to undertake next and I had thrown in a bunch of suggestions, but, in the wee hours of the morning and with a few too many scotches under the belt, we weren’t making too much sense!!!! Steve concluded ”Arrrhhh well Brent – not sure what else we will have in the bag, but one thing is for sure – I want to hunt Mr Spots… Good night”!! With that he tossed the dregs of scotch into the fire and was gone to bed….

A change in occupation for me (I left Chifuti Safaris as a PH and took up the position of Wildlife Manager on Nuanetsi Ranch in the Lowveld of Zimbabwe) dictated a change in Steve’s plans to hunt his Leopard and although I had suggested he hunt with another PH/Outfitter, as I realised it would be years before I may hunt again, he replied “I have enough going on at work and at home to keep me busy in the meantime – book me the first Leopard hunt on Nuanetsi”. Steve and I conversed often and the day came in 2011 when it was decided that Nuanetsi was ready to commence hunting the following year so Steve booked his hunt for 2012, although later in the season because he enjoys the drier time of the year when the bush has dried up somewhat and the visibility is considerably better than in the earlier part of the year. Steve knew by booking his hunt for September would mean the leopard baits would not last long because of the heat and that chances of success would be lower than if he hunted during the African winter months, but he was coming to hunt a Leopard and not kill one so he was happy to take on the odds….

Client – Steve
Client origin – “Tazzie” (Tasmania), Australia!!
PH – self (Brent Lees May)
Trackers – Alfred, Tinos and Pesanayi (driver)
Area – Nuanetsi Conservancy & Cattle Section (separate adjoining areas) - Zimbabwe
Rifle – .375 Westley Richards
Projectiles – 270gr Woodleigh soft points
Dates - 05.09.12 – 18.09.12

Steve landed in Harare without event and overnighted at a B&B and then flew down on a chartered 206 Cessna the following morning where I met him on the Nuanetsi airstrip. This time he had left his girls at home as he knew that cat hunting could mean long hours in a blind as we had hunted a Lion before in Chewore North and had spent long hours pursuing the King of Beasts. After a short trip, we were both organized and settled nicely in Mbizi camp, which is situated under some large Nyala Berry trees on the banks of the perennial Mwenezi river. The camp is managed and resupplied by Chifuti Safaris – everything felt good as we were in a good area and in a nice area - we were definitely in for a good time!!



As is standard practice with most Leopard hunts, we dedicated the first afternoon to hunting Zebra and/or Impala for baits as I had already had several areas in mind where I knew big male Leopard frequented, so we needed to hang baits ASAP. Nuanetsi’s plainsgame population has gone from strength to strength recently which makes hunting on this concession enjoyable again (Nuanetsi had been closed to hunting for four years to allow for recovery from the previous heavy hunting pressures which has proved to be a huge success). It didn’t take us long to find some Impala down in the southern eastern basalt area, so we quickly disembarked the vehicle and begun a stalk up a long cut line only to be called back by Tinos who had spied a herd of Zebra 250 yards off the road. We put in a stalk on a small herd of four unsuspecting Zebra and Steve hammered the stallion which had a bad limp. We had four ‘block baits’ from this old and decrepit Zebra – perfect!



My plan was to hang the Zebra quarters in pre-determined locations across the property and then shoot a bunch of Impala which we would free-spool at some of the water holes where, from previous findings, I knew some big Leopard would quench their thirst on a regular basis. Over the course of the next few days, Steve shot several Impala which were used for bait as per the free-spool plan.

Once all the baits were hung, the daily task of checking each individual bait begun, which, although means many hours of rolling tyres, it gives one a good opportunity to get a feel for the lay of the land and also increases one’s chances of seeing good numbers of wildlife. Steve had a selected number of plains game species he wanted to collect, so we kept a keen eye out for these but more importantly, we were both really enjoying being on a hunt again!

Mid-morning on the third day found us mid-way through the ‘bait-run’ when we both spotted a lone Duiker standing motionless against a Commiphora tree. He obviously thought he was undetected by us….he thought wrong!



Over the past four Safaris with Steve, we had been unable to collect a Warthog but I promised that on this trip, the jinx would be broken! We had just bagged the Duiker and were on our way to check a few more baits when, way up ahead, a lone Warthog boar sauntered across the road. Based on our history with the pigs we both swung into action pretty quick – I knew how bad Steve wanted one!! As we approached the thicket where the pig had disappeared into, we paused for a second and could immediately hear the boar shuffling noisily through the dry bed of leaves. We anticipated his course and got ahead of him in a perfect position – Steve got settled on the sticks – as the Hog entered the clearing which would have been the only shot opportunity, the Warthog turned directly away from us on a game path. This was the first time I had been able to assess the trophy – all I could see was one tusk (his other side was obscured) and it was a good one. Steve didn’t need a second invitation to pull the trigger! The Hog was walking directly away from us and would be gone into some thick stuff soon, so it was a ‘now or never’ scenario. At the shot, he dropped in a dusty haze – we rushed up and immediately I knew something was wrong as the nice tusk I had just seen moments before, was gone!! I questioned myself – had I seen a branch that looked like a tusk?? The Hog was still thrashing on the ground and quickly found his feet and began to run off when Steve executed a perfect shoulder shot which had him down for good. We looked over the Hog and it was immediately apparent that the first shot was low and had gone between his legs, under his belly and connected him in the underside of his chin and exited in the lower middle of his face! The sheer force of the bullet had smashed his tusk into a million pieces, of which we only found one the size of a small cherry! Steve cussed himself and we laughed as we knew the pig jinx was still upon us!!! He promptly became known as the “Pig Dentist”!!



Unfortunately the bait run yielded no hits, so I took Steve to the southern part of the concession to look for some more Leopard sign. It was a pleasant afternoon as a bank of rain clouds had blown in off the Mozambique coast which provided for a cool afternoon drive through a belt of Tambuti trees along a tributary which runs into the Bubye river. A tap on the roof brought our attention to some Kudu Bulls on either side of the Land Cruiser, Steve already had two trophy Kudu hanging in his trophy room so wasn’t interested in a third but of course we stopped to enjoy the view. We assessed each bull “that one is narrow and about 52 inches, that bull…nahh…too young, but has good potential…..” just then, a bull we hadn’t seen yet, bust out of a thicket and took off out of sight, leaving us panicked – “sh*t, did you see the size of that bull!!!!” – knowing damn well, that we both had a good look at him but we still briefly quizzed each other! “Grab your rifle, let’s go” – Steve is no fool when he sees a quality trophy and needs no convincing. With shooting sticks in hand and Steve with his rifle, we quickly trailed the grey ghost, his tracks relatively easy to follow and the cool evening breeze muffling the odd clumsy step. The trackers had held back because they knew that too many people on this stalk would comprise us so that meant that half the time my eyes were searching the ground for tracks and then glancing up to see if I could spot one of the two bulls that had run ahead. We had trailed for about 300 yards when, in mid stride, I looked up and saw the smaller of the two bulls staring at us intently – I cussed Murphy under my breath – surprisingly, after standing motionless for several minutes, the small bull turned and trotted off without spooking the big bull which I could now see at our two o’clock, 65 yards out. The big boy was intent on feeding on a small bush, which was ideal because it meant he was preoccupied and we could slip into a shooting position, undetected. Sticks went up and the .375 cracked the afternoon silence – the bull immediately lurched forward with his tail twisted up exposing the white under part – I knew he was hit.

I picked up the Kudu’s tracks with Steve close behind, both anxious to find a good blood spoor, but after 80 yards we still had not found a drop which worried me somewhat, so I called a halt and whistled for the trackers. Alfred and Tinos both have their qualities when tracking – together they are deadly!! Shortly after the trackers took the lead on the track we found the first spots of blood but still not encouraging. We worked our way up to small rocky outcrop when suddenly the Bull gave a loud alarm bark ahead of us and took off – “bad sign” I said to Steve, as fatally wounded Kudu normally don’t bark, “must be lightly wounded”. A couple hundred yards further on, I caught a glimpse of him moving away from us but it was immediately apparent that this Bull was hit harder than I had just assumed, I was happy to have been wrong in my assumption!!! A quick follow up found us trying to set-up for another shot when Steve stepped into a Antbear hole and fell but managed to regain his footing quickly and put in a raking shot which found it’s mark, as we soon found him in his final bed. High fives all round as we knew how lucky we were to get this grand 58 ½” Kudu Bull.



The bait run would be different today, as the first free-spool Impala bait we checked had been devoured by a big Leopard, the problem however, he had not dragged the bait away (free-spool baits are set in likely places where a Leopard will find the bait and then drag the ‘kill’ to a secluded spot which the cat is far more comfortable returning to, increasing a hunters chances of success considerably - IMO)! Instead he tore into the bait, had his fill and left without dragging the carcass away…this worried me but we still built a blind and sat that night in the hopes of him returning but unfortunately it was not to be, so we pulled out around 9.30pm without having heard a sound.

I won’t bore you with all the details revolving around the blind/bait set-ups but basically we spent several nights in three different blinds, sitting for three separate cats without any action other than howling winds and drizzle as we had two cold fronts come through which kept the baits ‘active’ as it was cooler but it seemed to have a negative effect on the cats. A couple PH’s earlier in the season had tried for one of the resident big males we have come to know as ‘Cawood’s Cat’ who, in PH terms, is a SOD! We tried everything to get ‘CC’ on bait including dropping a bait almost under his nose at a waterpoint we knew he would drink at and twice he walked past the impala we had left for him – he obviously wasn’t this big by being stupid!!! Here are some random pics from the trail cameras during the hunt.









It was 2 pm on day five, we had finished checking our baits and had some Impala in the back of the truck to hang in fresh locations so we were in a hurry when, as we passed a waterpoint, Alfred tapped on the roof and pointed at a lone Warthog boar covered in mud and running from the noise of the approaching vehicle. Certain rules and regulations apply on Nuanetsi, shooting at waterholes is one of them and this is not permitted so I didn’t give the hog a second glance and kept driving. The hog was now running parallel to the Land Cruiser and I noticed Alfred’s bewildered look on his face in the review mirror which I have always keep tilted up to watch him. We had gone a couple hundred yards when the Warthog slowed to a walk but was going along steadily - we bailed out and flanked the pig – as he came through a clearing, I understood Alfred’s bewildered look – this was a damn nice Hog and the perfect one to break our jinx! Steve’s shot was perfect as it anchored the boar in it’s tracks and better yet, the tusks were still intact!! We laughed about the build up to this point but also because we knew this was a fine pig!




Day six yielded no hits on the baits so we headed east to the dry Duvi river, where I knew some Nyala Bulls to be active. This is one of my favorite methods of hunting – walk and stalk in the early morning/evening – as usual, Steve was up for a walk this evening. Not long into the walk, we spotted two Nyala Bulls which we spent an hour stalking only to finally decide that the Bull I initially thought was good enough, actually needed another year to grow. No sooner had we decided this, the two Nyala bulls we had just stalked, suddenly took off at great haste – I was confused because the wind was good and we were still undetected so it couldn’t have been us? We stood up to carry on our walk and I spotted him ahead of us - another Nyala Bull, which had obviously just chased off the previous two bulls and was walking with his back arched and his hair raised. This ‘territorial’ walk indicated he was the boss and he had just asserted his dominance on the youngsters that might have challenged him. I dropped the sticks and Steve took the 120 yard shot as it presented itself – the Bull’s front half dropped immediately as he took off smashing his way through the brush as he ran. With Tinos in the lead, we followed the Nyala’s tracks which headed for some thick cover- initially, tracking was relatively easy until the bull slowed in some heavy grass cover along the river which now made the tracking damn difficult as we had no blood to follow. Tinos and Alfred split up in different directions, hoping to find some blood and I went ahead hoping to find any indications of where our bull had gone. I knew Steve was bitterly disappointed in himself as he sat on a dead Leadwood tree and quietly cussed the situation – not only because he had longed to bag another Nyala Bull but also because, like any true hunter, he hates leaving a wounded animal in the field, irrespective of species. Three quarters of an hour passed when Alfred whistled for our attention – he had found a track which he thought was our bull, even though there was no blood. We followed but I must admit I was rather dubious but we had no other leads so I went with Alfred’s experienced opinion. The track led us across the dry streambed and up into what became a series of little dongas – as we neared the crest of the first donga, we heard an animal moving in the next depression. As we peered over, I was shocked to see our Nyala bull standing just 25 yards away with a large bullet wound in his neck. He was completely oblivious to our presence which Steve took advantage of and shot him again, this time his shot was true. From an extreme low to an extreme high in just seconds! We were seriously lucky on this Nyala….



Mid-morning the following day, we were driving towards the Chambuta waterhole to check baits when a large Eland Bull ran through a clearing ahead of us. We had already tracked several Eland bulls unsuccessfully over the past days but were only too happy to get out of the truck and follow this Bull. Nearly four hours later and in the heat of the day, the track was headed towards Ngongoni dam so we abandoned the track and cut across to try intercept him. We peaked over the small dam wall as Tinos hissed “iyo, iyo” (there, there) – the Bull had quenched his thirst and was already moving out – I set the sticks and Steve made a raking shot on the lone Bull which now had his head back and looking in our direction. The meaty “thump” and the sky high jump was indicative that the .375 projectile had hit the Bull hard. We followed for 300 yards or so and found the bull standing in some very thick stuff – the coup de grace was perfect and he dropped in his tracks. Good Stuff!!!!



Nuanetsi is host to many Steenbok but we had not been so lucky on these guys as they kept giving us the slip until this one stood long enough for Steve to make a good shot. In fact this ram had actually just lain down in some dense shade.



During the last week of our hunt, Chifuti Safari’s PH, Mark Vallaro, had commenced a Leopard hunt with an American client in the cattle section of Nuanetsi and they were targeting a couple Leopard that had been hammering calves. It didn’t take them long before they connected with a nice male Leopard before nightfall after only being in the blind a couple hours into their first blind sitting!!!

Steve and I only had a few nights to go, so the pressure was on big time! Mark was going to go around and drop his baits when he asked if I wanted to know if there was any other action on his baits – “damn right”!! Luckily, I got a radio call from Mark later that morning, “Brent, I have another nice cat feeding on a Zebra bait about 2 km’s below Chinyavada Dam, come and have a look if you keen” – he gave us directions and we were on our way! It didn’t take us long to establish that this was indeed a Leopard worth while sitting for, especially as this was day thirteen! It took us all about 45 minutes to have the Double Bull blind set up and camouflaged with some Diamond Leafed Uclea. We moved off to the dam where we had lunch under some Malala palms, followed by a welcome siesta.



At 4 pm we began the slow drive to the blind till we were about 400 yards before the blind, we walked the rest of the way leaving Pesanayi to take the Landcruiser away to a predetermined location. We quietly slipped into the blind hoping for the best. I really hoped that the Cat would show tonight as Steve was over sitting in blinds and, quite frankly, so was I!! At about 8.30 pm a Hyena walked clumsily up to the blind sniffing all the while trying to figure out what the new structure was until eventually it must have been just a metre or two from the blind- he obviously knew that something was wrong because shortly after that he disappeared, never to be heard again but was obviously back at the bait after we left.



Steve was only too happy to announce that it was 9.30 pm and that it was time to get the hell out of the blind which he had come to seriously dislike sitting in because of the hours of boredom in the darkness. The Landcruiser arrived shortly after I had given the signal on the radio. I was really disappointed as this was going to be our last night in the blind because Steve was apprehensive to sit the last night because IF there was a wounded cat to deal with on the fifteenth morning of a fourteen day hunt – he would be flying out etc. He also likes to relax the last evening before returning on the long flight home. We began the 45 minute drive back to camp and had only gone 800 meters when we went into a turn which made the vehicle’s headlights sweep past a cattle trough, full of water – to our complete surprise, walking away from the trough and in the direction of the bait was a huge male Leopard!! I slammed on the brakes and Steve quickly jumped out to shoot the already departing Leopard but it was not to be as he was swallowed up by the darkness in no time! I was pretty sure that the cat was on his way to feed so asked Steve if he wanted to return to the blind for a couple hours to which he said that he wasn’t keen so we carried onto camp, all the way discussing the brief glimpse of the beautiful cat.

The fourteenth day was the day of dismantling the blind and dropping all the baits, well that was the plan until we got to the bait we had sat on the night before. It was immediately evident that the Leopard had returned and ripped the Zebra bait apart! Luckily, I had left a trail camera on the bait the night before which showed us that the Leopard was on the bait just thirty two minutes after we had seen him at the water trough the night before!! Hindsight is always 20/20 as we regretfully discussed not going back into the blind after seeing him but there was no use crying over spilt milk!! We were so close yet so far but this was hunting and this is what keeps us addicted!! Steve let out a long sigh thinking about sitting in a blind for another night and finally said “Brent, I didn’t come all this way and put this much effort into the hunt to just give up now” and then in true Aussie style, said “f**k it mate, let’s sit tonight and hope our luck changes”!

Again we crept into our blind at 4.45 pm with much anticipation of our last night. With just twenty minutes before complete darkness, a crested Francolin fluttered noisily into a Malala palm bush was situated next to the blind giving us a brief second to clear our throats and reposition while the Francolin settled into it’s roosting spot. Shortly thereafter, Steve, using his eyes and nodding his head, indicated something was at the bait – “finally” I thought, expecting the Leopard to be there but as I looked through my 8X30 Swarovski binoculars, the Brown Hyena had showed up again for dinner but was uneasy. This was a rare sighting before dark but I was disappointed as I badly wanted to see the Leopard instead. The Hyena moved towards our blind and would stop every ten metres or so and with his keen nose held high in the air, he would test the air for any danger. He was only around for five minutes or so when he caught a strong whiff of us behind the blind which sent him crashing away into the surrounding brush in a westerly direction.

Darkness fell as the Scops Owl and Fierynecked Nightjar began to sing their song in the quiet night when I heard a lazy, very lazy, call of a Leopard from close by – approximately 400 metres away. I glanced at Steve and noticed that he hadn’t heard the very low sounding call. The call was an unusual one in that it would start with a very low blood curdling growl which would eventuate into the normal sawing sound but as deep as I have ever heard a Leopard call. Almost an hour later I heard the call further away but in the direction of the water trough we had seen him the night before – this time Steve heard him and had the Cat’s full attention!!! We could tell that the cat had had his drink and had turned in our direction as the volume of the call increased because of the cat’s direction. We monitored the cat’s movements by his continuous calling which gave a good adrenalin rush as he was headed straight for our position coupled with the fact that the Leopard’s call was almost unbelievably deep. When the cat was within 100 yards of the blind, he fell silent and I was worried that he might have winded us as he came in from a five o’clock direction and the wind was blowing from the twelve o’clock. We sat dead still for what seemed like an eternity but was probably only twenty minutes when suddenly the cat called even closer to the blind – I have never felt what I felt when that Leopard, with his unique call, called right there, it is what brilliant memories are made of!

As is normal for the ‘Prince of the night’, we never heard his approach to the bait which was within 40 yards of the blind, even though it was over crunchy dry grass and leaves in the silent night but he was suddenly there. There is no mistaking a powerful cat tearing into a bait which gives cause for a serious adrenalin injection! I could hear by Steve’s breathing that he was obviously nervously excited so tried to calm him while I let the Leopard feed for five minutes before turning the light on. “You ready Steve??” I whispered, “Yeah” he replied – I hit the switch on the spotlight with the red filter (this filter softens the light). The Leopard never looked up at us once, instead he continued to stand up on his hind legs, tear a piece of meat off and then lay on the ground to chew and swallow. Steve and I had been over the shot placement several times and he was well aware of the angles and knew to wait for the right time. “When you ready, take him” I whispered and then plugged my ears and watched through the binoculars as the big cat stood, ripped another chunk of Zebra meat and then crouched to feed.




The deafening .375 blast shattered the silence and instantly the Leopard took off at a speed that one has to witness to believe “Shsssshhh Shsssssshhh” I said as I listened for any sounds that would indicate the Leopard’s chosen path – hearing only a few bushes being hit by the departing Cat but no ‘death crash’. I radioed the vehicle to come as we exited the blind.

While I was preparing for the follow-up when Steve, who also was out of the blind was having difficulty standing because he had the shakes in his legs, big time, from the adrenalin in his system – I thought to myself how good it was to see a Hunter experience this as not many hunters had experienced what we had just been through, the last couple hours. We cautiously walked up to the bait tree and had just picked up tracks when a low growl and movements could be heard from a thick Malala palm bush. The Leopard was obviously alive but was in a bad way – we tried maneuvering into position to get a better look into the bush where we last heard the cat, first on foot then with the vehicle but without success. This left no alternative but to continue tracking into the thicket which was really dense and only allowed visibility of a few feet which was interesting with the sharply pointed palm fronds which somewhat reflected the bright torch beam! Luckily, the Woodleigh had performed well and I found the cat, dead, just several feet from me in a perfect ambush spot. Steve was elated as were myself and the trackers along with a huge dose of relief! Happy Days and a fitting conclusion to another good hunt with a mate!

The Blind :-


The Bait Steve shot his cat off :-

Quite a diff on that cat!

Well done Brent and equally well done getting Nuanetsi on line for hunting.

Seasons Greetings to you and yours.

Great report - thank you! I just love all the trail cam pics.

Thanks for sharing. That Eland looks alot like mine.

Great to read a report written by the PH.

I was wondering about free-spooling in an area with hyenas. Wouldn't they typically get the bait first?

Nice report and some great photos.

Looks like a nice area to hunt.

Hoping to spend some time with your folks again this June, Brent, they are fantastic people.

Congrats on a great and extremely successful hunt!

Looks like a helluva lot of fun!

Chris

That's a heavy cat! Well done

Well done!

Great report..Congratulations!

Did you see any buffalo?

Well done Mandla, that's a lekker cat and a good report. Did you write that yourself? Not bad English for a Plumtree boy.

Great report Brent
Thanks

Great report Brent, good to see Nuanetsi producing again.
Seasons Greetings and please say congrats to Keith and Lynzee.

Outstanding Brent! Thanks for the great report and fantastic pics!

Congrats on a great hunt Brent. You have some amazing leopards there. The Cawood cat lives on, providing your "sod" genetics for years to come.
Cheers,
Ron

Awesome Brent!!!! Glad it all worked out for you and your hunter. How heavy was that cat? He looks to have some good weight to him.

Nice cat. Congrats!

Great report and pictures, thanks for posting.

Nice trophies and I particularly like the photo of the Brown Hyena.

Super report and a sod of a cat, well done Brent!

Excellent report and an even better cat!

Thank you all, for the kind comments...

Safari-Lawyer : Thanks Will and the same to you and yours over the festive season.

SBT : Free-spooling is a huge risk in an area where Hyena also look for any free meals but we try anything to maximise our chances on a big Leopard

FishN4eyes - Thanks Chris, I am sure you'll have a good time again with them, in June. I need some help from folks like yourself to get my Dad to put pen to paper and get a book out about all his 'good old days'!!

Safari2 - we saw lots of sign and only some Buffalo but we weren't looking for them. There was a Buffalo hunter that shared the last week or so of our hunt and he bagged a fantastic Buff - 45"!

Labat : Let's see a report from you now - being the pedigree Peterhouse breed you are!!

HendrikNZ : Thanks Hendrik. Will do - all is well with Mum and baby.

Nube : Hey Phil! Cat weighed 153 lb's - had a nice stocky build

Congrats on the great cat guys!

Great hunt and awesome pictures. I like the different view or safari story from the PH. Thanks for sharing.

I am glad you sealed the deal after all those years. The last evening of the last day. does not get any better than that. Love the trail camera pics, would love to get a badger, hyena and leopard some day.

Superb Leopard and superb trophies/pictures all round.

Lekker, Mandla, Lekker! Very Nice cat and a great hunt report.

Great report and trophies!
Thanks for sharing.

Torbjorn

Great cat and a superb hunt report - really enjoyed all the detail you put into it.

Thanks. Great report. I was next door at the BVC with Use Enough Gun. I was hunting with Shaun Buffee and struggled mightily with the spotted cat, and suffered from the same weather pattern.

Great report and pics, congrats to you and you hunter.

quote:

Originally posted by Bwanna:
Thanks. Great report. I was next door at the BVC with Use Enough Gun. I was hunting with Shaun Buffee and struggled mightily with the spotted cat, and suffered from the same weather pattern.

Bwanna - sometimes it is a huge advantage though but Mr Spots didn't read that chapter for the first 13 days of the 14 day hunt!

Cheers,
Brent

LOVE that kudu!

Congratulations! Great report and pics. Thanks for sharing!

Best regards, D. Nelson

Nothing more sweeter, then the last day and perseverance pay off. The reds gods smiled on you.

Mike

Great report and terrific pics.

The man with one rifle just might know how to use it.

Great report and very nice cat!! Congratulation

Thanks for the report Brent.
Awesome trail cam photo's and congrats on a superb Leopard.

Great report Oak!
You have such a great place in the world there, and Leslie and I lobed our time with you in August!!
Merry Christmas and happy New Year Brent!!
All the best for you in 2013

Dean

Way cool I hunted there three times when Charlie Stanton had it before he was kicked out there are some monster warthogs down there and leopards to! I really loved my times there and the few beers I had at the lion & Elephant well done mate

Fantastic report and great hunting safari specially Leopard is awesome, accept my congrats for great hunt.