18 September 2015, 14:21
Neil DuckworthLeopard hunt in the SVC with Mokore safaris
Area : Mokore ,SVCOperator: Mokore Safaris
Client: Kirk and Anne
PH: Neil Duckworth
Type of hunt: Leopard ,plainsgame
Dates: 1 -15 June 2015
This was to be Kirk and Anne’s first safari with Mokore Safaris. Leopard was at the top of Kirk’s list and if successful a few plainsgame for either of them.
To start we set out to get a bunch of bait. Zebra to me is prime leopard bait so they were top of the list. Fortunately it did not take long to get a few donkeys down.
We then set out to hanging them out and getting our bait sites ready for action. It was not long until we had several females and a couple average tom’s feed.
On the forth night we got a hit from a big tom and set out to get a blind set up. Due to the increased numbers of elephant and lion we decided to use a tree blind.
After a long night of sleeping in the tree blind we climbed out at day break to find the big tom’s tracks at the base of the tree but had not fed. We had moved the bait a bit to try get a better angle for a shot and this may have scared him off.
Anne managed to get several impala which were also used for bait.
The next night we sat again until midnight ,at about 8 pm we heard a leopard start feeding ,thinking it was the male as no female had fed on this bait yet I turned on the light. A big female which Kirk got to watch through his scope for a couple minutes. At least now he had a good idea of what to expect. The male did not show that night. We left the bait the next night and removed the blind from the tree and he came and fed.
We then changed the blind to an approach blind where we were to lie about 150 meters from the bait with a cleared path to the blind. It was a long shot of 80 m but made a solid rest with sand bag, arm rest etc for Kirk. At 6 pm we heard feeding on the bait, we made our way slowly to the blind and put the light on. A young leopard was feeding so turned the rheostat light off and returned to our approach blind. After a short while I heard the leopard jump out the tree and another climb up ,thinking it could be the male we approached to find the big female feeding from the night before. So we returned again to our beds. We repeated this a couple more times . At 8 pm it went quiet. At 9 pm I heard what sounded like a bigger cat feeding so we approached again. When the light came on I could see it was the male so told Kirk to take careful aim. The leopard was sitting broadside on the branch. With the shot the cat spun out of the tree with a slight growl and then all was silent. Not a good sign.
The truck eventually arrived and we made our way to the base of the tree, no blood could be seen but I heard a faint growl come from some thick bush behind the bait warning us not to enter. We decided to come back in the morning and after a short and sleepless night we came back and found him dead in the same thicket where I heard the growl.
A magnificent cat the measured 7’ 9 “ ,155 pounds and had a skull of 17 “. We were a happy bunch of hunter.
Kirks leopard cake.
With the leopard down we took it easy and picked up a few nice trophies . The only thing on Kirks list that eluded us was a klipspringer. Several good males were seen but we could not connect.
This is one very large male which just stood there for the photograph before Kirk decided he wanted on, we tried for him several times after this but it wasn’t meant to be.
The one morning we saw this magnificent Eland bull run across the road, we followed him and after a short track we managed to get a shot. Unfortunately the shot hit a little far back so we had to follow him up and eventually he went down to a running shot with the 505 Gibbs.
A giant bull which measured 41 inchers!!
Another animal on Kirk's list was a bushbuck ,we picked this ram up along the Turgwe river.
Anne's wildebeest bull taken late evening after an exciting stalk.
A geaneafowl for us and a rock dassie for the trackers.
Some of the many animals seen from the Mokore camp deck on this safari.
Two camp bushbuck , one over 17 ".
Kudu
Waterbuck
Elephant
Buffalo
Some photos of the camp.
Some other sights from the safari.
An elephant bull with a bit of attitude!
A 58+ inch kudu which Kirk passed up.
A 30 " wildebeest .
Some giraffe.
Kirk and Anne at the Mokore big tree.
Hippo cow and calf.
Zebra.
On the last evening we went onto a view point and enjoyed some G & T's with a view.
This was a fun trip and my hat of to Kirk and Anne. What an achievement for a 78 year old man to get some great trophies and a leopard of a lifetime.
Man, I would have shot that Kudu in a New York second!! 