Kambako Safaris
Niassa Reserve Block "B"

Primary target Leopard

Delta flight 200/201
SAA to Pemba

Travel With Guns Steve did a great job.

Guns used
Winchester Mdl 70 300wm TSX 180 gr/ CEB 130 gr
Ruger Hawkeye 375 R TSX 300 gr

PH Johnnie Johnson

Left Grand rapids on the 30th of July. Met up with the other hunters in Atl. Got to know everyone at the Delta Sky lounge. Had the usual long flight to JNB. A couple of Gin & Tonics and some(little) sleep and we were there.We were picked up by Gilbert from the African Sky. He showed us to our rooms and it was cocktail hour and ready for dinner. Charl from Infinito Safaris joined us for dinner.

After a nice breakfast we headed back to the airport for the flight to Pemba. A short 3 hour ride and we were there.

Kambako,s people met us at the gate and helped with the gun permits. We then headed right to the charter flight. Our pilot was Garth.

Had a great flight to the camp. Garth flew quite low over the river for a mile or so and we had quite a show.
Got to see a herd of eland and some hippos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqNaFi3WhYk

After we landed we met all the PH's and staff.
We were shown to our rooms and it was cocktail hour. After we ate dinner it was time for bed. It was a very short night because i was still on EST time.

After we ate breakfast it was time to check the guns. Mine were both fine and we were off to find some bait. Impalas were easy to find and we made short work of securing some bait. On the previous hunt Johnnie had a leopard hit a lion bait. So that was the first place we hung a bait. By the end of the first day we had four baits up.
The next day started the same, 4 am wake up and a nice breakfast. We start out to find more bait and to start the bait checking. It did not take long till we had a few more impalas. Started to hang more baits in likely spots.
We also checked all the baits we hung yesterday. The first bait we checked was the first that we hung. We have a hit. The cat was identified as a male but he did not eat very much. We installed a camera and cleared a spot for a blind. After we put the blind up and brushed it in, we swept a clean approach path.
This is what the cat would see.
We continued on with the bait run. Hung the last of the impalas and the day was about over. The next morning started the process over again, This time we check the bait and had picture with a time on them. The cat had feed but came in well after dark. Johnnie thought that he had not ate very much and he might come back earlier tonight.
We then made a gun rest in the blind and left the area to check more baits. We did have another hit but it was a female.We arrived at the blind at 330.
This was my view to the bait.

We sat there in the sauna for what seemed like a eternity.It is hard to be quite when you are sweating like you are running a marathon.At 5 pm the cat was there. He did not jump into the tree,we could hear him but could not see him. I was very nervous that he smelled us or something else was wrong. Time was dragging and the cat was still out of sight. He had to get in the tree soon or it would not work. In Mozambique you cannot use a light, has to be natural light. Finally he jumps in the tree, he does not hesitate at all. Walks directly to he bait,makes a quick move to lift it up on the branch. When he did this he lifted his tail slightly and we both saw the tell tale sign of a male. I looked at Johnnie with a BIG smile and he just nodded his head. The next time the cat reached for the bait he got a good hold on it. When he tried pulling it back up on the branch he rolled his shoulders to me. I saw my spot. Right between the shoulder blades.At the shot the cat turned upside down and fell back first to the ground. He landed with a big thud. We sat quietly listening for any noise.
We did not hear anything but took no chances. We left the blind to go get the trackers and some lights. After we told the story to the trackers we had a quick safety talk and loaded up for the recovery. We had hoped to find it at the base of the tree but were not 100% sure about it.
The trail camera caught me picking up a stick to throw at the cat. He was dead right under the tree. Everybody was happy now. After some hand shakes we set up to take some pictures.
We took plenty of pictures then started the long ride back to camp. We were met by the reception crew and a healthy Gin & tonic.
After the story was told a few more time we ate dinner. That night i did not sleep very much at all. After my last unsuccessful leopard hunt this was great to get rid of the pressure after only a few days.

The next morning we had to decide what we would hunt next. I really had not planned on anything else. Wanted to stay focused on the cat and not get distracted from the task at hand.
One of the baits had been found by the Hyenas. They could not get to the bait but sure scared off the leopards. I decided that Hyena would be my next target. We went to the area where they were and took the impala down, We then found a spot very close to it in the dry river bed.
Began the process of chaining the bait and doing some drags.After we covered the bait with brush and set a camera we left to look for a zebra.
They were on the list of animals need for bait so i already had a licence for one. They were very hard to hunt. Every time we saw them they were running full speed. We tracked quite a few of them with very little success. We made it back to camp fairly early that day.
Today was the day i found out about Johnnie Johnson.He is a hunting machine. You tell him what you are looking for and he will deliver.
He is from the old school of Zimbabwe. He loves to hunt and a real hunt involves walking. I was sure glad that i was prepared for that. On a average day we would walk for 6-8 hrs. Usually broken up into three walks. Many times we would just stop the truck and head off into the hills looking for tracks or water holes.
Most of the time it ended with a long round trip with nothing to show for it.
The next morning when we checked the bait it was almost gone. It looked like a herd of Hyenas ate there. After we checked the camera it was only two of them. I could not believe that only two hyenas made such a mess.
We replace the bait with the carcass of the leopard and went on our way. Made plans to sit for him that evening. It would be another day of tracking the elusive zebra. Had another long day of chasing the zebra with out any real success.
That evening we arrived at the blind about 5 pm. It would be dark soon and hopefully they would not make us wait all night. About 645 they showed up, very quietly. They only made noise when they started to remove the dry leaves from the bait. I could see this thing like it was daylight. Johnnie asked me to signal him to turn the light on when i was ready.
Now for a UNPAID endorsement. I was using a Trijicon scope.That scope made it look like it was daytime. I had used it on the leopard but with the time of day that it showed up any scope would have worked. The hyena was in a bad spot at first so i just sat and watched till he made the fateful move. He turned broadside to me and stood there . I took a easy shot into his shoulder, put him in a heap.
I was shooting the CEB bullets for this animal. They work perfectly. I had been using the same bullet on the bait impalas and the leopard. All the animals were one shot kills. Most of the impalas were shot in the neck and any bullet would have worked for that. I did shoot one impala just in front of the rear leg and ran it into the opposite shoulder. When we picked it up there were extra holes in it. They were scattered all over the front end of the impala. I have read all the reports of the devastation on larger DG animals but had not heard much about the smaller calibers. They do work great. I think they are a little light for caliber but for the right animal they worked great.

The next day we set off again for the zebra. This time we cut some tracks on the road and we set off after them. I am not sure how the tracker could stay on the spoor. We were in some very long grass for awhile and i could not see anything.
They did make a mistake, they crossed an area that had been burned, The whole group dropped down into a low spot. When they came up and out the mare and the young ones just kept running. The stallion made the mistake of stopping to look back. By that time i had dropped to my knee and was ready for him. One quick shot and he was in a pile. For the larger animals i used the TSX 180 gr bullet. They worked perfectly.


The next morning we had the same talk. Whats is next?? One of the other hunters in camp had said he had been looking for a eland. They were after buffalo and had not seen much sign of eland. I decide eland it would be. This should eat up the rest of my time. LOL
Started with the usual plan of wake up at 4 on the road by 430.We would leave the truck and look for water holes to check for tracks. We were finding tracks but they were too old to follow. At one point Johnnie said we should get to a high spot and do some glassing. Seemed reasonable?

This was the spot he liked. After we climbed to the top and had a short break it was back down and on our way.


For the next few days it was the same, a lot of looking at sign but nothing fresh enough to follow. Our usual lunch time was spent under a shade tree. Up to this point i had not seen the camp in daylight. We left everyday in the dark and returned after dark.
I would get 30 minutes to rest after we ate on the tarp. Johnnie would sleep under the cruiser. He said he had been doing that for 40yrs and the oil smell kept the bugs away. Johnnie had some great stories at lunch time. He has hunted everywhere and done more than most guys out there.
This time we saw some eland tracks on the road that looked very fresh. We loaded up and away we went. It was not very long before the tracker just stopped and dropped to the ground. Johnnie and myself followed. The we were glassing to see what was ahead. There were two eland but we could not judge them at all. So we kept after them. Had to get on the ground because we had to cross a burned area. When the eland made it over a small hill we could stand up and cut the distance quicker. We got to within 200 yds and a female was on to us. She did nothing other than look at us, She would not turn away. Finally we saw the bull we wanted. Johnnie asked if i could shoot from there. I was sure i could make the shot if i could stand up. The grass was just tall enough that i could not see the vitals. The tracker slid me the sticks, and i set them up while i was sitting. When i tried to stand to shoot the female busted us. She started to stomp around and the bull was getting nervous. Finally i dropped the sticks lower and i set up to shoot while sitting. I waited for the perfect broadside shot. When he turned just right i let him have it. He fell right to the ground. We all jumped up and ran at him. We cut the distance to 100 yds and it stood up. Johnnie says "shoot again" I just get to aiming at him and he fell over. Turned out that i center punched his heart. The bullet went all the way though him and stopped on the off side skin.
Here is the heart shot.

After quite a few pictures we started the process of loading this beast in the cruiser. It was surprising to me the sheer size of a eland. I have seen buffalo shot that were not this size. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34VCOPoCOFM

We set out for the long trip back to camp. The whole time i was thinking i got two days left. What am i going to hunt now??? When we arrived at camp the other hunters just ask"what did you kill today??" They were amazed that every thing we were after, we got.That was the first eland shot all season.

The next morning we all laughed about my problem again. I told the other guys that if i asked to hunt caribou Johnnie could never make that happen. Then they all said he would try and you would be walking from here.
I decide to hunt for bushbuck. Figured we could spend some time looking for a good one.
We set off for the river bottoms. It did not take long and we were in a likely spot. Parked the cruiser and away we went. I love hunting Bushbuck. They are hunted on foot just like our whitetails at home. We had quite a few encounters. Mostly females and young males. This was the most relaxing day i have had here. After it got good and hot we decided they would be hing in the thick stuff. So we took a extended lunch time.It was quite nice to sit and talk about things with Johnnie. We sat and talked about nothing important and just had a good time. After it started to cool down we went back to hunting. We saw quite a few animals including some trophy Grysbuck and Red Duikers.
That day ended without a shot being fired. Of course when i got back to camp nobody could believe we did not connect.
The next morning would be our last day to hunt. We set out for the Bushbuck again. We were having about the same success as the day before. Then about the time it was getting hot , that changed. We were looking under every tree and bush when all of a sudden the tracker sets up the sticks and just says" shoot quickly"
I stepped up and found my target. He was laying down under a tree. He was in full shade and hard to see. I took the frontal shot with him laying down facing me.
He never stood again.
He was laying under this tree.

You can see the entrance hole on his left shoulder. After we took picture we loaded him up and back to camp we went. Today was the first day i would see the camp in the daylight. We ate lunch at the camp for the first time. After we ate Johnnie asked me what was next. I think when i told him i was done he was disappointed. I was very happy with everything we had done. I had a great trip and got some great trophies. It was nice to get shower and get started to pack for the journey home.
The sun set on the last night in camp was perfect way to end a great trip.

Kambako runs a great camp thanks to the staff. Bill the camp manager will make things happen. Anything you wanted he would do it. Anything you wanted special for dinner or lunch he made it happen. It takes a lot of money and work to run a remote camp like this. I believe there camp is as nice as any South Africa camp.

Interesting pictures

Few more years for this guy.


Remember, Lions can't climb trees. These did not get the memo.

One of the many poached elephants we found.

Another cat in the daylight.

Entrance to the dining area. Baby Baobob trees. Only 1000 yrs to go.

Awesome - congrats on a superb cat!

Nice job Chris. I just don't have the patience (or the $) to hunt chui. On my 2015 Namibia hunt my #1 animal will be a spotted hyena, which I like to think of as a "poor man's leopard".

Congrats once again on your Leopard. It was a pleasure to meet you and the other guys briefly during our Safari.
Regards,
Adam

Very nice! And appears to be a more than respectable leopard. Congratulations.

Lovely tom and great photos. Thanks and congrats.

Very nice, looking frward to the rest of the story.

Congrats on the Leopard!!!

Congratulations - Nice looking cat.

Just love those Moultrie Cams for their clarity.

Congratulations a great looking cat . i know how hard it can to get a Leopard . It took me 5 trips and I shot it on the night of the day after the last day of the hunt on the fifth trip .

Fantastic and some hard won trophies. Hy hat off to the old time PH Mr. Johnson and his tireless effort to provide you with some very fine hunting indeed.

Excellent report Chris and congrats on several superb trophies... love that zebra with no shadow striping and the eland is a brute! But the cat is extra special and well deserved.

WELL DONE my friend! Proper cat and a GREAT Eland!

Looking forward to spending a night with you in Texas in January on my way to Redfish!

Cheers!

quote:

Originally posted by infinito:
WELL DONE my friend! Proper cat and a GREAT Eland!

Looking forward to spending a night with you in Texas in January on my way to Redfish!

Cheers!

Charl
That was Jack that lives in Texas. We can have a drink in Dallas but wont be fishing together.

You don't get to spend much time in camp when Johnny is your PH. Especially leopard hunting. He is indeed a machine that does not know how to stop. Congrats on a great hunt!

Well done. Northern Mozambique is a beautiful part of the world.

Congrats and very well done. Nice cat.

I love hunting with guys like Johnnie, they never quit.

FANTASTIC Jay....incredible time indeed!
Congratulations

More photos added.

Fantastic trip with great trophies! If there was any way to make it better, its a mystery to me. Thanks for sharing and congratulations!