Outfitter/Facilitator: Scott Bailey & Robin Bouckaert.
PH: Scott Bailey
Dates: July 2016
area: Village of Sibali in Matopos-Zimbabwe.

Gentlemen,

my quest for Leopard started in Namibia, i hunted 18 days but with no luck, my second try was near Gona-re-Zhow in Zimbabwe where we were outsmarted by a big Tom (i must have used up all my luck with the 69 pound elephant and a 44 inch Buffalo i shot on the same safari with Aaron Neilson).







By now i was sure that i am jinxed when it comes to Leopard hunting but i was assured by many friends that they had had worse luck before they finally got theirs. With this in mind i got in touch with my good friend Robin Bouckaert who lives in Zimbabwe and requested him to organise a Leopard hunt for me. he recommended 'Matopos' a low veld area of Zimbabwe where the leopards are known to be massive in size due to the healthy diet of beef steaks, at the same time they are also bit of Einsteins due to the vindictive nature of the natives.

The plan was made and soon enough we were on our way to Zimbabwe, My Mrs. and son would be hunting plains game in a nearby area called Bubiyana (pardon any spelling mistakes of these areas).




we spent the first day in Bulawayo Club as we had to do some shopping for safari clothing and ofcource Courtney boots for the family.







The plan was to start by shooting baits and hang them in different villages where Scott had received complains of Cattle killers.















As is the case with almost all Leopard hunts the morning would start with checking all baits and at the same time shooting any good trophies of plains game, I was surprised to see that almost all our baits got 'hit' by leopards, some were females, some were smaller males but Scott had his eyes on a cat that he had nicknamed 'the Sibali cat' this particular cat had made the life of chief 'Nyangazonke Ndiweni' a living hell, having eaten 8 heads of cattle this cat was the Bin Laden of 'Sibali' village.

this leopard had a distinctive hind spoor, it was a result of a snare and Scott had a score to settle with him, apparently he had outsmarted 3 hunters before me.

I had a Zambian safari booked in July and since this Leopard opportunity was a last minute deal i only had 11 hunting days, so as I'm sure you can imagine i was quite skeptical having failed twice before in Namibia and Zim on 18 day safaris. However when on 6th day i saw a HUGE smile on Scott's face while checking on elf the baits i knew then i would get my leopard on this hunt.

Scott is a fine gentleman and one hell of a leopard hunter. he is serious, kind, courteous and very passionate about Leopard hunting. we were in the Blind at 1600 Hours, about 60 yards from the Bait. at 1830 hours the leopard showed up. I had read so much about Leopard hunts gone terribly wrong with badly placed shots and also the fact that this leopard was seriously 'educated' by the three hunters before me who had tried to shoot him. so the pressure was on. i dint wasn't to screw up the shot by shooting carelessly and quickly and also didn't want to miss this opportunity.
anyway, to make the long story short i decided to make a quick shot as this Cat would not be coming back once he got spooked (i had the comfort of knowing that as long as i didn't wound him there were three other baits where male leopards were feeding although they were not quite as big as the Sibali Cat.
I made the shot as soon as Scott switched the light on. the shot was good and i had my Leopard.

Congrats, that is an awesome leopard. I am sure that the old adage the tougher the quest the richer the prize makes this trophy very special.

Oh my...that is a monster indeed. Congrats on a superb hunt all around.

Proper!

thanks guys.

by the way i would like to mention here that prior to booking the hunt i obviously did my research on the PH and i read some negative report about Scott here on AR, i found Scott to be a perfect gentleman who was very respectful to my family and I. never once did i feel that he was forceful or got irritated on a bad shot, this was my son's third African hunt with me and he is only 10 years old so you can imagine that a PH has to be very patient with a young Shikari like my son. he has a great sense of humour like most seasoned African professional hunters and he went out of his way to make this trip a memorable one for us. Thank you Scott and Robin for everything.

That's a great leopard Sir. Well done.

OUTSTANDING!

Pir,

Beautiful big leopard and a nice safari.

Congrats!

Mark

Very good cat, and good to see you bringing your son up with hunting as well!

That cat is a toad!!! Well done.

I'd say you have certainly broken the curse!

All of your trophies are spectacular!!

Best regards, D. Nelson

Danish, Congrats on your monster cat! Well done my friend.

thank you Mark, i have received your email by the way, my reply kept on bouncing back as always :-)

Joe is arriving here on the 5th December, we will call you once we have got all his animals. Thanks once again.

Congrats Danish!

.

And worth waiting for by the Looks of him !!

Superb cat, well done and congrats to all involved especially the Young hunter and bait provider !


Charlie


.

Well done, Pir_Danish. That cat is an awesome specimen, and your boy is a handsome young lad.

Congrats.

Well done and great resolution in the photos. Your son is a very fortunate young man and has a real gift of a father. You must be very proud of him.

Wow Fantastic trophies

Good Hunting
carl Frederik

Well done and congrats!!

Great hunt Danish.

Amazing leopard - must be around 7 ft 6 inch.

Great son too. I am sure you are very proud of him!

God bless him.

Monster leopard. Beautiful pictures. Handsome son. Congratulations.

It looks like it was a Hard Won Trophy!!! They are worth so much more. Congrats

Way to go!
You are my new hero!!!

Enjoyed the report and the photos. Thank you for posting. You had a great hunt.

quote:

Originally posted by Cazador humilde:
Monster leopard. Beautiful pictures. Handsome son. Congratulations.

+1

Congrats on a fantastic cat. It is great you worked so hard and were rewarded.

I took my leopard last year on a hunt with my son so I can relate. It is so great to hunt with your son.

Also congrats on the elephant and buffalo.

Helluva leopard! Well done.

Monster Leopard Danish - congrats!

Great hunt.

But, the best part for me is that little boy!

It is priceless to have your youngster with you!

Thanks for the kind comments. :-)

WOW !

Great Tom - congratulations

Danish - well done on taking a truly huge mbada! The cattle killing leopards in the Motobo Hills get really big as your cat exemplifies. I shot my tom at Debshan Ranch a bit north of where you hunted a few years back- the ranch was really glad to see him gone just as the chief was happy to see your huge cattle killer no longer able to raid his stock!

Danish, congratulations on a wonderful family safari and fantastic leopard. Looks like you have your best hunting partner in your son for as long as you both hunt. Nothing better than sharing these experiences with your son.

more important than you being the great hunter you are is the fact that you are sharing it with your son!!

Great father as well!!

shane

Absolutely and an amazing hunt and well deserved.

That leopard is amazing and would be a dream hunt.

Best part of all, was seeing that your son went with you. What a great experience!

Well done congratulations . That leopard is huge. I know how hard leopards can be . It took the day after my fifth hunt to get mine .First rate photos and trophies

Pir: An absolutely incredible cat! Those Zimbabwe cats are special! And having the story behind that rogue cat makes it even more special!!