I just got my certificate from SCI and my leopard scored number 43 in the book. That put him in a silver award bracket. I was a little surprised that he was only a silver medal seeing out of 1500+ entries he was 43. Still, to be number 43, that has to be something special!

I am not a hunter who is out for scoring. I have only entered 5 animals to the SCI record book in all my years of hunting. It is not a big deal to me, but it seemed strange that such a big cat is not a gold medal animal. In my heart he is a gold and that is all that matters. I don't know how most of the rest of you feel, but it is the hunt and the joy of it all that matters. Sometimes pulling the trigger is anti-climatic.

I tracked buffalo for 9 days before, at last light, I shot my cape buff at 20 paces with one shot. It seemed almost surreal. I was so excited, yet a bit sad it was all over, all at the same time. Is that crazy?

Anyway, I'm very pleased with my leopard and all my animals from Africa and North America. Each one holds a special memory for me that no organization or score card can influence.

TJB