Operator : Mokore Safaris
Client : Bob La Grone
PH : Gary Duckworth
Area : Black Rhino Conservancy ,Midlands, Zimbabwe
Dates : 1-14 December 2014

A STORMY LAST NIGHT..


An early December leopard hunt lends to lots of rotten meat and tough hunting. Bob La Grone returned to Zimbabwe for such a late season hunt in the Midlands Black Rhino Conservancy hunting with PH Gary Duckworth of Mokore Safaris. Our hosts for this safari were Ian and Lou Rutledge who played their role phenomenally!!

As per normal with leopard hunting, the initial goal is to get a bunch of good baits out. Ian kindly parted with some of his good knowledge of the area and advised us on where we could get some possible activity. The first day we shot a zebra which was the start of the process. Hanging baits where Ian had suggested we kept baiting until we had a total of 9 baits out spread over the length of the Conservancy. Being part of Zimbabwe’s Great Dyke there are many kilometres of rough roads to transverse every day checking these baits.





Poor Ray who had come along as an observer bore the brunt of the rough roads sitting on the hard bench seat in the back. After 7 days of this and with him still recovering from a recent neck surgery, Ray eventually decided to retire to the lodge while we checked the baits daily. He claimed he already had his leopard… after we found a leopard tortoise in the field one morning!



The poor zebras were highest on the list for bait as their high fat content and bulk baits generally bear the flies with their resulting maggots better. As it was we had to change baits every 4 days or so. We did a lot of mileage checking doing a total of 2500 kilometres over a 14 day period!!!




By Zebra number 5 Bob was so tired of shooting them that he let me have a go. It was fun to be the client for a change!!



Fortunately we did get to see some interesting animals to keep us entertained on these daily treks.
















The only other trophy Bob was after was a big hog which we managed to shoot on day five but unfortunately he blew one tusk off in the process. It did give us a good tracking experience recovering it and Ray was amazed at the trackers skill.

Halfway through the safari we saw a big track in the vicinity of one of our baits and on the way home we saw a rainbow which seemed to end right above our bait!!! This seemed like a great omen and we checked that bait first the next day….. more disappointment!



To make a long story short we did a lot of bait checking and replacing but were not getting much activity. The heat, along with rotting meat, full moon and the fact that the impala and warthogs had dropped their young led to difficult conditions!

With the end of the hunt drawing close and not a tom having hit the baits we started to get a bit despondent, but we kept following the adage, “if you leave the fight you have lost”, so we continued doing what we knew worked!! A possible definition of insanity is repeatedly doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome. We were beginning to go insane!!!

The last morning of the hunt arrived and we decided Bob should stay in camp to try and get some rest before going back to work, and I would check and drop the baits. Leaving early I started our bait route with a bit of grumpiness. You can imagine the delight when on getting to the second bait site I saw it had been fed on, and checking the camera, saw a big tom standing at the base of the tree!! We quickly extracted ourselves from the area and went to collect Bob.



Arriving back at the bait site with all the blind equipment we began to set up our blind. While we were building the storm clouds were too!! Finishing at around 12 we went back to the lodge to eat and shower. Due to the advancing storm, I decided we should get to the blind extra early so we left camp and were in the blind by 3:30pm. Not long at all after entering the blind and the rain began…. and it rained and rained. Fortunately we had placed two tarpaulins over the blind in anticipation of the rain. This kept most of the water out for the first hour but then the drops started coming through. Bob and I spent the rest of the afternoon sitting huddled in corners and using the coffee jars we had with us trying to catch most of the water before it totally soaked all the bedding. Fortunately just before dark the rain eased a bit as we wouldn’t have been able to catch the drops at all as wouldn’t have been able to see them! Sitting in the dark with my audio equipment working intermittently I was glad I had borrowed Ian’s as a back-up.




At about seven thirty we heard the cat start feeding and by the aggressiveness of the feeding I was pretty sure it was our tom…. slowly turning up the rheostat (thankfully still working after sitting in the rain) we saw the tom feeding with his front feet up on the bait. Telling Bob to take the shot, he did and the cat took off grunting to our right. It sounded like he had come up close to the blind and since we could not raise the trackers waiting with the truck on the radio, we cautiously extracted ourselves from the blind, heading towards the road. Walking a ways, we were finally able to get communication with the guys.

Climbing in the back of the vehicle we had the driver head in towards where we thought we had last heard him grunt. Due to the wet mud and all the rocks on the hillside where the blind was we didn’t get far before having to leave the truck and proceed on foot. This is always hair-raising to say the least and we took it very slowly. Unfortunately it had started to drizzle again and I was concerned we would lose the trail, especially if he was not dead close by. No tracks had come up to the side where we thought he had ended up so we went slowly back until at the base of the tree again. From there we started following the blood and tracks. The route he had followed was of course through the thickest cover there. Moving at a snail’s pace with the guys throwing rocks into the scrub every few meters we crept along the trail. Fortunately we found him stone dead after about 50 yards. A perfect shot.

What an ending to a long hard hunt to get a beautiful cat on the last night of the hunt AND the last night of my hunting season!!!
The jubilation after 14 hard days with virtually no sign, and 2500 kilometres of driving was great!

By the time we had found him and loaded him in the vehicle it really started bucketing again. The poor trackers had a very wet ride home, but they were also ecstatic because of the success. Because of the rain we had to take pictures under the skinning shed! A few celebratory ales and then a well-deserved sleep!

His exit route!




The next day we had a very busy day collecting the blind, last few cameras and dropping the rest of the baits before heading back to Harare. Busy but satisfied!!








A wonderful trophy after a long hard hunt!

Morten

Great story and pictures. Congratulations to the "never give up" hunting team.

CONGRATS ON A GREAT LEOPARD IN THE WORST TIME OF THE YEAR TO HUNT THEM.

Tough time, great cat!

congratulations on a great exciting hunt Last days always make the hunt more meaningful . I got my Leopard on the night after the last day on my fifth trip for Leopard . You deserve it you worked hard for it..

Well done, beautiful leopard. Perserverance is rewarded

Leopard hunting is WORK! Smelly work!

Congrats on a great job and great cat!


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Kudos for the persistence and perseverance. Congrats on a well earned trophy.

Thanks for sharing Neil

Outstanding!

Great job. Good PH.

Congratulations to all. Leopard hunting is a grueling experience to say the least.

Great trophies and photo - thanks for sharing. AIU

Well done. Thanks for posting.

congratulations on the great trophies and thanks for the great pictures.

Good report. Sounds like a decent leopard and PG area.

Did you see any of the Black Rhino?

Gary had to work extra hard because his "little brother" put up such a big year on the proverbial scoreboard on him

Congrats on such a hard but rewarding end of season hunt. It was a very nice and hard earned trophy indeed!

I love a good story & that was a good one.
Congratulations to all involved.

That was a "real" hunt - well done.

Cool looking fort location! Congrats on another great cat and year.

Enjoyed the report,thanks.Congratulations to the hunter.

Well earned trophy. Congrats

Great story and a hard earned trophy - way to hang in there!

Outstanding! Thanks for sharing Neil!