Leopard and tuskless hunt, April 10-23, Dande Safari Area.
We got back last weekend from my third hunt with Buzz Charlton of Charlton-McCallum Safaris. I had booked a leopard hunt on my return from a trophy bull ele hunt with Buzz in Dande East in 2011. Since last season, all the leopard hunts were completed early on, I decided to add a tuskless but this year things seem a little different. More on that later.
I was accompanied by my long-suffering wife Sue (think 12 days in the back of the cruiser with bait.) Also, my friend and hunting companion Joe from Bayfield, Wisconsin booked a leopard hunt at the same time, hunting with Blake Wilhelmi. Since Joe doesn’t post here, I’ll try to give some details of his hunt, as well. Justin Drainer was photographing our hunt. Yes, it’s a bit costly, but the pictures and memories are great, plus Justin has just become part of our team. It’s great going hunting with friends.
We drove to Minneapolis on Saturday, April 6, to fly out Sunday morning. After flying to Atlanta, we connected to the Delta flight to Joberg.

I decided to try Delta for their economy comfort class. The four extra inches of leg room was a blessing. Unfortunately, Delta changed their baggage policies after I bought my tickets. They will no longer check bags through to Harare on SAA. This necessitated getting our bags, and importing the rifles into South Africa only to recheck them on SAA. The 2 ½ hour connection no longer seemed safe, so we overnighted at Afton, and flew out of Joberg Sunday morning to Harare. We were met at Tambo by Marius, and got through the SAPS office in record time. Afton is a pleasant place to overnight, as there are other hunters to commiserate with, and a nice steak dinner without having to go out. After being in transit for that long, going out to a restaurant was low on my list.
Since we were losing a day, we opted to air charter into camp to arrive early in the day, and be able to start our hunts on time the morning of Wednesday the 10th. We arrived at Harare at 1230, did the paperwork, and were aboard a 206 with our gear. As much as I like the drive to camp, seeing country and meeting people, I’ll admit this was an easy way to arrive fresh and ready.

Blake met us at the airstrip at Pedza. Justin was there taking video, while Buzz drove up from Harare with some of our bags (read Tuff Packs.) We drove the 45 minutes to Mururu, our home for the next two weeks.

We greeted Boris.

A good dinner, cooked by Charter, a good night’s sleep, and we were ready to go the next morning. We did the ritual shoot-in, and for the first time ever, I had to make a pretty large scope adjustment. The windage had gone off by four inches at 60 yards! Not good on a leopard hunt! Adjustments made, the quest for bait begins. I brought my 470 Searcy for the tuskless, and a 375 H&H Winchester Safari Express for everything else.
A word about the Winchester. I bought the rifle about a year ago, because it seemed strange that after all these African trips, I hadn’t ever hunted with a 375 H&H. The MOA trigger is quite good, after putting in an aftermarket spring. Winchester did make the trigger user adjustable, but the legal department must have had input, as I couldn’t take it below 5 ½ lbs. With a new spring, I brought it down to a crisp 3 ¼, and now I think it’s the finest trigger I have ever owned. I mounted a Schmidt and Bender 1.5-6 with an illuminated reticle that I had bought second hand at a Cabela’s a few years back, and for a total investment of less than $1800, I had a shooting system that was like having the finger of God. I had decided to load the new North Fork 300gr Percussion Points, and except for one impala, everything I shot went straight down. These bullets are fantastic.
Bait can be a little tough early season. There aren’t a lot of plains game there this time of year, and everything is thick and green, with very tall grass. The first day we managed to kill a couple of impala, and three more on day two.


I shot a baboon.



Things were starting to fall into place, with five baits up on day two. One of the baits, quite close to camp, was swinging when we drove out past it the next morning. A hit! Another had been hit, a decent sized tom, as well. The tree didn’t seem quite right for constructing a blind, so Buzz decided to move it to another tree perhaps 50 yards away. When we checked it the next day, it had been hit again. The trail cam showed a shootable male. He had fed in broad daylight, less than an hour after we had hung the impala. We built a blind. I should not have said we, I should have said they. While I stood around supervising, a blind materialized in about a half hour.

We arose about 0400 the next morning, and drove to within about 500 yards of the blind, and crept in by flashlight. We watched it get light, but no cat. Not to worry, he had fed in the afternoon, anyway. We rolled tires, checked the other baits, and shot bait.

We got back into the blind at about 1600, and sat very quietly. Some PH’s will not leave a hole for the client to look through. Buzz left me a hole, and I sat very still, about three feet behind it. I didn’t need to read, watching the bait tree held my attention. At a little before six, a tom leopard appeared, quite quickly and silently in the tree. What an amazing sight. I never knew how beautiful a leopard is before. My rifle pre-positioned, I glassed him through the scope while Buzz considered. It was an adult male, but the boss thought that on only day four, we should wait for a better cat. I kept the reticle behind his shoulder for over five minutes before we backed silently out. The leopard never stopped feeding. Buzz thought we would continue to feed this cat, keeping him on bait as a contingency plan. The next day, lion had broken the tree down, and the bait was gone, as was our leopard. Good trail cam photos of the lioness in the tree, though.
At this point, something happened. For the next week, neither we nor Joe and Blake could get a Tom on bait. It may have had something to do with breeding, I don’t know. Females would feed, and tom tracks appear, but the toms wouldn’t get into the trees and feed. I don’t mean to imply that we were totally frustrated, at least at first. We tracked several elephant herds, and approached them closely in very thick jess. We saw a couple of good sized tuskless, but they had dependent calves. One of the herds had a large bull, in musthe. Buzz thought he would go over 50, but a bull was not on my menu. The cool thing is that he wasn’t old. His teeth were snow white. He only had a 16 inch track, so except for a random encounter, no one would bother tracking him, so perhaps he will be tomorrow’s hundred pounder. I shot more impala, and a kudu cow. Joe tracked and shot a beautiful zebra stallion. He shot a great civet off a bait. He took a nice klipspringer.

He sat for hyena one morning, and drilled one. Another picked it up and started to make off with it. Bear in mind these things weigh maybe 90 lbs, and Joe said the other hyena picked it up like a pheasant. Blake told him that if he wanted that trophy, he’d better shoot the other smelly dog quickly, which he did.
By about day 10, I was beginning to seriously second guess the decision to pass on the day four cat. Bait was getting tough, and it was so hot that the baits were really only good for three days. They were looking pretty manky by day four. We were fortunate to get some buffalo, hippo, and elephant meat from other hunters at Pedza. Thanks to Jack and Nick, you guys were lifesavers.
By day eleven, we were running eight baits. After checking number seven with no activity except one female, we were getting more than a little downhearted. The last bait had been fed on! Elephant meat, just a little bit taken. We hung the last half impala in our larder. The next morning, day 12, it had been demolished! Nothing left except for some shredded skin and bones. Big tracks, a "proper leopard."

The mood changed instantly. A blind was quickly built, and the search for another impala began in earnest.
A few hours later, I shot what was to become my lucky impala.
One female impala, up a tree. We all knew it was coming down to the wire, but we felt very hopeful. We went back to camp for a couple of hours, and I did need the time to collect myself. I put on a CM Safaris shirt; I was getting ready for picture night. Back in the blind by 1600. It was a very pretty spot, looking across a small stream, mostly dry. The bait was hanging below a large horizontal branch, to force the cat to offer a broadside shot. We sat and hoped. The birds sang more and more intensely as dusk approached. A family of baboons squabbled nearby. Time was running out.
The cat leapt (not climbed, but leapt,) into the tree. This was it. Buzz indicated I should take this cat. To make sure, I whispered “are you saying you want me to shoot this cat?” “Shoot when you see a shot you like.” The cat had defeated the plan for a broadside shot, with his rear end on a different limb, facing me, quartering slightly away. He was lying down, feeding on the impala he had pulled up onto the limb. I waited for him to raise his head. I thought if I held just inside the left shoulder, the bullet should go diagonally through the vitals. Breathe out, squeeze. After the report, I could see the cat falling, back first, out of the tree. After a few moments of intense listening to the silence, Buzz said “That looked very good.” We couldn’t see the base of the tree. Besides me and Buzz, Sue and Justin were in the blind. We radioed for the truck, and Justin quickly played back the footage while we waited. It did look good. When the Cruiser arrived, we all piled in and drove across the stream, and my new favorite words became “dead under the tree.” He actually landed in the maggots that were dripping off the bait. The bullet had gone where it was aimed, and there was no exit wound. When the bullet was recovered from the off hip the next day, it looked perfect. When I got it home, I measured it. It had expanded to 70 caliber, and weighed 284 grains.
He was magnificent, even in death. I’ve read that lions lose all their majesty when they die. Maybe that is so, I haven’t killed one. It certainly isn’t the case with leopard. I’ve killed enough animals that I thought I knew how I would feel, not so. I’m sure I would feel differently if I had just killed a leopard that was eating my livestock, but I felt more reverence than anything else. That surprised me. Killing deer or antelope is pretty matter of fact. Killing an elephant is more like just being overwhelmed. Taking a leopard righteously hunted is more like a sacrament.
We took a lot of flash photos, because by now it was properly dark. The cat was carefully loaded onto the Cruiser, and we drove into camp, where we were greeted with a song. About an hour of picture taking. We took the usual pictures, the “bear hug” and over the shoulders pose.


These are glamour shots, but you lose a little of that when the guys start picking the ticks off of you as soon as the leopard is lifted down. A quick shower was indicated before commencing to celebrate.

Good Fun, the skinner at Mururu, has been a skinner at that camp for 30 years. I watched him work for about an hour, and he’s pretty amazing.

Sue slept in the next morning, but Buzz, Justin and I were up early to walk to a hyena bait a few hundred yards from camp. We had sat on that bait the previous two mornings. The first day I took a shot through some brush, which I believe was deflected. The next day, we could hear them feeding, but could not see them. On later investigation, the creatures had unearthed an elephant skull, snapped the wires holding it to a log, carried it about 50 yards, and dragged it up a six foot bank into the jess. This morning, I broke the hyena hex which has frustrated me the last two trips, back to 2009. Three is the charm. I shot a big, old female, with a big bald patch on her head. The rug will have “character.” Sue says that means “ugly.”


Interesting thing is, when reviewing the trail cam pictures the next day, that hyena was photographed the night before I shot her at the bait site where my cat was taken. That was five km away. We could recognize the bald spot.
The next couple of days were spent trying for the tuskless. We followed some tracks, saw some country, and took some pictures. I was OK with that. I’ve shot tuskless before, and hope to again. This hunt just turned into a concentrated, prolonged effort to take a leopard. I got the full cat hunting experience, except for the tense follow-up, in the dark, hoping he is dead and that you can find him safely and not lose the trophy to the hyenas.
Joe, unfortunately, suffered the sting of a failed leopard hunt. After the first few days, everything shut down for the next week. This is no reflection on Blake or his crew, just bad luck. Joe said they all worked exceedingly hard, and this was Blake’s first failure on a leopard.
The hunt wrapped up on Tuesday, and Wednesday we said our farewells to the camp staff and boarded the charter back to Harare. There was some issue with the 206, so we got a ride back on a Navaho. What a nice way to travel.

Sara Tabor met us at the airport, and took us to lunch, and out for a bit of shopping.

Sara is the manager at Pedza Pasi now, and is doing a cracker job there. It was a pleasure to meet her, see Ritchie again and meet their three year old son Samuel. The next day Buzz took us out for a little more shopping, and we went to a market in what he called “the cow’s guts of Harare.” It was big, chaotic, and ours were the only white faces. We felt totally safe, and had fun buying some trinkety things to bring home.
We also visited the Simply Simbi factory. Buzz and Stephanie bought the business last year. Automobile radiators get melted down, and cast into really cool decorative items. Simbi is a Shona word for metal.


That night, we had the pleasure of dining with Buzz, Stephanie, Justin, and Richard and Brita Harland at the Charlton’s. We had the privilege of meeting the Harlands two years ago after our last hunt, and they are as charming as ever.

Zoe, Buzz and Stephanie’s daughter was asleep, but we look forward to seeing her awake next year. As it was, she looked way too innocent to be Buzz’s. Must take after her mum.
Next day began the long flight home.

I have a few thoughts for the “for what it’s worth” department. Cat hunting isn’t for everyone. I needed to do it once, and I got the full experience, and took a truly wonderful leopard. You do get to shoot a lot of animals, which is fun. You spend tedious days checking baits. I am happy to have done it, but doubt I will again. We can check it off the list.
CM Safaris produced the usual top notch hunt. Camp is clean and comfortable, the food keeps getting better, and the staff is wonderful. You can tell it is a happy camp, and that makes the time spent so much better. It was wonderful seeing Criton work again, after he was so badly hurt by a cow elephant last season. He is brilliant. Nice teeth, too. Both of them.

Nyati, Buzz’s number two tracker, would be a great number one in his own right. He is a gentleman, as well.

Eddy, our driver, was as much fun as ever. Unfortunately for him, he gets to deal with the bait can, do drags, climb trees, and clean that Cruiser every night. I don’t know how he keeps smiling, which he always does. He has been appointed “minister of mtumbos.”

Our game ranger, Smart, is the best I’ve ever seen. He works as hard as the rest of the team, is very knowledgeable, and has excellent English. Besides being competent and hardworking, he’s fun to have around.



Now I'll just post a few photos I like, but am to lazy to cleverly work into my report.

You may provide your own caption.



This is Chicago style leopard hunting.



The "camp leopard" took these coveralls off the line one night.















I’ll be back in the DSA next season. I’m buying a trophy bull hunt as a 60th birthday present to myself. At this rate, I’ll never be able to retire. Being on this forum has sure cost me a lot of money, but it has enriched me greatly. Thanks, guys.

Congratulations on a heck of a trip!

Beautiful cat that you shot. That Hyena has character... don't let your wife talk it down....

Thanks for taking the time to post such a great report with so many fantastic photos.

Congratulations on a great hunt,love the pics

Hunting leopard with Buzz & Co. is high on my list. Thank you for sharing what sounds like a typically well-organized CM safari. Having hunted tuskless with Buzz, Justin, Criton, Eddy, and Nyati back in 2011, your nicely written report and great photos brought back fond memories. Well done, Marty!

Very nice report and fantastic photos.
Thank you.

That's a great report Marty and makes me feel very "home sick".
I did the exact same hunt in the same location three years ago. All the same team, even Smart the scout. I know what you mean about them all being a happy bunch and it made me feel as though you had borrowed my family for a while. I see that Criton is still wearing the silly tiger hat that he won in our shooting competition last year.
The only difference from my hunt is that the hyenas stayed out of my way, except for the stuffed one which I see still sports the hole I put through it. I spoke to Buzz the other day on the phone and he said how much he enjoyed your hunt.
Thanks for reliving it all for us and all those great photographs.
Regards
Rob

Marty,

Way to go. Photos are super and a very fine cat.

Mike

Great report and congrats on a beautiful cat and great safari. Really enjoyed the photos...

Very nice cat! Well done...

Marty, congratulations on a what sounds like a fine hunt. Thanks for sharing your report and all the wonderful pictures. Welcome home.

Congrats on a great cat!

Very nice report with fantastic photos.

Great report, Marty, and congratulations on a fine hunt.

I need to find out where in SD you are; would like to meet you someday.

Great hunt and report Marty. I was on the CMS website yesterday and saw you had connected with your leopard. I too have hunted with Nyati and Smart and they are top notch members of the team.

My leopard hunt with CMS was similar to yours. We passed a smaller male early in the hunt, had the activity dry up, then took my cat on day 13 of 14, really coming down to the wire.

Congratulations on another fine safari under your belt and another fine safari provided by the CMS crew. They simply are the best!

Great trip. Great report!

Congratulations and great pictures.

CM Safaris certainly is one of the premier operators not only in Zim but all of Africa.

Congratulations on your hunt.Interesting hunts,Marty.

Congratulations on a great hunt. Thank you for shaing.

Congratulations on a great hunt.

Arjun Reddy

quote:

Originally posted by Mike70560:
Congratulations and great pictures.

CM Safaris certainly is one of the premier operators not only in Zim but all of Africa.

Absolutely.

What a great report and cat. Congratulations. Dinner at Buzz's with Stephanie, Brita and Richard was one of the highlights of my trip as well.


Dutch

Excellent hunt and report Marty. My wife and I hunted out of Mururu way back in 05 for buffalo with John Sharp before Buzz' outfit took it over. Beautiful place! jorge

Wonderful report. Can't wait to get back to Zim for another hunt myself.

Marty,
Well done & congrats on a beautiful leopard.
Africa truly is a magical place. Really amazing how it seems to keep
calling you back, over & over.
Once again, congrats & great hunt report!
Jim

Real nice cat -- congratulations.

Beautiful cat Marty and terrific report. Thanks so much for sharing! Posts like this really get me thinking about returning to Africa for such a hunt.

Huge congrats on an awesome hunt! I really appreciated the well written report and the great pictures! IMHO you could finance your next trip by taking pictures! I hope to someday duplicate your experience.

Congrats Marty, Great cat and hunt report as well. Thanks again for helping me on last years elephant hunt.

Congratulations on a great hunt & trophy. Excellent writing too - I really enjoyed reading the report.

Happy 60th!

Wonderful hunt. Great report too....wish I could post such details as yours on my hunts.

Well Done Marty!!

Congratulations!

Makorokoto Marty! Passing on an inferior trophy makes success on a larger trophy, so much sweeter (if you have the opportunity!!!!)

Good-fun the skinner was by far the best skinner I ever worked with - always smiling and damned good!

Well done Buzz and CMS.

Nice!

Great report. Thanks for sharing.


.

Great report and pictures - thanks for sharing

I enjoyed your thoughts on taking the leopard - truly a beautiful awe-inspiring creature. One of the few animals that looks as regal in death as in life.

Thanks for sharing!

Great report Marty. A first leopard is very hard to beat in a mans hunting career. I am glad you got to live that moment. You will never forget it!

Great report and trophies. Mr. Spots is a very special trophy and one of my favorite animals to pursue.

Big congrats!

Mark

Marty.
A lot of smiles (in particular from your wife Sue) in the fine pictures attached to this report. An excellent one by the way. It reads as a happy hunt, while I understand some of the frustrations with regard to the leopard.
Congratulations on this big and beautiful cat. You certainly deserved it, and I enjoyed reading your hunt report immensely.
Kind regards to Sue and yourself.
Jytte

Marty, I concur with all the congratulations on your excellent hunt. But I also wanted to comment on just how excellent your photography is: I obviously appreciated the shots of your trophies and typical hunt-scene pictures, but it was a unique touch to include less obvious things like the picture of the monkey finger fruit. Your photography skill added immeasurably to the pleasure of reading about your hunt. Thanks.