15 November 2016, 22:52
Neil DuckworthBuffalo / leopard hunt in SVC with Mokore Safaris
Clients: Rick and SusanArea: Mokore SVC
Operator: Mokore Safaris
PH: Neil Duckworth
Hunt: Buffalo / leopard
Dates: 17-31 July 2016
This was to be Rick and Sue's first hunt with me and Rick's primary goal was a big leopard, then a buffalo bull and some plainsgame.
Rick had asked me to do a few days of pre baiting before they arrived which I had done. I primarily wanted to target a cat that I called "the king". He was called this because on the first day of my first hunt of the season I saw his track and little did I know that 3 leopard hunts later he was still haunting me. His track was one of the most impressive tracks I had seen in years with a front pad of nearly 3 inches!
From that first hunting day in mid-April I obsessed on how to get this cat but he would walk past my baits without touching them at all. I started moving baits further and further away from the road and late in my first safari a night only after we took another tom did he finally hit secluded bait at the base of a big hill.
The first photo of the king in early May.
I thought that I finally had the plan and after another two leopard hunts other cats went down but he was still driving me crazy. The previous hunt we slept out 5 nights in a tree stand hoping to intercept him on a road he frequently used with motion sensor and the works with no joy. So with the king still on my mind when it came time for pre baiting we despondently put some baits in areas where he moved but hoped for a miracle, one site being the one and only site he had fed on previously.
After Rick and Sue arrived and got settled in we went to the range to zero the rifles and took a short drive. The first morning we set out to check the baits we had hanging and to look for some zebra for additional bait sites. Half way through our bait run we picked up 2 Zebra which we took back to the skinning shed to get processed.
I had deliberately left checking the baits in the king’s territory till later in the morning as one of our baits was at the base of a big mountain and hoped he would be sleeping by the time we entered this area. On arrival at the prime site we saw that the bait had been hit but not by lions, hyena’s or female leopards .This time it was the king and although I tried not to get my hopes up and show my sheer excitement I think it was obvious to all.
We quickly and quietly set out to get our blind set up, rheostat light, motion sensor etc in place. I could hear the rock rabbits on a small hill to our left alarming and worried that maybe the cat was up there and had seen us and was moving off. Nothing we could do about it.
With the blind completed just after midday we headed to camp for lunch, a short siesta and then got prepared for the long night ahead. As the bait was close to the hills we got into the blind by 4:30 in the afternoon as to minimise chances of being seen. Settled in the wait began.
From the trail camera photographs it showed that the leopard had left the bait just before sunrise so I thought he had to be close by and hoped for an early appearance. The light faded fast and now prime time was here, 7pm. Still nothing, not any indication of him moving like the chirps from the rock rabbits or an alarm call from a bushbuck, nothing! As time went on I became more and more convinced that he had seen us in the morning and headed out. At 9:15pm I had dosed off and was woken by the motion sensor vibrating in my top pocket. I turned it off and looked out at the bait and with the full moon you could clearly see the king on the branch in deep shade silhouetted against the brightly lit background. Rick got slowly into position and although he could quite easily have shot him without the light I needed to see the infamous golden pouch. With Rick in position I slowly turned the rheostat light on and the cat kept feeding. Although the cat was feeding in the perfect position I was struggling to see 100% that he had balls due to the serious shakes which I always get when a big cat is finally in the tree. After what seemed like a long time I managed to steady my bino’s and saw the golden pouch and told Rick to shoot. With that I hear a thud as the cat hit the ground and then ran off growling to our left.
All went silent but the excitement was electric.
We waited a few minutes before opening the blind and heading down towards the area where he had gone. Very slowly we covered the area we thought he was in but nothing so we made our way to the bait to try pick up his blood spore. Other than a few drops it was difficult to see without flashlights. We again headed from the bait in the direction he had gone and after 15 very intense minutes found him piled up in a bush. Just then the landcruiser arrived with the trackers and there was a lot of high fives on the fact that we had finally got the king. Rick will never be able to fully appreciate the fact on how lucky he had been as it was his first hunting day and probably thought that leopard hunting was not that difficult.
We loaded him up and headed to camp to show Susan and take photos.
The king was not as big as I had built him up to be in my head, the smallest of the 3 cats I took this year on Mokore with clients but certainly had the biggest track. Just goes to show you can’t tell everything from the track. This said he was still a beautiful big cat and it was the hunt that made him even greater.
The next morning we took a couple more photos with the early morning sun with my kids. Bringing them up the right way.
See the size of his feet as he ran away from the bait.
After this we concentrated on buffalo and after a few days Rick picked up a good bull.
Rick also picked up a very nice 39” eland.
After missing a good hog Rick finally got this one for Susan!
Game viewing was great as usual with several of the days seeing 3 or 4 of the big 5.
From here they flew up to the Zambezi river and did some tiger fishing with Cuan Meredith and the headed home. It was a good safari and a chase I will always remember!
