- Joined
- Feb 26, 2015
- Messages
- 7,269
- Reaction score
- 15,482
- Location
- Texas
- Website
- www.dorper.net
- Media
- 128
- Articles
- 15
- Member of
- NRA, Life SCI, Life DSC, Life EWA
- Hunted
- RSA, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Cameroon, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, Austria, Australia, TX, NM
August 10-19, 2023
My third trip to the Omay was to be for leopard and possibly buffalo. I would have some companions on this trip which was to make for a fun time. @TOBY458 would be making his second appearance in the Omay and I would have @Rare Breed , Craig Hodnett (AKA the foot terrorist), as well as my friend Terry from San Angelo. We all knew we were in for a treat but also some hard days. I am suffering from extreme and persistent neck pain from some compressed vertebrae. This was going to be tough.
There would certainly be much baiting to do in this 1 million acre concession to attract a smart old cat. I would be hunting once again with York Mare. He and I hunted together for the first time last year and became fast friends. The Omay is a difficult place to get around because it is so large and there are very few roads. It is a Mopane woodland with many rivers running through it and Lake Kariba on the west side.
There was a big TIA moment as soon as we arrived to camp. There is an election this month and the president and vice president are holding a huge campaign rally in the Omay. Thousands of people would be there and a large army presence for security would be here as well. Keep in mind that this is a vast wilderness area with few people. I suppose the politicians are pretty desperate for votes! We were told it would not be a good idea to be driving around with guns that day. So we sighted in our guns and I was off to check leopard baits and made the best of it that I could. The rest of the group went fishing on Lake Kariba for the giant Vundu catfish.
We had some other nice clients overlapping our hunt a bit but this was a benefit as it made more bait animals available for my leopard hunt. Rich Schooler (@Rich s ) and his friend Jim were concluding a great safari and we had some good visits around the campfire.
With day one somewhat lost to the election rally we would be busy from here on out. Days 2 & 3 found us hanging and checking baits and realizing the need for much more bait quickly. This means a hippo often times as it makes 8 leopard baits. Dalton & York know I have no interest in shooting more hippos after the lion hunt so York entices me with the idea of going for a bull on land with my double. I am game! It is not hard to find hippo on and around lake Kariba so we were able to locate some as we neared the lake shore for a picnic lunch. We had one blown stalk on a big pod due to one in the water alerting them of our presence. As York and I were about to walk back to our shaded area for lunch when I spotted a nice hippo bull not too far away. We made the stalk with the wind in our favor and a small hill to obscure us from the big bull. Our approach got us to around 40 yards and I got on the sticks. An alarm call from the Blacksmith plovers was about to bust us and the hippo began to walk towards the water. The Kreighoff .450/400 loaded with 400 grain Barnes TSX sounded off. A good shot behind the shoulder and ending up going through the opposite shoulder and stopping just under the skin then followed up by a solid shot through the neck. The solid did virtually nothing since it didn't hit the spine. Folks if you know about what TSX bullets do you will know solids are only for elephant and the tinies. York had mentioned something to me I had not thought about having never hunted hippo on land. He reminded me to be careful not to shoot in the stomach which would release the gas from the rumen causing the animal to sink instead of float. This is the reason I aimed for the neck as he barreled towards lake Kariba. He did not make it far in the water before expiring. The fist shot had taken out the top of the heart and all of the major arteries causing the quick end to our mission to get leopard bait.
Hunting cats can try your patience as the long drives and checking of baits get quite monotonous. But as York says “you have to be in it to win it!” Our bait runs were 150 miles or more over very bad roads. My neck pain would get progressively worse on this safari but I would not be deterred. The cats finally start hitting a couple of our baits over halfway through the safari.
Day 7, we built a blind and sat for a marginal cat. It was fun to watch him feeding through my Swarovski Z8 while a lion was roaring off in the distance! We decided to pass even though time was running short. It was estimated that he was a healthy 4 year old cat and needed some time.
Day 8, we finally got video of an older cat who had fed from the back side of the tree the night before. He looked good so we built a blind and prepared to sit. After sitting perfectly still for 5 hours I stretched and inadvertently made a sound that alerted the cat and off he went. We sat two more hours but he was on to us. We would have to move the blind and leave a bluff blind where we were previously. More work to do.
Day 9, The old cat was not too worried about us and fed on the bait just 15 minutes after we drove away the previous night. We got to the blind at 5PM and prepared for a night of it. The Omay is a CAMPFIRE (Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources) area which means there are villages within it. In these areas you can hunt at night whereas the dedicated safari areas are daylight only. With this much human activity cats rarely come to a bait in daylight. My leopard came in at just after 10. He jumped in the tree then straight down and investigated the bluff blind we left from the last night. It took about 20 minutes before he was back in the tree. York let him feed a bit and get comfortable before slowly turning on the light. I was becoming anxious plus I really needed to pee after 5 long hours in the blind! The cat was uneasy and I knew it was go time. He was sitting, which is not an ideal shot, but he was about to bail. I waited until he was still and sitting upright and squeezed the .300 Winchester. The Swift Scirocco 180g bullet entered just behind the shoulder and passed through just in front of the other shoulder. He went straight down. The relief of getting this cat after so much work was incredible. I felt like a weight was lifted from my shoulders. This was the 13th day of baiting! By the time we took pictures and made the long drive back to Ume camp it was after midnight. I fired a shot to wake up the camp and the singing began to celebrate the nice old leopard.
Cat hunting is a team effort and it is a tremendous amount of work. It is not a hunt for everyone as it can be very, very frustrating. We had 14 baits out total and obviously relied on the other PH’s to check a few of them for us. With just one day left on the hunt and the morning shot due to the late night leopard party I did not have high hopes of getting anything else on this hunt. One thing I notice in the Zambezi Valley on arrival is the sweet smell of the air. As we had our last night dinner on the sand bank of the river I was once again reminded of how sweet it smells here as the sun sets on our safari. Dalton & York and their team did a tremendous job for our group on this hunt. I’ll be back next year to enjoy the hunt and the little things you find out on safari.
My third trip to the Omay was to be for leopard and possibly buffalo. I would have some companions on this trip which was to make for a fun time. @TOBY458 would be making his second appearance in the Omay and I would have @Rare Breed , Craig Hodnett (AKA the foot terrorist), as well as my friend Terry from San Angelo. We all knew we were in for a treat but also some hard days. I am suffering from extreme and persistent neck pain from some compressed vertebrae. This was going to be tough.
There would certainly be much baiting to do in this 1 million acre concession to attract a smart old cat. I would be hunting once again with York Mare. He and I hunted together for the first time last year and became fast friends. The Omay is a difficult place to get around because it is so large and there are very few roads. It is a Mopane woodland with many rivers running through it and Lake Kariba on the west side.
There was a big TIA moment as soon as we arrived to camp. There is an election this month and the president and vice president are holding a huge campaign rally in the Omay. Thousands of people would be there and a large army presence for security would be here as well. Keep in mind that this is a vast wilderness area with few people. I suppose the politicians are pretty desperate for votes! We were told it would not be a good idea to be driving around with guns that day. So we sighted in our guns and I was off to check leopard baits and made the best of it that I could. The rest of the group went fishing on Lake Kariba for the giant Vundu catfish.
We had some other nice clients overlapping our hunt a bit but this was a benefit as it made more bait animals available for my leopard hunt. Rich Schooler (@Rich s ) and his friend Jim were concluding a great safari and we had some good visits around the campfire.
With day one somewhat lost to the election rally we would be busy from here on out. Days 2 & 3 found us hanging and checking baits and realizing the need for much more bait quickly. This means a hippo often times as it makes 8 leopard baits. Dalton & York know I have no interest in shooting more hippos after the lion hunt so York entices me with the idea of going for a bull on land with my double. I am game! It is not hard to find hippo on and around lake Kariba so we were able to locate some as we neared the lake shore for a picnic lunch. We had one blown stalk on a big pod due to one in the water alerting them of our presence. As York and I were about to walk back to our shaded area for lunch when I spotted a nice hippo bull not too far away. We made the stalk with the wind in our favor and a small hill to obscure us from the big bull. Our approach got us to around 40 yards and I got on the sticks. An alarm call from the Blacksmith plovers was about to bust us and the hippo began to walk towards the water. The Kreighoff .450/400 loaded with 400 grain Barnes TSX sounded off. A good shot behind the shoulder and ending up going through the opposite shoulder and stopping just under the skin then followed up by a solid shot through the neck. The solid did virtually nothing since it didn't hit the spine. Folks if you know about what TSX bullets do you will know solids are only for elephant and the tinies. York had mentioned something to me I had not thought about having never hunted hippo on land. He reminded me to be careful not to shoot in the stomach which would release the gas from the rumen causing the animal to sink instead of float. This is the reason I aimed for the neck as he barreled towards lake Kariba. He did not make it far in the water before expiring. The fist shot had taken out the top of the heart and all of the major arteries causing the quick end to our mission to get leopard bait.
Hunting cats can try your patience as the long drives and checking of baits get quite monotonous. But as York says “you have to be in it to win it!” Our bait runs were 150 miles or more over very bad roads. My neck pain would get progressively worse on this safari but I would not be deterred. The cats finally start hitting a couple of our baits over halfway through the safari.
Day 7, we built a blind and sat for a marginal cat. It was fun to watch him feeding through my Swarovski Z8 while a lion was roaring off in the distance! We decided to pass even though time was running short. It was estimated that he was a healthy 4 year old cat and needed some time.
Day 8, we finally got video of an older cat who had fed from the back side of the tree the night before. He looked good so we built a blind and prepared to sit. After sitting perfectly still for 5 hours I stretched and inadvertently made a sound that alerted the cat and off he went. We sat two more hours but he was on to us. We would have to move the blind and leave a bluff blind where we were previously. More work to do.
Day 9, The old cat was not too worried about us and fed on the bait just 15 minutes after we drove away the previous night. We got to the blind at 5PM and prepared for a night of it. The Omay is a CAMPFIRE (Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources) area which means there are villages within it. In these areas you can hunt at night whereas the dedicated safari areas are daylight only. With this much human activity cats rarely come to a bait in daylight. My leopard came in at just after 10. He jumped in the tree then straight down and investigated the bluff blind we left from the last night. It took about 20 minutes before he was back in the tree. York let him feed a bit and get comfortable before slowly turning on the light. I was becoming anxious plus I really needed to pee after 5 long hours in the blind! The cat was uneasy and I knew it was go time. He was sitting, which is not an ideal shot, but he was about to bail. I waited until he was still and sitting upright and squeezed the .300 Winchester. The Swift Scirocco 180g bullet entered just behind the shoulder and passed through just in front of the other shoulder. He went straight down. The relief of getting this cat after so much work was incredible. I felt like a weight was lifted from my shoulders. This was the 13th day of baiting! By the time we took pictures and made the long drive back to Ume camp it was after midnight. I fired a shot to wake up the camp and the singing began to celebrate the nice old leopard.
Cat hunting is a team effort and it is a tremendous amount of work. It is not a hunt for everyone as it can be very, very frustrating. We had 14 baits out total and obviously relied on the other PH’s to check a few of them for us. With just one day left on the hunt and the morning shot due to the late night leopard party I did not have high hopes of getting anything else on this hunt. One thing I notice in the Zambezi Valley on arrival is the sweet smell of the air. As we had our last night dinner on the sand bank of the river I was once again reminded of how sweet it smells here as the sun sets on our safari. Dalton & York and their team did a tremendous job for our group on this hunt. I’ll be back next year to enjoy the hunt and the little things you find out on safari.
