Can your Hunter “pass” on Leopard if treed or at bay - if cat not up to his size/standards? Or does the Hunt end once a legal Cat is produced and shot opportunity presented?
The bayed leopard hunt comes to an end when the cat is shot, and pulling out of that commitment is generally not possible.
Understood and appreciate the honest answer. It is similar to a bear hunt with hounds - unless scent is struck off a clear “track” the size of the bear treed is often a surprise. I assume your success rate is higher then most baited leopard hunts and the off set is that trophy quality can’t be as accurately predicted. The dog hunt must be very exciting regardless of Cat size - the “dogs” become a big part of the hunt & the memories. I’m “guessing” this hunting be somewhat risky-to-the-Dogs Vs. U.S. bobcats and even Cougar = less dangerous to the dogs
In almost every case, we only enter the hounds onto a sight discovered track so can generally predict the age/sex class of the cat well before the bay-up or tree.
This season we had 100% success, but that is not always the case.
From your description (find good track - based on size - release hounds) seems similar to Cougar hunts I’ve been on. Even then, hounds can sometimes tree a female or sometimes during the chase “switch off” onto another Cat....guessing that is just a risk that cannot be controlled. If a Leopard is treed and Client wants to “pass” assume you can get the dogs pulled off but if bayed on the ground — is that a much more difficult (dangerous) situation? Since I’ve never taken any Leopard (never hunted one) maybe I’m being “too picky” but I know it’s a likely a once-in-a-lifetime hunt and that’s why I ask so many questions.
Yes, that's right. If for some reason the hounds tree the non-target cat, then we will pull them off the tree and redirect to the target track.
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