Leopard Attack Zimbabwe

[enysse]

I wish I could unload some of my arsenal to pay for hunting...but you can't even get close to fair market value right now...in this economy and I will probably give the guns to my kids...just because that's the kind of person I am.

 

[ILCAPO]

Yeah, and make sure they DON'T REGISTER THEM when you do. I still don't trust the current electorate, let alone a future one, in protecting our 2nd Amendment rights.

I actually have 14 rifles, with an action ready to be built into a rifle. It's a Belgian Mauser I plan to make into a .280 Remington. I really like the .270 Winchester, but the .280 Remington gives one the option of usein gbullets on the higher end of the weight scale. With that, there's a little more "ummph" at the other end with the bigger bullets. Not that many animals would notice the difference.

But that would plug the gap I have between my 7x57 Mauser and 7mm Rem Mag. Not that it really needs plugging. My .30-06 does that just fine. But hey! It's another toy. : )

 

[sestoppelman]

ILCAPO,

Your choice of the .280 is a good one! Its a great round. I had one made up many years ago on a Ruger 77 action that had been a mediocre shooter as a .270 Win. Got great ballistics and superb accuracy from the Douglas Premium barrel. I have been playing with the metric version, the 7x64 for a while now and the two rounds are peas in a pod in every respect. Agree with your assessment on the politics of guns as well.

 

[ILCAPO]

I've heard a lot of great things about the .280 Remington. The advantage is one can go up to 175 grains, whereas the .270 Winchester is limited to 150 grains. That's a significant enough a difference to make me choose the Remington cartridge. Actually, what I plan to have made is a .280 Remington Ackley Improved. That will allow me to use both standard factory ammo for the .280 Remington AND the AI versions. The neat thing is Double Tap has come out with two loads for the .280 Ackley Improved round, and both are up around the mid-7mm Rem Mag velocities. Makes the .280 Rem a great choice!

Then again, Remington has now come up with 'reduced recoil' loads, one of which is in 7mm Remington Magnum. Reading the specs on that round, it appears it's a 140 grain rounds which comes in right around the velocity of the 7mm-08 Remington, which is just a touch hotter than the 7x57 Mauser. So, that makes the 7mm Rem Mag a nicer choice these days for white tail at moderate ranges; it's not such a niche rifle anymore.

Still, I like the idea of a .280 Rem AI. I think I'm still going to build one once I get the money saved. But that's down the road. First thing is to get a stock and scope on my .30-06 barreled action and do a PG hunt in Africa. : )

 

[Ole Bally]

It is said that experiencing a Leopard attack is much like having a full revving chainsaw thrown through your car window whilst you're strapped to the seat! You can't get away and you're gonna land up with 'Kitty rash' one way or another! Not much by way of clothing is gonna help I'm afraid. We always wore a leather 'bikers jacket' but the restriction of movement isn't good..it gives mental comfort though!
We always advocate - take the weapon into the fray with which you are most au fait! Trying to remember to pump instead of work the bolt in that moment of frantic thoughts is tough! I always just used my good ole .458! Always reliable always there! 4 shots to come make them count!!!

 

[richteb]

I remember reading one of Capsticks books in which he wears chain mail, leather collar and gridiron helmet when following mister spots. Kind of makes you wonder how easy it would be to move in that outfit, let alone shoot.

 

[Ole Bally]

Heheh! I wonder if there's a cartoonist amongst us who could give a visual on this! PC was a great raconteur...lets leave it at that!

 

[richteb]

LOL, wonder if he would take off his green berree before wearing the helmet.

The one thing I found interesting is the scope mounts on Capsticks 375. They appear to tilt off the rifle at about 45 degrees without actually being removed. Have not been able to find anything similar.

 

[enysse]

The light weight Carhartt stuff, dosesn't restrict movement such....I'd take it anyday over cotton. By having flimsy clothing you are asking to become "catnip". Of course the best thing a person could do is shoot straight. (lol)

 

[thecreepingwolf]

I can see why Peter Capstick insisted on following up wounded leaopards alone. With all the chaos it's good no-one got shot in addition to mauled. Maybe a little buckshot was in order?

 

[outdoorsguy]

What a big suck. Screaming when the cat hasn't even touched him yet. What does screaming do? They dont even know how to shoot at a charging animal? There are kids in hospitols that dont even scream like that. I will bet my left nut that those people in that video did not have any fathers , grandparents etc fighting at vimy ridge. Ive seen everything now.

 

[sestoppelman]

richteb,
Redfield used to market those mounts. I had a set on my Remington .308 for years. Its a solid system, inexpensive and very positive. Dont know why they dropped it.

outdoorsguy, I have never been charged by an enraged leopard and I'll bet you haven't either. None of us knows how we will react to such violence until we face it. We would all like to think we will be calm, cool and collected. But some of us wont be.

 

[Mike70560]

outdoorguy,

I personally know and hunted with three of the guys in that video. They are among the finest people I know. I am sure a badass such as your self would have killed him with your bare hands without even a wimper.

I truly hope your second post displays even more wisdom.

 

[outdoorsguy]

With bare hands? Quite unlikely. When you havent even been touched yet and your screaming you may as well be a woman who has just broke a heel on her favourite shoe.What exactly does screaming do? No , Ive never been attacked by a leopard, but by a grizz . Even had a buddy attacked by grizz, no screaming done there, let me tell you, when your life is on the line screaming serves no purpose.

I would imagine your a fine person yourself. And more then likely a big suck also.

 

[Mike70560]

I guess this means we cannot be friends, but after reading your first two posts your stay on AH will be fairly short.

 

[sestoppelman]

Well said Mike.

 

[ILCAPO]

Hey Outdoorsguy,

I think you have a skewed perspective of what happened. From what I saw, the guy let out a yell as the leopard's claws dug in and as he bit his arm. From what I could see, being a former medic, the guy's arm was broken. And those puncture marks weren't anything to laugh at. Fortunately, one of the assisting guides shot the cat and put him down -- my understanding from an earlier contributor is the cat HAD been shot, but it wasn't enough to stop him prior to that.

It's said that for every second a leopard is ON you, you'll need 100 stitches. It appeared this cat had maybe a second, perhaps less on the guy, before it was killed. And yet look at all the holes in him! I would be very hesitant to judge like this being you weren't there. Maybe you were attacked by a Grizz, but I doubt you were torn into by it. While screaming doesn't help -- and may be counter productive -- it would take a hell of a lot to remain silent under such excrutiating pain as a wild animal like that taking a chunk out of you.

I hope NEVER to be put to the test myself.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Hey Outdoorsguy,

I think you have a skewed perspective of what happened. From what I saw, the guy let out a yell as the leopard's claws dug in and as he bit his arm. From what I could see, being a former medic, the guy's arm was broken. And those puncture marks weren't anything to laugh at. Fortunately, one of the assisting guides shot the cat and put him down -- my understanding from an earlier contributor is the cat HAD been shot, but it wasn't enough to stop him prior to that.

It's said that for every second a leopard is ON you, you'll need 100 stitches. It appeared this cat had maybe a second, perhaps less on the guy, before it was killed. And yet look at all the holes in him! I would be very hesitant to judge like this being you weren't there. Maybe you were attacked by a Grizz, but I doubt you were torn into by it. While screaming doesn't help -- and may be counter productive -- it would take a hell of a lot to remain silent under such excrutiating pain as a wild animal like that taking a chunk out of you.

I hope NEVER to be put to the test myself.

Well said ILCAPO, but it looks like Jerome has done the right thing and sent outdoorsguy on down the road so I don't think you'll get a reply.


Scott / Mike,
My hat's off to you two for your restraint in your replies.

 

[Ontario Nimrod]

Interesting. I wouldn't have thought of using a shotgun on cats for just this reason. And I would think slugs would be a must in any case. I also wouldn't use a semi-auto, although I'm of the understanding semi-autos aren't allowed in many African countries anyways, yes? I, for one, am for pumps. In fact, I have two pump-action rifles too. For fast and reliable actions, they can't be beat. @ Ole Bally. Thanks for the come back. I was only guessing being I have no experience in that kind of hunting. It just struck me as being logical. And regarding courage, that's what I meant by having big brass ones! It's one thing to KNOW what to do, but a whole other ball game to actually DO IT! : )

Guys, correct me if I'm wrong, but I would think that the reason a shotgun with buckshot is seen as an effective tool in these situations (although maybe it really isn't) is because it gives you the benefit of having multiple projectiles to fling at a small, fast moving target. Although I agree that slugs would have more knockdown power, they are just a single projectile and thus provide little margin for error. You may as well be using your big bore double or bolt then, no?

 

[richteb]

Guys, I'm afraid I cannot be as nice - what a moron. I would bet money that the closest he has got to hunting anything let alone being attacked by a bear is on his x-box.

Never hunted leopard and am unlikely to, due to fact that I cannot import the trophy into Australia. However, I have been charged by a buff and that is something I do not ever want to repeat. So I can imagine what being jumped on by a leopard would be like. I can also safely say that if it happend to me I would certainly be doing so screaming. I suspect that 99% of people would be in the same category.

My two cents worth on what is better for stopping a leopard charge is most definitely a double. If the opportunity to get a shot off at charging leopard is presented at greater distance then I think that heavy bullet will be more effective then shot. Also if the shot is at only a few feet then I think the shot pattern is still that narrow that if you can hit it with a shot gun then you can hit it with a bullet. Another point is that with a heave bullet you have a larger margin of error then with shot. I think a heavy bullet that hits the cat and is little off target will still have more effect then the same with shot.

I think in the end the argument as to which is better comes down to experience. Guys who have stopped leopard charges with shotguns will naturally say that shotguns are way to go. Same goes for guys who have done same with doubles.

Personally I hope never to have to find out.