Leopard Hunting Accident Involving Craig Boddington's Daughter

[IvW]

I thought that she wounded the cat off of the bait? What happened that it was unwounded and charged??

Nope no baiting involved.....the cat would never tree once.....but they kept on and on....until the cat had enough.....

 

[IvW]

I will say again if no tv show was involved then sanity would have prevailed and this incident would never have happened.....

They knew the cat would not tree....they saw how he decided to take on the pack and injure an experienced pack of hounds as he took them on....yet they went in again, knowing this was where the cat decided to make his stand...instead of hanging back and sending the hounds in to their destiny...they followed close behind.....not what I would have recommended especially with a young inexperienced femal client....all for the sake of footage....

My 2c....yes I know I was not there and as mentioned before hindsight is a wonderfull thing....

 

[Shakka]

I will say again if no tv show was involved then sanity would have prevailed and this incident would never have happened.....

They knew the cat would not tree....they saw how he decided to take on the pack and injure a experienced pack of hounds as he took them on....yet they went in again, knowing this was where the cat decided to make his stand...instead of hanging back and sending the hounds in to their destiny...they followed close behind.....not what I would have recommended especially with a young inexperienced femal client....all for the sake of footage....

My 2c....yes I know I was not there and as mentioned before hindsight is a wonderfull thing....

+1!

 

[Ontario Hunter]

I will say again if no tv show was involved then sanity would have prevailed and this incident would never have happened.....

They knew the cat would not tree....they saw how he decided to take on the pack and injure an experienced pack of hounds as he took them on....yet they went in again, knowing this was where the cat decided to make his stand...instead of hanging back and sending the hounds in to their destiny...they followed close behind.....not what I would have recommended especially with a young inexperienced femal client....all for the sake of footage....

My 2c....yes I know I was not there and as mentioned before hindsight is a wonderfull thing....

I agree. It was a decision begging for disaster from every perspective. Ultimately, it's the PH's call (or it's supposed to be his call). Therefore, it's his financial responsibility to assume the consequences. If the PH said "I don't buy this and you take responsibility for anything that goes wrong" then the Bodingtons can take the blame for that. Taking the blame for a shot gone awry is a convenient escape from putting the blame where it really belongs. The PH should never have allowed an inexperienced client to get into a situation where the probability of a mishap is so high.

It's too bad the leopard was killed. A tough cat like that is a precious commodity for a healthy gene pool.

 

[Shakka]

I agree. It was a decision begging for disaster from every perspective. Ultimately, it's the PH's call (or it's supposed to be his call). Therefore, it's his financial responsibility to assume the consequences. If the PH said "I don't buy this and you take responsibility for anything that goes wrong" then the Bodingtons can take the blame for that. Taking the blame for a shot gone awry is a convenient escape from putting the blame where it really belongs. The PH should never have allowed an inexperienced client to get into a situation where the probability of a mishap is so high.

It's too bad the leopard was killed. A tough cat like that is a precious commodity for a healthy gene pool.

I agree, and I will add that Boddington himself should have known better as well

I bet that the PH was anxious to get a good video circulated AND the endorsement of the good colonel...or whatever he is now

 

[WAB]

I agree, and I will add that Boddington himself should have known better as well

I bet that the PH was anxious to get a good video circulated AND the endorsement of the good colonel...or whatever he is now

Was Craig Boddington there?

 

[rgsiii]

Was Craig Boddington there?

No

 

[Wahoo]

Out of curiosity and sheer ignorance of actual hunted leopard behavior - how often does a leopard pursued by hounds refuse to tree( if trees are available ) and rather chooses to confront hounds?

 

[deewayne2003]

No

Correct, I have seen an interview where CB stated that he was in another country and I believe it was Tanzania when he heard the news and immediately ended his hunt and flew to Namibia.

 

[rgsiii]

Correct, I have seen an interview where CB stated that he was in another country and I believe it was Tanzania when he heard the news and immediately ended his hunt and flew to Namibia.

I believe Zimbabwe.

 

[WAB]

Correct, I have seen an interview where CB stated that he was in another country and I believe it was Tanzania when he heard the news and immediately ended his hunt and flew to Namibia.

So why are folks so upset with him over this?

 

[Shakka]

Out of curiosity and sheer ignorance of actual hunted leopard behavior - how often does a leopard pursued by hounds refuse to tree( if trees are available ) and rather chooses to confront hounds?

Leopards are not like mountain lions, they are very aggressive

 

[mark-hunter]

So why are folks so upset with him over this?

We will never know.
If reading this thread from the beginning, I would say entire CB family was very transparent, open and responsive towards this incident.
Maybe some people who joined discussion simply did not read it from the beginning?

 

[Red Leg]

This was a terrible experience for his daughter, and particularly for the poor tracker. Boddington subsequently attempted to create a fund raiser for the tracker. That generated a lot of negative response - not with respect to the tracker, but because the Boddington family business venture seemed to be dodging any fiscal responsibility for the tracker's injuries. I offer no opinion on that.

However, I will note that situation and the subsequent actions were not entirely different than that experienced by Stu Taylor who was shot through the back by his celebrity client Tim Herald.

Each of you can decide what your personal sense of responsibility would be under similar circumstances. I will say that I would hope that mine would at least not be rationalizing that putting a bullet through either was somehow the fault of the PH who was managing the hunt.

If I may offer a very different example, a young PH who guided me in Namibia many years ago and subsequent to this event, was charged by a leopard wounded by his Argentine client. The cat had him on the ground and the client put a 300 WM through the leopard's neck taking off about a third of the PH's hand. The local hospital in Omaruru sort of sewed everything back together. I saw it, and the work was nightmarish. For instance, the skin of his middle finger was tacked to the top of his wrist. To the client's credit, he subsequently picked up the uncovered costs of reconstructive surgery in Johannesburg.

 

[mark-hunter]

So, in this particular case do we know :

Has the fund raiser been successful in covering medical costs?
What in the end is the condition and status of tracker?

If we dont know that, we can not reach any meaningful conclusion.

 

[Red Leg]

Out of curiosity and sheer ignorance of actual hunted leopard behavior - how often does a leopard pursued by hounds refuse to tree( if trees are available ) and rather chooses to confront hounds?

In Namibia they rarely tree because most leopard terrain is rocky and thorn brush. They tend to find a corner and fight. As soon as the party becomes visible a charge often results. In Mozambique, which has actual forests, running a leopard is much like running a puma. The shot is typically at a treed cat.

 

[Wahoo]

Thank you for the reply. Interesting info.

 

[mark-hunter]

I posted on the forum sometime ago, about a case where somebody in hunting party, which included a hunting agent organizing a lion hunt in South Africa, ended up in accidental discharge and death of a client from Croatia (being shot in the back, with 375).
The case ended up in few dry inconclusive newspaper daily articles, and official hasty closing down the business of the said hunting agent in Croatia, as soon as he returned home.
Much less transparent.

Why a business would be closed down? The only thing that comes down to my mind is to avoid any eventual financial or legal responsibility.

Bottom line, there are much less transparent cases.

 

[intj]

Let me get this straight. CB was not at the hunt where the incident occurred. Even so, he sold some of his own rifles to donate money, and even mentioned one of them was a new Rigby Double 500. This info is in posts 19 and 21.

Additionally, the Boddington's organized a fundraiser to raise more money. The ability to do that is because of CBs status and connections in the industry.

And some here think that CB is a bad guy?

I suppose one could argue that CB was protecting his brand, but regardless, he made personal sacrifices and used his status to help with Punkis medical bills and salary. Even though he had no liability or obligation to do so.

Sorry, I just don't see CB as a bad guy here. I see him as a good guy who went above and beyond to help out someone in need.

 

[mark-hunter]

@intj
That is exactly my point. I absolutely agree with you.