Wow…that’s wild. You could rent yourself out as a good luck charm.
This question isn't directed to the outfitters and PHs on the forum but you can answer of course. I'm asking this of the regular forum member who is a client in Africa. If you have hunted leopard, how many times have you gone and what is your success rate? There are many factors but primary would be going to a good area with an experienced cat PH.
So far, this is the one species that has eluded me in several ways. 20 odd years ago, there were permits in RSA for leopards. I booked a hunt and the permit never came through. So old Spots skunked me before I even got on the plane! Most recently, I did a 2 week hunt last year (cancellation hunt actually) in Zim for a cattle killing leopard specifically. Hunt report was posted here...we found him but couldn't keep him on bait...passed up on female cat obviously and also a young adult male. So I'm zero on success even though I have hunted with experienced PHs. Curious about the rest of you? I know some are successful very early in their leopard hunting but there are many stories of multiple attempts to take 1 leopard...and some of you have taken multiple leopards.
Obviously the OP needs to make friends with youI’ve never been the trigger man for a leopard, but I’ve been on a reasonable amount of hunts with friends, family, or while spending time with outfitter friends.
So far I’m batting a thousand.
3 in Zambia.
1 in RSA
1 in Zim.
I must be good luck.
Damn I was on day 2 with the same guys. Makuti is a special placeView attachment 627703
I got mine three hours into my first sit with MJK Safaris in Zimbabwe's Makuti Safari Area
Makuti is where I took my first ele hunting with CMS 20 years ago. Cool place.Damn I was on day 2 with the same guys. Makuti is a special place
Great points. I think one of THE biggest helps to leopard hunting has been the game camera. To be able to pull a card (most areas don't have a signal) and make a plan after that has been a monumental step forward. We've been able to see good sized male tracks but the camera showed us it was a youngish male so we moved on and didn't waste time, etc. I say that as an unsuccessful cat hunter but it's a big time saver.Hunted exclusively leopard for 12 days. Fail.
Puttered with leopard and other DG on two hunts. Couldn’t get a suitable male on bait during daylight. Didn’t much care, since it wasn’t the primary objective.
Went on a purpose built leopard hunt with the best outfitter I could find. Success on an 18 day hunt with prebait. I believe I got it on about the 6th day if foggy memory serves me.
The general rule of thumb is it takes 28 days to get a leopard. For most people, that’s 2 hunts. It’s much harder today than it was ten years ago because you usually can’t hunt at night any longer, you can’t kill females, nor can you kill males younger than about 5 years old.
A tremendous amount of time is spent analyzing photos of cats to assess age, then going back to intercept him on a subsequent feeding. Years ago, they’d just have shot a big cat if one came to the bait and called it good.
Green Chile I tried to do a Zim hunt in 2016 with a former sponsor of this forum. Three weeks before the hunt was to take place I got the call that the place in Zim wanted the trophy fee in advance. If no leopard taken chances of getting money back was ZERO. So scratch that hunt. I was booked to Hunt with Pieter Delport in 2020 but the pandemic hit and there was no way to get to Namibia. As shots forThis question isn't directed to the outfitters and PHs on the forum but you can answer of course. I'm asking this of the regular forum member who is a client in Africa. If you have hunted leopard, how many times have you gone and what is your success rate? There are many factors but primary would be going to a good area with an experienced cat PH.
So far, this is the one species that has eluded me in several ways. 20 odd years ago, there were permits in RSA for leopards. I booked a hunt and the permit never came through. So old Spots skunked me before I even got on the plane! Most recently, I did a 2 week hunt last year (cancellation hunt actually) in Zim for a cattle killing leopard specifically. Hunt report was posted here...we found him but couldn't keep him on bait...passed up on female cat obviously and also a young adult male. So I'm zero on success even though I have hunted with experienced PHs. Curious about the rest of you? I know some are successful very early in their leopard hunting but there are many stories of multiple attempts to take 1 leopard...and some of you have taken multiple leopards.
Posted three minutes after you posted this! Ha.When are you hunting? I am booked for 2025 with Nick Nolte as well.
Obviously the OP needs to make friends with you![]()
2 for 2 and only 2 hours in blinds while turning down a 3rd tom?!? That’s nuts.I'm pretty fortunate on leopard hunts. Two for two, Zimbabwe and Tanzania. Offhand I doubt I have spent two hours total in blinds which includes turning down a leopard much to the trackers chagrin 30 minutes after they had built the blind, that the PH thought was about 6'8" long,
Seeing the one you shot convinced me to go after a leopard.I'm pretty fortunate on leopard hunts. Two for two, Zimbabwe and Tanzania. Offhand I doubt I have spent two hours total in blinds which includes turning down a leopard much to the trackers chagrin 30 minutes after they had built the blind, that the PH thought was about 6'8" long,