What is your success rate as a client hunting leopards?

[375 Ruger Fan]

I’m one for three. My first hunt was with dogs in Zimbabwe in 2008. My buddy was also hunting leopard with dogs (we each had our own PH) and he got his on the third day. I on the other hand, only saw two females treed. Though, I felt like I had an awesome experience. My next hunt was in Namibia for a baited hunt in 2018. A couple months before the hunt the outfitter called and said his area was experiencing a terrible drought and asked if I could postpone my hunt for a year. He thought less than a 10% chance to get a leopard. So I postponed and arrived in 2019. I was able to get my Dik-DIK but never had a cat on bait. The Namibian outfitter invited me back but COVID messed up plans and I was not able to go back until 2022. On the 4th sit, the cat was on the bait and after 34 days of leopard hunting I had my cat. This is the only wild male leopard I have ever seen and within seconds of it being on bait was dead right next to the bait (no hyenas or lions in the area so bait was on the ground fastened to a tree). I’m definitely thinking about another leopard hunt. I mostly likely would like a baited hunt. Would love to see a leopard in a tree on bait.

I seem to recall reading that Craig Boddington spent 30+ days hunting leopard before he got his first one.

 

[Green Chile]

I seem to recall reading that Craig Boddington spent 30+ days hunting leopard before he got his first one.

Actually over 70 days for Craig. I verified that when I was with him in July.

 

[Altitude sickness]

70 days ? I would draw spots on my own hide. Sneak into the tree hoping someone would shoot me.

Im kidding of course. If you see me like that. Just assume I’m celebrating a successful hunt. and please don’t shoot me.

 

[JES Adventures]

Great topic @Green Chile I always appreciate your posts.

I have hunted two leopards myself, one with my wife and one each with my two daughters. All were 100% successful. I have always done my research on the area and PH, here are the areas and dates;

1986 Gwaai Valley, Zimbabwe
1996 Luangwa Valley, Zambia
2007 Kilwa, Tanzania
2022 Luangwa Valley, Zambia
2022 Bushmanland, Namibia

Also, consulted a few folks over the years and all were successful.

John Ed

 

[Green Chile]

Thanks for posting John. I was hoping to hear from you. That's amazing...5 for 5...4 different hunters...4 different locations in 4 countries.

There are some of you that have been extremely successful multiple times...we can learn from all of it.

My experience boiled down is that I heavily researched for a future leopard hunt but jumped on a cancellation that was outside of that research. It was a very successful hunt for everything BUT leopard even though I learned a LOT about leopard hunting that was valuable to me. I need to stay focused on the research and data that provides. I kept tabs on several cancellation hunts last year and the success rates seemed lower on cats. Many operators take cats and with cats, anything can happen...but not very many take them over 80% consistently.

 

[Green Chile]

Alister Norton - Makasa in Zambia. 2/2 for leopard and 1/1 for lion. Cat whisperer.

Their website might be down. I couldn't find anything active including FB.

 

[Cme1983]

One sit, one leopard, Niassa about 3 weeks ago.

 

[Wheels]

What was the reason for turning down that tom?

There is nothing wrong with a 6'8" tom but I was looking for one that was larger. (the track was good size, just not the size of the leopard) It was also early in a long hunt. On that hunt in Rungwa, three of us probably had 35-40 baits up (lion and leopard) and probably 20 of them had been hit by leopards so it was easier to be picky. Picking an area with a dense leopard population makes hunting leopard so much easier.

 

[DLSJR]

I’ve hunted leopards 4 different times, taking 3 nice Tom’s.

May,1983, Deka Safari Area, Zimbabwe. This was my first ever safari, a 24 day full bag hunt with Roy Vincent as my PH. I shot a big Tom about 2 hours into my first sit. IIRC, we had 4 baits up and 3 were being fed on.

June, 1989, Kalahari Desert, Botswana. Another 24 day hunt, with the first 8 days in the desert. Our 1st day we cut a big track and the Bushmen jumped off the truck and started tracking. About 4 hours later we had a beautiful, pale desert cat. It was long and lean.

Late October, 2021, Mlele Reserve, Tanzania. This was my unsuccessful hunt. It was late season and hot. There were lots of young animals everywhere so leopards had easy pickings and didn’t need to hit baits. Still, we had nice Tom’s feeding in 3 different trees. But the cats zigged when we zagged, had no pattern and at the end of 16 days I left without having a leopard opportunity. Saeed preceeded me and had the same problems. I will not hunt leopards during late season in the heat and after animals have dropped their young.

August 2023, Selous Game Reserve/Madaba, Tanzania. This place is absolutely lousy with leopards and Alan Vincent is a damn good leopard hunter. We had 7 baits up with cats feeding on 6 of them. We built a blind where we had pictures of a nice Tom feeding and sat the blind the next morning. The Tom came in at 7:55 and I shot him at 8:00 AM. The hunter before me also shot a cat right about at 8:00 AM. Interestingly, I shot the leopard on a full ‘super moon’.

I think anyone interested in a quality leopard hunt should focus on area first, then PH. I’d also hunt earlier in season when it’s a bit cooler and newborn animals haven’t yet dropped. Stick to places like the Selous, Luangwa Valley or Niassa Reserve and you’re likely to get an opportunity without too many days invested.

 

[Green Chile]

My last hunt (unsuccessful) was in late Oct in Zim....very hot and the babies had dropped as you said. Boddington told me late season leopard hunts tend to have more issues with leopards not patterning nicely...they zig when you zag as you stated so well.

Any chance we could see that pale desert cat? I love their colors.

There's a lot of gold nuggets, themes and patterns in these posts for those who want to learn about cats. Thanks to all for posting.

 

[HankBuck]

I’ve hunted leopards 4 different times, taking 3 nice Tom’s.

May,1983, Deka Safari Area, Zimbabwe. This was my first ever safari, a 24 day full bag hunt with Roy Vincent as my PH. I shot a big Tom about 2 hours into my first sit. IIRC, we had 4 baits up and 3 were being fed on.

June, 1989, Kalahari Desert, Botswana. Another 24 day hunt, with the first 8 days in the desert. Our 1st day we cut a big track and the Bushmen jumped off the truck and started tracking. About 4 hours later we had a beautiful, pale desert cat. It was long and lean.

Late October, 2021, Mlele Reserve, Tanzania. This was my unsuccessful hunt. It was late season and hot. There were lots of young animals everywhere so leopards had easy pickings and didn’t need to hit baits. Still, we had nice Tom’s feeding in 3 different trees. But the cats zigged when we zagged, had no pattern and at the end of 16 days I left without having a leopard opportunity. Saeed preceeded me and had the same problems. I will not hunt leopards during late season in the heat and after animals have dropped their young.

August 2023, Selous Game Reserve/Madaba, Tanzania. This place is absolutely lousy with leopards and Alan Vincent is a damn good leopard hunter. We had 7 baits up with cats feeding on 6 of them. We built a blind where we had pictures of a nice Tom feeding and sat the blind the next morning. The Tom came in at 7:55 and I shot him at 8:00 AM. The hunter before me also shot a cat right about at 8:00 AM. Interestingly, I shot the leopard on a full ‘super moon’.

I think anyone interested in a quality leopard hunt should focus on area first, then PH. I’d also hunt earlier in season when it’s a bit cooler and newborn animals haven’t yet dropped. Stick to places like the Selous, Luangwa Valley or Niassa Reserve and you’re likely to get an opportunity without too many days invested.

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@DLSJR - what a GREAT leopard…You should have an even BIGGER SMILE on your face !!

 

[wvfred]

I am 0 for 2 on my third hunt I wasn't hunting for leopard and saw three in the middle of the day and one laid under our hyena bait for over an hour.

 

[Green Chile]

I am 0 for 2 on my third hunt I wasn't hunting for leopard and saw three in the middle of the day and one laid under our hyena bait for over an hour.

Wow...friggin cats! Will you try again?

 

[dchum]

@DLSJR - what a GREAT leopard…You should have an even BIGGER SMILE on your face !!

Big old head on that thing - pumpkin

 

[Green Chile]

Big old head on that thing - pumpkin

No doubt! Bears and cats look awesome with big heads. That catches me more than body length. That cat's head is impressive.

 

[Doug3006]

With the right PH in the right area, I totally agree (and I plan my last check plans to go to the undertaker). I have as absolute a certainty as anything I know with respect to hunting, that two weeks with Nolte would produce an opportunity at a big cat. I just haven't been able to work up a real desire to do so even though I truly enjoy time spent with Nick and Isabel.

I also don't believe it is a case of being an invalid just yet. I'll be walking the fields of Hungary in the spring for Roe deer, the vast plains of La Pampa for red stag and water buffalo the following February, and then Croatia for roe again the following April.

I am also looking at something in our backyard that you should check out as well. Scimitar oryx can be taken on lots of Texas game ranches typically with a difficulty roughly analogous to going shopping. A free-range scimitar hunt out by Alpine, Texas looks both pretty challenging and fun. I have seen some of the herds out that way while trying to run down blue quail and snipe an aoudad.

Hunting Scimitar Oryx is a blast! Plus the meat is superb!

 

[wvfred]

I hope to try again in the near future.

 

[CAustin]

Joe you should go after another. Why not? You earned your money, don't participate too heavily in that Wealth Transfer you wrote about in another thread

You know where you'd go and who with so let them make arrangements for the best time to get a monster cat.

Besides your getting to that age I always said I would hunt leopard, even though I failed at that... my thoughts were that hunting out of a blind is not to strenuous so can easily be done at an older age. And if it all goes bad most leopard attacks are not fatal but can leave some nasty scars. My logic was that if I got scratched at an old age, I wouldn't have to live with the scars as long! LOL

Seriously, my experience so far has been that the sitting in a blind takes a lot longer for honey badger than it does for leopard Leopard are much more active at twilight. And easily patterned with good trail cameras.

Well said Bob!

 

[Scott CWO]

One and done. A daylight leopard in the Niassa Reserve in Mozambique. Lots of cats there. Got mine my first day in the blind. It was a cancellation hunt. The guy who had to cancel told me he had taken four leopards there with a bow in daylight!

Another high success area is Maswa North Game Reserve and the cats are usually a bit bigger. My buddy, Jim, got his leopard on our second day in the blind and that’s not unusual there.

 

[Green Chile]

That's awesome Scott. 4 taken with a bow in daylight...wow. I think that's one of the most incredible trophies in Africa...leopard with a bow.