ZIMBABWE: Dream Realized

[A Frame66]

Congrats!! Very nice cat!!

 

[Lone Star Bluegrass]

I love it. Some of my best trips have started out with a logistical or transportation fiasco. Very glad that yours turned out well.

 

[LWood]

Congrats on a beautiful leopard!

 

[slam8031]

congratulations on a beautiful cat!!!

 

[7mmFan]

Congrats on a great cat. Would love to hear details!

 

[Doug Hamilton]

I just finished my successful leopard hunt in the West Nic region of Zimbabwe.
3 days late thanks to Delta airlines, I arrived in camp to several baits being hit, one being quite promising.
I was hunting with @NYAMAZANA SAFARIS and had been communicating with owner and PH Wayne Van Den Berg while stuck in an Atlanta hotel. Wayne assured me baits were hanging and fresh sign was plenty,
I scored on a beautiful mature tom on day day 3 in the bush. And the plan "B" bait had a large male hitting it as well.
I believe Wayne's attention to detail with the baits and blind placement construction contributed to my success.
I am a blue collar guy and this hunt was years in the making, thanks Wayne, Wayne jr. Sam and the rest of the guys.
James Gray

View attachment 619117

Beautiful! Congratulations!

I'd love to hear the story. Time of night, rifle, how you saw him, what you were thinking, etc.

I've never killed a leopard, but the first one I ever heard was near West Nic in 1983.

Well done!

Doug

 

[mengle]

Fantastic cat. Nighttime cat pictures are the best.

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

Congratulations on a beautiful Tom

 

[cpr0312]

Congrats and thanks for sharing!

 

[TTundra]

Congrats! Wayne and his guys are a machine at getting cats in the salt!

 

[VertigoBE]

Waidmannsheil ! @jgrayjr
that's a gorgeous beast of a cat!

 

[uplander01]

congrats on the accomplishment!

 

[AZDAVE]

Very nice leopard. It is always so satisfying when you have a life's dream come true. Congratulations!!!

 

[wildwilderness]

I just finished my successful leopard hunt in the West Nic region of Zimbabwe.
3 days late thanks to Delta airlines, I arrived in camp to several baits being hit, one being quite promising.
I was hunting with @NYAMAZANA SAFARIS and had been communicating with owner and PH Wayne Van Den Berg while stuck in an Atlanta hotel. Wayne assured me baits were hanging and fresh sign was plenty,
I scored on a beautiful mature tom on day day 3 in the bush. And the plan "B" bait had a large male hitting it as well.
I believe Wayne's attention to detail with the baits and blind placement construction contributed to my success.
I am a blue collar guy and this hunt was years in the making, thanks Wayne, Wayne jr. Sam and the rest of the guys.
James Gray

View attachment 619117

Congrats on your Leopard but more importantly-

CONGRATS on your FIRST Post on AHF !!!

 

[Smitty]

Thank you for sharing. Absolutely a dream come true.

 

[Nyati]

A great cat, congrats

 

[jgrayjr]

Great cat. Wayne is the man on leopard
What was the deal with Delta?

Flight cancelled after sitting in plane for, finally got another via sao.palo 3 days later. Delta certainly did not make things easy.

 

[jgrayjr]

Beautiful! Congratulations!

I'd love to hear the story. Time of night, rifle, how you saw him, what you were thinking, etc.

I've never killed a leopard, but the first one I ever heard was near West Nic in 1983.

Well done!

Doug

Used Wayne's 338 with 225 grn Hornady ammo, shot roughly 50 yards. Cat came in around 7p and started feeding on a zebra hind quarter we had freshened the bait with. He dropped stone dead at the shot.
The night before he had come in briefly around 9p and 11p, but didn't settle in and feed.

 

[jgrayjr]

Congrats on a great cat. Would love to hear details!

Got cat on second night in the blind around 7p (he had made a brief visit the night before but did not feed).
I was using Wayne's 338 with 225 grn Hornady ammo. The shot was about 50 yards, was happy that he dropped stone dead at the shot.
We later learned that 2 PHs were mauled that same day in Zimbabwe by wounded leopards.

 

[Datchew]

Man I'm jealous. That's a beautiful leopard. Congratulations!