ZIMBABWE: Elephant & Leopard In Zimbabwe - Cancellation Hunt Report

[Green Chile]

Another strategy is what do you do with a young male leopard in the area? Cats are territorial and a big alpha male will travel his territory, checking for females and checking for male interlopers that might get into his personal space. They have very low tolerance for such behavior. Maybe we can use that to our advantage? So we ran a bait on the female strategy and also ran a bait on the young male strategy. You want to think about covering all of your bases. Sometimes it's unnecessary and you get a cat on bait quickly and the hunt is over. There is no guarantee of that and most likely, it will go the other way. You want to put as many options into play as you have time to check on and resources to keep going. It's no good to get a hit on a bait that you haven't checked every day and you run out of bait. The cat moves on.

In our case, we got a hit by a young male on a ground bait (more to come on that topic). We decided to run that bait and see if big daddy would come around and run junior out of town. Want to see junior? No problem...and yea, he's big enough to take in the Zambezi valley any day but he wasn't a big ranch cat. Give him another year and he will be stunning.

Keep in mind, this is all early in the process...you have found spoor and the bait has been hit but you're not actually on the gun. You see this in the morning when checking baits. Do you set up for this one? Do you keep going? Well, you check EVERY bait before making decisions but still...do you go for him or not.

Did we debate this one? Yea we did...a lot! He's not a small cat. He's an adult but his ears were a little close unlike a big male with the ears on the side of his head. He's well muscled but just a little young. He was definitely long...approaching 7+ feet estimated. It was a judgment call but we made it based upon the size of the bigger males known to be in the area. What do you think? Would you take him or pass? These are the kinds of decisions you have to make without knowing what will happen if you do or don't pass. Yea, it's not easy!

 

[Daisy]

Another strategy is what do you do with a young male leopard in the area? Cats are territorial and a big alpha male will travel his territory, checking for females and checking for male interlopers that might get into his personal space. They have very low tolerance for such behavior. Maybe we can use that to our advantage? So we ran a bait on the female strategy and also ran a bait on the young male strategy. You want to think about covering all of your bases. Sometimes it's unnecessary and you get a cat on bait quickly and the hunt is over. There is no guarantee of that and most likely, it will go the other way. You want to put as many options into play as you have time to check on and resources to keep going. It's no good to get a hit on a bait that you haven't checked every day and you run out of bait. The cat moves on.

In our case, we got a hit by a young male on a ground bait (more to come on that topic). We decided to run that bait and see if big daddy would come around and run junior out of town. Want to see junior? No problem...and yea, he's big enough to take in the Zambezi valley any day but he wasn't a big ranch cat. Give him another year and he will be stunning.

Keep in mind, this is all early in the process...you have found spoor and the bait has been hit but you're not actually on the gun. You see this in the morning when checking baits. Do you set up for this one? Do you keep going? Well, you check EVERY bait before making decisions but still...do you go for him or not.

Did we debate this one? Yea we did...a lot! He's not a small cat. He's an adult but his ears were a little close unlike a big male with the ears on the side of his head. He's well muscled but just a little young. He was definitely long...approaching 7+ feet estimated. It was a judgment call but we made it based upon the size of the bigger males known to be in the area. What do you think? Would you take him or pass? These are the kinds of decisions you have to make without knowing what will happen if you do or don't pass. Yea, it's not easy!

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Man you showed great restraint! Awesome story so far.

 

[Green Chile]

I mentioned ground baits and that's another strategic decision to make. Do I go for a ground bait to simulate a natural looking kill site or do I hang it in the tree? Make no mistake, the leopard knows he didn't put it there. He thinks he found a kill belonging to someone else. Your decision here has a lot to do with the area you are in. If you're Zambezi valley with lions and lots of hyenas then you hang it in the trees. We were on a cattle ranch so no lions. There were a few hyenas around and we lost partial baits to them but mostly brown hyenas and they are solitary. Spotted hyenas run in pairs or packs and they can wipe out a bait quickly. It's all a judgment call but part of the decision making process. We used both types of setups...ground and tree baits. We had hits on both setups.

Whatever you do, you can't really move or adjust it after the bait gets hit. So you have to setup EVERYTHING with the idea of where do I want to put this cat if I'm on the rifle and want to shoot it. If a cat can come into the back side of the bait, you have to adjust for that...maybe thorn bushes to force him to another angle. Many factors to consider but it's all about putting a cat where you want him to be in front of the rifle. It's like playing chess 3 moves ahead.

 

[Green Chile]

Gut drags

One critical aspect to hunting leopards is to drag the bait EVERY time you visit it. No exceptions. It doesn't take much time but it's really important. Your PH is probably already doing this but if not, just ask them to do it. It doesn't hurt anything and a lot of pros say it makes a difference. This requires having a gut bucket (matumboos) on the back of the truck. Yes, you WILL get sick of it but it's the grease that makes everything work better at the bait. Check out my tracker slinging it everywhere! Then he will drag it from the bait out towards wherever he thinks the cat will walk into it.

 

[Green Chile]

And again he throws it to get scent spread around...

 

[Green Chile]

Getting a bait site prepped is a full team effort. Some guys are cutting green branches to cover the bait from vultures...the PHs are prepping game cameras and watching all of the details...the head tracker is usually wiring up the bait and fussing about the little details that add up...the client is staying out of the way and lending a hand wherever is needed. Try not to ask too many questions as there will be time later for that. You don't want to be at the site any longer than needed and you probably have several of these to get set up many miles apart from each other. I tended to ask questions while we were driving between sites. Most likely, you will also be doing some clearing of the shooting lane from the bait back to the blind area. You don't want to do that AFTER the bait is hit. Do it before so there is little disturbance to the hot bait site after it's hit by the leopard.

 

[abnhog]

Leopard for days and days

Well, this whole 14 day hunt was leopard focused…start to finish…from day 1 to day 14. Leopard are tough. Sometimes they are taken quickly or easily and I almost feel sorry for those hunters. Luck is always good to have but leopard are not easily taken by most who pursue them. I think Craig Boddington spent over 80 nights in a leopard blind over many safaris before he took one. My first African hunt almost 20 years ago was supposed to be a leopard hunt with Dries Visser in South Africa. The permits didn’t come through so you might say my first attempt for leopard was a bust. I’ve always wanted to check that box and have that experience.

On my first trip to Africa about 17 years ago, I was hunting with CMS Safaris for tuskless at a tented camp in Makuti. One night, I heard something walking quietly on the sand path beside my tent. It wasn’t human…it wasn’t hard hooves…it was something with soft padded feet. It was measured careful walking…it was intelligent. Some may doubt it but I know I heard it come up to the tent next to the bed and I heard it distinctly sniffing…smelling the air. In the morning, I came to breakfast before sunup and said hey, call me crazy but I heard something strange last night walking beside my tent. The tracker went over to look and said a female leopard had paid us a call in the night and had walked right up to my bed side of the tent. That female leopard brought in 2 or 3 big males after our hunt and CMS clients shot 2 of them. Leopard are just special. To my eyes, no predator is more beautiful than a big spotted cat.

Cattle killing leopard are huge and the cattle are certainly being killed on this ranch by them, even while I was there. Here are some examples of cattle ranch leopard taken over the years by my PH for other clients...

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I can attest to how hard a leopard hunt can be. I had 34 days of hunting over three different safaris in two different countries before I was able to even see a male leopard. Thankfully I was able to take that leopard.

 

[rcgarcia84]

Getting a bait site prepped is a full team effort. Some guys are cutting green branches to cover the bait from vultures...the PHs are prepping game cameras and watching all of the details...the head tracker is usually wiring up the bait and fussing about the little details that add up...the client is staying out of the way and lending a hand wherever is needed. Try not to ask too many questions as there will be time later for that. You don't want to be at the site any longer than needed and you probably have several of these to get set up many miles apart from each other. I tended to ask questions while we were driving between sites. Most likely, you will also be doing some clearing of the shooting lane from the bait back to the blind area. You don't want to do that AFTER the bait is hit. Do it before so there is little disturbance to the hot bait site after it's hit by the leopard.

Is that Wayne Bartlett that I spy? He has a great record on cats. We ran into him in Bulawayo after I finished up my leopard hunt with Sean Grant back in June.

We’re you by chance hunting on the Shangani Ranch border. I know Wayne usually kills a cat or two near there each year.

 

[Green Chile]

Yes that is Wayne. He has taken over 185 cats now. Great PH.

I think that's correct. We were next to De Beers diamond property.

 

[sureshot375]

Yes that is Wayne. He has taken over 185 cats now. Great PH.

I think that's correct. We were next to De Beers diamond property.

Wayne is beyond impressive. He is in a class all his own when it comes to cats.

 

[Green Chile]

He's home for 1 week before heading to Save valley for 1 month. He would enjoy hearing from clients on WhatsApp. Wayne and superman tracker Danisa!

 

[Green Chile]

Wayne is the PH who started calling my .416 the Rigby hand brake! We had some good laughs. He would say shit man, you shot that impala in the head and I couldn't even see it. Hah.

 

[ACM]

Once-in-a-lifetime experience you had @Green Chile! Some truly excellent trophies. It sounds like these gents run a great firm. Congratulations! I enjoy all the details of shots, rifles, bullets, & technique. Great report!

 

[rcgarcia84]

Yep, used to be called Debshan, but now they call it Shangani Ranch. I spent 42 days over the course of three safaris with Sean Grant chasing the giant leopards of that ranch. I had the worst leopard luck as I am the only client in 23 years that he had ever sent home without a cat (We connected on a great one in West Nicholson this year).

That ranch was magical prior to COVID, but post COVID not so much.

Love this report! Please keep it coming!

 

[Green Chile]

Wayne still calls it Debshan. The gate signs, etc still say Debshan. Yep, I was there beside it for 2 weeks and drove through it countless times checking baits. Biggest kudu I've ever seen crossed that fence and walked away from me...58" easy.

 

[Green Chile]

Here's a video of Wayne and crew finishing up the details of a tree bait. This one was holding the female leopard mentioned earlier right next to a boundary area on a river. There was food, water, female leopard and boundary area that added up to something worthy of trying for. We kept this one going for 10 days to see if lady cat could pull in the big male...a good strategy but it didn't work this time. Keep your options going until you have a better plan.

 

[Altitude sickness]

Were there any other hunters helping with supplying bait. If not how much would you guess you spent on bait

 

[Green Chile]

Good question! I supplied all baits (no pre-baiting) and the total on this trip was 12 impala @ $250 each and 1 zebra at $1250. It was more bait than we anticipated but it took 10 days of baiting to get the hit we were looking for and it was so hot that the bait would go bad in a few days. Black meat and maggots is fine as long as there is still some red meat underneath. Once you cut into it and it's black all the way through, it's gone bad and the leopard will only take a few bites and leave without returning. This was a big part of the hunt; checking to make sure the baits were still viable and if not, having the replacement bait ready. This took a lot of time and was the majority of what we did.

 

[Altitude sickness]

Great info. I’m glad I’m booked for a cooler month. Not that I would turn down a warm month hunt :>)))

 

[Green Chile]

The big boy is found...

Ok, so you have set out your baits and check them every day without fail. You've got some activity and you start to narrow down and shut down some of your non-productive baits to focus on the activity. You have been marking on your GPS/phone the various hits to see what kind of pattern the leopards are making. Patterns are everything and you must pay attention to them to see how the terrain is funneling the cats around.

You don't want to be spending 4 hours checking baits if you have the hits you are looking for. Now you have to get hyper focused on getting the big one to spend time on the bait he has hit. This is where it starts to get more interesting as you are finally seeing the big boy. This is the one that has been killing cattle and we have finally narrowed it down and gotten him on camera with a ground bait instead of a tree bait. Wayne predicted that the alpha cat would prefer a ground bait to a tree setup and he was right. Here was our first view of him...notice his shoulders and size. Also his ears are spread out on the sides of his head and not close together.