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- DALLAS SAFARI CLUB ,ZIMBABWE PROFESSIONAL HUNTERS AND GUIDES. SCI.
- Hunted
- TANZANIA ,ZIMBABWE , NEW ZEALAND , USA, SOUTH AFRICA
This was one of the best hunts I have had this year and the 4th Leopard taken so far, what a challenge this one turned into. There are many debates about hound hunting verses blind hunting and yes there are pro's and con's for both. So I don't want to get into a debate about it on the forum, just want to share a great hunting experience in brief.
My client Donni insisted on using hounds as his schedule was pretty tight and could only make it out for 10 days so I pre baited well in advance prior to his arrival.
On day 2 we chased a Male that was with a female from a bait high in the granite hills almost felt like New Zealand we were so high , trust me it was not a easy deal, we had 2 Black Eagles soaring over us as they had a nest with a chick in it right on top of a vertical rock that was where the Leopard had passed under, anyway one Leopard was seen at about 30 yards away from the trackers and the hounds took off after the other Leopard down the other side , a long chase again and in another range of hills a Leopard was treed . Unfortunately it was the female so after a bit of time we managed to get all the dogs tied up par for one that landed upside down in a crevice 8 feet deep. I honestly thought that we were going to have to shoot the dog because of where it was stuck. Cut a long story short it managed to right its self and walk towards us to where we could get a rope around its neck , and by moving a pretty large rock one of the guys pulled it up through the small space that could have been its grave. Luckily the dog was tough and it recovered completely considering that its neck was nearly stretched when it was pulled out.
After another 2 attempts at following from a track and several kilometers later we were still looking for a decent cat.
On day 7 early in the morning we crossed the tracks of the Leopard we think we failed to get the day before, this time we were on his tracks at 4 am , but had to wait until it was light enough to at least see as well as help the dogs and make sure we followed the right track all the way as there are plenty female leopard in the area, we had 5 females eating on 5 different baits , anyway after a combined 50km or more of tracking and very little sleep it came together on this day, and what a Leopard it turned out to be, after some hours of fighting in the rocks Donni got his Leopard from above as it came out of the cave to fight the dogs it presented itself .
I have allot of respect for the hounds they are tremendous , being able to follow the scent for km's and risking their lives in tight corners in the cave and getting smacked and bitten all credit goes to the hounds in my opinion, without them we may have taken a cat from a blind possibly but in this case with not too many days to work with the hounds paid off for Donni. And a big thank you to the hounds man who trained and understands his hounds and knew how to manage them.
My client Donni insisted on using hounds as his schedule was pretty tight and could only make it out for 10 days so I pre baited well in advance prior to his arrival.
On day 2 we chased a Male that was with a female from a bait high in the granite hills almost felt like New Zealand we were so high , trust me it was not a easy deal, we had 2 Black Eagles soaring over us as they had a nest with a chick in it right on top of a vertical rock that was where the Leopard had passed under, anyway one Leopard was seen at about 30 yards away from the trackers and the hounds took off after the other Leopard down the other side , a long chase again and in another range of hills a Leopard was treed . Unfortunately it was the female so after a bit of time we managed to get all the dogs tied up par for one that landed upside down in a crevice 8 feet deep. I honestly thought that we were going to have to shoot the dog because of where it was stuck. Cut a long story short it managed to right its self and walk towards us to where we could get a rope around its neck , and by moving a pretty large rock one of the guys pulled it up through the small space that could have been its grave. Luckily the dog was tough and it recovered completely considering that its neck was nearly stretched when it was pulled out.
After another 2 attempts at following from a track and several kilometers later we were still looking for a decent cat.
On day 7 early in the morning we crossed the tracks of the Leopard we think we failed to get the day before, this time we were on his tracks at 4 am , but had to wait until it was light enough to at least see as well as help the dogs and make sure we followed the right track all the way as there are plenty female leopard in the area, we had 5 females eating on 5 different baits , anyway after a combined 50km or more of tracking and very little sleep it came together on this day, and what a Leopard it turned out to be, after some hours of fighting in the rocks Donni got his Leopard from above as it came out of the cave to fight the dogs it presented itself .
I have allot of respect for the hounds they are tremendous , being able to follow the scent for km's and risking their lives in tight corners in the cave and getting smacked and bitten all credit goes to the hounds in my opinion, without them we may have taken a cat from a blind possibly but in this case with not too many days to work with the hounds paid off for Donni. And a big thank you to the hounds man who trained and understands his hounds and knew how to manage them.
