ZIMBABWE: Hunting the Omay For Elephant & Leopard With Dalton & York Safaris

Sitting at the salt pans...

After leaving camp at 3pm, we're settled into the blind by 4pm. Its a cramped affair, with me, Dalton, Andy, and Andy's camera taking up every last inch of space. No room to move! But that's ok, its time to find out what the deal is with these two leopards hitting this bait!

Time passes slowly. After a bit, a duck flies in. Then a few more. Eventually we've got an idyllic scene to watch. But we're not here for ducks!

full


As sunset nears, we hear the grunt of a leopard. Everyone is on edge, searching, squinting into the fast approaching darkness. Dalton is looking at the bait through a thermal sight. They're great for finding animals in the dark, but play hell on your night vision.

I catch a shadow moving between two bushes that looked like a cat. I squeeze Dalton's arm and whisper "he's here..."

And then I see another shadow move to the edge of the grass and lay down. What is going on here? We realized that it wasn't two males at this bait. It was a male and a female, sharing a fine meal after an evening of heavy mating!

The female jumps up into the tree and begins to work on the bait, while the male continues to lounge near by. We'd been concerned that it might be tough to distinguish between the large and small cat in the dark. No such worries. The size difference is significant, with the female thin and small, while the male is big and bulky.

And then something unexpected happens. In the last bit of light, I can still make out the female, but have lost sight of the male. And then another shadow appears, further to our right.

What is this third shadow? It keeps its distance, unmoving. The female stops feeding and jumps down from the tree. The big male and the female head off into the bushes, where they begin violently mating!

And then the third shadow moves to the tree and jumps up to the bait! This shadow is about the size of the female. And now the story starts to become clear...

As the male and female mate nearby, the young male begins to tear at the bait. He's taking advantage of the distracted male to steal from their dinner plate!!

We can't believe it! We have three leopards all hitting the same bait!!

Here's a clip from the thermal, where you can see the female on the bait, the large male relaxing, and the small male hiding:


The mating continues uninterrupted while the young male feasts! After a long while, the grunting and growling ceases and the young male disappears from the tree. At this point, all is complete darkness, so we only know what is happening from what Dalton tells us.

Dalton thinks the big male is in the tree now. We will wait for him to relax, stand up, and offer a perfect broadside shot. In the inky darkness, the leopard's ripping on the bait sounds like its only five feet away! The darkness amplifies all sounds!

Andy has his camera set up on a tripod and set for ultra low light conditions. Here's some of the video he was able to capture (none of this was visible to the naked eye):


Dalton continues to watch through the thermal, waiting for the right moment to come.

Not this time. The leopard jumps from the tree and finds his lady. The noisy copulating continues with renewed vigor! Meanwhile, the young male is back to steal some more bites!

While the sounds of leopards mating was interesting to start, now I feel trapped into listening to the audio-only tracks of a marathon leopard sex tape. Don't they get tired? Aren't they just a little hungry?

I loose track of time, as the leopards continue to bang away! I thought leopard hunting was supposed to be a quiet affair?? Every few minutes, the cats pause to catch their breath. Then they're right back at it.

Things quiet down and we can hear the young leopard vacate the tree. Eventually, we hear footsteps behind the blind. Have some hyenas come in to ruin our night? Surely not elephants? Dalton indicates that the young male is laying no more than 15 feet from our blind, off to our right!!

Then Dalton gives me the signal to get ready. The big male must be back in the tree! I ready myself, turn on my illuminated reticle to the lowest setting, and strain to catch a glimpse of anything in the darkness...

We'd discussed in advance that Dalton would turn on the red light so that I could find my target, but that I will wait until he gives the command to shoot. We want the leopard in a perfect broadside for the shot.

The light comes on and after a few moments, my eyes adjust and I can see the leopard. And then he jumps from the tree.


Darn. What happened? Did we make a noise? Did the light spook him somehow? Is he gone forever? Dalton shuts off the red light.

A few moments later, the leopard is back!

Dalton cautiously waits for the leopard to start feeding and then turns on the light. Same result! The leopard jumps from the tree! What the heck is going on?


This sequence of events repeats at least two or three more times. Then the leopard looses interest and goes to find his lady. The sex tape resumes at full volume! He's letting out his frustration at having his meal interrupted!

Dalton whispers that he's not sure what's up with this cat. Maybe he knows the program? Maybe he knows the plan? Maybe we've got a leopard that hates red lights?

All the while the groaning and growling of feline ecstasy continues to disrupt the usual nighttime quiet.

After about twenty minutes of furious sex, silence resumes. The big leopard is back in the tree! He's hungry!

We try the red light again. Same result. But as soon as the light goes out, he's back in the tree!

Dalton decides to try something different. We'll make an attempt with a torch, see if he's just sensitive to red light.

The white light flashes on and before I can really get my bearings, the cat is gone again.


Oi but this is frustrating! Our leopard has returned to his lady and the sex continues. I begin to wonder at their stamina! How are they not exhausted? How are they not rubbed raw?? Meanwhile the young male returns to the tree for a few more snacks.

I have lost track of time. I know only the sounds of leopards mating and insects buzzing. And then a new sound, a strange howl accompanied by footsteps behind us.

The footsteps circle around the blind to our right. The leopards are quiet now, seeming to rest. The footsteps resume. And then we hear a growl and a deep bark and a loud crashing sound. What the heck is going on out there??

As Dalton related later (he was able to watch the whole affair through the thermal scope), a hyena had approached the resting female leopard. As he prepared to antagonize her, the big male leopard stormed forward and slapped him across the face! The confrontation was over almost sooner than it began, with the hyena retreating to avoid further wrath from the leopard.

This encounter seemed to mark the end of our hopes for the night. There was a bit more leopard sex, but then things went quiet as they left the area.

After a time, Dalton indicated that we should exit the blind. Rather than calling up the truck and risk disturbing the leopards that were likely not far away, Dalton led us the couple kilometers to the truck. I won't lie, this walk was a bit unnerving. While I marveled at the crystal clear milky way in the night's sky, I couldn't help wondering where a lion or pack of hyenas might jump out and ambush us!

Luckily, we made it back to the truck safely. Heath, the appie, asked if we'd seen any leopard, surmising the worst from our worn out expressions. He and the trackers were blown away to hear that we had spent the last nine hours with three leopards!!

Too bad our big male seems to hate red light! Dalton will have his work cut out for him, trying to figure out how to crack this nut! We head back to camp for a short sleep. We'll be back on the truck first thing tomorrow morning, checking other bait spots and coming up with a plan to deal with our light-jumping leopard!

More adventures and excitement to come in our next installment!
You got to love having leopard near by. Even if they are preforming a marathon sex show.
 
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I’m really enjoying this hunting adventure. Please keep up the storytelling and I will pour another Bourbon!
 
Excellent followingh this thread with hope of a good leopard photo.
 
I am on my edge of my seat. Waiting for the next installment (y)
 
Thank you taking the time to write this up. Great report
 
Wow, what a great report. Sooooo, were you impressed or jealous of the leopard stamina? :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:

Anxiously waiting for the next chapter. :D Pop Popcorn:
 
Enjoying it, thanks for sharing the vids also! Look forward to more!
 
:D Pop Popcorn: :D Beer Bottle:

Edge of your seat stuff right here! Extraordinary! Thanks!
 
Sitting at the salt pans...

After leaving camp at 3pm, we're settled into the blind by 4pm. Its a cramped affair, with me, Dalton, Andy, and Andy's camera taking up every last inch of space. No room to move! But that's ok, its time to find out what the deal is with these two leopards hitting this bait!

Time passes slowly. After a bit, a duck flies in. Then a few more. Eventually we've got an idyllic scene to watch. But we're not here for ducks!

full


As sunset nears, we hear the grunt of a leopard. Everyone is on edge, searching, squinting into the fast approaching darkness. Dalton is looking at the bait through a thermal sight. They're great for finding animals in the dark, but play hell on your night vision.

I catch a shadow moving between two bushes that looked like a cat. I squeeze Dalton's arm and whisper "he's here..."

And then I see another shadow move to the edge of the grass and lay down. What is going on here? We realized that it wasn't two males at this bait. It was a male and a female, sharing a fine meal after an evening of heavy mating!

The female jumps up into the tree and begins to work on the bait, while the male continues to lounge near by. We'd been concerned that it might be tough to distinguish between the large and small cat in the dark. No such worries. The size difference is significant, with the female thin and small, while the male is big and bulky.

And then something unexpected happens. In the last bit of light, I can still make out the female, but have lost sight of the male. And then another shadow appears, further to our right.

What is this third shadow? It keeps its distance, unmoving. The female stops feeding and jumps down from the tree. The big male and the female head off into the bushes, where they begin violently mating!

And then the third shadow moves to the tree and jumps up to the bait! This shadow is about the size of the female. And now the story starts to become clear...

As the male and female mate nearby, the young male begins to tear at the bait. He's taking advantage of the distracted male to steal from their dinner plate!!

We can't believe it! We have three leopards all hitting the same bait!!

Here's a clip from the thermal, where you can see the female on the bait, the large male relaxing, and the small male hiding:


The mating continues uninterrupted while the young male feasts! After a long while, the grunting and growling ceases and the young male disappears from the tree. At this point, all is complete darkness, so we only know what is happening from what Dalton tells us.

Dalton thinks the big male is in the tree now. We will wait for him to relax, stand up, and offer a perfect broadside shot. In the inky darkness, the leopard's ripping on the bait sounds like its only five feet away! The darkness amplifies all sounds!

Andy has his camera set up on a tripod and set for ultra low light conditions. Here's some of the video he was able to capture (none of this was visible to the naked eye):


Dalton continues to watch through the thermal, waiting for the right moment to come.

Not this time. The leopard jumps from the tree and finds his lady. The noisy copulating continues with renewed vigor! Meanwhile, the young male is back to steal some more bites!

While the sounds of leopards mating was interesting to start, now I feel trapped into listening to the audio-only tracks of a marathon leopard sex tape. Don't they get tired? Aren't they just a little hungry?

I loose track of time, as the leopards continue to bang away! I thought leopard hunting was supposed to be a quiet affair?? Every few minutes, the cats pause to catch their breath. Then they're right back at it.

Things quiet down and we can hear the young leopard vacate the tree. Eventually, we hear footsteps behind the blind. Have some hyenas come in to ruin our night? Surely not elephants? Dalton indicates that the young male is laying no more than 15 feet from our blind, off to our right!!

Then Dalton gives me the signal to get ready. The big male must be back in the tree! I ready myself, turn on my illuminated reticle to the lowest setting, and strain to catch a glimpse of anything in the darkness...

We'd discussed in advance that Dalton would turn on the red light so that I could find my target, but that I will wait until he gives the command to shoot. We want the leopard in a perfect broadside for the shot.

The light comes on and after a few moments, my eyes adjust and I can see the leopard. And then he jumps from the tree.


Darn. What happened? Did we make a noise? Did the light spook him somehow? Is he gone forever? Dalton shuts off the red light.

A few moments later, the leopard is back!

Dalton cautiously waits for the leopard to start feeding and then turns on the light. Same result! The leopard jumps from the tree! What the heck is going on?


This sequence of events repeats at least two or three more times. Then the leopard looses interest and goes to find his lady. The sex tape resumes at full volume! He's letting out his frustration at having his meal interrupted!

Dalton whispers that he's not sure what's up with this cat. Maybe he knows the program? Maybe he knows the plan? Maybe we've got a leopard that hates red lights?

All the while the groaning and growling of feline ecstasy continues to disrupt the usual nighttime quiet.

After about twenty minutes of furious sex, silence resumes. The big leopard is back in the tree! He's hungry!

We try the red light again. Same result. But as soon as the light goes out, he's back in the tree!

Dalton decides to try something different. We'll make an attempt with a torch, see if he's just sensitive to red light.

The white light flashes on and before I can really get my bearings, the cat is gone again.


Oi but this is frustrating! Our leopard has returned to his lady and the sex continues. I begin to wonder at their stamina! How are they not exhausted? How are they not rubbed raw?? Meanwhile the young male returns to the tree for a few more snacks.

I have lost track of time. I know only the sounds of leopards mating and insects buzzing. And then a new sound, a strange howl accompanied by footsteps behind us.

The footsteps circle around the blind to our right. The leopards are quiet now, seeming to rest. The footsteps resume. And then we hear a growl and a deep bark and a loud crashing sound. What the heck is going on out there??

As Dalton related later (he was able to watch the whole affair through the thermal scope), a hyena had approached the resting female leopard. As he prepared to antagonize her, the big male leopard stormed forward and slapped him across the face! The confrontation was over almost sooner than it began, with the hyena retreating to avoid further wrath from the leopard.

This encounter seemed to mark the end of our hopes for the night. There was a bit more leopard sex, but then things went quiet as they left the area.

After a time, Dalton indicated that we should exit the blind. Rather than calling up the truck and risk disturbing the leopards that were likely not far away, Dalton led us the couple kilometers to the truck. I won't lie, this walk was a bit unnerving. While I marveled at the crystal clear milky way in the night's sky, I couldn't help wondering where a lion or pack of hyenas might jump out and ambush us!

Luckily, we made it back to the truck safely. Heath, the appie, asked if we'd seen any leopard, surmising the worst from our worn out expressions. He and the trackers were blown away to hear that we had spent the last nine hours with three leopards!!

Too bad our big male seems to hate red light! Dalton will have his work cut out for him, trying to figure out how to crack this nut! We head back to camp for a short sleep. We'll be back on the truck first thing tomorrow morning, checking other bait spots and coming up with a plan to deal with our light-jumping leopard!

More adventures and excitement to come in our next installment!
What a night!!!
 
Sounds like a grand adventure so far. Enjoying the read.
 
I can attest that just because it is getting loud in the bedroom, doesn't always equate to sex. Sometimes long periods of yelling is interrupted by very short periods of sex :LOL:.

Come on with it already, I have a plane to catch.
 
I can attest that just because it is getting loud in the bedroom, doesn't always equate to sex. Sometimes long periods of yelling is interrupted by very short periods of sex :LOL:.
And where can i buy that t shirt? Epic
 
A change of plans...

After a short night's rest, we're back on the trucks. While we're still scratching our heads on how to entice our light-jumping tom to stay on bait, we decide to check some of the other bait sites along the Ume river.

The closest bait site is only about a mile from camp, but our hopes aren't high for this spot. Dalton had seen some tracks here weeks ago, but nothing since we hung the bait. There had actually been lion tracks in the area more recently than leopard. As we get close, Dalton stops the truck and pulls out his rifle. The bait is very close to the road, so he will walk down and check it alone to avoid disturbing the area.

A short while later, Dalton reappears on the trail, SD card in hand. We've got another leopard on bait! We get out the iPad and download the footage with great anticipation. The leopard is an old male, clearly much older than the leopard on bait at the Baobab Pans! His head looks much bigger, but his body looks older and more lean.

Dalton and I immediately agree that we should go after this leopard instead. The older the better! In fact, if he's old enough, 6 years old, he will actually increase Dalton's leopard quota for next year! Hands down, this is the tom we want!

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Being so close to camp, we race back and grab another blind. This one is bigger than the last, which will leave room for 2 chairs, the camera tripod, and a mattress. Somehow, Andy will get to enjoy the mattress, while Dalton and I will be regulated to chairs again... not sure how the videographer gets the best spot in the blind?!? But Andy did offer up many "convincing" arguments about needing to move around and manage the camera, etc.

Our leopard still has a decent amount of meat on the bait, but its been up there for six days now. Best to get some fresh bait just in case. We head to the floodplains to see about getting a nice fat baboon. Each day we've gone to the floodplains, there's been heaps of baboon. Not today. None. Just some vervet monkeys and hippo in the distance.

Luckily, we're on a peninsula and there are more floodplains on the other side. After a short drive, we're there. We dismount the truck and glass to see what we can find. Sure enough, lots of baboons. We head a short distance into the bush and skirt along the floodplain to get closer. We pop out of the trees and creep towards a bush that we can use as cover for the shot. Dalton puts the sticks up and points out a baboon to me.

I jerk the trigger in my haste and miss completely! Grrr. I'm so frustrated with myself! But no time for that now. The baboons have just moved a bit further down the beach.

We head back into the trees and move in their general direction. Suddenly, Dalton signals to freeze. He mouths "elephant" and indicates we should reverse course. As quietly as possible, we back out until we're back on the floodplain. Again, we skirt the trees and then the sticks go up!

I set my rifle on the sticks and look for a baboon. "Bushbuck!" Dalton hisses! "Take him!" I find the bushbuck, he's headed towards the water. I bring the rifle up behind him and try to match the swing of the rifle to the pace of his movement.

I squeeze the trigger and down he goes! My shot was a bit far forward, but effective nonetheless!


Dalton apologizes, "sorry buddy, but I couldn't resist, couldn't pass him up!" I couldn't agree more! I've been trying to get a bushbuck on every trip to Africa. Finally, on my third trip, I get a beautiful bushbuck!! Awesome! I'm elated! And this is actually my first animal on this safari! Wow!

full


Meanwhile, the baboons haven't gone far. So, we see if we can get a two-fer. No luck though. The big ones are wise to the plan and have disappeared into the trees. We return to camp without a fresh bait, but happy as can be. This bushbuck will be good eating for us, while the leopard will have to content himself with nearly week-old hippo!

After dropping off the bushbuck, we take a short sleep and then its time to head to the blind! What will tonight bring??!?

I mentioned earlier that somehow Andy convinced us that he needed the mattress in the blind. Look at this prime spot- with my cameraman fast asleep!!?! Or maybe not asleep... maybe he's just keeping his ear to the ground, listening for leopard footsteps....
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Our final night in the blind...

I tease Andy for falling asleep in the blind, but I promptly do the same. I'm awoken by Dalton what seems like a second later, but it was already pitch black out. Expecting to hear a leopard grunting, or scratching of claws on the tree, or flesh being ripped from the bait, I am struck by the silence. Even Dalton hadn't heard the leopard approach the bait. He spotted by looking through the thermal, already on the branch, eating away.

Dalton tells me to get ready. Instantly, my heart is racing, adrenaline pumping, I stop breathing.

Through the scope, I wait for the red light. It flickers on and there is the leopard, laying on the branch, facing to our right!

I hear Dalton whisper "wait for him to stand up."


I wait for what seems like an interminable period of time. He continues to lay there, front paws draped across the bait that he's pulled up onto the branch, head turned away from us.

Finally, the leopard stands and turns around. Now he's facing to the left. I hear Dalton whisper "point of the shoulder, when you're ready."

As I begin to squeeze the trigger, the leopard sits down.

Bang!

The leopard disappears from my scope. I sit, not breathing, trying to hear over the sound of my hammering heart. I hear some growls and movement that seems to approach the blind and then stop off to our right.

I am flooded with emotions. Shock, frustration, self loathing. My shot was not perfect. My mistake had now created an infinitely more dangerous situation.

We waited in silence. Then Dalton called the truck over the radio. We load into the truck and drive the short distance down the hill to the river. Dalton, Heath, and Tongai jump out and look for sign of the leopard's path from the bait tree.

They find blood and follow it along the sand. The leopard has gone back up the hill into the bush. Everyone is shining spotlights, head lamps, whatever, into the bush in an effort to catch sight of the missing cat. A glimmer of green and shots from the shotgun and Dalton's 458 ring out.

No sound is coming from the bush, so Tongai starts throwing rocks to see if he can get a response. This continues, still to no effect. We decide to go back up the hill to the blind and approach from that direction.

As we step of the road and enter the bush, I am struck by how Dalton and Heath move, guns at the ready, flashlights gripped against their barrels, like highly trained operators moving towards a target.

On my left, Heath with his 416 Ruger. In front, taking point, is Dalton with his 458. I'm directly behind him with my 300 win mag. Covering the right side is Andy, having replaced his camera with the shotgun. Tongai is with me, holding a very bright spotlight. We move through the bush slowly, deliberately, extremely cautiously, making a counter-clockwise loop.

Every few steps we stop. We look. We listen. Still nothing. We see what we think is the tree the leopard is laying at the base of. Tongai throws some rocks to no effect. We continue forward, inching closer.

Nothing at the tree.

We proceed forward to the edge of the bush, a 20 ft. cliff to the sandy floodplain below. Have we passed him? Missed him? We continue our counter-clockwise circle until we're back at the blind. We take stock of the situation. Maybe we swung too wide. We look at the treetops, trying to identify the dead tree we'd seen from below, where we suspect the leopard. We see a likely candidate directly ahead of us, maybe 60 meters.

Again we begin to move. Slowly. Slower. So slow. The feeling that each step brings us closer to a final confrontation is palpable. Then, something. A flicker. Heath points into the darkness. Have we found our leopard?

Dalton pulls me forward. "Look for the eyes." The beams of the many flashlights cast about in all directions, seeming to illuminate everything except what I need to see. I'm squinting, shifting position, trying to catch a glimpse of something.

And then, as one, the beams of light seem to converge and I make out two brilliantly glimmering emeralds in the darkness. They are so vibrantly green, like no eyes I've ever seen before.

I shoot at the eyes. With a roar, the leopard flies into the air to our left in a desperate attempt to flee. Heath takes a shot and with a crash, we loose sight of the leopard in the darkness.

Amid the swirling gun smoke, silence returns. Heath thinks the leopard is down in a bush maybe 20 yards from us. The rest aren't sure. I'm still in a daze. We group back up, at the ready, and begin our slow, stuttering movement towards the bush.

As we approach, we can make out a shape, then fur, then rosettes. No movement. The leopard is down. Finished. Ended. I'm not really sure how to describe the emotions of this moment. We move forward, I brush the leopard's fur. I'm in awe of the majesty of this cat.

Further inspection of the cat reveals that my first shot broke both front legs. He rubbed a section of his chest raw, running himself into the ground with his back legs. I am amazed how he managed to jump through the air after my final shot, despite his injuries.

A sense of relief overwhelms me. We've made it through this. The leopard is down. No-one was hurt. Relief. Thanks. Admiration. Exhaustion. Respect.

...

...

After a time, we move the leopard down to the floodplains below for photos. In the distance, we can hear laughter coming from camp. We're so close, everyone surely heard the shots and is wondering what has happened.

full


What a cat. What a magnificent leopard. Upon inspecting his mouth, we see his dark yellow teeth, worn smooth with age, lacking their razor sharp cutting edges. One canine is badly chipped. He's missing a few front teeth. I am so happy to have taken such a fine old tom. The perfect trophy.

Here's a photo of his skull from a few days later:

full


The drive back to camp is a boisterous one, as our trackers and scouts sing their traditional celebratory songs. As we pull up, everyone is waiting for us, cheering, clapping, asking about the night's events. I find my wife in the crowd, hug her close, and show her our leopard, laid out in the back of the truck.

full


What a night. What a hunt. Needless to say, a truly legendary leopard party followed that lasted to the next morning. The way Dalton and Heath and Andy and Tongai handled the follow up should mark them as legends. A very dangerous situation ended safely. Thank you to them for a memory I'll never forget.

...

...

We took the next day off, giving the animals and ourselves a rest. Convenient, as my parents were arriving in camp and picking them up from the boat served as a good excuse to avoid hunting for elephant. I don't think that would have been a wise choice!

More to follow soon, as we set off in search of an elephant that has been antagonizing the villagers in a small fishing camp. The locals say he's "bitten" three people so far! Not sure how that works with an elephant, but we aim to find out!
 
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Come on with it already, I have a plane to catch.

Hope this is enough- I don't think I'll be able to get more added before you fly tomorrow. Safe travels and best of luck on your hunt with York!
 
Wow!
 
Wow! This has been one of the best reports I’ve ever read. Did your first shot catch any of the lungs of the cat?
 

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