ZIMBABWE: My Most Ambitious Hunt To Date And...

Sourdough said:

The Leopard Hunt

First evening we are in the blind. The leopard comes in and goes up to the bait. I’m working on getting the camo screen cleared so I can shoot. The leopard takes one bite of the bait turns and departs. I didn’t have time to get on my gun.

Next morning we head out early, before daylight. As we near the blind we see the leopard lying on the ground. Buzz sends Andy ahead to set up his camera. He had been feeding on a lot of the buffalo bait, his stomach was noticeably fat. Leopard gets up and wanders off. We will continue to sit for two hours in case the leopard comes back.

The leopard did not return. So we headed off in search of elephant. Walked on the track of a bull in musk but quickly he joined with cows and they never slowed down. So we abandoned that tracking session. We were back on the road looking for elephant tracks when we received word from Buzz’s appy that another leopard was on camera at nearly the other end of the concession so off we went to investigate. When we got there and looked at the film it was inconclusive so we repositioned the cameras. We broke for lunch and next headed back to the place we were this morning and sit in the blind for the evening.

We rolled right up to the bait in the hunting car so the leopard would see the car arrive and leave. Myself, Buzz and Andy disembarked and headed to the blind. Only Andy and I could really fit into the Blind so Buzz stayed outside in a camp chair.

Andy and I settled in. It was HOT in the blind. I positioned the double and hung the camo netting so it covered the view into through shooting hole.

Ten minutes after 4pm came and went which was when he’d come in the evening before. Then 4:30. Then 5:00. Then 5:15. It was still hot outside, hotter than the day before. I motioned to Andy the sign of a big belly and sleeping. Perhaps the leopard wasn’t hungry after eating all the buffalo that morning.

A light rain started to fall dropping the air temperature. Maybe now the leopard would feed. Then as soon as the rain had started it stopped.

Then it happened. Andy motioned to me that the leopard was here. I peered through the camo netting but couldn’t see him. And then there he was. For me through the netting just an orange blob on the ground.

I reached for the stick I had stuck in the ground next to my chair. I used it to reach on the side where the camo netting was attached to the blind and lifted it free and slowly moved it off the double.

I could now see the leopard clearly. He wandered around the base of the bait licking his lips. Looking alternately at the meat hanging in the tree to directly at us in the blind. Could he see us? Probably. But each time he looked our way we froze and he went back to licking his lips and looking at the meat.

Finally he jumped onto the tree we’d cut and leaned against the bait tree so he could get to the meat. He went to eating immediately and then stepped off and hung midair trying to break some of the meat free he shook and shook giving me no shot. Eventually he let go and dropped to the ground.

The three of our hearts sank as he started to walk away. Was it happening again? Would he not come back till tomorrow? But then he turned around and jumped back up and started eating again.

He was 35 yards away. I settled the front bead of the iron sights into the V of the rear sight and positioned both near the shoulder of the leopard. The perfect shot. The leopard moved a little as he tore pieces of buffalo free. The safety was off and my forefinger rested on the front trigger. No way I would take the shot unless I was 100% sure of my shot placement. I didn’t want anyone to have to contend with a wounded leopard- the chainsaw of the wounded animal kingdom.

Then he sat back on his haunches. That gave me the perfect opportunity.

I pulled the front trigger and the RIGBY 450 No 2 roared to life send a 480 grain Woodleigh Round Nose Soft Nose bullet flying while rocking me back with recoil. When I regained my sight picture the leopard was no longer where he was a second ago. But was he dead? I knew the sight picture was perfect when I pulled the trigger but…..

Buzz stuck his head into the blind smiling ear to ear. Andy turned to look at me also with a huge smile on his face. I knew then that my shot had been true and the leopard was dead.

I passed my double out the blind to Buzz and Andy and I exited. Buzz handed my double back to me and the three of us walked the 35 yards to the leopard.

There he lay in his magnificence. Teeth worn down to almost nothing. Certainly he wasn’t too far off from a long painful death by hyenas.

The rest of the team arrived in short order having heard the shot. Hand shakes, hugs and dancing was the order of the moment.

A huge thunderstorm was developing in the direction of camp so we quickly set up for pictures then loaded the leopard and off we went.

A couple more firsts occurred this day. First ever leopard taken by a Rigby 450 No 2 double rifle. And the first time in Buzz’s career that a leopard was taken with a double rifle with iron sights.

A fantastic hunt to be sure and some epic video shot by Andy. And an unending thanks to the guys and Andy who rode in the back of the hunting car in the torrential downpour getting themselves soaked while they used their bodies to shield my rifles from getting wet.

Day 8 of 21 and three of the Big Four are in the salt. Now we focus entirely on a big Elephant Bull.

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Sourdough said:

We’ve tracked a number of elephants but nothing yet. Now that the other three are behind us for the first time we will be able to hunt elephants exclusively. I would love a chance at a 60 pounder but we will see. Going to be fun and exhausting at the same time.

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Sourdough said:

On Rumble, not on YouTube.

https://rumble.com/v5aswcs-zimbabwe-hunting-safari-2024.html

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Sourdough said:

While I was out tracking elephants yesterday the wife stayed back and sketched a picture of me

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Sourdough said:

The wife learning how to clean a Cape Buffalo skull.View attachment 754090

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Sourdough said:

The Rain and the Elephants

When we woke at 5am this morning it wasn’t raining which meant the hunt was on. So we dressed to head to the mess tent. By then it was raining which meant we could sleep in. Of course we were already dressed so had breakfast.

By the time we’d finished breakfast the rain had stopped so the decision was made to head out looking for fresh elephant tracks.

It had been raining in Zimbabwe for quite some time before our hunt. Everything is beautifully green and some of the grass is taller than the hunting car.

Now it was raining heavy every afternoon but not in the mornings, except today.

It didn’t take long before the first interesting elephant track was found and followed. Tusks too small. The another, the same. Eventually a very large track was spotted and the elephant was stopping frequently to dig big holes the find roots to eat. Making this an exciting track to follow.

Along the way Buzz checked some chewed up branch and found it still wet with saliva. We were close.

We got up to this bull in a relatively short time. Big and very old. But one tusk was nothing more than a stub of its former size and the other broken off as well. Still a magnificent beast.

We headed back to the hunting car and headed off for lunch and a nap. By the time we awoke a huge thunderstorm was on the horizon. The days tracking over we headed to camp with the heart of the storm to go through. More heavy rains and camp. Tomorrow we go out again.

[been trying to upload photos for three days now but it either gets stuck at 100% or errors out]

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