And So My Second Quest for Leopard to Complete My Big 5 Begins!!!!!

Rare Breed · Tuesday at 10:51 AM

Kevin Peacocke said:
It will come soon Craig!

Thanks everyone!!!

Scott CWO · Tuesday at 11:15 AM

Rare Breed said:
Day 3 & 4
I started off slow missing my first bait animal a broken horn Oyrx then wounding a black wildebeest which is the first Africa animal I have shot and could not find. Feel terrible about that. But then redeemed myself with a nice shot at another broken horned Oyrx! Food is exceptional !!!!
Day 5
Great day!!! I worked my rear off with Divan and the team going up one hill and down the other for about five miles. My yearly every week training really paid off as I kept up with Divan who is a certified mountain goat !!! Now here is the bad part, I don’t know why but thorns just love me as you can see in the picture! Took a beautiful huge mountain zebra with one shot so now we have plenty of bait!!! I thought you would like to see what we currently have on bait!!!

View attachment 793145 View attachment 793146 View attachment 793147 View attachment 793148

Looks like you could have used your legs for bait! Put some pants on, dude!

1dirthawker · Tuesday at 11:39 AM

Rare Breed said:
Day 3 & 4
I started off slow missing my first bait animal a broken horn Oyrx then wounding a black wildebeest which is the first Africa animal I have shot and could not find. Feel terrible about that. But then redeemed myself with a nice shot at another broken horned Oyrx! Food is exceptional !!!!
Day 5
Great day!!! I worked my rear off with Divan and the team going up one hill and down the other for about five miles. My yearly every week training really paid off as I kept up with Divan who is a certified mountain goat !!! Now here is the bad part, I don’t know why but thorns just love me as you can see in the picture! Took a beautiful huge mountain zebra with one shot so now we have plenty of bait!!! I thought you would like to see what we currently have on bait!!!

View attachment 793145 View attachment 793146 View attachment 793147 View attachment 793148

building up scar tissue on the shins, well done!

Tgood1 · Tuesday at 8:12 PM

Potentially the funnest thread in awhile

Mark458 · Tuesday at 8:40 PM

Pour some alcohol on those legs, I bet we hear you from across the pond.

RSL · Tuesday at 11:58 PM

The "cats claw" bushes here in AZ are bad but not sure they are that bad.

kpoynter · Wednesday at 6:00 PM

I can practically hear the clock ticking….
You guys get a Tom on bait yet?

PARA45 · Wednesday at 6:26 PM

I hope the silence is a good sign that there is a cat in the salt

Rare Breed · Wednesday at 11:34 PM

kpoynter said:
I can practically hear the clock ticking….
You guys get a Tom on bait yet?

Not yet. We have excellent bait up given I took two large zebras and a gemsbok. However for the first 10 days while tracks and three daylight sightings no leopards on baits yet despite Divan and his tracker working their butts off each day
Later today I will be posting a picture of the big tom we keep seeing tracks around the bait but he will not eat. Too me he looks huge but I will see what the forum thinks. He has been shot at three times once by the property owner and two times by clients with only one slightly wounding it. Divan says a dominant leopard like that protects his territory keeping other male leopards out. Not about to give up given I still have three more days!!!!!

Sabre · 2026-09-24T00:04:19-0500

Rare Breed said:
Not yet. We have excellent bait up given I took two large zebras and a gemsbok. However for the first 10 days while tracks and three daylight sightings no leopards on baits yet despite Divan and his tracker working their butts off each day
Later today I will be posting a picture of the big tom we keep seeing tracks around the bait but he will not eat. Too me he looks huge but I will see what the forum thinks. He has been shot at three times once by the property owner and two times by clients with only one slightly wounding it. Divan says a dominant leopard like that protects his territory keeping other male leopards out. Not about to give up given I still have three more days!!!!!

Is it possible to extend your stay?

Also, if he is consistently patrolling a certain area around the bait would it be possible to watch that area and get a shot at him?

kpoynter · 2026-09-24T05:51:09-0500

Rare Breed said:
Not yet. We have excellent bait up given I took two large zebras and a gemsbok. However for the first 10 days while tracks and three daylight sightings no leopards on baits yet despite Divan and his tracker working their butts off each day
Later today I will be posting a picture of the big tom we keep seeing tracks around the bait but he will not eat. Too me he looks huge but I will see what the forum thinks. He has been shot at three times once by the property owner and two times by clients with only one slightly wounding it. Divan says a dominant leopard like that protects his territory keeping other male leopards out. Not about to give up given I still have three more days!!!!!

Keep after it… glad you got a meat buffet hung around presumably a large radius.
Namibia, unfortunately, is the toughest place for Leopard success

farmer_john · 2026-09-24T05:59:52-0500

kpoynter said:
Keep after it… glad you got a meat buffet hung around presumably a large radius.
Namibia, unfortunately, is the toughest place for Leopard success

Why is that? And what makes for better or lower sucess rates/ countries?

Betterinthebush · 2026-09-24T06:40:19-0500

Sabre said:
Also, if he is consistently patrolling a certain area around the bait would it be possible to watch that area and get a shot at him?

I’m interested in what others have to say about this, but my guess is the chance of that happening would be very slim.

I’ve seen two leopard in daylight. IME, by the time you see them they are already gone by means of their incredible camouflage behind a blade of grass. Then, if you do spot it you have to get glass on him to sex and determine if it is a good take. He’s probably going to be moving and checking the entire time.

I’m not saying it’s impossible, but it’s as close to impossible in hunting as it can get. Then again, you could get lucky. And I’d rather be lucky than good.

I’d keep at the baits.

kpoynter · 2026-09-24T07:56:08-0500

farmer_john said:
Why is that? And what makes for better or lower sucess rates/ countries?

Well…
It’s pretty well known that Namibia is perhaps a 50/50 area for Leopard by and large (or worse potentially). Especially unless one uses hounds
This is directly reflected (fairly) in the price of Leopard hunts in Namibia. They are materially lower
Why? Opinions will likely but I’ll give it a go….(and I have hunted Namibia in several areas and many other areas)

1) habitat and terrain would be primary IMO. While I do not think I would necessarily make a population density argument (where tags are available at all) I would start by saying Namibia is largely a huge and vast arid and desert type habitat. Think West Texas. I dare say that any given Males home territory here is likely more vast but I don’t know if that’s true or if there is real science behind that.
Leopards are secretive animals that have large territories. They like security and cover. Most of your best areas for Leopard have this in abundance.
Namibia doesn’t have a lot of dense, lush habitat…
As many Secretive areas with Springs running out of the hills with thick vegetation
They have a lot of thorn bush and low canopy trees (Namibia is a very large place but this is still generally true of most areas)
They tend to hang out in the rocky hills and patrol at night and you hunt them in daylight….
2) farmers…Namibia is cattle country and don’t forget it lol. These farm boys don’t tolerate predators. They have absolutely hammered the Cheetas and consider them vermin. They persecute these cats a lot more that other “wild areas”. These places are largely on or near “ranch land” and especially given the large home ranges of the cats. So you’d better believe they are wary of humans and have likely been persecuted.

Jamy Trout has a very nice offer in the vast Kao Kao land desert region right now. He has it priced appropriately based on risk and he is super honest and fair. I might do that very hunt one day just to experience the different land and environment.
Some areas are more reflective of “traditional habitat” with higher population densities. I do think that there are very few “good areas” here with higher population densities and tag availability is also predicated on this.

I think pulling a Leopard off those big hills….in Daylight…. And in an area with cover to make him feel secure enough to do so…. Is a hell of a lot harder than other prime areas…and couple this with the fact the cats may be more wary of humans….

Mtn_Infantry · 2026-09-24T08:15:34-0500

Rare Breed said:
Not yet. We have excellent bait up given I took two large zebras and a gemsbok. However for the first 10 days while tracks and three daylight sightings no leopards on baits yet despite Divan and his tracker working their butts off each day
Later today I will be posting a picture of the big tom we keep seeing tracks around the bait but he will not eat. Too me he looks huge but I will see what the forum thinks. He has been shot at three times once by the property owner and two times by clients with only one slightly wounding it. Divan says a dominant leopard like that protects his territory keeping other male leopards out. Not about to give up given I still have three more days!!!!!

Use something of known size for reference.

Generally the rule of thumb is if a cigarette fits in the track it’s a mature tom. This has been flawed. Earlier this year we had a female who’s track would have met this requirement as well as a very large but young male. The female could’ve fooled even the most experienced leopard hunter as she was giant bodied. Without the cameras we would’ve sat. We even built a blind after the first feed because we didn’t get any solid pictures showing it wasn’t a male. The PH estimated her to be 160-170lbs.

Red Leg · 2026-09-24T08:18:13-0500

kpoynter said:
Well…
It’s pretty well known that Namibia is perhaps a 50/50 area for Leopard by and large (or worse potentially). Especially unless one uses hounds
This is directly reflected (fairly) in the price of Leopard hunts in Namibia. They are materially lower
Why? Opinions will likely but I’ll give it a go….(and I have hunted Namibia in several areas and many other areas)

1) habitat and terrain would be primary IMO. While I do not think I would necessarily make a population density argument (where tags are available at all) I would start by saying Namibia is largely a huge and vast arid and desert type habitat. Think West Texas. I dare say that any given Males home territory here is likely more vast but I don’t know if that’s true or if there is real science behind that.
Leopards are secretive animals that have large territories. They like security and cover. Most of your best areas for Leopard have this in abundance.
Namibia doesn’t have a lot of dense, lush habitat…
As many Secretive areas with Springs running out of the hills with thick vegetation
They have a lot of thorn bush and low canopy trees (Namibia is a very large place but this is still generally true of most areas)
They tend to hang out in the rocky hills and patrol at night and you hunt them in daylight….
2) farmers…Namibia is cattle country and don’t forget it lol. These farm boys don’t tolerate predators. They have absolutely hammered the Cheetas and consider them vermin. They persecute these cats a lot more that other “wild areas”. These places are largely on or near “ranch land” and especially given the large home ranges of the cats. So you’d better believe they are wary of humans and have likely been persecuted.

Jamy Trout has a very nice offer in the vast Kao Kao land desert region right now. He has it priced appropriately based on risk and he is super honest and fair. I might do that very hunt one day just to experience the different land and environment.
Some areas are more reflective of “traditional habitat” with higher population densities. I do think that there are very few “good areas” here with higher population densities and tag availability is also predicated on this.

I think pulling a Leopard off those big hills….in Daylight…. And in an area with cover to make him feel secure enough to do so…. Is a hell of a lot harder than other prime areas…and couple this with the fact the cats may be more wary of humans….

Known by whom? I think the best leopard PH, and likely the one with the highest success rate on the continent, is Nick Nolte. His primary hunting area is the Erongo Mountain area of central Namibia. And he has been doing it for nearly forty years. I suspect even Jamy would agree with that assessment. The area is thick with cats to which several contributors here can attest.

Obviously, there are also outfits with excellent records with leopards in other countries. Zim, Moz, Zambia, and Tanzania all have excellent reputations - if hunting with the right outfitter.

It is one reason that I always advise prospective leopard hunters that the most important consideration when it comes to leopards is the success rate of the operation. Rifles and scopes are great, but useless with the wrong outfitter regardless of which country.

Surgeon7 · 2026-09-24T08:35:03-0500

Agree with this assessment. Nick Nolte is one of it not the most successful leopard hunters in Namibia. Killed mine this year with him. One and done.

Red Leg · 2026-09-24T09:00:04-0500

Red Leg said:
Known by whom? I think the best leopard PH, and likely the one with the highest success rate on the continent, is Nick Nolte. His primary hunting area is the Erongo Mountain area of central Namibia. And he has been doing it for nearly forty years. I suspect even Jamy would agree with that assessment. The area is thick with cats to which several contributors here can attest.

Obviously, there are also outfits with excellent records with leopards in other countries. Zim, Moz, Zambia, and Tanzania all have excellent reputations - if hunting with the right outfitter.

It is one reason that I always advise prospective leopard hunters that the most important consideration when it comes to leopards is the success rate of the operation. Rifles and scopes are great, but useless with the wrong outfitter regardless of which country.

One other point. There are no bargains with respect to leopard success rates. Nick is not the cheapest leopard opportunity in Africa south of the Sahara. But neither or Jamy's buffalo on the Waterberg. And whatever his, or another quality operation's cost, that investment will be far cheaper than a second or third safari or a full bag hunt in Tanzania. A friend in South Carolina recently took his cat with Nick after three previous tries in Zim - a total of 42 days and many nights over ten years with two different outfitters. They took a huge tom on the fourth evening.

Finally, I am not on the ground on this current hunt so take this for what it is worth, but I can not imagine trying to get a cat that has been shot at twice and wounded on bait in front of an occupied blind. Nick calls such animals "professors." Of course, he has the luxury of shifting to dozens of other sites in his concessions when one of these appears.

mark-hunter · 2026-09-24T09:13:19-0500

Red Leg said:
I can not imagine trying to get a cat that has been shot at twice and wounded on bait in front of an occupied blind

I think this is the key point. Me, too. I cannot imagine that.
(although I am no expert on leopards)

Doug3006 · 2026-09-24T09:16:09-0500

kpoynter said:
Well…
It’s pretty well known that Namibia is perhaps a 50/50 area for Leopard by and large (or worse potentially). Especially unless one uses hounds
This is directly reflected (fairly) in the price of Leopard hunts in Namibia. They are materially lower
Why? Opinions will likely but I’ll give it a go….(and I have hunted Namibia in several areas and many other areas)

1) habitat and terrain would be primary IMO. While I do not think I would necessarily make a population density argument (where tags are available at all) I would start by saying Namibia is largely a huge and vast arid and desert type habitat. Think West Texas. I dare say that any given Males home territory here is likely more vast but I don’t know if that’s true or if there is real science behind that.
Leopards are secretive animals that have large territories. They like security and cover. Most of your best areas for Leopard have this in abundance.
Namibia doesn’t have a lot of dense, lush habitat…
As many Secretive areas with Springs running out of the hills with thick vegetation
They have a lot of thorn bush and low canopy trees (Namibia is a very large place but this is still generally true of most areas)
They tend to hang out in the rocky hills and patrol at night and you hunt them in daylight….
2) farmers…Namibia is cattle country and don’t forget it lol. These farm boys don’t tolerate predators. They have absolutely hammered the Cheetas and consider them vermin. They persecute these cats a lot more that other “wild areas”. These places are largely on or near “ranch land” and especially given the large home ranges of the cats. So you’d better believe they are wary of humans and have likely been persecuted.

Jamy Trout has a very nice offer in the vast Kao Kao land desert region right now. He has it priced appropriately based on risk and he is super honest and fair. I might do that very hunt one day just to experience the different land and environment.
Some areas are more reflective of “traditional habitat” with higher population densities. I do think that there are very few “good areas” here with higher population densities and tag availability is also predicated on this.

I think pulling a Leopard off those big hills….in Daylight…. And in an area with cover to make him feel secure enough to do so…. Is a hell of a lot harder than other prime areas…and couple this with the fact the cats may be more wary of humans….

I know 2 outfitters in the Omaruru area who have significantly higher success rates than 50/50. More like 90% over many years. Nick Nolte and Werner von Seydlitz of Immenhof Safaris. I’m sure there are others.

And So My Second Quest for Leopard to Complete My Big 5 Begins!!!!!

Rare Breed

Scott CWO

1dirthawker

Tgood1

Mark458

RSL

kpoynter

PARA45

Rare Breed

Sabre

kpoynter

farmer_john

Betterinthebush

kpoynter

Mtn_Infantry

Red Leg

Surgeon7

Red Leg

mark-hunter

Doug3006

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