NAMIBIA: Johnnyblues V.S. Mr. Spots Round Two

Congratulations on the Duke! Hang in there! Lots of time left to hunt!

John patience is key my friend...Now kill that cat!!!!

sestoppelman said:

Yah, its a whopper! Must be near 5"?

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. Ya Scott 5 inches is correct.

What a great Duiker! Hang in there, the cat will come.

Strange looking cat ?? I thought they had spots and lots of sharp teeth ?

Baits have gone cold at least for now... If there’s one thing I’ve learned about leopard hunting is if your in the right area things can change quickly. Boring days with lots of traveling. Really can’t focus on hunting anything else as all our efforts are on the cat.

johnnyblues said:

Baits have gone cold at least for now... If there’s one thing I’ve learned about leopard hunting is if your in the right area things can change quickly. Boring days with lots of traveling. Really can’t focus on hunting anything else as all our efforts are on the cat.

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In that scenario do you rebait existing stations or start creating new ones?

N

JPbowhunter said:

In that scenario do you rebait existing stations or start creating new ones?

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No we just make sure we keep fresh bait going. Leopards will not hit every day. They do skip days. There around for sure. We keep pushing.

johnnyblues said:

N

No we just make sure we keep fresh bait going. Leopards will not hit every day. They do skip days. There around for sure. We keep pushing.

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Sorry to bombard you with questions, leopard are my favourite of the big 5 so I'm fascinated by the whole thing.

Do they skip days through not being hungry or do they make rounds of their territory?

JPbowhunter said:

Sorry to bombard you with questions, leopard are my favourite of the big 5 so I'm fascinated by the whole thing.

Do they skip days through not being hungry or do they make rounds of their territory?

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My understanding is if they eat enough of bait they can skip a day or so, remember they could also make a kill and not come to the bait even longer. And yes they do make their rounds so a leopard you have on camera may not be back for week or so. That being said another male could also start hitting the bait.

Yoda said:

“PATIENCE YOU MUST HAVE my young padawan”

– Yoda

Good luck brother, I know you will get him this time! Anxiously waiting for the report!

Man, you gotta love leopard hunting to propagate that hunter’s paranoia. Can we keep him on bait. What if he skips a day. What if he makes a kill. What if he changes patterns. What if he goes nocturnal. What if a female moves on bait. Arrrrrrrghh.

You will get your cat Johhny no matter how crazy you drive yourself. All the worry in the world won’t change when you are in the right place at the right time. DRT. Dead right there! Send pics of old spots when all is done. And great duiker BTW!

Ok boys did I say something about boring? 6.35 pm. In our blind just watching the bait as the sun slowly starts to set on another day. Suddenly I see movement my PH see it the same time I do. Leopard! The head looks huge to me he immediately starts for the tree as we’re losing light quickly. I line up my 300wsm place it on his shoulder and fire.....cat turns quickly and runs into the thicket. Not a sound he made! Did I miss? The shot felt good. I’d been shooting great thru the whole hunt did I now screw up?... silence.....now what? We wait a few minutes and go to the bait. No blood I know I hit him well. Now what ? We have to call in the dogs. From what I’m told it’s now legal to use the dogs. SP my PH Phone’s Johan the leopard hunter to bring in his pack of dogs. Two hours out....this leopard has run into thickets that you can’t see four feet in front of.

Johan is here. Dogs are collared gps set up here we go. Holy crap it’s thick! The dogs are on the blood trail......tracking now 45 minutes several dogs keep returning to us?
One is hot and heavy on the cat....low weak growl.. now we see spots were the leopard has laid down, lots of blood....this cat is mortally wounded. Johann is extremely cautious. Several dogs keep returning...why? In Afrikaans Johan tell SP the dogs are afraid... this cat has the dogs spooked. On the gps we Johan can see the dog 50 feet in front of us not moving...the cat is right there! It’s just way to thick and dangerous in the dark. Johan decides to pull the current pack of the chase and go and get additional dogs. What the hell? Ok this guy is the professional he knows best. I’m assured this cat will not make it thru the night, but Johan plans to return in the morning with help, now my concern is will the Hyenas find my cat overnight and destroy the cape?

We return to the lodge SP and I and knock down several Brandy’s. It’s going to be a sleepless night. Johan just called he has borrowed some dogs from someone only 100 km away. He’ll be back by 2 am! He’s also afraid the hyenas may destroy the cape once he expires. It’s now 12 am. Stayed tuned!

Oh boy oh boy oh boy!!!! Fingers crossed for the best!!! I may have a sleepless night here waiting for an update as well!!! Hang in there!

woah!

Good luck on the retrieval! Look forward to seeing Mr Spots slung over a shoulder.

Shit , if thats not adrenalin overload what is .
Its 10 am in the morning here in NZ Johnny , but i aint goin nowhere till you find the cat !!!

Wow. Congrats on getting the shot. Now go get your cat!!!

Unbelievable! I'm reliving my own hunt . . . I refused to leave the area after the PH had stopped the tracking because it was too thick and too dangerous. He said he'd leave the trackers with a fire overnight to try to keep the hyenas at bay . . . luckily, just as I was saying I'd stay with them, the leopard charged us! But we got him, and you'll got yours too! Only a bit of time . . .!

Well done!