What are the Ins and Outs of a Leopard Hunt

Going to SA for my first Africa PG hunt in April but already thinking about a second trip for DG, in particular a leopard hunt, and have some questions.

First, can you bring the leopard back into the US for a full body mount?
Second, are leopard hunted via stocking or just over bait/blind. Read one post that said over dogs is done but would like some clarification of hunting methods used for leopard. I’m not particularly fond of blind hunting.
Third, in which country(s) should I start looking for this type of hunt? I don’t believe SA is an option, but maybe that’s not accurate.
Fourth, assuming I take this plunge, which DG caliber should I plan on taking? Guessing 375 H&H or 404 Jeffery would be both legal and good choices.

Thanks to all the experienced AH members and your feedback. Learn a ton on this forum.

Yes, you can bring it back.
I believe only in certain areas of Zimbabwe one can hunt them with dogs.
I would look at Zimbabwe, Namibia, Zambia, Tanzania etc. for a Leopard. One good way to choose is to look at yearly CITES allocations. Gives you an idea of possible success (more chances if numbers are higher).
While Leopard is DG, it is similar to a mountain lion in size which people hunt with handguns. Anything from a .270 and up with expanding bullets should work with good placement.

Most leopards are taken off bait late evening or early morning. It is a far more engaging hunt than you might think. Keeping the baits freshly stocked (by shooting PG), judging tracks, studying the trail cameras, and the tension when a kudu barks or baboons go nuts letting you know a cat may be approaching is a lifetime experience.

As important as the location is the actual outfitter. The PH's with truly high success rates are relatively few. It takes a special skill set to be regularly successful. He is worth the investment.

You are correct in that South Africa is not an option. As you also surmised, captive bred leopard hasn't really been feasible. Grant Taylor in Mozambique is, I believe, still offering some hound hunts for leopard, though most of his are taken off bait. He has a very high success rate and is a sponsor here. https://www.mashambanzousafaris.com/. He runs a first class operation.

The man that I think is the best and most successful leopard guide in Africa is Nick Nolte in Namibia. I took one with him several years ago, and his success rate would be nearly 100% were it not for the occasional client who can't shoot. He and his lovely wife Isabel are wonderful people. The area he hunts around Omaruru is overrun with big cats. https://nicknoltehunting.com/about/. Jamy Traut, also a sponsor, has high success rates as well. He too runs a great operation across much of Namibia. https://jamyhunts.com/

Zimbabwe is the other usual destination for leopard, but I have no personal experience with a PH who hunts them there with high success rates.

Tanzania offers leopards, but I am not sure you can easily find an affordable targeted hunt for one there.

I personally think a .375 or larger rifle is a lousy choice for a leopard. I took mine with a .338 and when I go back for one, it will be with a .300 of some sort.

The "IN"...Get IN the blind early afternoon ....The "Out" You never get OUT until you've missed Breakfast...Then you check the other Baits all day...Quick Lunch / Nap...Then Drag your sorry ass back IN the Blind...Repeat until your Bill Murray in Ground Hog Day!

Oh the best part get used to sleeping on mountain top rocks...I took my wife on my second Leopard hunt for our Second Honeymoon...She shot our bait animals...I slept more with my PH than I did with my wife...

As @Red Leg said it's an interesting hunt when baiting for leopard...bit of a game of chess....obviously different terrain according to the country you hunting in. If you are interested in Zambia where you have a good chance ...(but remember leopard are not easy) I can pm you contact info....and a 300 win mag or 308/30-06 is good

Red Leg said:

Most leopards are taken off bait late evening or early morning. It is a far more engaging hunt than you might think. Keeping the baits freshly stocked (by shooting PG), judging tracks, studying the trail cameras, and the tension when a kudu barks or baboons go nuts letting you know a cat may be approaching is a lifetime experience.

As important as the location is the actual outfitter. The PH's with truly high success rates are relatively few. It takes a special skill set to be regularly successful. He is worth the investment.

You are correct in that South Africa is not an option. As you also surmised, captive bred leopard hasn't really been feasible. Grant Taylor in Mozambique is, I believe, still offering some hound hunts for leopard, though most of his are taken off bait. He has a very high success rate and is a sponsor here. https://www.mashambanzousafaris.com/. He runs a first class operation.

The man that I think is the best and most successful leopard guide in Africa is Nick Nolte in Namibia. I took one with him several years ago, and his success rate would be nearly 100% were it not for the occasional client who can't shoot. He and his lovely wife Isabel are wonderful people. The area he hunts around Omaruru is overrun with big cats. https://nicknoltehunting.com/about/. Jamy Traut, also a sponsor, has high success rates as well. He too runs a great operation across much of Namibia. https://jamyhunts.com/

Zimbabwe is the other usual destination for leopard, but I have no personal experience with a PH who hunts them there with high success rates.

Tanzania offers leopards, but I am not sure you can easily find an affordable targeted hunt for one there.

I personally think a .375 or larger rifle is a lousy choice for a leopard. I took mine with a .338 and when I go back for one, it will be with a .300 of some sort.

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Thanks mucho for the PH recommendations and links!!

I thought a 375 H&H or larger was required for some reason. My Merkel RX Helix with the 300 win mag barrel would be my first choice using the Barnes 180 grain TTSX rounds. Holds 4+1 with extremely fast follow up shots. That‘s what I would use for mountain lion so it should work equally well on leopard as they are about the same size cat.

Red Leg said:

Most leopards are taken off bait late evening or early morning. It is a far more engaging hunt than you might think. Keeping the baits freshly stocked (by shooting PG), judging tracks, studying the trail cameras, and the tension when a kudu barks or baboons go nuts letting you know a cat may be approaching is a lifetime experience.

As important as the location is the actual outfitter. The PH's with truly high success rates are relatively few. It takes a special skill set to be regularly successful. He is worth the investment.

You are correct in that South Africa is not an option. As you also surmised, captive bred leopard hasn't really been feasible. Grant Taylor in Mozambique is, I believe, still offering some hound hunts for leopard, though most of his are taken off bait. He has a very high success rate and is a sponsor here. https://www.mashambanzousafaris.com/. He runs a first class operation.

The man that I think is the best and most successful leopard guide in Africa is Nick Nolte in Namibia. I took one with him several years ago, and his success rate would be nearly 100% were it not for the occasional client who can't shoot. He and his lovely wife Isabel are wonderful people. The area he hunts around Omaruru is overrun with big cats. https://nicknoltehunting.com/about/. Jamy Traut, also a sponsor, has high success rates as well. He too runs a great operation across much of Namibia. https://jamyhunts.com/

Zimbabwe is the other usual destination for leopard, but I have no personal experience with a PH who hunts them there with high success rates.

Tanzania offers leopards, but I am not sure you can easily find an affordable targeted hunt for one there.

I personally think a .375 or larger rifle is a lousy choice for a leopard. I took mine with a .338 and when I go back for one, it will be with a .300 of some sort.

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Well I just showed my wife Nick Nolte’s website and she WANTS to go there for our 30th wedding anniversary in April, 2022....now you all know why I married her She says she wants to take the rifle I bought her this year for our 28th anniversary and try her hand at a PG animal or two

No idea what a trip like this would cost, but will reach out to Nick to do some preliminary investigation.

Thanks again!!!

Check this out: https://www.africahunting.com/threads/leopard-hunting-part-1-bullet-safaris.58875/

Between your two choices in sporting arms , a . 375 H&H Magnum and 300 grain Nosler Partition soft nosed factory loads would be my personal preference for the African leopard .

Zimbabwe is a very good destination for African leopard based on what a friend of mine told me . His PH ( professional hunter ) was named John Sharp .

My PH recommended that I use150 gr barnes tsx fn fb hollow point, not tsx When I took my leopard. Took out lung and shattered shoulder, game over. Bullet selection was very important as close range, soft skinned animals don't give tsx time to expand. At 80 yds Found same problem on impala cull hunts. Tsx did not expand that well, but did work on impala.

Definitely consider Nathan with Bullet Safaris. Tanzania is a special place and he takes his cat hunting seriously.

Congrats on planning a leap order hunt. I agree that Namibia and Zimbabwe are top picks
Bringing them home depends on a couple things. One that u have all cites paperwork in order and also quotas may be involved. Be sure paperwork is on most recent forms. Using a shippers agent can help immensely
If u use a dog guy, where legal, it will cost somewhere around an extra 7000 and still no guarantee. Shot placement is much more critical than caliber. Something around 300 winny with softs is fine and u probably won’t have much chance of multiple shots
Study vitals from all angles and best of luck. Jacques

Check out @Bullet Safaris video. I participated in that Zoom chat/discussion/lesson and it was very informative on many fronts.

Make sure that your weapon is super accurate and that you trust it implicitly. I'd rather you hit it perfect with a 22 hornet than hit it poorly with a 500 nitro. (7x57, 7x64, 300HH, 300WM, and 375HH seem to be go-to leopard calibers)

Also, be prepared for defeat. It's an experience. It's hunting. And Leopards specialize in heartbreak. Rough estimate is that it takes two 14 day hunts on average to get a leopard. Some have gone 5 fortnight hunts with no success, others have taken a nice Tom on their first night in camp. But the odds are on average, 28 days of hunting.

Be aware if its national land your odds go down as there is no night hunting...getting them to feed during legal shooting hours is not easy. Also be aware that baits matter. Usually, there is a shortage of baits and in desperation, the PH will use anything he can find and leave it to rot way past ripe. Ideally, you want a steady and infinite supply of zebras for maximum success. Warthog is a lousy second to that. Everything else has mixed results and rots very quickly.

Hunting them with hounds is an option, but most hunt them with bait and blinds. Shop around very hard for an exceptional PH that has a known area of expertise in leopard hunting and ask him to run your hunt. Rather than looking for adverts of leopard hunting and haggling your best deal.

Everyone will sell you a leopard hunt, most will not produce a leopard.

And if you can't handle heartache and disappointment, go for 21 or 28 days, not 14. And make sure to plan other animals to hunt as you'll need the bait anyway. If you don't get your leopard but you did a lot of other hunting, the trip won't sting as badly as a pure-play leopard hunt that is statistically likely to be unsuccessful.

Oh, and if the PH sends you photos of leopards eating at the camp or claims they are feeding before you arrive...consider it a bad omen. Leopards are unpredictable and fatten up and then bugger off after hitting baits, sometimes never returning. Inversely, if you're on the 13th night of a 14 day hunt and no leopards have shown yet, you still might succeed. No on-the-ground intel should give you any confidence in a leopard's repeat of past performance.

It's really fun and its really hard. If hard things are fun for you, leopard is your dream hunt.

Oh, and above all, etch into your brain, you are a stupid, stupid, stupid fool if your PH leans over and says "it's a legal male, you can shoot it" and you decide to "wait for a bigger one since its so early in the trip". Anyone that passes on a legal male that your PH permits you to shoot is someone that has used all their karma and will shoot nothing at all.

Zimbabwe prices have gone up but it and Namibia have your best prices and big cats.

Fastring, "I’m not particularly fond of blind hunting" either, but blind hunting in Africa is not like sitting in a Texas deer blind. Personally I fall asleep in my deer blind. I agree with Rookhawk, Leopard is not a guaranteed hunt and don't let anyone tell you they are. Granted my experience with Leopard was 3 decades ago. I went 0 for 2 on long hunts before I connected and that big tom and we saw by chance mid morning laying around on rock outcrop. So you never know. As Rookhawk and others suggest find someone with experience, comes recommend, won't bs you around and you get along with. As you will spending a lot time together.

Red Leg said:

I personally think a .375 or larger rifle is a lousy choice for a leopard. I took mine with a .338 and when I go back for one, it will be with a .300 of some sort.

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Isn't .375(or 9.3mm) the minimum for most countries though since leopards are considered a dangerous game species? Or are there different rules since they're so light?

Gemsbok45 said:

Zimbabwe prices have gone up but it and Namibia have your best prices and big cats.

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Got a bid back today from a recommended PH in Namibia...NOT cheap but wasn’t completely over the top either. My wife really wants to go, which I’m shocked about, so once we get a chance to talk to the PH and his wife on Whats App we may make a deposit for April, 2022. If we are fortunate enough to harvest a leopard she wants to have it full body mounted and wants to take a springbok to include in the mounting she’s picked out on one of the taxidermy websites we looked at

This reminds me of my motorcycles. I’ve been riding since way before we met but she really didn’t like to ride on any of the bikes I’ve had over the years, which is quite a few. Then we bought a big Indian Roadmaster, she loves the thing, and now owns leather jackets, plans trips, etc. I’ll never understand women but when you find something that trips their trigger, I’m going with it

Regardless of who you hunt with, check out this thread https://www.africahunting.com/index.php?threads/57616/

Nathan Askew from @Bullet Safaris hosted a great Zoom safari on how he hunts Leopard in Tanzania. I honestly didn't have much interest in Leopard hunting, but attended the Zoom out of curiosity. Now, they're on my list.

I know the OP was interested in over dogs or stalking, and the Zoom was for a blind, but I still think it's worth watching. I've rewatched it twice, and I was there. It covers quotas, baiting, blind setup, ammo, etc. Absolutely worth your time.