BOTSWANA: Leopard Hunt Report

[Sourdough]

Once again the track was lost and the scent hounds scattered to all points of the compass.

We also scattered to all points thinking maybe the Leopard had given us the slip.

The rancher and his trackers found the Leopard tracks again and ran on them. The Leopard was laying down frequently and one tracker caught a glimpse of him fleeing.

The Leopard went in to a very large, dense cluster of Black Thorn bushes. Definitely not safe to go in after him. The chase hounds were called.

Once they arrived they were released and the barking and howling massively intensified. They found him and he was trying to run away.

In no time they had him bayed and it was time for us to go crashing through the brush to the sounds of the hounds.

I slipped the 475 No 2 Double out of it pink gun bag (yes I’m man enough to use pink…especially when it’s the bag that fits the gun). Dropped two rounds into their chambers, closed the double and slipped it off safe.

I was leaning forward against the back of the single cab’s roof. On my left was the rancher trying to support me and on my right was my PH doing the same thing as the Cruiser lurched violently back and forth as we zigzagged back and forth running right through the dense Black Thorn bushes. All of a sudden there the Leopard was, maybe thirty yards away surrounded by hounds.

 

[DieJager]

I'm on the edge of my seat, the suspense is killing me.

 

[Sourdough]

Our noisy arrival distracted the hounds just enough that the Leopard attempted a getaway, but the hounds caught him in about 30 yards. We crashed forward through more Black Thorn to get in position.

We lurched to a stop. I threw the double to my shoulder. The Leopard was maybe 15 yards away facing away from us. A patch of Black Thorn between us. He was surrounded by fourteen hounds all barking with the closest darting in and out at him.

I had my sights on him but couldn’t take the shot because of the dogs and the Black Thorn. Then he turned his head and made eye contact with us. In a flash his entire body turned and launched at us.

To be continued….. ;-)

 

[PARA45]

NOOOOOO!!!!!!!! Don't leave us hanging like that. Man, talk about exciting pucker factor.

 

[AZDAVE]

Leopard are so quick and fast! waiting for the rest of the story

 

[Sourdough]

It took no more then 3 seconds for the Leopard to cover those 15 yards and be in our face. He came under the Black Thorn bush, emerged and leapt onto the hood of the Land Cruiser and on the windshield when I squeezed the front trigger of the double hitting him in the left forehead. I had tracked him with the barrel the entire charge.

The impact of the 500 grain Woodleigh Soft Point stopped the charged and actually knocked him back a bit. He fell back of the Cruiser. I tracked him to the ground and kept the sight on him until I knew he was dead.

The bullet exited the opposite side of his chest.

From there the bullet re-entered his body in the stomach area and came to rest in his scrotum.

Once I’m home I add a picture of the recovered bullet and a bunch of other photos.

 

[cpr0312]

Congrats and thanks for sharing!

 

[Sourdough]

I later measured the distance from where the cat was on the hood, his claws scratched the hood, to where the end of my barrel would have been and the distance was 3 feet.

My PH told me that as the cat was on the hood he was already planning on fighting the cat off of me if I hadn’t shot. We are very good friends and I’m certain he would have done just that.

Interestingly all the visions I had the preceding days was the Leopard being on the ground and not in a tree. Did my visions manifest that out come? Or was it just coincidence.

 

[RR 314]

Great recap. Glad you got him killed. I have a new prayer. "Dear Lord, when I die, I just ask that I do not have 500 grains on metal in my scrotum. Amen."

 

[Altitude sickness]

Wow! Great work keeping your composure and doing your job. What a story.

 

[Graham Hunter]

Excellent story. Great and intense result. Congratulations!

 

[ET1775]

Thank you for sharing your hunt. Mounting boredom and mind numbing tracking for days followed by sheer adrenaline in a life or death showdown! Every hunt is different and unpredictable. Glad you had the skill and instinct in the moment to see you all through unscathed!

 

[PARA45]

WOW, what an amazing ending to your hunt. Everyone walked away without a scratch; you have a beautiful leopard and one heck of a story behind it. Congratulations on this wonderful hunt.