Leopard Hunt With Dogs Incredible 2 On 1 Deal

[siml]

Hunting leopards with dogs has to be on the top of the list . For those that think it's slam dunk , you will have a surprise . It's hard work and long hours , @ActionBob he will explain .

 

[rinehart0050]

Well won't go into all the details , I just crossed the border into Sa , one landcruiser less but relieved .

Glad to hear it!

 

[thi9elsp]

I can only image the adventure you could share over a cold one by the campfire - super to hear you are there.

 

[johnnyblues]

Wow. Can't wait to hear the story.

 

[Wheels]

Glad your back safe. Hope you get the landcruiser back soon.

 

[CAustin]

Hunting leopards with dogs has to be on the top of the list . For those that think it's slam dunk , you will have a surprise . It's hard work and long hours , @ActionBob he will explain .

I'm ready to hear the story! Excited to hear how this hunt came off.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Good news on your return home. Mozambique can be a little too much fun sometimes

 

[Royal27]

Well won't go into all the details , I just crossed the border into Sa , one landcruiser less but relieved .

May the trip back for the cruiser be much less adventurous !

 

[peras]

Glad you're back safe.

 

[enysse]

Safe travels, I hope you get your truck back!

 

[ActionBob]

Hunting leopards with dogs has to be on the top of the list . For those that think it's slam dunk , you will have a surprise . It's hard work and long hours , @ActionBob he will explain .

Well I just got back online but not much time to write up a full report... I bought a house that has more room for trophies the day before leaving for Mozambique and been busy moving, and literly just got internet installed a few minutes ago. Plus it is muzzle loader deer season here yet so been trying to get out hunting as much as possible on my new property. Lots of deer but not the big one yet.

So the brief reply to Simon's comment... That hunt with hounds is THE way to go and I am so happy I did it. I am not very good at sitting in a blind... I much prefer a pro-active approach. This was it. We normally woke up between 2 and 2:30 AM to go check for tracks... You still need bait because you have to find a fresh track to start from, so the idea is to draw a cat in, examine the tracks to decipher if it is a big enough male, then get the dogs on the track and chase it down, confirm it is a mature male and hopefully maneuver for a decent shot.

The early start is necessary to be done with the route by the time the sun rises... Because that is when the tsetse flies become active. In spite of having the dogs vaccinated and dipped with insecticide, non of that is 100% so there is still a real risk of loosing dogs from fly bites. And of course with the time of year, it gets too hot for the dogs to run much past about 8AM, meaning you need to be on a track by 5ish, and at that there is the tsetse risk.

After hiking in after the dogs, up the koppies and through the bush several miles, one of the challenges I faced was seeing through the sweat. And my cat picked a particularity big green and bushy fig tree.... The dog collars' GPS showed I think 9 kilometers. About 1.5 of them was carrying the cat out to the nearest trail we could get the bakkie to.

Of my hunts so far as adventure and excitement goes, I would rank this number two, behind my elephant hunt and just ahead of the two buffalo I've done so far... The lion was thrilling to see and the moment you make eye contact it sends a shiver up your spine, but in my case it was no where near the adventure this was. I would not repeat that particular hunt, this leopard with dogs out in the wilderness I would do again if the right deal came along.

 

[rinehart0050]

Thanks for the insight @ActionBob. I suspect that leopard over hounds is a dream for many- I know it is for me.

So if you generally finished tracking around 8am, do you rest the remainder of the day? hunt other game? Do you track in the evening at all?

Are there more optimal times of year to hunt with hounds, like in the African winter?

 

[siml]

@rinehart0050 , from about 06h30 we would hunt for other animals until about 10h30, then break for brunch and a little rest. 15hoo we would be back out hunting for sable etc. Do some bait shooting. We did a few great stalks on some sable, had a nice 37/38 inch bull in our sights, but decided to pass him, especially after passing a 40 plus sable bull up and taking the Livingston eland, I was 99.9% sure of sable, but eland a lot harder....as "murphy's law" we saw another 4 brilliant eland bulls. The one bull I took major strain not pulling the trigger myself, he was a monster over 40 inches, beautiful color and hair.

July,Aug,Sept are for sure the better months for leopard. I am not sure if the leopard have the clients flight schedules, but stopped hitting baits the day clients arrive. On every safari this year, at least every third night we would hear leopard grunting from camp, not one called while we had the dogs. This was a great learning curve for me about hunting leopard with dogs. For next season we will be much better prepared for using dogs.

We had plenty of good laughs on the safari...I am sure @ActionBob will mention a few. One that was funny......we got seperated from the dog handler, was thick bamboo thicket between us and the leopard in the tree, the leopard was growling, it goes through your body. At this stage we weren't sure if the dogs were on one or two leopard, then about 500 yards to our left we heard DH shouting for us, we turned to run to him, just as we turned we heard the leopard behind us, giving a major growl, sounded like he was coming for us, we were told if leopard comes for you, hide behind a tree and he will pass. I stop to hide behind a tree, Bob hides behind me..........I look at the tree and say to Bob, this tree is too @$#$@ small run to the big one behind us.....

 

[rinehart0050]

Awesome! sounds amazing.

 

[Jfet]

@rinehart0050 , just as we turned we heard the leopard behind us, giving a major growl, sounded like he was coming for us, we were told if leopard comes for you, hide behind a tree and he will pass. I stop to hide behind a tree, Bob hides behind me..........I look at the tree and say to Bob, this tree is too @$#$@ small run to the big one behind us.....

Is there really a tree big enough to hide behind if there is a leopard chasing you...

Great Adventure

 

[cpr0312]

Thanks for the insight Bob! This a is a type of hunt high on the wishlist for me

 

[cpr0312]

I stop to hide behind a tree, Bob hides behind me..........I look at the tree and say to Bob, this tree is too @$#$@ small run to the big one behind us.....

That sounds to me like thats about the time the pucker factor kicked up a few notches!

 

[CAustin]

Keep it coming Bob! This is a great story!

 

[billc]

It sounds like you two had a great hunt. I called and talked to bob and I know he had a great hunt as he told me more of the story. Seeing the other eland would have had me losing my mind and thinking of eland 2 for the trip. Sounds like you just had some hard luck after passing on that sable looking for another giant.

 

[siml]

While we were watching the eland we shot , he was with a young bull and roughly 35 Sable , the big Sable bull was busy adding his gene pool to the cows. We were behind a huge termite mound , trying from each side to get opening for a shot , I need to go back a step , while we were tracking them , I stopped and smelt the air. . . . Bob and myself got a clear whif of elephant . . So while we at the termite mound , I hear the elephants walking in the thicket about 80 yards from us , get small gilpse of them , but know better not to say a word to Bob , didn't want to put him off his shot . After the eland was down , I asked Bob "did you notice that I was paying attention to the right " . . . Yes , told me thanks for not telling him , would have totally put him off his shot .