Leopard hunting: bait vs hounds

[DLSJR]

Just one question on this:
If the truck stopped, say, a few hundred meters from the leopard, would it be possible to stalk on foot?
Or the leopard just kept running, without a bush or a tree to climb up?

The leopard was trotting at a good pace when we first saw him. It’s very unlikely we’d have ever caught up to it on foot. And if we had I’d have been way out of breath. But in the heat of the moment it didn’t matter. We saw the leopard, Cecil yelled to hang on tight and it was a wild ride. Back then a lot of the Botswana PH’s were known for shooting from trucks. I didn’t know it at the time but certainly experienced it with Cecil. He’d have been thrilled if I shot everything from the truck. He wasn’t too pleased that we tracked the lion I shot on foot for about 4 hours before catching up to it.

 

[DLSJR]

We had no hyppo available, but the baits were all "à la cart"! A few species.
Once we put zebra after a few days, after I managed to take one, the leopard came first night!

All my experienced friends said, 'Hang a zebra and a leopard will come!'
Indeed, this was true in my case.
I only did not shoot because we were not certain it was male or female.

Identifying the proper leopard is another challenge on a baited hunt, is my impression on very limited experience.

Nowadays, damn near all PH’s use trail cameras to get pictures of whatever cats (Leopard or lion) are hitting the baits. A good PH will position the camera to get good angles on the cat and will know if they’re sitting for a big Tom or not. In other words, they won’t sit if it’s a female or young male. Your best chance to kill a leopard will be on the very first sit, so a good PH won’t start sitting until they know they’ve got a good Tom feeding and when he’s most likely to appear. Each time you go to the blind and the longer you sit, the more difficult it becomes as the leopard has a much greater chance of detecting you and stopping his visits to the bait.

 

[mark-hunter]

Nowadays, damn near all PH’s use trail cameras to get pictures of whatever cats (Leopard or lion) are hitting the baits. A good PH will position the camera to get good angles on the cat and will know if they’re sitting for a big Tom or not. In other words, they won’t sit if it’s a female or young male. Your best chance to kill a leopard will be on the very first sit, so a good PH won’t start sitting until they know they’ve got a good Tom feeding and when he’s most likely to appear. Each time you go to the blind and the longer you sit, the more difficult it becomes as the leopard has a much greater chance of detecting you and stopping his visits to the bait.

The cameras were set - 2!
We put zebra on bait.

The leopard came that night after hanging zebra, and we saw him through the scopes. I had a clear shot to take.
But cameras were not checked until the next morning. Hope I managed to explain the sequence of events. The zebra was hanged in the morning, we were sitting in the blind after lunch break. What would be on the cameras in a few hours of daylight difference?
Female leopard was also coming to the bait. Tracks around. So we had to be 110% sure.

Only after the first encounter, we checked the cameras the next day, and he was a male.
Last year, I also had a leopard in sight (after a buffalo hunt), but then it was also female. No shot taken.

The next night in the blind was my last night. I decided to try again, because my flight was in the evening, so next day I could still spend the morning looking for the leopard if shot in the night and wounded
But last night, this years hunt, shit happened, we had a bushfire and all the animals were gone from the area. No leopard. surprise, surprise!

In both hunts I mentioned, the leopard was not a primary target. (Buffalo was last year, ele was this year)
So, I dont have too much experience sitting in leopard blind, but it looks like a very tricky business. Thats why I am researching other ways of catching it, when the time comes.

 

[DLSJR]

@mark-hunter book a hunt with a top PH in the Selous or Luangwa Valley and make it during the first half of their season before it gets hot and newborn are dropped and you’ll only have to hunt leopards once.

 

[PANTHER TRACKERS]

Can the dogs even be called back if it's the wrong leopard?
To young, a female animal, etc.?

Yes a well trained professional pack can be pulled of the tree to let the cat escape unharmed.

 

[mark-hunter]

What is the usual number of days to be booked for a hunt with hounds?

 

[PANTHER TRACKERS]

What is the usual number of days to be booked for a hunt with hounds?

14 days is the standard

 

[PANTHER TRACKERS]

No you can hardly take the hounds off of a leopard. Wrong leopard, big problem. It is not like mountain lion hunting.

Well trained hounds can certainly be called off the tree Phil:

Treed and Freed African Leopard

 

[Philip Glass]

Well trained hounds can certainly be called off the tree Phil:

Treed and Freed African Leopard

I understand they can but the point must be made to American hunters that the hunting of a leopard with hounds is far more difficult and dangerous than hunting our mountain lions.
It is likely the most exhilarating hunt in Africa and one that i might consider doing again. I just want everyone to go in fully informed of the dangers of the hunt.
Thank you for your expertise on this subject.

 

[TheGrayRider]

I understand they can but the point must be made to American hunters that the hunting of a leopard with hounds is far more difficult and dangerous than hunting our mountain lions.
It is likely the most exhilarating hunt in Africa and one that i might consider doing again. I just want everyone to go in fully informed of the dangers of the hunt.
Thank you for your expertise on this subject.

+1

 

[375Ruger416]

I am deeply disappointed that my wife is against me hunting lion, leopard, zebra and giraffes (she freely admits the inconsistency about not wanting me to hunt certain animals based on appearance). On the other hand, she wants me to get a crocodile as well as a hippo when I go for my buffalo hunt and encouraged me to get shoulder mounts for all the beautiful African animals rather than euro's when we did our first trip to Africa in 2024!

While I would love to hunt leopard someday, I'm grateful for her support and understanding when so many people are anti-hunting. In fact, I'm heading out on an elk hunt on tuesday in BC and also have tags for mule deer and wolf. Funny how what is acceptable to hunt is based on emotion and intuition as well as reason for many of us. My 8 year old does not want me to hunt bear (his nickname has been little bear his whole life since he had a habit of growling when he was an infant) and says he is going to shoot a monkey if his brother shoots a bear (guess what his brother's nickname is). My wife is also supportive of me teaching our children about hunting, fishing and firearms so I have to admit I am truly blessed.

Love seeing your pictures and hearing your stories of hunting leopards everyone - hounds would be my preference, but baiting also has its appeal for if done in combination with multiple animals. I suspect baiting is far more enjoyable and successful with the common use of game cameras. Sitting on baits without knowing if there are any legal toms in the area is not that appealing to me. I don't even like sitting in deer stands. I know even some hunters don't support hunting with hounds or over bait in general, but allowing selective harvest and especially being able to avoid killing females with young is so important. I'd have to say that even I didn't really support it as a novice hunter until I learned about how important these strategies are for successful hunts and conservation.

Just some random observations as I'm procrastinating...