MOZAMBIQUE: Leopard Hunting With Traditional Mozambique Safaris

[BRICKBURN]

He's broken the ice and I have to horn in. Lord knows we were in each others hunts every minute I was there.
I'll throw in a few pictures and some timelines here for the fun of it.
(Since I was rolling around the wet sand in the middle of the night to get some of them.)

I have to say that watching this unfold with a camera in my hand was a great experience.
I was truly never worried about this Leopard still being alive. Kurt was calm and focused when he left camp to sit this night. Martin on the other hand, I have seen Mexican jumping beans with less energy than him.

I had plenty of confidence in them getting this Leopard. It was "Chirpy" every time they went near the bait. That Tom owned the country and wanted everyone to know it.

Preparation for follow up.
Coffee, not Rum in the cup.

23:59

Peering through the Bamboo
You know how I was so confident in that Leopard being dead, the entire staff of trackers was not to confident. No tracker was heading through the Bamboo. The replies were always to the contrary when asked if they could see anything.

00:17

In the drainage prepared for trouble. (note the amount of time lapse. Better to be safe)
I'm above on the opposite bank.
00:34

Proof
00:36

This is when the tension was released. At least what I witnessed.

It shifted quite quickly to quiet congratulations and being quite a jubilant atmosphere.
Then there was a huge shift. One I have experienced personally but never bourn witness to from so close and from this perspective.

Simon mentioned it earlier. "Saying Thank you".
I had not noticed the expressions in the view finder but it is obvious in this shot.
00:43

This about says it all.
00:46

After a few respectful minutes, it was time to get the posed shots.

Pretty happy hunter

Congratulations. Incredible to be able to be part of this hunt with a very genuine, appreciative and respectful hunter.
00:50

The Three Amigos
00:54

The carry out
01:05

They are not on a slope. They have the Captain Morgan thing going on here.
01:06

The skinning team immediately working on the Leopard. (using the "Light Saber" for illumination)
03:29

The Celebration
I left for bed at 04:00. They packed it in a little while later.
Note the color of the Glass in Kurt's Hand. Pink. Raspberry and Rum!!

We were back at it chasing Sable the next "morning"
11:44

 

[MT Griz]

Nice cat! Well done.

 

[ROCKET]

Ohhh Boy´s.....What a good way to tell this story, what a great hunting and awesome leopard trophy you got there.....!!!!!
Well done all of you, hunters and crew......Now I can see Simon you have a great place there to be drinking till high hours in the nigth after succesfull hunt.....!!!!

I am enjoying this report soo much.......let´s keep going with those bloody sables guy´s......!!!!!!

 

[Buff-Buster]

Beautiful cat! Job well done by everyone! Being a spectator to something like this can be pretty special too Wayne. Especially with hunters that really respect the game like Kurt obviously does.

 

[Wheels]

Enjoy the extra photos and commentary Wayne.

Great job Kurt!

 

[gillettehunter]

Congrats a nice cat. It is soo nice when a plan comes together. Bruce

 

[LivingTheDream]

I love the two spots on the head. What a beautiful cat! I am truly jealous!!!

 

[siml]

I have spent many years out in the bush, but this was a special moment to me. To be surrounded by true hunters, who have the utmost respect for the life we took. Leopard and elephant have a special part in my heart, and I would be lying if I said I didn't have a big lump in my throat, when I touched and stroked the leopard to say thank you. Another thing that was special to me about the hunt, as a lot of people know, I have always been willing to help young professional hunters get the true experience of hunting big game. Martin has now grow into a PH, I trust and will have no fear letting him cover my back, he has now covered enough days hunting elephant and leopard the correct way to fulfill his legal requirement to get his big 5 license, well done to a fine young hunter.

Sharing this hunt with Wayne was also great......apparently Wayne is also qualified veternarian, the last chirp I heard from the far side bank...."that leopards dead!"....I will admit hearing those words....let the tension lift..

Kurt, thanks for being a wonderful client, willing to listen and to understand. I know when we discussed shot placement, you didn't seem too happy with the my call on shot placement, your beautiful Tom is in the salt and we all thankful.

@Wheels , dam right I am going to wear a think leather jacket when following a leopard.

 

[BRICKBURN]

..........
Sharing this hunt with Wayne was also great......apparently Wayne is also qualified veternarian, the last chirp I heard from the far side bank...."that leopards dead!"....I will admit hearing those words....let the tension lift.. .........

Just cause I can not resist.

M. sacrocaudalis dorsalis medialis (SDM), M. sacrocaudalis dorsalis lateralis (SDL)
The tail muscles responsible for the dorsal bend of the tail.

After death, respiration in organisms ceases to occur, depleting the corpse of oxygen used in the making of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). As there is a complete loss of ATP, which is required to cause separation of the cross-bridges during relaxation, the myosin heads continue binding with the active sites of actin proteins via adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and the muscle is unable to relax until further enzyme activity degrades the complex.[2]

Note position of the tail. Complete Dorsal bend or contraction.
Not a Kitty that is ready to pounce.

(I was just lucky to have higher vantage point to see the whole cat first.)

 

[Wheels]

Just cause I can not resist.

M. sacrocaudalis dorsalis medialis (SDM), M. sacrocaudalis dorsalis lateralis (SDL)
The tail muscles responsible for the dorsal bend of the tail.

After death, respiration in organisms ceases to occur, depleting the corpse of oxygen used in the making of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). As there is a complete loss of ATP, which is required to cause separation of the cross-bridges during relaxation, the myosin heads continue binding with the active sites of actin proteins via adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and the muscle is unable to relax until further enzyme activity degrades the complex.[2]

Note position of the tail. Complete Dorsal bend or contraction.
Not a Kitty that is ready to pounce.

View attachment 49020

(I was just lucky to have higher vantage point to see the whole cat first.)

Just learned something new.

 

[stug]

That would explain why when we shoot possums in trees they often keep holding on to the branches with their feet or tail, often wondered why that is.

 

[buffybr]

Just cause I can not resist.

M. sacrocaudalis dorsalis medialis (SDM), M. sacrocaudalis dorsalis lateralis (SDL)
The tail muscles responsible for the dorsal bend of the tail.

After death, respiration in organisms ceases to occur, depleting the corpse of oxygen used in the making of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). As there is a complete loss of ATP, which is required to cause separation of the cross-bridges during relaxation, the myosin heads continue binding with the active sites of actin proteins via adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and the muscle is unable to relax until further enzyme activity degrades the complex.[2]

Note position of the tail. Complete Dorsal bend or contraction.
Not a Kitty that is ready to pounce.

Say What???

And just when I thought that I was learning to speak Canadian, eh?

Seriously, Thanks Wayne for adding your pictures and comments. Your Canon was constantly capturing the moments.

And yes Simon, there was a large lump in my throat when I walked up to that leopard.

 

[buffybr]

And something that I forgot to mention in my earlier post. Nothing is wasted in Africa!

I did say that the Agriculture Department guys took one of the leopard shoulders home to eat.
What I forgot to write was that the camp staff took the rest of the leopard back to their side of camp and feasted off of him for several days.

I also mentioned that I had shot a baboon for leopard bait, but we didn't use it. The 168 gr TTSX bullet from my .300 Weatherby put a pretty fair size hole in the baboon's chest. We then put the baboon into a large plastic tub so he wouldn't bleed, etc all over the back of the bakkie. He rode around in the back of the bakkie most of that day and remained in the tub over night. The next day (after we killed the leopard) Simon or Martin told the staff that they could have the baboon, which they took back to their part of camp where they cooked and ate it. I think Wayne posted a picture of the baboon that they had bbq'd.

 

[npm352]

Congrats on a heck of a trophy!

 

[BRICKBURN]

.................. Simon or Martin told the staff that they could have the baboon, which they took back to their part of camp where they cooked and ate. .......

Note the little smiley face .

Vera shaking hands. (She missed Kermit)

 

[AZDAVE]

Nice leopard!!! With all the great reports my mind is starting to dream cats. You are all a great bad influence

 

[jeff]

Awesome trip, thanks for sharing your hunt, great hunt and report!!

 

[siml]

Kurt, just for interest, we have another 2 leopard on the same baits, we not 100% sure if there is maybe third.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Well done buffbr and team.......proper!

 

[grsep]

Great start, can't wait for the rest