NAMIBIA: Mr. Spots In Namibia

[slam8031]

Some of you may remember from an earlier hunting report in June 2021 that I traveled to Namibia for a four day adventure to attempt a hunt on Mr. Spots. Due to time constraints we left Namibia after seeing no leopards although several were on bait before and after we hunted. I did, however, take a Damara Dik Dik. My outfitter Tienie Bamberger was upset that we couldn't stay longer and that he was unable to deliver an opportunity. As I told him when we arrived in Joberg, I am rolling the dice on the short nature of the hunt. The adventure wins for me! So after four days in country, we returned to the Limpopo to hunt with my son and friends that had been in camp with us. We were extremely pleased with our hunting in South Africa, but as they say, the cat fever was real..
the write up for that safari was in Namibia, South Africa: Fantastic Safari with Warthog Safaris in the hunting reports section.

I have had the great pleasure to hunt with Tienie now four different times, and I consider him and his family more than friends! They are indeed part of my extended family! So when the WhatsApp message came through in early September to please call, there was a little sense of trepidation that something had happened. Instead, it was an offer too good to be true. He was inviting me back to give another go at Mr. Spots. I only needed to get there financially because he was going to honor my previous payment as payment in full! Happy birthday/Christmas to me! So after a quick message to @TRAVEL EXPRESS and Jennifer Ginn, I was able to cave out 8 days in my office schedule to slip away.

The quickest route to Namibia currently is from DC to Ethiopia to Windhoek with 75 min layover in Ethiopia. Flying into Joburg would take a day away from hunting and my time was already condensed! Jennifer found a flight and now it was time to make sure shooting was on the mark! Two weeks out from departure, I started getting daytime trail camera pictures of a fantastic leopard along with day and night time pictures of two additional males at two different bait sites! As I remember @johnnyblues posting trail cam pictures before the hunt, I now understand personally how exciting that is!

the clock is an hour fast on the cam..

covid test complete, bag packed, United flight to DC and on to Namibia--all this took place in the early morning hours of November 4, 2021, and I am going for a second time for Mr. Spots!

On the flight to Ethiopia, the flight attendant as we were boarding asked if I would like more room. The next thing I know I am in the back of the plane and have three seats for myself for the nearly 14 hour flight to Ethiopia--the stars must really be aligning on this trip...
The flight leaves DC just before noon and lands in Ethiopia around 730am their time. Previously on my four previous trips on Delta and United we left the states after 8PM and traveled through the night. I had to plan to sleep on this trip due to the change of times. And with all the anticipation of a small child at Christmas, that was made a little less difficult by the kind flight attendant on Ethiopian Air. They were courteous and kind and efficient. As I have stated previously, the 787 Dreamliner is a great aircraft to fly long distance. I have enjoyed that plane a great deal over the 777.

On the ground in Ethiopia, you have to show your Covid results again to board the plane to Namibia. The airport is clean and efficient and the seemingly endless chaos in the country of Ethiopia hasn't seemed to affect the airport at all. As I was preparing to board to fly to Windhoek, I sent a quick WhatsApp to Tienie. His response--"get some rest we are going straight to the field when you land at 120 PM..."

Stay tuned...

 

[chashardy]

Great post! Looking forward to the report of your hunt. I'm interested in a leopard hunt in Namibia myself.

 

[slam8031]

sometimes you see things in the line at the airport in Namibia that you need a picture to explain and not 1000 words...

 

[slam8031]

When I exited the airport, I was welcomed by the 90 degree dry heat that was not very accommodating! We hopped in the Land Cruiser and sped off to camp 2 hours away. We dumped our gear in my room, hopped in the shower and put on clothes for the blind. I squeezed off a few rounds with the 30.06 Mauser topped with a Zeiss Conquest and into the blind we went before 5pm. It did not take long for the action to heat up...
just like the first picture in the first post, the cat was in the tree and on the zebra bait! Verified by Tienie as the male...WOW! This can't be? It's happening too fast! Stories of hunters coming for weeks on end with no cat, and here is a cat, on the bait! After nearly four full day sits in June with no cat to see, here is one in the tree a mere 90 yards from the blind just across the dry river bed. And I have been in the country less than 6 hours...countless hours studying Robertson's book, anatomy lessons, shooting and hunting have all led to this moment. I squeezed off a round of 185 grain Nosler partition (outfitter provided rifle and bullet) through the Mauser--the "whop" of/on the cat was distinct. As I took the shot, my mind saw the leopard leaning off the back of the limb ready to leap, so I thought I was aiming from behind the left rear of ribs aiming through to the far right shoulder. And just as fast as he was in the tree, he was gone. As you play back things in your head to relive these moments, the cat made two guttural sounds 10 minutes before he hit the tree. It made the hair on the back of my neck stand and salute!

 

[Firebird]

 

[thi9elsp]

Oh my. Wow!

 

[slam8031]

We waited as darkness thickened around us for 90 min before we approached the bait tree. I have now been amazed on five different visits to Africa the vividness of the stars in the absence of human light sources. In the first moments of awareness I saw stars in ways I will never witness in the States, heard noises in the dark that don't happen here in South Carolina, and you can only experience in the brush of distant lands!
The blind was situated 80 yards from a dry river bed and 10 yards across the river bed was the bait tree. As we approached the bait tree with great caution, the shooting lane to the bait was flanked by low lying brush and scrub sized trees, so we were not able to see much left or right of the lane. Tienie was convinced by what he witnessed through his binoculars that the leopard was done. So we had been quietly talking and enjoying the moments as we waited for the tracker and other PH to arrive to take up the search.
The tracks of Mr. Spots led back across the river bed to the right of our shooting lane! Uggggh....As we crossed the river bed up into the brush, a mere 25 yards from the bait tree (in the direction of the blind...) the cat exploded from the tall, dry grass with a sound that is etched in my mind, and the memory of three hunters with rifles and tracker all less than 15 feet from the exploding anger in the grass is seared into my memory!!! Because of angles and the cat's hasty retreat no followup shot was offered.
So at this point, I had two options: pursue a cat that has bluffed once, or back out. Since the cat had travelled less than 25 yards from the bait tree, the collective wisdom was that he was severely injured. But he also knew we were there.
We returned to the lodge to regroup and the decision was made to wait for sunrise to pursue Mr. Spots.
I had one prayer--let no one get injured by this big cat...

 

[slam8031]

As the sun rose above the African sand and the temperature began to rise, we loaded back into the Land Cruiser to head back to the river bed. We now had two rifles with no scopes and safety protocols were reviewed (twice or thrice). We exited the Cruiser, cautiously approached the bed from which he so wildly exploded. Thomas the tracker immediately pointed back towards the shooting lane--the big cat was done! He had traveled 10 yards, crouched under a bush along the shooting lane, and was facing back towards where we had jumped him the night before! He was stiff from rigor. He had traveled less than 35 yards from shot to death. My observation at the shot had been wrong--he was simply turned at the shoulders with his head towards the backside of the tree limb--and what I had mistaken as his body turned was just his head turned--the bullet had passed just in front of the back left rib and exited through the back right rib.
I am amazed by the land, the people, the fauna and flora of this world. I am blessed beyond measure to have experienced it as much as I have. And I am beyond blessed that no one was injured and we were able to recover this fantastic creature. The badgers nor the other night predators had found the big tom! He is the leopard of my dreams!

Thomas holding the Leopard in the dry river bed!

 

[slam8031]

The scars on the head of the great leopard indicated that he had been in a fight. Big deep grooves in the healed over scarred area remind me that life is often a battle. Our domesticated lives in manicured lawns are not a real depiction of life for most creatures and most places on this earth!

I have a hard time rationalizing that over the course of this year I have a great cape buffalo, a tremendous eland, and a fantastic leopard, and all were one shot kills. I also have a hard time putting into words the thankfulness and gratitude for my wife and family tolerating and enabling my adventures, and my friend Tienie Bamberger and his family enabling me as well. Our lives are so intertwined with others and we need to reflect (at least me) more often at the blessings that are all around us!

 

[buck wild]

Fabulous !!

Any concern the overnight heat my have damaged the hide?

 

[slam8031]

So 18 hours into an 8 day hunt, now what...
Sunday morning we began traveling to find mountain (Hartman's) zebra. I am still amazed at the vast open spaces of Africa. The rains of 2020/21 that wet Namibia for the first time in years made grass grow seemingly everywhere! After the excitement of the leopard hunt, it was nice to have a more relaxed stalk and shot at the zebra--The large zebra stepped away from her companions just before 7am. One shot later from the Mauser, and the zebra was down right there. What a fantastic and beautiful creature!

 

[slam8031]

Fabulous !!

Any concern the overnight heat my have damaged the hide?

the temperature had dropped into the low 50's, and thankfully there was zero damage!!! My biggest concern was no body getting injured over something I had done...

 

[slam8031]

Now it is time for a surprise for my wife! She is convinced I'm staying until Friday, and it's Sunday morning...I sent an email to Jennifer at Travel Express--she is on maternity leave but said she was checking email. I inquired about an early return. Monday PM would work!! Now let's see what we can get done in covid testing and perhaps a Kalahari springbok. Tienie had another leopard hunt at the end of the week and I would love to be able to surprise my wife with an early return, so the wheels are turning!
Sunday afternoon we videod another leopard in the grass and took some good pictures before he beat a retreat, and then as we cooked on the braai that evening another leopard had an encounter 80 yards out the back of the lodge area with a troop of baboons--pretty scary stuff to hear those two animals screaming and growling at each other so close to your bedroom...

 

[slam8031]

Monday morning, we made one last push for a springbok--Just past 7 am, the lone ram stepped out from behind the thistle bush and offered a shot--they are so much bigger than their common cousins to the south!

 

[slam8031]

The next leopard hunter with Tienie took another great tom the first day of their hunt as well! I have nothing but good things to say about my time with Tienie on this trip and many others. He often repeats the "prior planning prevents ..." mantra. He is right! Thanks to all the enablers on this site for fueling my passions! I traveled for 73 hours going and coming and hunted for 72 hours. The surprise in my wife's voice when I told her I was in DC on Tuesday morning was worth all the travel. The excitement of the hunt, particularly for dangerous game, is hard to describe to those who haven't pursued them. I hope that this is not my last post about fabulous hunting adventures in far away places!! Thanks Jennifer Ginn at Travel Express for all the work on my behalf!!

 

[cpr0312]

Congrats and thanks for sharing!

 

[Randy F]

Congrats on that fantastic cat!

 

[slam8031]

Thank you!$

 

[rinehart0050]

Congrats! Great Tom and great report! Thanks for sharing

 

[slam8031]

Thank you