ZIMBABWE: Leopard, Buffalo Hunt With MJK Safaris

[JHT]

 

[7mmFan]

awesome report so far! keep it coming and thanks for sharing!

 

[Cam300]

I am still clearly suffering from either the effects of the virus or the medication which now includes Malarone. Whereas I had been in good shape before, I have lost my conditioning.​

I tried Malarone a few weeks before my last trip. It made me feel terrible. Physically very weak, and mentally very off. I switched to doxy with no issues. You might consider that for your next trip.

 

[JHT]

“We ask God to bless our plans, and then we promise to give Him the glory when He does. Yet God is not glorified by making our plans succeed” – Henry T. Blackaby​

One of the nice things about hunting Makuti is the drives are not terribly long. Ruia is about as far as we go. We head there early the next morning primarily after sable and buffalo. Not long off the blacktop we take an interior road and hear the glorious “tap, tap, tap” on the roof. The trackers have spotted a herd of sable cows.

We park the cruiser, load up, and begin to follow. Tracks reveal there is a bull in the herd. We follow for seven kilometers but never gain on them. It is obvious that they know they’re being followed.

Once we cut a road, Tinie decides we will check a nearby bait on the Chimwa River. He calls for the cruiser and we drive to the bait where Tinie parks and exits in the direction of a prebuilt blind. I take advantage of the break by grabbing a snack from my pack. Tinie returns and reports that the bait has been hit but that not much is missing. He grabs his card reader and disappears again; however, I’m expecting nothing as the PH’s have explained it’s still too early and I can tell Tinie is unimpressed by the lack of meat missing.

I’m in the front seat of the cruiser totally oblivious to the happenings to my right when Vaughan, the cameraman, tells me to ask Tinie what he’s seen. Vaughan has obviously seen something on the faces of the trackers. Tinie confirms that a big male has fed – one of which he’s very familiar. He explains that he found the bait at 2:00 a.m., came back at daylight and will most likely be back before dark.

We are all obviously somewhat surprised and Tinie asks do I have a flashlight. I answer in the affirmative but neglect to tell him that it’s a $17 Ace Hardware special. Tinie decides that we will sit this afternoon even though we do not have time to head back to camp for the blind chairs and leopard follow-up kit.

We have a late lunch in the shade of a dry riverbed where he asks if I can render the cat dead at the base of the tree and I assure him I can. We then have a conversation that I wish we hadn’t. He pulls out his phone and shows me pictures and explains where to aim. For over three decades, I have been a fan of the high shoulder shot on all game; however, Tinie tells me to aim just behind the shoulder and one inch under the center line of the cat. He then explains that when standing, coming up the back of the front leg will lead me to the proper spot.

I ask about the shoulder shot and he explains how oftentimes hunters pull it too far forward. At this point, I decide I will take it off auto-pilot and listen to my PH.

We climb in the blind at 2:45 p.m. It is Tinie, Vaughan, me and three impromptu camping chairs. The rules of leopard hunting in Makuti are coincidentally the same as whitetail deer hunting in Alabama – legal time ends 30 minutes after sunset. We settle in and wait; however, not only am I struggling to stay awake, but my chair is terribly uncomfortable and loud. Every time I move I can feel Tinie staring a hole through me.

I finally settle down enough to become mindful of the happenings outside the blind and it’s just like you read about. The Baboons start first. They are to our right and obviously excited. They settle and 30 minutes later it’s the francolin’s turn. They are just behind the bait and then, a growl, and the hawk that was on the bait takes off and then you blink and he’s there sitting on the limb staring through you with the yellowest eyes you have ever seen.

He starts tearing at the hole in the bait with his paw and then puts his head in it. I’m watching him through my scope. I turn my red dot on and it could not be more perfect. I’m waiting on the green light from Tinie. Finally, he stands. Mindfully, I come up the back of the front leg, place it one inch under his center line and squeeze.

Bam! The .375 barks. I have never felt more confident in any shot I’ve ever taken. There is one minor problem; however, and that is the cat is not dead under the tree. We listen and hear growling. Not good. Tinie asks what happened and I am as confused as he.

We wait a small bit. Tinie grabs his dying torch, Lott, and my small flashlight. The torch is useless and my light is no better. He returns with the news of only three small drops of blood under the limb and explains we will come back in the morning.

It is a long, uncomfortable, quiet ride back to camp. Tinie believes that I have hit the cat low and that he will be very much alive in the morning. I believe the cat is dead and that Tinie has missed finding him in the dark.

Over dinner, Tinie briefs the other PH’s and enlists their help for tomorrow morning’s leopard follow-up. Since I believe the cat to be dead, my questions center on hyenas and hyena damage. Tinie is smart enough to see where I’m headed and tells me, “Joe, in front of these witnesses, if your cat has hyena damage because I missed finding him then you and I will get together and come to an agreement on the trophy fee.”

I felt this to be extremely honorable and with it, I made my way to my tent where I got on my knees and asked God to please clean up the terrible mess that I had unfortunately made for myself in Zimbabwe.

 

[Fatback]

Here’s hoping y’all find the leopard, dead and without any hyena damage.

 

[LivingTheDream]

Talk about a cliff hanger, hope to see pictures of you with your leopard next!

 

[Ruraldoc]

Great story so far, waiting for “the rest of the story”.

 

[JHT]

“From the impossible
We’ll see a miracle” – Cece Winans​

We all wake up before daylight. I am surprisingly calm. Like medicated calm. I have also slept well. We leave in a convoy of three cruisers – Tinie, me and our crew, Brian and his crew, and Dean Peel, his client and their crew. My hunting companion who is Dean’s client has sacrificed his morning hunt by loaning us Dean for the recovery effort.

Driving to Ruia I can think of four possible scenarios: 1. The cat is never to be seen again; 2. The cat is found but still alive and has to be dispatched; 3. The cat is found dead but has hyena damage and/or hair slippage; or 4. The cat is found dead in pristine condition.

We pull up near the blind and exit. Tinie has already told me he wishes for me to take no part in the recovery. My companion and I sit on the ground in front of the blind while the PH’s and crews descend into the bottom below. As they approach the bait tree a hyena skirts to the left.

My companion is adamant that the cat is dead. At exactly 6:19 a.m. the party reaches the blood droplets below the branch. Twenty minutes or so later we hear talking. My companion looks at me and says, “well, that’s a good sign." Within a minute we hear laughing and then bam! – a shot. Even among the chaos I stay calmly seated until Tinie calls for me.

The driver and government ranger show me the path down the hill. At the bottom, I meet up with the PH’s who are all smiling. I shake each of their hands and hug their necks. I have yet to see the cat and am expecting buckshot trauma; however, Tinie tells me the cat was already dead and his shot was to let me know. He explains my shot was dead on up and down but a bit back barely clipping the lungs. I ask about hyena damage and Brian jokes that there may be enough skin for a hatband.

The trackers have carried the cat up the hill to the cruiser but Tinie calls for them to bring him back down to the riverbed for pictures. At 6:58 a.m., they emerge with the most beautiful, pristine leopard in all of Zimbabwe.

For the better part of an hour, we take beautiful daytime pictures in the riverbed – pictures we could never have gotten had we found him the night before. I am still a little worried about hair slippage but as hard as I pull, none releases. I suppose certain things like cold, overcast September mornings in Africa are hard to explain.

 

[AES]

Great cat. Love me some Dean and Vaughn.

 

[Dinsdale]

How awesome is that cat….good stuff.

Tinie was literally a last minute substitute PH for me in Dande, he got a call and drove through the night to get to camp. Hunted tuskless and then we chased buffalo for a few days with pissy elephants and chasing poachers, had high adventure for sure.

 

[JHT]

 

[Hunting Hitman]

Congrats on the Leopard!

HH

 

[Altitude sickness]

“I am surprisingly calm. Like medicated calm. I have also slept well.”

As soon as I read this I knew you were confident in your shot.

Great write up. Love the chapter like titles/ quotes

Great leopard, did they guess age or weight

 

[JimmyJack54]

Great cat, JHT! I look forward to hearing about the rest of your trip.

 

[Fatback]

AWESOME!! Congrats on getting your leopard, in tact. Glad it all worked out for you. Looking forward to the rest of your report.

 

[AZDAVE]

Congratz on a fine leopard. looking forward to the rest of your report.

 

[ChasingHemingway]

Congrats! My stomach was turning thinking of the long night ahead after the shot and the anticipation of the drive back to the blind!! Well done!

 

[abnhog]

“From the impossible
We’ll see a miracle” – Cece Winans​

We all wake up before daylight. I am surprisingly calm. Like medicated calm. I have also slept well. We leave in a convoy of three cruisers – Tinie, me and our crew, Brian and his crew, and Dean Peel, his client and their crew. My hunting companion who is Dean’s client has sacrificed his morning hunt by loaning us Dean for the recovery effort.

Driving to Ruia I can think of four possible scenarios: 1. The cat is never to be seen again; 2. The cat is found but still alive and has to be dispatched; 3. The cat is found dead but has hyena damage and/or hair slippage; or 4. The cat is found dead in pristine condition.

We pull up near the blind and exit. Tinie has already told me he wishes for me to take no part in the recovery. My companion and I sit on the ground in front of the blind while the PH’s and crews descend into the bottom below. As they approach the bait tree a hyena skirts to the left.

My companion is adamant that the cat is dead. At exactly 6:19 a.m. the party reaches the blood droplets below the branch. Twenty minutes or so later we hear talking. My companion looks at me and says, “well, that’s a good sign." Within a minute we hear laughing and then bam! – a shot. Even among the chaos I stay calmly seated until Tinie calls for me.

The driver and government ranger show me the path down the hill. At the bottom, I meet up with the PH’s who are all smiling. I shake each of their hands and hug their necks. I have yet to see the cat and am expecting buckshot trauma; however, Tinie tells me the cat was already dead and his shot was to let me know. He explains my shot was dead on up and down but a bit back barely clipping the lungs. I ask about hyena damage and Brian jokes that there may be enough skin for a hatband.

The trackers have carried the cat up the hill to the cruiser but Tinie calls for them to bring him back down to the riverbed for pictures. At 6:58 a.m., they emerge with the most beautiful, pristine leopard in all of Zimbabwe.

For the better part of an hour, we take beautiful daytime pictures in the riverbed – pictures we could never have gotten had we found him the night before. I am still a little worried about hair slippage but as hard as I pull, none releases. I suppose certain things like cold, overcast September mornings in Africa are hard to explain.

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Awesome. What a great outcome. Congrats.

 

[Mort Hill]

Bravo! What is it about all the judges I know being wordsmiths! Your report and pics are fabulous. I am at a hotel in Knoxville waiting on UT vs A&M football game, but for the last hour I forgot it was fall in God’s country and was transported to Zim and the leopard hunt! Kudo’s to you on your success!

 

[gillettehunter]

Congrats on your leopard. Glad it worked out so well for you! I have been enjoying your report. Thanks for sharing!
Bruce