Hunting

Every professional hunter has his own way of hunting leopards, and this article talks about how I like it, and if your PH has its own set of tricks, please do not think that he doesn't necessarily do it right - he just does it in their own way.

I am a perfectionist when it comes to hunting leopards, and the reason for this is that they are just incredibly careful and intelligent creatures. Because of this, we need to think like a leopard to bring a suitable trophy animal to the bait.

First we need to find at least one perfect leopard. tree and place to hang the bait. If we find three or four trees, so much the better. The tree itself should be quite large with beautiful broad shoulders, not too many thorns, and based on it grows a little, but not too much undergrowth. This should allow the cat to hide somewhere until it protects itself before it really lifts the tree. It also helps to have a little cover over the bait branch, if this is possible - you can always trim it as needed as soon as the cat starts feeding. If the main trunk is slightly at an angle, then we have the added advantage because we want to make everything as possible so that the leopard gets access to the bait. However, it should not be so easy that other predators, such as the hyena and the lion, can reach it. (What, I heard that you mumbled, someone told you that lions do not climb trees? Do not believe it!) And we would also prefer at least a small tree or a bush within 30-50 yards of a bait tree, we can make up as a natural place for the blind.

The blind terrain should give us a good overview and an overview of where the leopard will put when he eats the bait. When I choose my blind site, I like, if possible, to find it among some kind of natural foliage, and I like to spend time checking the wind, lighting up some dry elephant dung and leaving them smoldering in different positions. I find it helps me in choosing the perfect blind site (s). By the way, if you have a twisted wind, I also used the same smoke bombs. when we do sit behind a cat, as a precaution to disguise our human scent. Sounds crazy, but he worked for me several times.

We also want this tree to be close to sandy roads and / or dry river beds, so the cat is comfortable when walking. Like your pet cat, leopards are lazy and love the easy life. We would also like the tree to be close to good clean water. If we are not able to find close enough to the water, we will proceed to the first of the meanest tricks - we will immerse the bucket in the soil near the bait tree and fill it with water. We can also tie a feather or two to short pieces of fishing line in suitable places to use as indicators of the wind, and also lay out several nearby areas so that it is easy to check the size of the paw prints. If necessary, we will place a few restrictions in appropriate places to direct our career to these covered areas.

If we can find two places on opposite sides and an equal distance from the bait tree, where we can find a blind man, this is also an advantage. Usually there is some promising wind, and we place the curtains in accordance with these winds, but the wind can change, so I try, if possible, to have two blinds for each bait tree. I like it when the blind sit in the wind instead of facing it, because there is nothing worse than sitting for hours and having a stinking, rotten bait that blows right into your face.

When we find a suitable tree or even better trees, we will shoot a bait animal (a zebra is usually especially good, and one animal can easily provide five baits) to hang from the best limb in a suitable place. Mark a branch with two small pieces of reflective tape. 1.3 meters in size to use as a measurement tool for leopard size. Use some of the stomach contents of our animal bait to spread around the branches of the tree and trunk. This not only eliminates our smell, but also makes the tree very attractive to the leopard.

Then, using the stomach and intestines of the animal (s) bait, pull the bait from the tree to the nearest road (s) and / or dry river beds, continuing at least a mile. If at all possible, these drag and drop will have at least two or three separate directions to maximize our chances of passing the leopard walking in the line of scents. I like to update these drag and drop on a daily basis, if possible, or on any other day, at least.

So, now we are very ready for step two of the leopard hunt that happens to be the one that drives me crazy ....... We are waiting for Mr. Potts to pass by, give him approval and start feeding. If in a few days we find his tracks next to our lures, but he ignores them, we might consider transferring the lure to another nearby tree, and if that doesn't work, we will try another smart trick or two .. ..... but I'm going to keep them up at the moment, and you just need to wait and wonder who they are! Sorry Bwana.

If we get hit or blows, we will estimate the size of the tracks and decide if we can have a cat of small size. If we do this, we will add a trail timer to the lure to find out what time the cat feeds, and then we will wait another one or two days (if allowed) to give the cat time to become really comfortable. Cats are creatures of habit and will almost certainly come to feed at the same time every night. When we install his feeding pattern, we will build blind (s) that are about three meters in area from grass and pillars, and even if there is no moon at all, we will cover it as well. Even starlight falling into the blind is enough to give the game to our spotted friend. As for the moon, many people claim that a full moon or an almost full moon is a problem for a leopard hunt. In my experience, if you set everything up correctly, the phase of the moon doesn't matter at all. I will say that about 50% of the leopards I took were at or near the full moon. In fact, I always found a full or nearly full moon, actually making the leopard more useful to us hunters. He usually usually eats lunch and comes to bait before the moon rises.

There will be shooting and observation holes on all four sides of the blind. Most professional hunters only put them in front of the blind, but I learned my lesson a couple of years ago, when I had two lions fighting in just one yard from my blind. To add insult to injury, the winner then connected with one of his girlfriends. right in the same place. During all this time, we didn’t even see anything and had to wait another two hours before we could shoot a lion! So, now I put holes on all sides of the blind, and then put curtains. over all but the front holes. After we build the blind (s), then place the motion detector over the bait and receiver blindly, and place two or three small red LED lights around the branches to give us a little light, We switch them for a while during the day before evening or morning, before we plan to sit blindly. Cats, by the way, do not see the red light at all. Thus, the only thing left to do is to build a rifle blindly and equip it with plastic garden chairs that do not creak, blankets to sit for comfort and silence and more blankets, if it looks like a cold, for PH, a red spotlight and two-way radio (off until we use it) and rifles.

As for rifles, the client ideally needs something in calibers of 30 or larger and more rapidly expanding, soft bullets. This rifle should be equipped with a power of 4 or 6 with a large light hole on the business side. After everything is set up and ready, we will use range finders to fix the exact distance from the blind to the lure and measure the height from the lure to the ground, then go somewhere and install agents rifles to shoot at the 39 39; in the exact range and height. I do not just set a goal for this. Currently, I like to take a long cardboard box and draw a Leopard life bar on it, and then I will write down a small bottle of water inside, where the cat's heart will be. Then I will sit on a chair and lift you up just as you will be in the binding. Then all you have to do is three consecutive shots through a bottle of water. Only then are you ready to sit at the cat. If you can't make these three consecutive shots at the target, then this is not a problem ... we just train until you can.

When we go blind, the clients' rifle will be placed in a gun room with a round in the chamber and a safety lock. The remnants will be located so that the client simply leans forward, looking at the scale and see the leopard.

Once everything is set up for my complete satisfaction and a couple of hours before the cat arrives, or just before the dark (depending on what comes first), we will go blindly and sit and wait quietly / read / do the dose. Probably, we will get some kind of audible warning about the feline approach. Birds and monkeys usually go crazy with alarms when a leopard passes, and you can usually notice a cat’s progress through the bush. When this wonderful motion detector lights up, it means that we have something on the branch. I pass through a viewing hole for a first look. We will not be in a hurry with things (so please try not to worry), and we will give Mr. Potts plenty of time to get convenience. Then I look at the definition area and put a red spotlight on the trees, and then move it to the cat. If he shoots, I'll pull out and stick my knee out. This will mean that you need to be comfortable and ready to shoot. IT DOES NOT MEAN! Then I will give you another knee compression, and then remove my hand. When this happens, you can shoot at any time convenient for you. There is no rush, so do not feel that you need to rush. More importantly, you shoot accurately, not quickly. Remember that you are shooting a mountain and three dynamic targets. Imagine the skin of an animal in the form of a glass container with a heart in the center of this container. Gradually slowly, to allow shooting up the hill and shooting at the heart - remember all this practice at a distance. If you understand correctly, then the next thing we hear after the shot is a raw plow, when a dead leopard hit the ground. If we hear an angry growl, then this probably means that we have problems and may have to be traced. If the leopard is charging, it must be stopped at close range. If you come to this, make sure that you remove the scope beforehand. Some time ago I took a few shots and shot the cat in the air seven yards from me. This picture shows how I knelt, where the cat fell, and was taken from the place where I shot. Now imagine this in complete darkness, except for the light from the head flashlight. If possible, I would like to avoid the experience.

Blot after a shot, and if you still see a leopard, try to get another bullet if you can. At about this time, I will ask you how you feel about the shot, and we will try to figure out what we think. Then we call the hunting truck on the radio and say that we shot the leopard, but they have to wait until we call them before entering. After 20-30 minutes, if nothing happens, we & # 39. Wake up to the truck and bring them straight to the blind, where we quickly and quietly step into it. Then we go up to the bait tree and look at the blood or, hopefully, the dead leopard. If we can see the cat, and he looks dead, we will have a tracker to shoot a couple of stones at him. If you have any answer at all, the cat will shoot again. If there is no answer, then I get down from the truck while the client closes me with his rifle. As soon as I am sure that the cat is dead, everyone can get down from the truck in the photo. If there is any problem? and I ended up running into Mr. Spotts, please don't try to shoot him from the truck, as if you did, you probably shoot me too. Get down and approach the cat as quickly as you can, and kill him - but please remember to try shooting me! If we end up with a wounded cat in our hands, then I or maybe we will do the follow-up work on tracking accordingly, but we will not be too much here, as I am sure that you will do it right the first time!

So, now you have an idea of ​​how the strategy of hunting for your leopard hunting will be planned, and, having done that, I hope you will get more pleasure from it than just a trigger mechanism, while a lot of strange things go at all around you. If you have any new ideas that you think might work, feel free to let me know. I am always ready to try something new, and since this is your leopard hunt and not mine, I am always more than happy to try something you think. In conclusion, please remember that a shot at your leopard will probably be the easiest shot of your safari - but this is also the most important shot of your safari. Therefore, do not rush, do not worry, choose the outlet where you are going and make sure that you hit the cat exactly in the right place ...