30-06 or 375 h&h for a leopards

[Manny R]

Either caliber would be fine. To me the determining factor is the correct ammunition bullet and bullet placement.
I shot my leopard with a 300 Win Mag. A second piece of advice have a high quality scope for your rifle. You will probably shoot it in very low light.

 

[FEJ]

The reason I asked this question honestly is I would very soon be going behind a man-eater which has taken 8 victims in 12 days.
Now I have a 375 and an 06 so was debating which rifle to carry. Of course a shotgun would be there for a backup.
Ammunition available as follows:-
375 silvertips 300grs by Winchester.
06 soft points 180grs by S&B.
Cheers.

This sounds exciting! Are these opportunities common in India?

 

[Bapu]

Of the 2 you mention and for the circumstance I would use the 375.....

Of the 2 I mentioned is because we don't have much of an excess to here in India.
Thanks.

 

[Bapu]

This sounds exciting! Are these opportunities common in India?

No not much. But yes sometimes.

 

[Bapu]

Either caliber would be fine. To me the determining factor is the correct ammunition bullet and bullet placement.
I shot my leopard with a 300 Win Mag. A second piece of advice have a high quality scope for your rifle. You will probably shoot it in very low light.

Yes most probably after sunset.

 

[FEJ]

No not much. But yes sometimes.

Enjoy the adventure! Give us a report on how it goes.

 

[Kevin375]

Because it's problem animals, are you free to do all what you want to kill man-eating leopards or are they some rules to respect ?
Are you allowed to use, if available where you are, thermal scopes or night vision ? Or if the darkness is there, the only legal option is artificial light ?
To remove quickly a problem animal, a pack of hounds, with the correct training, could be also a effective option or dogs are forbidden ?

 

[Bapu]

Enjoy the adventure! Give us a report on how it goes.

Will surely report. Waiting for the orders.
Cheers.

 

[Bapu]

Because it's problem animals, are you free to do all what you want to kill man-eating leopards or are they some rules to respect ?
Are you allowed to use, if available where you are, thermal scopes or night vision ? Or if the darkness is there, the only legal option is artificial light ?
To remove quickly a problem animal, a pack of hounds, with the correct training, could be also a effective option or dogs are forbidden ?

There are no rules as such and the priority is to get the problematic animal out.
One can use thermal scopes or night vision but I don't as I don't have any. I will use good quality german scopes and artificial light a spotlight at night.
Unfortunately we don't have trained hounds here. However in this case senerio one could use.
Cheers

 

[Kevin375]

There are no rules as such and the priority is to get the problematic animal out.
One can use thermal scopes or night vision but I don't as I don't have any. I will use good quality german scopes and artificial light a spotlight at night.
Unfortunately we don't have trained hounds here. However in this case senerio one could use.
Cheers

Thank you very much for infos and good luck to get this man-eater.

 

[AimSmall]

As long as recoil is a non-issue, 375. See above for bullet choices.

30-06 will make him dead. 375 makes him deader, sooner.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Oh, Hi Bapu. It's always good to see your posts.

I have hunted leopards with with the .30-06 Springfield and the .375 Holland & Holland Magnum. But only the African variety (and one Thai specimen in self defense).

For hunting leopards over bait, I would strongly recommend the .30-06 Springfield since your shot will be a picked one. So a less recoiling rifle aids in accuracy.

For hunting leopard over hounds, I would strongly recommend the .375 Holland & Holland Magnum since you will be making a more hurried shot and thus the larger caliber is advisable.

Have you been assigned to hunt down the recent Udaipur Man Eater ? Stay safe as always.

Warmest Regards,
Your friend,
Golam

 

[DLSJR]

The bullet you use is more important than the caliber/cartridge you shoot.

I’d stick with a Nosler Partition or Accubond, Trophy Bonded Bearclaw or Terminal Ascent (basically same bullet), Remington CoreLokt, Sierra Game King, Swift Scirocco, Northfork Percussion Point or whatever Hornady offers such as an Interlock. Note that I did not say Swift A Frame or Barnes TSX/TTSX. Both of those bullets will certainly do the job and have many times on leopards, but they won’t expand as quickly or large as the bullets I recommended. And rapid expansion combined with decent penetration are what is most important on leopards. They’ll do the job but the others are better choices.

I’ve shot 3 leopards, all on long multi-species hunts so the rifle I used was more general purpose than leopard specific. I shot one leopard, my biggest, with a .300 Winchester and 180 grain Partition. That cat was dead on the limb before he fell. I’ve shot 2 with my .338 Winchester and 225 grain Bearclaws. One was a Kalahari cat on the ground and he didn’t go far at all; maybe 20 yards at the most and the other also was found about 20 yards from the tree I shot him out of. Leopards are not hard to kill as long as you shoot them in the right spot with any of the bullets I’ve mentioned.

If I was going on a dedicated leopard hunt instead of a general bag hunt that includes a leopard, I’d take a 30-06 shooting a 180 grain Nosler Partition. It’s plenty of gun for any leopard.

 

[rdog]

I have never shot a Leopard only see them in a zoo . I use Speer 235 grain bullets in my 375 on Pigs & red deer , its easy to get 2800 FPS with that bullet in a 24 inch bbl makes a mess of big pigs i bet it would blow the big cat out of his tree. most other 375 bullets would be too hard.

 

[BGHNTR416]

Both my leopards were taken with the 30-06 and 165 grain TBBC when Federal was loading them in their premium High Energy load. Neither cat took a step after the shot. Good luck. I have just googled this man eater you are going after...

 

[Sideshow]

Good luck!

 

[Bapu]

Oh, Hi Bapu. It's always good to see your posts.

I have hunted leopards with with the .30-06 Springfield and the .375 Holland & Holland Magnum. But only the African variety (and one Thai specimen in self defense).

For hunting leopards over bait, I would strongly recommend the .30-06 Springfield since your shot will be a picked one. So a less recoiling rifle aids in accuracy.

For hunting leopard over hounds, I would strongly recommend the .375 Holland & Holland Magnum since you will be making a more hurried shot and thus the larger caliber is advisable.

Have you been assigned to hunt down the recent Udaipur Man Eater ? Stay safe as always.

Warmest Regards,
Your friend,
Golam

Dear Habibsaheb,

Yes, I would be going for the Udaipur man-eater as I have submitted my papers. Till now it has killed 8 people in 12 days.

Hunting with hounds is out and therefore, I would be sitting over live bait. Also I would be doing night drive with spotlight.
Therefore, I would use a 30-06 which is mounted with 1.5-6x42 Schmidt and Bender scope and shall use 180grs S&B ammunition which is available here.
The 375 h&h shall be with me just in case which is mounted with Leica 1-4x24 scope and shall use 300grs silvertips.
The shotgun would be there for a backup with LG alphamax 70mm shell.

The government has failed to do it's job and therefore hunters would have to be called in finally after 8 deaths unfortunately. Had the hunters been called before probably we could have saved a few human lives.

Warm regards,
Bapu.
PS. looking forward to your book.

 

[Bapu]

Good luck!

Thank you.

 

[Bapu]

Both my leopards were taken with the 30-06 and 165 grain TBBC when Federal was loading them in their premium High Energy load. Neither cat took a step after the shot. Good luck. I have just googled this man eater you are going after...

Thanks. Will keep you all posted hopefully if all goes well.

 

[sureshot375]

Either will work fine. Leopards are not hard to kill, but are easy to wound. The problem is always shot placement in an intense situation at a target that has a tendency to give awkward shot opportunities.

Pick whatever rifle your shoot best and spend time in getting a setup with a solid rest giving as little opportunity for error as possible. Wait for the right shot.

Any chance for two shooters in your situation?. Having a buddy give an instant second shot in your situation seems ideal. Any man eater worth shooting once is worth shooting twice.