Leopard attack while hunting with Jeff Rann in Botswana

[AfricaHunting.com]

 

[James.Grage]

Hi Jerome,

i have seen this before and the hunters are very lucky the leopard did not come in the back.

 

[rinehart0050]

I bet there were some soiled pants in that truck after! Cool video.

 

[BRICKBURN]

If that Leopard would have known that the truck was not something to bite it might have found the soft creamy center.

 

[huntermn15]

Come September, I certainly do not care to see my lioness that close.

 

[siml]

Jeff, is a gentlemen and I enjoy whenever I get to see him to have a chat.

 

[KWALATA SAFARIS]

I have hunted leopard with hounds, with Roy Sparks, Nico Lourens, Tristan Pacock and Jason Docherty, I prefer to do it on foot, this is not an enjoyable video for me.

It is footage like this that catches us some serious flack.

Sorry just my personal point of view.

My best always

 

[Foxi]

shooting by car or by feet .I don't wont to judge that by a wounded leopard.
Big respect when you do that so.
But they need six shots and than the Tom always runs away.
A lot of lead .
Do you see really a stopping power ?
Was it Simon this week ,who said shotgun is for birds ?
Foxi

p.s. my private Medal of Honor to the cameraman.
Nerves like steel.

 

[Pondoro]

I have hunted leopard with hounds, with Roy Sparks, Nico Lourens, Tristan Pacock and Jason Docherty, I prefer to do it on foot, this is not an enjoyable video for me.

It is footage like this that catches us some serious flack.

Sorry just my personal point of view.

My best always

I could not concurr more. It is good sport to hunt leopard with dogs....ON FOOT that is. If you cant/wount do it on foot then dont.

I am absolutely disgusted by this video and I think it is like pouring petrol on the case for the greenies.

 

[gordon-kruger]

agreed with you Jaco, perhaps this kind of videos was the result they close down the hunting in Botswana.... but on other hand I don't want to walking that terrain with a bunch of dogs and a leopard, the problem is that there is no trees for the cat to climb up to.... so it will charging soon or later, and you will not see it in aven with 20 cm high grass until it's too late... so a good advice -sportish or not- if there is not trees you better stay around the bakkie....
.....

 

[Royal27]

I'm with Jaco. I watched the video, but it wasn't easy to do. I'm assuming this was the entire hunt and not a follow-up of a wounded leopard. This just reminds me too much of the buffalo hunt with bow where they shot the obviously pen raised buffalo.... And no, I'm not saying it was a pen raised leopard.

I just couldn't do this hunt myself. No way I could be happy with a leopard that I shot from a truck after I ran to the other side of the truck while my PH was already shooting at him. Too dangerous to hunt that terrain on foot? Then hunt someplace else, or build a blind.

To me, this brings up the whole "if it is legal we have to support it and stick together" argument. BS!!!! I don't have to support it, nor will I. I won't condemn anyone for a legal hunt, but that does NOT mean I have to like it, support it, or think it is right.

 

[TokkieM]

Hard to say something good about the whole video without knowing all the details. Does not seem like the cat was wounded from what I can gather. So these boys willfully chased the cat with a truck until it would do what it did. Furthermore they ellected to use semi-auto shotguns to hunt probably one of the most beautiful and noble species of game. Why not just run it down with the truck and stick it on the wall.
Not the lack of trees that bothers me,it's the lack of B@lls.

 

[slad68]

I have also seen this video before and spoke to guys who has done this type of hunt before in Botswana. They rotate Bushman trackers and hounds by the minutes chasing the cat for miles over open field, till he gets to a point where he turns around and charges the vehicle.
Apparently it is a rush, but not my cup of tea.

 

[Nyati]

I have hunted leopard with hounds, with Roy Sparks, Nico Lourens, Tristan Pacock and Jason Docherty, I prefer to do it on foot, this is not an enjoyable video for me.

It is footage like this that catches us some serious flack.

Sorry just my personal point of view.

My best always

Agree with you Jaco, I would say it is disgusting for me.

 

[matt85]

Hard to say something good about the whole video without knowing all the details. Does not seem like the cat was wounded from what I can gather. So these boys willfully chased the cat with a truck until it would do what it did. Furthermore they ellected to use semi-auto shotguns to hunt probably one of the most beautiful and noble species of game. Why not just run it down with the truck and stick it on the wall.
Not the lack of trees that bothers me,it's the lack of B@lls.

I wish I could "like" this post twice.

if chasing a leopard with dogs in a area with no trees is so scary you must do it from a truck then you might as well not do it at all! I DO NOT approve of hunting from a vehicle.

-matt

 

[Panielsen]

I was rather surprised to see Jeff Rann hunting like this personally, as when I have watched shows he was in he seemed to do things in a more traditional manner. I would have liked to see the hunters on foot and using a rifle as the main battery, although a 12 ga loaded with 00 Buck would be handy for follow-up. Not my cup of tea....

 

[Velo Dog]

I am not happy to see sport hunting from a vehicle if that is what this Jeff Rann video was showing (that's what it appears to be).

That being said, buckshot does not seem like the best equipment for leopard hunting or even for following up a wounded one.

I've never followed-up a wounded leopard or even hunted a leopard but, if I was to hunt one, I'd prefer something like a well fitting rifle with express sights and a quick detachable scope in 9.3x62 / 286 gr round nose softs.

That way I could take off the glass in the embarrassing event of having to follow-up a wounded cat.

However, if the voices are telling someone that they simply must select a shotgun for leopard, (follow-up or initial hunting either one), it seems to me that Brenneke slugs would be a far better ammunition choice than any sort of the buckshots ever devised by man.

The real issue here is not guns and ammunition though - it is that this appears to be an otherwise respected and semi-famous PH, with his client, bashing trough the bush in the back of a motor vehicle, actively hunting leopard - very sad indeed.

 

[siml]

Why do people hunt dangerous game? Adrenaline rush, the thrill of the danger? Not all clients are spring chickens who can walk for miles and miles...I have seen plenty of videos of leopard bayed in trees, client walks up to the tree and bang, dead leopard....have a look at the client or ph in a lot of those videos, not a drop of sweat...why? because they were following up in a truck...to me there was a lot more thrill/rush in what Jeff was doing, that leopard could easily have gotten them. Maybe it's not everyones cup of tea, but just because you don't like it, doesn't make it wrong. Maybe, we should also mention leopards that are shot with missing claws, why missing claws? Because they were trapped and lost claws trying to get out the cage.....released for the hunt. What about free range or bred lions? Or how many animals hunted, have been shot from the back of a truck? I am not referring to the tame buff or lioness, that was outright wrong. Does it take bigger balls to sit in a blind and wait for a leopard? I have seen some blinds at water holes that are more luxury than my chalet. Where do we stop the debate? I think sometimes we need to get off our high horses.

To me the client in the leopard video was as happy as can be, as a PH we all want to see a happy client and thats what Jeff gave his client.

 

[TokkieM]

Simon,I have to respectfully disagree with you here. There is no way that the cat could escape the trucks,relay of dogs and trackers,so to me it is far from hunting,if this was a cattle killer or a problem cat then by all means,do what has to be done,but don't call it hunting. Nothing diffrent than a well set trap.
Baiting a cat is no guarantee for success,many clients leave Africa without their Leopard because a cat or the right cat did not come in to the bait. Setting up a blind takes some skill and planning not to mention determination or at least perseverance.

As you rightly say,not every client has the abillity to stay with a dog pack and hunt on foot,but a good PH will hunt to the clients ability and a client should realize this. The client on this truck never left it once in the video.
For those who think I may be harsh or overly judgemental,I have killed many Ostriches this way,but that is killing,not hunting and I don't try and suger coat it as a hunt.

 

[siml]

We saw a brief part of the video, got no idea of what happened before the last few minutes of the hunt. We can disagree, perfectly normal.