Bowhunting Leopard or dangerous game in SA is legal only in some provinces. Trophy hunting may take place at night in all provinces and is allowed with artificial light, provided that the hunter was granted a night hunting permit. Unless the landowner has an exemption, this night hunting permit is only given on special request, after the hunter has clearly stipulated the reason for night hunting, in most instance Leopard hunting over bait at night. Rarely will they grant you the right to hunt at night for other reasons. SA records show that about 60 percent of all Leopards are taken in the Limpopo province with another 25 percent being hunted in the North West province. The South African outfitters who specialize in bowhunting and particularly bowhunting Leopards will often have bowhunters on a waiting list awaiting for a Leopard tag.
If you end up going to SA for your Leopard I would suggest heading there to increase your chances at taking one during the later part of the hunting season, June to September, as it is better for bowhunting since it is drier. This is true for several reasons, during these months of the hunting season the vegetation is not as dense, the grass has thinned out and is not as tall which makes Leopard easier to see. Another reason is that water availability is also much more limited during this time of the year, making the possibility to encounter one from a hide at a waterhole a lot more probable. Their territories are often located in areas where there is a rich supply of wild game and water. Leopard prey on a variety of species from game birds to larger antelopes but also a lot on the young of larger antelopes. Therefore hunting them during the later part of the year, as the young from that year have grown up, makes food availability more challenging as the easy prey is no longer available thus increasing a lot the traffic at the bait. Earlier in the year a Leopard will hit the bait every few days, with much irregularity as to later on in the year when a Leopard can frequent and hit a bait more on a daily or every other day basis.
You should also look at doing your Leopard in Mozambique.
