NAMIBIA: KHOMAS HIGHLAND HUNTING SAFARIS Leopard Hunt

[Hutch01]

I’m at the FRA airport about to board Lufthansa return to DFW and thought I’d post some about this hunt. We began refreshing some of the baits near the main camp 8/28 and worked on that for several days. Chasing warthog and mountain zebra. After checking baits and cameras we realized the cat in the area wasn’t cooperating. We thought because of the baby oryx crop. We found scat with oryx hair in it. So Philip made some phone calls and we were able to hunt another ranch up the road about an hour. So we started the baiting process again and with the help of the resident PH we are able to establish feeding pattern for a good Tom. Ralph and I setup our hide and settled in for the hunt on about the tenth day and about 6:30am ‘he and she’ show up. The gun was already on the sticks and I squeezed off a round at approximately 100 meters and hit the cat in the chest. He new we were in the hide because of our smell and restlessness so he was staring right at us. Long story short, after tracking for a little while, we were able to collect the cat and haul him off the mountain taking turns between three of us. I estimate his weight at around 150 lbs. I’ll never forget the smell of that cat! After the cat hunt we continued to chase big kudu bulls and zebra up to 17 days of hunting. I’ll get some photos posted soon. Thanks for reading. Hutch01

 

[gillettehunter]

Looking forward to pics and more details. Congrats.
Bruce

 

[AZDAVE]

Safe flight home and looking forward to your report.

 

[fish hunter]

Great job. Looking forward to the pics.

 

[VertigoBE]

Safe travels, and looking forward to the full hunting report!

 

[Hutch01]

Here are some additional photos I’d like to share.

 

[rinehart0050]

Awesome! Congrats on an excellent tom! Great pics

 

[PARA45]

Beautiful tom, congratulations!

 

[Justin.]

Incredible cat! Excellent job!

 

[AZDAVE]

AH members have been having great success of DG this year. Congratz on a nice cat.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Congrats on the Tom!

 

[cpr0312]

Congrats on the hunt and thanks for sharing!

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

Very nice kitty and kudu too!

 

[Hutch01]

Your interest is much appreciated. The Lufthansa business class flight was affordable and I made it back to DFW in a little under 25 hours. The renovations Philip has made to the common areas is awesome. I’ll never tire of the camel thorn smoked zebra meat made available everyday. Real treat! And the SA wines are always excellent. Philip had a couple of interns staying at the ranch from Munich, Kaspar and Max. Delightful young men to be around eager to learn and help out. We had a group of German hunters that I thoroughly enjoyed as well as a newly married couple from Spain, and I got to spend a little time with fellow Texans Jimmy and Stacey who live up here in North Texas not far from me and hear their stories and see Stacey’s leopard photos. One of the most important aspect of these hunts are the new friends you make and people you meet along the way.

Khomas Highlands was blessed with such abundant rainfall that several dams were blown out and consequently knee high grass is everywhere now. The guinea fowl, Francolin, baboon and oryx population has exploded. Klipspringer have moved back into the ranches. Lots of hyenas! The lakes are full of water. There was group of giraffe bulls that migrated into Heusis and we watched them several different times. The bushes were in full white bloom which the giraffe feed on.

Leopard hunting will drive a normally sane man mad with leopard fever. Constantly causing you to second guess your bait positions, meat choices and locations and next ‘play’. A chess game like turkey hunting times ten. A leopard hunt is a huge production. We had 7-10 people involved in this hunt. All neighboring ranches were on board, all ranch staff were helpful in providing leopard intel including latest sightings, fresh tracks, baby oryx or beef calves killed and so forth. The ubiquitous leopard is everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Without the use of cameras, having a chance at killing a leopard is very slim. Finally seeing the big Tom in your scope is like a Dream your experiencing. Not sure if it’s really happening.

The hyenas and honey badgers drove us crazy hitting the baits regularly. The odds are heavily stacked against the leopard hunter, but surrounded by the right people a trophy leopard can be killed with time, patience and of course dollars.

Namibia is a beautiful and amazing country. The history of how the Germans ended up in Namibia is interesting research. The country is so rich in minerals, gold, diamonds, quarts, marble, granite and of course dripping with mega fauna. The ranches are huge, average 20K hectares, low fence, dry, arid, cruel and unforgiving.

Again, thanks for reading. My internet service was poor and I posted repeat photos which was my error. Once you post a hunt report you’ve learned how to do it all over again. So mine has been messy. Apologies. Hutch01

 

[Velo Dog]

Hutch01,

Congratulations on the leopard.
He’s a beauty for sure and well earned.
Also, the local herbivores are rejoicing no doubt.

Welcome Back,
Velo Dog.

 

[cls]

Congratulations on the leopard as well as all the rest of the animals taken. Thanks for posting.

 

[Rare Breed]

I’m at the FRA airport about to board Lufthansa return to DFW and thought I’d post some about this hunt. We began refreshing some of the baits near the main camp 8/28 and worked on that for several days. Chasing warthog and mountain zebra. After checking baits and cameras we realized the cat in the area wasn’t cooperating. We thought because of the baby oryx crop. We found scat with oryx hair in it. So Philip made some phone calls and we were able to hunt another ranch up the road about an hour. So we started the baiting process again and with the help of the resident PH we are able to establish feeding pattern for a good Tom. Ralph and I setup our hide and settled in for the hunt on about the tenth day and about 6:30am ‘he and she’ show up. The gun was already on the sticks and I squeezed off a round at approximately 100 meters and hit the cat in the chest. He new we were in the hide because of our smell and restlessness so he was staring right at us. Long story short, after tracking for a little while, we were able to collect the cat and haul him off the mountain taking turns between three of us. I estimate his weight at around 150 lbs. I’ll never forget the smell of that cat! After the cat hunt we continued to chase big kudu bulls and zebra up to 17 days of hunting. I’ll get some photos posted soon. Thanks for reading. Hutch01

View attachment 424424

Congratulations! Beautiful animals!!!

 

[gizmo]

Congrats!!!! We saw 1 leopard (Carrie and Corey did) and a ton of leopard tracks while we were there. When I do my leopard I’ll definitely be doing it with Philip

 

[Hutch01]

I’ll be out to Bridger Patrini’s hunting Black Bear with hounds 10/17 on John Malone’s Bell Ranch. I’ll try and contact you to stop by and visit.