| Azone |
| (.224 member) |
| 18/07/11 07:37 AM |
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Zim Leopard, etc.
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First time post - Here's a couple of pictures of a tom leopard I shot in June, 2011 with PH Shaun Buffee (John Sharp Safaris) in the Bubye Valley Conservancy. In the background, Shaun's tracker, M'Beki, and the game scout, Krispin.
The leopard was shot with a .375 H&H (300 gr A-Frame) at 55m over a bait (zebra)
My PH, Shaun, with the "brute"...
Other trophies included:
Waterbuck:
Taken with the .375 H&H, 300 grain A-Frame (~165m)
Waterbuck was stalked after watching it, a smaller bull and several cows at sunset of the previous day, then again after sunrise from the following vantage point (the dwalla can be seen, in the background, between the waterbuck's horns):
Warthog:
300 grain A-Frame at ~60m after a short stalk over a small granite kopje:
One of three zebra taken for bait:
Zebra were taken with 380 grain Rhino or, alternatively, 300gr A-Frames, all under 100m.
One of three giraffe:
Giraffe were shot at 40-50m with 380 gr Rhinos followed my 350 gr Barnes banded Solids
(These were removed from the first giraffe)
Baboon shot (while it was sitting on an adjacent dwalla) as we approached the end of the safari:
300 gr A-Frame at a (lasered) distance of 250 yards, off sticks.
The baboon was followed in a couple of minutes by a klipspringer - also shot off an adjacent dwalla, and finally topped off with a civet:
Thankfully, the .375 H&H is a "do it all" cartridge.
A huge "Thank you!" to my outfitter, John Sharp for his high standards and attention to detail, PH, Shaun Buffee for his skill and tenacity, and all of the camp staff who helped make the safari a memorable success.
| AFRO408 |
| (.333 member) |
| 18/07/11 08:00 AM |
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Re: Zim Leopard
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Congratulations Azone. Well done mate.
| mikeh416Rigby |
| (.450 member) |
| 18/07/11 10:33 AM |
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Re: Zim Leopard, etc.
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First of all, welcome to NitroExpress. Second...HOLY COW!!!!!
Congratulations on one heck of a Safari. Those trophies are certainly impressive. Every one of them a trophy to be proud of.
| Ben |
| (.400 member) |
| 18/07/11 11:10 AM |
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Re: Zim Leopard, etc.
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Fair-dinkum! That is awesome!
| PHMadness |
| (.275 member) |
| 18/07/11 12:59 PM |
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Re: Zim Leopard, etc.
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Looks like one nice trip!
| Azone |
| (.224 member) |
| 18/07/11 01:32 PM |
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Re: Zim Leopard, etc.
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Thanks for the kind words.
It was a great hunt, a fifteen-day "main course" after a week hunting plains game in South Africa and a day sight-seeing at Victoria Falls and a morning fishing for Tigerfish on the Zambesi river.
Vic Falls:
Bream first thing in the morning:
Tigerfish:
What follows are a few pictures from our Eastern Cape "appetizer". Basically, a seven-day plains game hunt in the Eastern Cape of South Africa as a warm-up for our 15-day Zim DG safari.
This was the second time I had hunted with our South African outfitter, Pierre Moolman (Sun-Africa Hunting Safaris). My PH was a very enthusiastic "JK" (Johannes Kristoffer). We had good fun calling caracal and black-backed jackal while doing our best to find a nice bushpig, Black Wildebeest, springbuck, duiker and bushbuck. We didn't find everything that was on the "wish list", but it sure was fun trying!
Here are a few more pictures from the hunt in RSA:
The property where we were hoping to find a couple of nice black wildebeest:
My Black Wildebeest - taken with the .375 H&H (300 gr A-Frame) at ~165m:
The coupe de grace was administered with the VC 450/400 at ~30m. Unfortunately, it turned out to be the one and only shot fired at game with the double while in Africa.
Regrettably, the VC stopped working while I was confirming its zero before embarking on the first day of our DG hunt. Fortunately, I was able to switch to the Ruger RSM which worked very effectively for the duration of the hunt. After returning home it was discovered that the ejector screw on the double rifle had inexplicably backed out a full-turn-and-a-half, preventing the action from fully closing. A remarkably minor problem with potentially significant repercussions. In the grand scheme of things, though, I'm thankful that the problem revealed itself on the range rather than in the field!
Zebra taken on Eastern Cape lemon plantation (.375 H&H, 300 gr A-Frame. Long stalk up a hill followed by a ~40m shot):
Baboon tracks...
Baboon taken during a predator-calling session. Distance was ~300m with my PH's .243 (Tikka T3 with suppressor, 100gr SP South African factory ammo)
Springbuck taken with .375 H&H at ~175m (300 gr A-Frames)
| PHMadness |
| (.275 member) |
| 18/07/11 02:22 PM |
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Re: Zim Leopard, etc.
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Nice. That's within 100yds or so of where my avatar pic was taken.
| Cinghiale |
| (.333 member) |
| 18/07/11 08:55 PM |
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Re: Zim Leopard, etc.
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Great work Azone welcome to NE!
Regards,
MOG
| JabaliHunter |
| (.400 member) |
| 19/07/11 03:23 AM |
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Re: Zim Leopard, etc.
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Very nice - sounds like it was a great trip!
| HogPilot |
| (.300 member) |
| 20/09/11 04:03 PM |
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Re: Zim Leopard, etc.
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Great Leopard!
| CHAPUISARMES |
| (.416 member) |
| 20/09/11 04:39 PM |
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Re: Zim Leopard, etc.
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Hi Azone,
Firstly welcome, it looks like the Safari was first class, well done...
Cheers,
Jeff Gray
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