Hi John,

The lions are both SA cats. Sorry, but I haven't quite pulled off the wild lion hunt just yet. I'm working on it though.

The leopards were both taken in Zim. The smaller on in 08 in the Tuli area. That one came pretty easy. We had cats feeding right away and sat on night 2 & 3. Pretty scary night on night 2 with a cow and calf elephant terrorizing us in the blind from 4 paces in total darkness. My 375 was strapped down on the sticks, my 500NE was in the hands of my friend and PH from SA but loaded with "Lion Loads", and the Zim Ph had his weapon. I was effectively armed with my flashlight as the cow growled, screamed, and kicked dirt on us in the darkness for 10 minutes or so! Got the cat on the 4th night and my ele bull on day 6 leaving 8 days to hang around and relax.

The big leopard was taken this past June 2011, in Makuti. This one was a tough hunt, 14 days. Daylight only. On day 12 at noon, we had no male cats feeding, just a few females. With one bait site remaining to check on the way back to camp, I had just about written off getting a cat. Arriving at the bait, we found it smashed. Checking the trail camera we found a large male had hit around 2:00am and stayed until just before daylight. We built a blind but the PH crushed me by saying that the wind was wrong for an evening sit. Lots of tension as time was running out but I've learned to trust your PH, once you find a good one. My PH was Rich Tabor of Charlton McCallum Safaris and he is one of the best cat men around!

We were in the blind several hours before daylight on day 13, hoping that an early arrival would not spook him off the bait. Long before daylight, we heard him grunt. We listened to him feed on the buffalo leg in total darkness for well over an hour, praying that he would continue until legal shooting light. I was using the Trijicon 3X9, so was able to see him well as shooting light arrived. 1 shot from the #1 in 300H&H with Barnes TTSX 180 grains put him dead under the tree. It was a great hunt and will be a great trophy to remember for the rest of my days.

Cheers,

Todd