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In the Dangerous 6?? Of course!! MS an african hunter friend lost an armed camp hand on a safari to a leopard on a hunt who went in the bush to relieve himself!!

Leopards have been known to be maneaters on par with lions,and I believe Capstick called them ??assasins and he was an avid cathunter.

My bud just didn't think that a Big 5 animal should be shot off a tree limb at dusk. He wouldn't want to wait in a blind. Didn't seem right to him--

Of course if I am ever fortunate to actually bag a leopard I will not complain.

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Classically they are one of the Big 5.

I've never hunted them but they were the only African animal that ever really gave me the willies when I lived and travelled over there. For one reason or another I used to have to walk at night from one friend's place to another's and the thought of those things {along with snakes in the trail which were a constant nuisance} always bugged me.

I've hunted cougar here in the states and they have a reputation for running after hit in a similar way that housecats show an explosion of a activitiy after they get thumped. I don't see why a leopard would be different.

As for maulings when running with hounds, that is to be expected. A game animal being run with hounds is in a state of such hopped-up-idness {hoppdoc, that's a medical term } that aggressive behavior is to be expected. Such aggressive behavior happens with the bear we run frequently, and dogs oftimes get cut up in fights. I would not class a hound-chased leopard "unwounded". In fact, I'd suggest that approaching a bayed up hounded leopard is probably more dangerous than approaching a wounded one if my bear experience means anything!

As for Capstick, good grief. The guy would have you believe your life expectancy is 24-hours at best after you disembark from your aeroplane in Joburg.

I mean, dangerous critters? Injuries? Deaths by Big Animal? Anybody have any idea how many cattle and horses kill and maim people in the USA? Not the place here, but I can tell you personal and other accounts involving the hazards of working around such animals and a word search on the i-net will reveal more. Hanging around a small-town, rural ER or clinic will be instructive. I bet by all counts and counting there are far more American farmers & ranchers who die in the course of farming than hunters in Africa...

My point here is that a hunter going to Africa shouldn't psyche himself out about the supposed dangers that lurk under every toilet seat or in every patch of long grass. Such a mental condition CAN result in blown shots there {or here} and serves to be a self-fulfilling prophesy. Carry a stick to the latrine and look where you put your feet and, I guess, don't walk around alot at night by yourself unless you have to...

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