Kaokoland Leopard: The Final Scene
The next morning, I spent time writing emails and outlines for various articles. I also spent time wondering if we had blown our hunt for this male by not sitting in the blind the evening before. I was convincing myself that he had fed again, gotten full, and was now out on his rounds, never to return. When we checked the bait at midday, we discovered the new meat chewed on but with much left. When we checked out our blind, there in the sand were the unmistakable tracks of a leopard. The tracks led straight to the open door of our tent-blind. The cat had walked straight up and investigated this new addition to its environment. Our being there the night before would likely have ended the hunt for that cat. I’ll credit Kabous. He never ever said “I told you so.” But it’s reasonable to assume he thought it.
Another Kabous’ saying is that “leopards cannot count.” This understanding of leopard behavior came into play that afternoon. Once we were situated in the blind, Kapetja and Nico climbed into the Land Cruiser and drove away. The assumption is that the big male was snoozing close-by and heard people come and, as before, leave. Four came in, but only two left…Leopards cannot count. That evening was my first time in a leopard blind. I thought about bringing a book to read, but I assumed (as it turned out, accurately) that my first experience with this type of hunt would be entertaining enough. It was difficult to keep from fidgeting, not from boredom, but from adrenaline.
I had never heard a leopard ‘saw’. Kabous held his hand up at 6:25 and asked if I had heard the leopard? I had not. But, exactly five minutes later the guttural Huh! Huh! Huh! came from nearby. Kabous and I grinned, and fist bumped. The big male was heading to his bait. One hour later, I wondered what I had done to scare away the big cat. Had I coughed, sniffed, moved rapidly? Well, yes, a couple of times for each. We had not heard the male again, and he had not shown up on the feeding branch. But this time I was wrong about messing up. Kabous’ whispered “He is in the tree. Slide up onto your stock. Can you see him?” told me that we were in the game. As I said, at first, I couldn’t pick out the tom leopard in my scope. But, after a few seconds, his powerful chest, shoulders and massive head and neck materialized. The trigger broke with the sights aligned on the point of the big tom’s on-shoulder. Five seconds later, there was a loud thump. This thump is so-called “music to a PH’s ears.” It was music to mine as well. I was trusting in everything I had heard and read about this indicating a fatal hit. More importantly, Kabous confirmed my book knowledge when he asked, “Did you hear that thump?!”
That thump turned out to be a 7’ 2”, 145-lb tom leopard. Having taken my 7mm Remington Magnum, 162-grain ELD-X through the top of his heart, he was still able to right himself and run 15 yards. What a warrior. When we reached him, Kabous, Kapetja and Nico drew back from the now-silent male leopard. I am not ashamed to say that I removed my hat, laid my hand on his side, bowed my head, and thanked he and my God for allowing me to live a life that included the pursuit of such magnificent animals. Robert Ruark quoted Harry Selby in describing my trophy leopard: “He’s a real beauty. Isn’t it funny how most of the antelopes and the lions lose all their dignity in death? This blighter is more beautiful when he’s in the bag than when he’s in the tree…He’s the most beautiful trophy in Africa.”
Anti-hunters will never understand the supreme sadness we as hunters feel when we have taken a life. They will also not know our profound sense of joy and fulfillment. What I can affirm is that they and I have the same goal – to conserve nature’s beautiful creatures. But hunters’ passion leads to community involvement and empowerment. That is why and how Kaokoland, and Namibia still have wildlife.
