Close Call with a Big Cat

Bang—the sound of the .375 broke the built-up anticipation, nerves, and silence that one experiences when waiting in a cat blind. Broadside, 30 yards from our position, the cat leapt from the gnarled old umchibi tree and sped off, growling to the right of our blind.

My clients’ eyes, wide open and with lots of white showing, met mine as the growling continued for another minute and then, just dead silence.

Into the Darkness

After waiting and listening carefully for 20 minutes, darkness arrived and took over the day. My two trackers then kitted up with flashlights and their traditional Tonga axes while I fitted my Surefire to my M4 Benelli.

We slid out of the blind as quietly as we could and after a quick 360 picked up the pug marks indicating the direction the big cat had taken before disappearing into the thick gusu forest. Just a few drops of blood indicated that he was indeed hit. By now, it was completely dark.

Winding and ducking slowly through the gusu scrub, torch beams cut through the darkness in all directions. Sixty yards on, my tracker froze in his tracks as his flashlight picked up the reflection of an eye about 40 yards in front of us.

As soon as the beam steadied itself, the deep growling started. I brought up the M4 and fired.

The Charge

The cat sprang up like an uncoiling spring, straight up in the air, obviously hit again, and came forward in a blurred, snarling charge. As quick as it all started, I lost sight of him as he passed behind some scrub, did a U-turn, and then disappeared into the dark night.

Silence again. We had a problem.

I radioed camp and asked for assistance from the other PH who happened to be in camp. It wasn’t too long before the headlights of his Land Cruiser appeared, zig-zagging down the bush track. After a few minutes chatting through our plan of action, and armed with more eyes and lights, we organized ourselves into a sweep line and moved out.

High Alert

Moving slowly and with all senses on high alert, two trackers positioned in the middle of us, we struggled to pick up and follow the very little patchy blood there was. After approximately 80 yards or so, we temporarily lost the tracks.

There was a bunch of tall grass to our right which I directed my light at for a few moments before swinging the beam to our front where there was a fallen branch and a little bush. Shining over this a few times and not picking up any sign of the cat, we started to inch forward again.

This immediately triggered a low growl which sounded to be 40 yards off, beyond the reach of the beam due to all the scrub between us.

Final Moments

Suddenly there was a deep grunt and a blur of spots as the cat came growling, swiftly and in full charge, through the low scrub towards us.

The other PH fired with his Lott and raked him. I fired my first shot of 00 Buck at 5 paces and it knocked the big cat flat.