Listen to Your PH by Greg Kurdys

Listen to Your PH

by Greg Kurdys

The only view outside the blind was a few square inches of space around the point where my rifle and scope protruded through the nylon wall. As a result I was focused on whatever it was I could pick up with ears. Even with my feeble hearing I caught the distinct sound of the branches we had leaned against the bait tree springing under a sudden weight. Before I could fully gather myself to peer through the rifle scope, my PH Guy Whittall, whispered, “Take him when you are ready.” Frankly, I was expecting him to tell me it was another female leopard as that had been the experience of the past few nights. I quickly slid into my shooting position and looked through the scope. The big cat was at the bait and centered in my scope’s crosshairs! I slipped off the safety, thought about proper shot placement, compensated slightly for the angle and squeezed the trigger. The leopard was instantly out of my field of view, but I could hear the brush crashing just in front of the blind. He had closed much of the 65 yards from the blind in just a couple seconds. Just as I nervously thought about reloading things went quiet.

This had been my 20th day hunting leopard with Guy over two safaris. I had seen plenty of sign and even a few live leopard, but all had been female or young males. We had not even made a blind on my first 12 day safari! The outlook had improved in the last few days as we had seen a decent male on the trailcam. We even sat in a blind a couple times, but only female leopards graced us with their presence. There was a big dugga’ boy buffalo that brushed against the brush on the side of the blind, but that was the extent of the excitement. As we scouted the bait sites in the morning, however, Guy insisted the spoor indicated a big tom was in the area, but for some reason was not climbing up the logs leaning on the bait trees where the trailcams were pointed. Frankly, I was a bit skeptical as photos don’t lie, but I was paying Guy for his knowledge and tried to absorb some of it.

We finally had a hit on one of the trailcams. It was a big male leopard with a torn ear. We nicknamed him Roger after Guy’s father, Roger Whittall who had famously been mauled by a lion losing part of an ear in the process. We sat on the bait that afternoon and heard impala snorting at something just at dusk. Unfortunately, that was about the time my throat decided it had enough of my sinuses draining and I could not restrain a loud cough. Guy whispered an expletive under his breath then suggested we pack up and let that bait site rest for a couple days. I was obviously disappointed. He reasoned that the big cat might return in a few days. It was a long and quiet ride back to camp.

The next night was the finals of the World Cup and Guy gave his tracker and scout a few hours off to travel to the local village where there was one TV.  He even gave them some money for a couple beers. They dropped us off at a blind and left in the Landcruiser. After a few hours Guy was expecting them to return. When they did not he tried to raise them on the radio with no response on any channel. Eventually, someone else heard the call on the radio and tracked them down. Apparently, there had been a bit of miscommunication and the tracker, Stanley was under the impression he was to return to pick us up at 8 am the following morning rather than 8 pm! I don’t think I have ever heard that many expletives over the radio! Stanley made a point to apologize to me for the misunderstanding, but there was no real damage done. It was just a bit eerie sitting in the dark with lions roaring, buffalo slogging around in the muddy water hole and the thought that a herd of elephants could show up any time!

The weather had been unusually cool and there had been brief rain showers, but on the next day it was more like west Michigan in November than Zimbabwe in July! I had brought along an insulated vest, but was wishing I had full jacket as the temperature dropped to 40 degrees F., a record low. Guy was sitting in our blind with a heavy comforter from the camp wrapped around him. To his credit he was still wearing the traditional PH shorts! Fortunately, Ledmore, the camp chef had packed us a thermos with hot coffee. We gave it a good effort, but the cold seemed to have slowed all the animal activity. At dinner that night in the open air dining area everyone was bundled up in layers!

The following day was relatively uneventful. We returned to check the bait where we had seen ‘Roger’ on the trailcam. There were no photos of the big male, but did have some great shots of a female and two leopard cubs. They had been at the bait all morning and departed just before we arrived. It was a reminder of what a wonderful place the Save Valley Conservancy has become. It was also a reminder that hunting can be sustainable with the proper management. In the area we were hunting a legal leopard is a three year old male and there is a fine for violations. The PHs go to great lengths to try to confirm a legal leopard before they suggest shooting.

The next morning at one of the bait sites we checked the trailcam and there had been a female at the bait. Guy was convinced, however, that a big leopard was avoiding the angled access log and climbing straight up the tree trunk to get at the bait while avoiding the trailcam. He reasoned that the big tom was just not comfortable climbing up the 4” piece of mopane leaning against the tree. He suggested we wire a second log next to the first to give the leopard a wider path. The tracker and scout set about that task as we looked for a suitable blind site. We selected a spot for the blind slightly above the bait site about 65 yards away. Guy reasoned that the leopard would like arrive via the ravine behind the bait tree and would circle in front of us before climbing the tree. Again, I was somewhat skeptical, but then I was not the one that could discern a leopard track among the myriad other animal tracks in the sandy soil! I told myself I should listen to my PH. We covered the blind with brush and spent several minutes making sure the two Y-shaped sticks we were using to support my rifle were set properly then headed back for lunch.

As evening approached, I futilely tried to catch a glimpse of the sunset through the small space that was not fully covered by brush. Just then we heard some baboons barking and the impala snorting. Guy whispered that there must be a cat nearby. As I sipped some water to try to avoid coughing my PH suddenly coughed! I gave him the best evil eye I could muster, then slapped his arm gently. Paybacks are a bitch! Apparently, the cough was muted enough that it was undetected as a leopard arrived about ten minutes later. Guy studied it through his binoculars and determined it was a female. I slumped back in my chair and listened to birds settling into their roosts. The spring of the branches at the bait tree and Guy’s sudden whisper woke me from the reverie.

After the crashing in the brush stopped, I reloaded my Kimber .325 WSM. We waited a few minutes listening for any sound, then Guy grabbed his .416 Rigby double and stepped out the back of the blind. By now it was getting dark and I reached into my pack for my headlamp. Guy spoke from just in front of the blind telling me to get out and come to see the leopard. In the few moments prior to pulling the trigger I didn’t really concern myself with the quality of the trophy. I trusted my PH to confirm it was a legal male and that was it. When I saw the leopard on the ground about 35 yards in front of the blind, even I could tell he was a big male. I noted that the 200 grain Accubond had passed through both lungs leaving a large exit. It was a quick kill.

We radioed Stanley and the game scout, Admire. They arrived a few minutes later and we had quite a celebration. After the obligatory and extensive photo shoot we loaded the leopard into the Landcruiser and returned to camp. Stanley and Admire were singing a traditional song all in the back of the truck the entire 45 minutes back to camp. As we arrived at camp everyone came out to greet us despite the late hour. There was more singing followed by a late meal, a celebratory drink and restful sleep.

I had a few more days left in the safari and spent the afternoons hunting francolin and guinea fowl with Guy. I was happy I had brought along my Beretta 20 gauge O/U! In the mornings I made Guy take me around for a photo safari. The Save Valley Conservancy hosts many animals, including the Big 5 and I was able to capture elephants, buffalo, crocodile, lots of plains game and even a big python with the camera!

We measured the leopard skull after it was boiled and it green scored 16 ¼”, or a full two inches above the SCI minimum. As of this writing I am awaiting CITES import permit and then will send him up to Legends Taxidermy for a custom mount. There are many great memories from my safaris. There are always interesting people, incredible fauna and beautiful flora to recollect. Most importantly in this most recent safari, however, there was a very useful lesson. I will be reminded of it every time I see that leopard perched on the log beam in our great room. That lesson is – listen to your Professional Hunter.