hunt of a lifetime
October 2023 | Anonymous
Hunting is crucial to the maintenance of this Wilderness. Strict quotas are maintained and beneficial to the wildlife conservation. Only about 0.5 % of the animal population gets allocated to hunting and this is the only form of income they must maintain anti-poaching. Once you remove strictly controlled hunting in the Niassa you will only have uncontrolled poaching left.
In 2020 we all faced a horrible ordeal across the world, COVID. A year no one will easily forget, from lockdowns to border closures. Many of us suffered mentally in some way. During this time, the need for me to be outdoors became clearer.
During the South African lockdown, Jumbo Moore from Chapunga Kambako Safaris and I discussed a pipe dream of doing proper wilderness hunts in untouched nature. We discussed the plan and decided on North of Mozambique as soon as the boarders open. After many months I could eventually travel again, the excitement was unreal. Off I went from Port Elizabeth, Johannesburg to Pemba, right on top of Mozambique.
On our way to the lodge, staring through the small aircraft window I saw masses of undeveloped land, I was amazed. There was nothing! You only see these beautiful forest trees that are different to lower Southern Africa and neighboring countries. This view had me excited and I was ready for this big hunting adventure.
We eventually got to our lodge after hours of travel and received a warm welcome from the staff that had not seen any people for two years due to COVID. I was ready to call it a night, but Jumbo had other plans, he wanted to hunt for bait and who am I to argue and off we went. I harvested a bush pig and called it a night.
Early morning around 4am on the first day of hunting we head to the riverbed at Salty Spring to search for a leopard tree, you learn quite quickly what a nice leopard tree looks like. We hung the bush pig and off we went.
On day two we head back to the leopard tree and saw the bushpig untouched, we obviously extremely disappointed. In that moment we decided to harvest two Johnson's Impala rams, which we divided and put out another two baits and called it another night. We returned to the leopard tree daily to check on the bait, eventually on the third day we saw a hit on the camera. Now our work began, we built a hide and started hunting for more bait. At this stage of the game, you are exhausted, walking, and building in the heat was no joke. November month has the most excruciating heat in Mozambique.
This trip is so much more demanding than what I expected or imagined, the resilience and patience is next level. Who would have thought sitting in silence could be this stressful. You are tested mentally and physically, sometimes you are not sure if you are dreaming or awake.
On the fourth day we were off to Salty Spring once again, keep in mind that it is about 6 hours a day of driving there and back. We followed the same strategy as the previous days, we sat in silence but still no action. It is getting darker and the small hole in the hide for the rifle to fit through brings a sudden eary breathing sound to my attention. It was extremely quiet; I only heard my heartbeat and the breathing getting super loud and close. The breathing and sniffing are now literally 2 to 3 meters away from me. My heart got cold, my adrenaline was on another level and my nerves were shot. The deep breathing turns into, and agitated growl and I am sure my heart stopped in this moment, it felt like this creature is in the little grass hiding with me. Finger on the trigger ready for what is about to come through this thin layer of grass, my adrenaline is at peak. It is a big Niassa Male Lion! He has detected us and is in no way scared of us.
We keep dead quiet, but the growling gets more intense and becomes a roar. This sounds right in front of you without the comfort of a fence or a car, like most people see lions in their lives is extremely unnerving. It was clear that he wanted to get into the hide, he was not just passing by. Fingers on the trigger, we switched on the light and shouted at it to go away. After several attempts to communicate by radio with the land cruiser staff we had no luck, our nerves were shot! Luckily, the staff heard some activity on the radio and assumed we were trying to reach them. We waited about 15 minutes before seeing the land cruiser’s lights, what a relief! The lion left the vicinity.
We exited the hide in caution, my heart still raising, we saw his tracks against our hide, only one meter away from where I was sitting. Minutes felt like hours, trying to explain this is an unreal feeling. We realised that the leopard did not return because of the lion’s presence. We decided to hunt more bait before we went to camp.
Early the next morning we headed out for a hippo hunt while waiting on camera action. We crossed the river a few times with caution where we could see hundreds of hippos and crocodiles. After seeing the hippos and listening to their sounds we realised we need to get out of this area as it becomes extremely dangerous once night strikes. I decided strategically with the guidance of the PH to harvest my first hippo. After evaluating the situation, the moment was there, I pulled the trigger, and the hippo was gone.
My goodness the uncertainty kills me. The PH assured me it was a kill shot. We left the vicinity before it became too dark, but it was too late. We had another close encounter, this time with the hippo cow and her calf. This is just as intense if not more than the lion. She freezes and stares at us ten meters away with her calf behind her. We cannot go left or right. The PH and I just froze, we did not dare to move as she was watching us. We moved away slowly and eventually found a path out.
The next morning at sunrise we went back to find my hippo. As we got closer to the river, I spotted the hippo pushed against the rocks. This time we had all the staff from the lodge with us for the recovery – from the chef to the gardener. It took ten men to roll the hippo out onto the land where it will be cut up and carried out.
After all this excitement we headed back for the leopard hunt and prepared fresh leopard tracks at the riverbed. Just before sunset we decided to walk down to the river where the hippo carcass is, and we saw a massive number of crocodiles feasting.
I saw a massive opportunity to hunt my first crocodile and that is exactly what I did. A 12-foot crocodile, how crazy is that. This adventure turned out to be the first of many. We went to check on our bait at the riverbed, this time it had a nice hit, but we did not have a camera up this time, the only evidence we had was a big paw print. Same process again, we built a hide thirty meters away from the bait, we waited and waited but nothing. After hours we decided to stop for the day and headed back to camp.
The next morning, we saw the entire Impala was gone, fresh meat laying around, it looked like we missed it within seconds. We got ready once again and hung another fresh Impala in its place.
On the seventh day we still had no leopard, the young PH and I sat in silence and waited. We sat for about 3 hours, and it was about 6.30 pm when suddenly I heard this noise from the tree. I looked up with my heart racing but there was nothing. I could not understand watching with disbelief for another half an hour before I dared to look away again.
We knew there was a leopard right there in front of us, about thirty meters away and it just disappeared. I do not want to breathe at this stage, trying to be as quiet as possible. An hour later we hear movement again, but we are about to stop for the day. I looked at the tree and once again I saw nothing. The sun was going down and it started to get darker and darker. Suddenly from the far end of this big tree branch the leopard appears opposite from where we expect and have been looking. I have been dreaming about this moment and have been working extremely hard so far to get to this point. In this moment of seeing this beautiful animal in hardly daylight left me speechless. The PH confirmed it is a mature male. I did not want to shoot a female it is not allowed by nature conservation. The moment is massive, I have been shooting and hunting my entire life, I hunted a lion in the Kalahari, but the leopard has always been my ultimate dream hunt, my bucket list adventure.
I go in and placed my cross exactly where it should be, and I pulled the trigger. In a split second I see the leopard jump to the ground and it is gone. I shouted “. Did I get it, did I get it” but the PH was not sure and had concerns that the leopard is injured as it jumped out of the tree.
Reality kicks in and I am overwhelmed and laughing non-stop. One can say I had leopard fever. We gathered the guts to go look for this potentially wounded leopard which is one of the most dangerous things a person can do at this stage as it is dark, and we are only two people. I had a headlamp with me and the PH a torch. We radio the cruiser to come and off we go to look for the leopard.
As I walked a wide half-moon angle towards the tree, I suddenly saw two eyes looking at me, approximately forty meters away. My heart goes ice cold, they are moving through the trees but locked on me. These eyes came closer and closer, and my heart felt like it just stopped. I had my finger on the trigger and the light in my hand. I did not want to lift the rifle towards my eye in the fear that it would take too long to aim when this animal charged towards me. I am dead locked in a survival grip ready to file on the charge. but this beast is clever and moves between the trees. The leopard was not injured after all. We realised that is a horrible position to shoot from in the dark, we are in the open and alone .so once again, as with the hippo we move super slowly backwards but that did not help, it got closer very quickly, but it is not attacking. I was confused, scared, and excited, so many emotions. As I was standing directly under the tree, I shot the leopard, but my one eye catches a glimpse of something while not losing my focus on the leopard that is focused on me.
Directly below the tree where the leopard jumped to right, there it lies Dead on the spot. Now my brain short circuits. I could not understand what leopard is coming closer and closer while we are shining lights at it I finally I hear the cruiser with PH Bryan and the trackers. I can hear them walking and talking. I shout at them to be ready Bryan shows up and sees the leopard next to me and does not understand what I am saying. Not looking away once I said “look! He got a heck of a surprise and ready’s up for the charge.
The celebrations started, back at the camp the staff did traditional dances and sang the night away. This celebration is done to acknowledge victory over the man eater. I am not sorry that I killed the leopard, I will admire it for the rest of my life once I receive it back from Wild Clone Taxidermy.
To be honest, I would not shoot one again. I will look at them and admire their beauty for the rest of my life. I have so much love and respect for them.