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Our 2008 Video Contest is Now Underway
 Well, our 2007 Video Contest came to a close recently and after sifting through the many quality video entries Dave Hebeisen's Leopard Hunt was deemed the winner. While each of the hunts we watched turned out great, Dave's seemed to stand out above the rest with the intensity of the harvest and the up-close and personal action.
Being the winner of our Video Contest, Dave will enjoy a New Mexico Antelope hunt this fall courtesy of Christensen Outdoors. If you haven't had a chance to watch the exciting conclusion to Dave's hunt, click on the following link to check it out! (Leopard Attacks Hunters)
We asked Dave to recount the events of that exciting day and here is what he had to say, in his own words:
 On arrival in Namibia, my outfitter picked me up and we set out on the
five hour journey towards the property where we were to hunt. During
the trip he had an opportunity to explain a few things. We would be
hunting on a property that was having a problem with a leopard killing
livestock. He mentioned we would be spending our days placing baits,
and driving around the farm roads, dragging a tractor tire, to sweep
the dirt. By doing so, at night we could come out and drive around
those same swept roads, looking for fresh tracks.
If we found new tracks and they were from a large Tom, we had something to go after. They had determined that only a large cat could kill the bigger livestock the farmers were finding dead so we were going to avoid pursuing tracks that were smaller.
 On the seventh day of my ten day hunt at about 6:00am, the houndsman radioed us to get out there, as the hounds were on a good track. Now, the original plan was for the dogs to bring the leopard to bay in a tree or rock pile. Problem was, there were no trees or rock piles in the area the cat had been found.
As we made our approach we could hear the dogs barking and the cat snarling. It had bayed up in a brush pile and was fighting off the dogs. The houndsman motioned me to join him as soon as he had a visual on the cat. But Peter, my guide, immediately said, "No". At the sound of his voice, the cat turned his head and made a charge toward him. By this time I was midway between him and the houndsman.
Being about 20 feet away, Peter fired, hitting the cat in the toes of the left front foot (we sorted this all out when everything was over). At virtually the same time I shot as well hitting the cat in the hip. The impact caused him to spin so he was now looking at me. As he came toward me both Peter and I fired again and both missed. By this time Peter was helpless with me being in his direct line of fire.
With the camera girl (shown at right) amazingly keeping the camera pointed toward the charging leopard, I'm backing up as fast as possible. Just as the leopard is closing in I get off my last shot. I don't remember cycling the action nor do I recall the recoil so I'm pretty sure the good Lord was doing the shooting. After the camera was turned off, someone asked what I wanted to do now that the leopard was down.
My only reply, "...change my shorts".
One person has commented on this article. 1. Congratulations
Hillacious, Super Administrator Congratulations! Sounds like escaping with your limbs intact was reward enough without the free hunt from Christensen Arms. Hopefully those antelope go easy on you! |
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Hillacious
