Zimbabwe Safari Part Two

Lions and Leopard - Upclose and Personal

by David Johnson

After delivering my Impala Buck to the skinning shed, it was time to scout out the pan, just beyond where we had setup our Hyena baits. This large flat area of elephant grass and scrub trees was known to hold good Sable. Darren had seen good Sable in this area before. It was about a 10 miles across some local flatlands, a bit of rolling hills and then down to the pan’s main trail. This would be an easier ride than the cross country trek we took the prior day where we were crossing streams, climbing hills and blazing trails. Following the main trail to camp we circled around the back side of the field and exiting the safari truck. The team composed of Darren the PH, our two trackers, the government game scout and myself started to peel off our cold weather layer that insulated us against the cold winter morning. Thirty five degrees is not uncommon during the African winter, but warming up into the 70’s by mid day is just as common. With our vehicle covered in outerwear, the team headed down a well worn game trail that paralleled the grass. This gave us a reasonable opportunity to see anything working the edges. The grasslands can be both safe and extremely dangerous for game. It offers the safety of the cover, but doesn’t prevent game from walking into a deadly close encounter with a predator as we would soon experience.

Working the edges of the grassland requires quiet stalking, an eye for movement and the ability to stay low and out of sight. About a city block into our stalk we spotted the black rump of a mature Sable bull. As luck would have it, the business end of the Sable was totally obscured by a rather thick clump of brush. The inability for us to see his horns left us wondering just what we had. After a few brief minutes, the Sable turned to look back. I can only presume he heard us talking. I’m not sure who was more anxious, us or him. Once our eyes met, we both reacted. He ducked into the grass which was twice as tall as he was, while I tried to pull up the rifle to make a shot. He was faster. That left Darren and I looking at each other with wide eyes and eager grins. Darren motioned for the team to follow him at a brisk trot. Down the trail we went while still paralleling the grassland. Circling in about a 500 yards down, Darren instructed one of our trackers to climb a tree and see if he could identify which way the Sable went. His dark black coat should stand out nicely against the dull yellow of the grass. The dexterity of our tracker was amazing. Up the tree, limb to limb bending slightly under his thinly weighted frame he reached a vantage point. Pointing is hand he looked down at us and motioned the direction of the sable. In only minutes we were headed into the grass on an interception route. It can’t be this easy I thought, as I pushed back the ten foot poles of grass just bending enough to let me pass. I wondered what the heck I would do if we came face to face with this 500 pound Sable in this tall grass. I could barely make out the guy ahead of me let alone a fast moving Sable. I’m sure I’ll need to think of something if it happens I said to myself. After crossing the field, it was obvious our prey was no dummy. He circled back the way he came, mixed is tracks with those of other animals, headed across the trail we cut and disappeared into the thick tangled bush beyond the grassland. To the credit of our trackers, we were able to follow him for a few miles. He had us at a disadvantage since he knew where he was going and we didn’t, all we could do was follow. With no way to catch him at his pace, so we stopped and decided to back off. Tomorrow or the next day we can check this area again. I was told that Sable bulls are rather territorial. They can be found either with their herd or patrolling their area looking for other bull intruders to run off. Since we knew where the herd was, we could start to pattern this big guy.

Since Sable don’t stick to the roads when being pursued, we now found ourselves deep in the bush with only our trackers to find our way back. These guys really know this region well so off we go up and down hills, across pan’s, through thick brush across streams and more. Along the way we bumped Kudu, Impala and other wildlife. Reaching the top of the next rise, we find ourselves facing a large brush and tree covered knoll. To all our surprise, thirty yards in front of us lying in the grass two 5 year old 400 pound male lions stand up to greet us. Everyone took a deep breath and readied for the next move. Rifles up and ready for action Darren and I waited to see what these two would do. To our amazement, they just looked back at us seemingly uninterested. After what seemed like 10 minutes, the left one laid back down while the other turned around and disappeared into the thick brush. I felt better when I could keep an eye on both of them. So I suggested we turn and continue to move parallel to the visible lion and headed about 75 yards further up the trail. Turning to see if we were being followed, I was shocked to see the missing lion appear from the bush and now standing in my boot prints exactly where we just were. He looked up the trail in our direction but never did follow us. At least that’s what I kept telling myself as we put as much distance between them and us as we could. Just when I thought it couldn’t get more exciting, we entered an area of very dense grassland, moving single file to minimize the effort of breaking our own trail. Unexpectedly we heard the bounding sounds of a small antelope reacting to our presence. Rising from its bed and keeping a safe distance from us this antelope suddenly stopped and began to scream and trash about in the brush. A sickening crushing sound put an end to the duikers cries. All went still. No movement other than the telltale tops of the grass which exposed the direction of the slightest of breeze. The thought of those two lions shadowing us from our last encounter crossed my mind. In this thick grass we wouldn’t stand a chance. Reacting to the moment, Darren and I rushed the spot to see what we were dealing with. Not the smartest thing we could have done, now that I’m back in my office writing this. As we spread the shafts of elephant grass we startled a large female leopard. Staring at us with the duiker antelope hanging from her jaws, obviously mortally wounded with its throat and spine crushed. She dropped the duiker, jumped back and dashed into the grass behind her all in a split second. I’m certain that the only reason we got away with this move was due to the fact that it was broad daylight. If it were night time, I’m sure the result of surprising this leopard would have been quite different and not to our liking. The duiker was still alive but mortally wounded, so with a single movement of our hunting knife we ended it’s suffering, laid it down and backed out. This would allow the leopard to reclaim her meal while taking her attention off of us. I’m sure she didn’t go far and was contemplating her next move. We didn’t stick around to see what that was going to be. We pushed on through the final section of grasslands, up the hill and located our vehicle.

As we loaded ourselves into the truck with no Sable, sore feet, sweaty clothes and a bit wore out, all I could think, is how lucky we were to be in one piece. Let me say this… Coming back empty handed, is totally acceptable when you can return at the end of the day with memories to last a lifetime. And this was one of those days.

Little did I know what Africa had in store for us over the Next few days.. This trip only got better and better. You know, for me it’s easy to sleep when I’m tired both physically and emotionally, but when you figure in the anticipation of the unknown this is what makes even tired hunters like me toss and turn.

Stay tuned for Part Three… Sable, another chance meeting!