Bass family - Matetsi 2011

Myself and Hans Vermaak had the pleasure of having Christy Bass and her 2 sons, Will and Brian, join us in our Matetsi concession this June for 14 Days of Leopard, Buffalo and Sable hunting.

Hanging baits were the order of the first few days in Matetsi and as a team we hung, checked baits and built blinds collectively over the 14 days. The leopard action started on the 5th day and Brian and I sat that first afternoon waiting in patience hoping we would get real lucky but alas no cat came into the tree !

The next morning saw Hans take over and sit with Brian as he had been the previous day in Vic Falls with Christy. The team worked that Bait over the next 5 days every morning and afternoon but the Cat just never came during Daylight hours. A day after that first Hit, Will and myself were fortunate and had another bait hit which we also sat on for 4 days but Mr spots did not reveal himself during hunting hours. During our attempts in the blinds we were also traversing the wonderful hills and valleys of the Matetsi in search of plainsgame and Buffalo. On the second day Will took a lovely old Dagga Boy with a single well placed shot from the .375 H&H.

Another key specie on the list was the majestic Sable and Will's patience paid off with a splendid Sable going down to the .300 win mag mid-safari. Christy hunting with me was able to finally put to bed her Nemesis, The Kudu, and this was done with a single shot at 190 yards! A monster bull with impressive width and depth!

Back to the leopards saw us frantically working the last few days hanging more baits and building blinds. The second to last afternoon we had 2 hits, both checked by the other team, we decided to sit that evening. Brian, Scruff and Eleckson chose to sit at the "Lucky" tree (a tree out of which 2 leopards were shot last year) and we were sent to sit at "impala" bait.

Nothing revealed itself that evening but the next morning the other team were able to get a shot into a Tom which came into the Tree at 6.30am. Unfortunately after a few hours tracking the Cat they were unable to locate it and the search was called off! Oh so close and my thoughts go out to Brian who worked so hard for that Leopard! Next year though we shall try again in the Timbavati where Brian will take a leopard and Will a Lion.