I agree with Castnblast that the scope is more important than the rifle calibre. In five trips to Namibia I’ve never hunted Leopard due to lack of funds for the trophy fees, but I’ve hunted Spotted Hyenas, which is a quite similar hunt: close range bait, elevated blind, low light scenario. The only major difference is determining the gender of the quarry- either sex is good with the Spotted Hyena, while it’s males only with Leopards. My Winchester Model 70 in .300 WSM was plenty of gun, but my Leupold Vari-V III in 3.5X10X40 was totally inadequate in very low light/ no light scenarios. I simply couldn’t see the crosshairs. I ended up using the PH’s Rifle and scope combo.
