Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Optic advise needed

What optic do you use for a leopard hunt?

Thanks,
Mark

My first one was with a 6x42 Leupold. Not the best choice in retrospect.
Next few were 1.5-6x42 Swaro with 4A reticles.
This year I used a 1.5-6x42 Swaro with an illuminated 4A reticle.

I'm a big fan of European glass, heavy, first focal plane, and now illuminated reticles

It's not the leopard that is the issue, remember you will be shooting bait as well.

I used a 300 Win with a Z6 2.5-15 x 44 for my leopard. Took some (atypical for Africa) long shots: zebra at 340 y, sable at 308 y, blesbock at 220 y, etc...… I just cranked it down to 6x for the leopard.

For my lion I brought along a 375 H&H with a Z6i 1-6 x 24 with the DG illuminated reticle which I used for buff, eland and giraffe. I also took the above 300 for PG. But I still used the 300 Win to shoot the lion, go figure......

Will you be shooting under the lights? I too highly recommend the illuminated reticles, which though not needed at night still help.

Good luck.

This.

Illuminated reticle 1.5-6X.

Just takes off that second of extra time with faster target acquisition. A very dim dot is all that is needed. Put in some time in the dark at home. MarkR, which country are you looking at? Will night hunting be allowed? That is the other question.

My old eyes need all the help they can get, a dot sure will speed things up over crosshairs.
I'm going to get a Illuminated reticle for sure, thinking about it for Leopard hunt in Zimbabwe and Hog hunting here in Oklahoma, we can hunt hogs at night here.

For my first two leopard hunts, the rifle was a Dakota 76 African in .416 Rigby with a Swaro 1.5-6x42 employing an illuminated circle dot reticle. Through no fault of the equipment, I never got a shot!

Third leopard hunt, the rifle was a Stuart Satterlee built .338 Win with a Swaro 1.7-10 Z6i employing an illuminated circle dot reticle. Turns out 3rd time was the charm and the animal dropped at the shot and never even twitched.

I'm a big believer in Swaro scopes with their illuminated circle dot reticle. Leopard hunts are expensive and the price difference between a really good scope and a lesser scope is negligible in the grand scheme of things. You won't need a lot of magnification, but optical clarity and an easily visible reticle in what may be poor light conditions is critical.

If I were to do another leopard hunt, I'd likely choose an accurate .30/06 or .300 Win loaded with 180 grain Nosler Partitions and a Swaro Z6i as described above over anything else I have no experience with the Z8i, so I can't comment on it.

I found the circle dot reticle was too busy for me. I switched mine to a crosshair dot. Like KMG said, just a small illuminated dot is all you need and it even helps on buffalo in the shade.

I have an illuminated Schmidt & Bender 2.5-10x56 that I'm going to list for a friend. It has an L9 reticle, with ILL circle and center crosshairs.

Never been, but if I was going, I'd take this one, .375 H&H with Zeiss Victory 1.5-6x42.

DF

This certainly would work well. With the large objective and good glass the illuminated recticle would only be needed on a dark night. Schmidt & Bender has I believe one of the highest ratings for low light resolution. Trijicon is a less expensive option with good reviews.

I have used the Leica 2.5-10 ERi for my first 2 DG and plains game safari's. All animals where hunted in good light and didn't use the dot. Hoping to find a 3-12 of the same variety for a Leopard hunt but wouldn't be afraid to use the 2.5-10. One word of caution, make sure to pack extra batteries in your carry-on, my battery was ruined on the way over last September even though I replaced it and checked before leaving home. Whatever brand you use the lighted dot is a great addition for faster target acquisition in low light.

What is your budget (if any?. I have a Leupold 3.5X10X50 with a German #4 ill reticle, recommended to me by Don Heath. If money's no object, that 1.5X6X42 Swaro w the Ill reticle is the ticket.

I used a 4.5 X 14 Illuminated reticle. I would highly recommend it.

That would be an excellent choice for low light hunting. Hard to beat a S&B in low light in my experience, definately what I’d choose.

I have only shot one leopard, on a hunt with Simon Leach of Traditional Mozambique Safaris. I used my .300 Weatherby Vanguard wearing a Leopold 4.5-14x40 with their B&C reticle and a 168 grain TTSX bullet. We had built the blind 50 yards from the bait, and when my PH shined his green flashlight on the leopard, I had absolutely no trouble putting the crosshairs on a spot in the center of his shoulder.