The Battle of the Gwayi

ONE MID-AFTERNOON DURING June 1992, PH Mike Bunce and his American client crept quietly into a leopard blind in the dense, tangled, riverine growth that borders Zimbabwe’s Gwayi river. At sunset, a huge male leopard suddenly, and unannounced, sprang up onto the bait branch. Mike, seated next to the client, quietly nudged him and then waited for the shot. All a client needs do once he receives the signal from the PH, is lean forward slightly in his chair and pull the rifle into his shoulder.

Despite the fading light, seen through a 4x scope, and standing broadside on, the leopard offered a perfect heart shot. The client’s .30-06 expanding bullet bored into the leopard, which immediately and with a loud roar, tumbled from the branch.

It’s been said in PH circles that a dead leopard hitting the