Frank J. Zitz And Company Museum Quality Taxidermy

Zimbabwe Expedition 2006

I just returned from my 6th trip hunting with PH Wayne Grant and two friends Felix Gardina and Al Gratrix in the Matopas Mountains in Zimbabwe. I always feel at home there. We hunted earlier than usual. They’ve had a tremendous amount of rain this year so consequently the bush was very thick and it was much more difficult to spot game. The other problem is there are puddles of water all through the mountains so the game was not concentrated. During the fall when it’s normally drought conditions with not much vegetation the game migrates toward the river valleys. Felix Gardina and Al Gratrix both hunted plains game. Felix shot an Impala and Wildebeest. Felix will be returning with me to shoot his Kudu and some other game next spring. Al was fortunate to get an Impala, Zebra, Bush pig, Warthog, Kudu and a mixed bag of birds. I hunted very hard and we spike camped out in the bush. That’s the way I like it most. The PH tracker vehicle is a simple mobile camp. We tracked four male and three female Leopards and covered a tremendous amount of territory. Hunting those big old leopards is always tricky. They have huge territories. Some have been educated. Some leopards will just pass through and were pushed out of another territory by another leopard. That’s what keeps it interesting. You never know. I did however, get a large female with exceptional mountain phase spotting “thick black connecting spots and a golden coat”, a nice Hyena, Jackals, and two Puff Adders. I did not hunt any plains game on this trip. There is no place that compares to Africa. Some very exciting news; you have all seen for years how many hunts I have done with Wayne Grant. I’ve shot 5 Leopards, 2 Lions, 5 Cape Buffalo and lots of other game collecting for the Cabela’s stores. Wayne is not just my friend, but one of the finest professional hunters, especially cat hunters in Africa. Wayne has killed over 150 leopards during his career. I’m not sure of the exact number. The first leopard I killed with him was # 138. Wayne is close to completing his book based on his experiences leopard hunting. I read the drafts during the middle of the day when we were resting and the stories were riveting, factual accounts of hunts with clients. It was very detailed and informative with excellent writing. Anyway, Wayne expects to have this book ready for SCI in January 2007. If you ever plan on going on a leopard hunt or are interested in stories of hunting in Africa you will want to have this book in your collection.

Best regards,
Frank