The animal
Genets look like cats and are not cats. They are viverrids, closer kin to the civet and the mongoose, and the giveaway is the body: low, long, short-legged, with a tail longer than the animal itself.
Two species are on the ground we hunt. The large-spotted genet has bolder, rustier blotches and a black-tipped tail. The small-spotted genet is greyer with finer spots, a crest along the spine, and a white-tipped tail. They overlap, they interbreed in captivity, and in the field at night under a lamp you will frequently not know which one you have until it is in your hands.
They climb extremely well, they are almost entirely nocturnal, and they are bolder around people than anything else in this group. A great many of the genets taken on safari were first seen on the lodge roof.
How the hunt runs
Mostly lamping, and mostly opportunistic.
Driving quietly at night with a spotlight is how most genet are taken. They are less suspicious of the light than caracal, they freeze rather than run, and the shot is usually presented clearly. Of the small predators, this is the one you are most likely to actually get.
The other route is simply camp. Genet come in after dark for scraps and rodents, and if one is working the camp regularly your professional hunter will know about it. Shooting around camp is a decision for him, not for you.
Calling works, but less well than it does for jackal and caracal.
Rifle and pelt damage
The rifle is chosen to protect the trophy.
A .22 Hornet, .222 or .223 with a light frangible bullet does very little exit damage. A shotgun with number 2 or BB shot is better than anything else on a moving animal inside thirty metres, which is most lamping shots.
Do not use your plains game rifle. A genet is a two-kilogram animal and a .30-06 through one leaves very little for the taxidermist to work with.
Practicalities
No quota on our South African ground and either no trophy fee or a nominal one. Tell us before the safari if you want one, so the right rifle is in the vehicle and the skinners are ready.
The tail is the mount. Handle the animal carefully, get it to salt quickly, and say before the shot if you want a full mount rather than a flat skin.
Import rules differ by country and some genets are CITES-listed. Check your own position before booking. See our firearms and CITES notice.
