He's been to the frozen expanses of Alaska, to the slopes of the Rocky Mountains and to the prairies of Canada in search of prey.

For Butler native Don Wolfe, the more exotic the locale, the better.

That's why the 66-year-old hunter, who boasts of bagging 21 different kinds of animals with his various firearms, went to Zimbabwe on his latest excursion earlier this month.

"I have wanted to go to Africa for a long time," Wolfe said. "I figured why not do it while I can still move around well."

Wolfe was there for 21 days and had a very successful trip.

He was able to take down a Cape buffalo - an animal that weighs almost a ton and has a nasty disposition to boot - and a leopard, which Wolfe said is one of the toughest animals to bag.

"There are people who go on two or three trips to try to get one and have no success," Wolfe said. "I was lucky to get one."

And it was a big one, estimated to be the third biggest leopard taken in Zimbabwe this year and one of the top 20 in Africa.

It took a little bit of patience for Wolfe to get his Cape buffalo.

He started at 7 a.m. as the hunting outfit he was with for the trip tracked the animal. It wasn't until 10:15 a.m. that they finally caught up with it.

Hunters have to be careful when tracking a Cape buffalo because of their testy nature.

"Cape buffalo kill more hunters than any other animal every year," Wolfe said. "They will chase your vehicle and put you down. They will charge at you and take you out."

Wolfe bagged the buffalo quickly, though. He even had time on his trip to go sightseeing.

The trip cost him between $6,000 and $8,000, he said.

But it was well worth it.

"It sometimes costs you that much to go out west and hunt," Wolfe said.

Now Wolfe can add the leopard and the Cape buffalo to his growing list of trophies in a room in his home.

In a few months, he will receive the heads of his latest conquests.

He's already taken animals like sheep, Rocky Mountain goat, moose, caribou, black and brown bear, mountain lion, elk, mule deer, antelope, kudu - a large, antelope-like African animal - water buck and a zebra, to name just some of his eclectic prizes.

"It takes skill and determination," Wolfe said. "It takes some physical endurance, too, because sometimes you have to climb a mountain to get what you want."

Wolfe is not done going to exotic locales yet. He plans to go to South Africa next year.

"South Africa is a little more civilized," said Wolfe, who also noted when he camped during his trip to Africa that he often had his own, personal bathroom facilities in his thatch-roofed hut.

"It's a little different than the hunting around here, where you go out to a stand and wait for the deer to come to you. There, they don't come to you. You have to go to them and that's exciting," he added.