How Jumpy are they?

[shortstroke 91]

Compaired to a Texas whitetail how do the animals in Africa compare? When sitting over a feeder or waterhole here in TX I normally aim @ the bottom belly line of a deer and have had them drop far enough to spine them anywhere from 10 to 20 yards. I would think animals that are hunted daily (by man and beast) would be extra spooky.

[jonsimoneau]

It depends on the species...and as you know there is a wide variety over there.  The big animals don't move much.  Kudu, Eland, Wildebeast, Zebra, Waterbuck..etc, with the exception of kudu cows. Most are not going to move much at your shot.  The smaller animals are a whole new game, with the worst being impala in my opinion.  But don't get too caught up in it.  Compound guys have more of a problem with it than guys shooting recurves and longbows.  I had a guide on my first trip over there that swore up and down that Impala are so jumpy...that I needed to aim at the first joint on the front leg (from the hoof up) and that the animal would drop right into it.  Well, I had a beautiful ram at 20 yards.  I aimed at that first joint..and guess where I hit him?  Right where I was aiming?  The reason is that most of the time..you will be hunting out of an enclosed pit blind. Sound does not travel very well out of them.  You have probably noticed this if you have seen videos of people talking to each other with game animals under 20 yards away that are oblivious.   Since then, what has worked for me on the smaller species is this.  First of all...no matter how tempting...do not shoot until they are actually drinking.  They are nervous as hell approaching the water...but once they begin to drink they calm down alot.  On the smaller animals...I aim straight up the front leg, and less than a third of the way up the body.  Think heart shot.  This has served me well on impala, bushbuck, and even a mountain reedbuck.  On the big stuff, that I previously mentioned...aim where you want to hit them.  The big ones pretty much just stand there and take it. DO NOT underestimate the ability of a warthog to jump the string.  I have video footage of 5 warthogs I shot over there, and every single one of them moved when the bow went off, whether they were drinking or not.  If they are drinking, they won't move too much, but they will move.  This for sure is another animal that you should wait till they are drinking before you shoot.  As a side note about the waiting till they were drinking thing...last September, I had a nice impala ram come in alone.  It was a wet year, and while he came in near the water he did not act like he was really interested in drinking.  He was only 15 yards so I aimed at the bottom of his belly line and he dropped right into the arrow and got it in both lungs.  In this case...I simply did not feel confident that he would drink, but due to the short range, I did feel confident in the shot.

[BTH]

Jon covered it. And like I said in your other post...Impala are very jumpy...about the same as a Texas deer. Warthogs act like mexican jumping beans and are easily way more jumpy than the Texas Whitetails I hunted at Solana Ranch a few years back.
And...the vitals are more forward than our animals. I made what I thought was a great, killer 12 yard shot on a broadside Impala and it turned out to be a front of the guts shot. Impalas have a great target line on them with the change in hair color horizontally. Up the front leg to just below that line puts you in the V and will get you heart and lungs everytime. If they seem jumpy hold low like on whitetails. Wait till they are drinking and release.
I never got off a shot at the warthogs. Damn things wouldn't hold still long enough to be comfortable with taking the shot. My advice there is to shoot at them. Just fire away. They can't be that expensive there...I think they were $200 a piece when I hunted Vissers and they even put me at 2 for 1 blind one day! I should have just started shooting and gotten used to shooting them instead of waiting for perfect shots all the time.

Oh yeah, save up lots of extra money. Seven days will pass fast and you will want to shoot more than the animals allotted on the hunt.

And find out what the trackers like for tips...mine liked american cigarettes. I bought a carton at the duty free and gave him a pack a day every morning. He really appreciated that.

[TxAg]

x3 on the impala and warthog. They're quick!

[CB]

i never got a shot at a warthog either because the mature ones would not hold still, came in downwind, or approached the water head first and then scooted off.

[briandean]

I think it's more the number of predators that make the animals more jumpy here. Also, I would recommend hunting at a bowhunting only farm as animals at farms where riflehunters are allowed, are much more skittish.
Yes, the vitals are more forward. Every hunter needs to do his/her homework before shooting an animal. It's just wrong to gut-shoot an animal out of ingnorance.  The Giraffe has a very interesting vitals location - because of the long neck. Also the Crocodile.
Rule of thumb for MOST - aim one third up the torso - directly above the opposite front leg. This allows for quartering.
Here's great resource for shot placement on African animals:  http://www.africahunting.com/section/hunting-bowhunting-17/
Finally - there may be some guys who allow it, but bowhunting headshots are really considered unethical.

[J-dog]

Dont even try an impala that doesn't have his head stuck in a waterhole. Or if you do aim at the dirt beneath his hooves - wish my guide would have explained this BEFORE the first sit   :rolleyes:  

J

[Joseph]

I got 3 shots at Impala when I was at Vissers in 2005.  I held low on the first 2 because that is what I had been told and watched both of them stand like a statue (captured on video) while my arrows passed just under their sternums    :confused:   It was enough to make a guy cry, especially the second one because it was a Black Faced Impala    :mad:   I was so fed up with Impala at that point that when the next one showed up 15 minutes later I forgot all about shooting low and just picked a spot and shot at it like it was a Muledeer and Bingo!!       Less than a 100 yard recovery.  The only thing I can think is that for 12 of my 14 days hunting I was the only person at the main camp because SAA went on strike that year and I had the place all to myself.  The Impala certainly didn't act like they were suppose to for me.  Good luck on your trip.  Joseph