Not prepared for Impala

[jonsimoneau]

Hey guys, I just got back from hunting in Africa.  One animal I was not prepared for was the impala.  I knew they were prone to jump the string, but I was amazed at how much they could actually jump!  I shot at one at less than 15 yards.  At the shot, he dropped alot, and I hit him in the shoulder, only getting about an inch or two of penetration.  Later in the week, I was in the blind with my PH.  A nice impala came in an began to drink.  I told my PH I was going to aim for the heart.  He told me that if I am for the heart, I will still end up hitting it in the shoulder when it jumps the string.  He told me to actually aim at the leg, about two inches down.  I was concerned that if the animal did not drop at the shot, that I would hit it in the leg.  He told me..."don't worry, it WILL drop at the shot.  Aim AT the front leg two inches down."  It was hard to do so, but I picked a spot on the front leg like he told me, even though I felt odd doing so. I shot.  It looked funny.  We rewound the video tape, and guess what?  The impala did not move a muscle until the arrow hit it square in the front leg, where I was aiming!  The PH did the best he could with his advice to me, but it did not turn out well.  My advice to any first timer to Africa shooting traditional gear is to aim for the heart on impala.  That way if he jumps you will probably  hit lungs, and if he does not jump you will hit the heart.  This is what I wanted to do, but thought I better listen to my PH. Damn.  Impala are JUMPY!  Good luck.

[Joseph]

When I was there last summer the first 2 Impala I shot at just stood there while the arrows passed just under their brisket!  Neither one dropped at all so on the 3rd one I shot at it like I would anything in this country and shellacked it!  Double lung 60 yard trail. On the first 2 I had been purposely shooting at a spot just under the brisket which is what everyone I spoke with told me to do including the PH's.  I think a lot of it has to do with how loud your bow is.  Mine is very quiet and I don't think it alarmed them like some bows do.  What I found was hard wired and paranoid like a crank addict was Nyala.  I am still amazed to this day when I watch the video of my first shot at one.  He had enough time to turn himself inside out and then right side out again before the arrow got there and dropped a foot in the process.  I am just thankful that the lord looks after fools and drunks and I got a second chance at him a week later.  It still turned out that a quartering away shot turned into a quartering towards shot by the time the arrow covered 12 yards!  Africa is a fun place.  Joseph

[tradtusker]

impala, duiker, steenbuck are all very jumpy! i think a quite bow helps a lot as Joseph said, however sometimes even that does'nt stop them.

[cch]

I have to agree with aiming at the heart. The first one I aimed at I let him settle into drinking and aimed where the ten ring would be on a 3-D target. At the shot he dropped and started to twist and I hit him high and couldn't find him. All of my other animals I aimed for the heart and hit two there and one right over and one right behind.

[paleFace]

i think the heart is the place as well for the traditional hunter. after looking at a bunch of videos it looked liked the ones that really sprang at the shot were almost always from a compound shooter. the few trad shots i saw were no where near as explosive.  the impala i shot didn't move until the arrow slipped through him. we all live and learn.

hope the rest of your hunt was great.

[katman]

I agree the heart is the place to aim, right thru the lower part of the shoulder. The one I hit here went 80 yards flat out and fell dead running. The Duicker went 20 yards. I also found that if I waited for them to drink turn take a step or two (hopefully stop), the did not jump the string, they seemed much more relaxed leaving the water than comming in or drinking. This also worked well for Kudu, but the wildebeast and warthog would usually drink then turn and leave quickly. The guys I went with hit several Impala high and I shot over one before I would make myself wait, tough when they are 10-12 yards away.

[Don Thomas]

NO one is prepared for impala, especially at waterholes where they mince around as if the ground was going to burn their feet. Interestingly, if you have the patience to stalk them and give them lots of time, you'll find that they will eat your arrow for lunch... very similar to out pronghorn. In other words, hunt them away from their danger zone and you'll find a different animal... and a different set of problems. Don

[Tilzbow]

I know this is a trad site and I shoot trad bows like there's no tomorrow and most of the time do this very well but I've got a problem between the ears when shooting animals with my recurve that I can't seem to work through so I took a compound to Africa so please forgive me...

Anyway, I shot two Impala at Melorani a couple weeks ago with a very quite compound that shoots 260 FPS. Both animals seemed relaxed, had been at the water for a few minutes and both were quartering away at 20 yards when I released. I didn't see either animal move but the entrance wound was a few inches off the mark while the exit wound was what you'd expect when an animal is quartering to you indicating each spun nearly 90 degrees after I released and I couldn't even see it! Amazing!

The PH at Melorani, Marco, said he sees this all the time as well as people missing completely and not knowing why. He said most times the only way to know for sure is to get the shot on video and play back in slow motion. The other PH, Stewart, said he'd had a few traditional guys move the mineral licks as close a 5 yards to the blind which limited the impala's ability to jump the string but also limited the number of opportunities.

I can't remember who wrote about it, maybe it was Don, but I remember reading about one archer who shot at an impala and killed it dead. However, his shot hit the animal on the opposite side he was aiming at because the animal spun a full 180 degrees before the arrow got there. I didn't believe this until I actually went there and saw these critters.

[GroundHunter]

I've yet to hunt African plains game, but it is a hunt I want to do.

I beleive the spinning story, as I've seen it with whitetails. Shot one last year at 27 yards, with a quiet bow, but a nearby deer spooked, and my deer ran into one beside it, then spun around, taking the arrow in the chest for a through-shot. What a sight, watching that arrow sail into the melee.

I'm looking for an African Plains game tradtonal hunt in he next year or so.

Where to book?