I recently returned for Africa where I took, what I'm told, a good Impala. Both the PH and the landowner were excited but I must admit I don't know how to "offically" measure one. The PH measured it starting at the front and curling around to the back while I measured it straight up the front to the back with no curl. I get 25 1/2 and he measured 26 3/8. He is a beautiful animal and I look forward to many mornings drinking coffee and reliving the hunt. Front image
I was hunting north of Jo'burg up near the Matlabas River on the Nooitgedacht farm. I'm embarrassed to say I don't know the exact location but do remember driving through Vaalwater.
I felt bad enough about not knowing the exact location that I did a little investigation. My PH and I stayed at this hotsprings resort and hunted a short drive away. There is a map included but I don't know how to post a .htm Web page of the resort we stayed at.
Thats a beauty. I remember Capstick said in one book that "if the impala were even remotely rare they would be one of the most coveted trophies in Africa." Congratulations, it will be a beautiful mount.
Posts: 1539 | Location: NC | Registered: 10 June 2002
Kevin I agree with you and would like to add, dang tough to hunt. The PH and I went 0 for 6 on our first stalks. The PH was in camp working on my Reedbuck while the tracker and I went for a walk. It was relatively thick where we found this guy. Here is an image looking in the direction I shot; the ram was dead center at 144 yards.
Thank you Ann, but I don't think I desire all that much credit. I did pass on a good number of rams before this one. But this ram just so happened to stand still when we spotted him and it was a sitting shot. Other than shuffling back and forth looking for a clear shot, it turned out to be one of the easier trophies I collected. We were walking on a trail, no stalk was necessary, and the ram stood still for the shot. I tend to be a very lucky guy!
Some of the best trophies ever taken in North America or Africa were taken incidental to the hunting of other species or were "pick-ups". That does NOT make them less amazing. You shot a wonderfully large impala and deserve the credit for even having the initiative to make a trip that so many people of lesser passion never would. Congratulations!
JohnTheGreek
Posts: 4697 | Location: North Africa and North America | Registered: 05 July 2001
That is an excellent impala. Anything over 24" is a real keeper and yours beats that benchmark by a lot. Congrats!!! I've taken average impala, nothing that compares to the yours though. The only impala I've even seen that compare were in the Etosha Game Reserve in Northern Namibia.
BigBullet
Posts: 1224 | Location: Lorraine, NY New York's little piece of frozen tundra | Registered: 05 July 2003
Thank you all for the nice comments. I doubt anyone that ever visits my home will realize he is big. His cape was perfect without a single blemish. The cape on my other trophys have parts of ears missings and facial scars. This ram must have been extremely good at fighting or one not interested in mating.
Here is an image of my favorite animal, the Nyala. I took this one in the Gwama gamepark north of Peroria. They allowed us to hunt due to the drought.
