Kelvin and I were sitting and glassing on the edge of a small valley. The valley was strewn with rocks and low shrub's on each side with thick trees on the valley floor. We saw a group of about 20 impala feeding in our direction. We went down to the valley floor where the thick trees narrowed from 100 yards wide to a bottle neck about 20 yards wide. The wind was in our favor. I set up my rifle on the sticks and waited. Soon the impala were 5 yards in front of us. I had never been so close to an animal while hunting.
When the lead male bucks eyes went behind a small tree I looked into my scope and turned it down to the lowest setting. Kelvin and I were motionless, yet the buck sensed our presence and stopped. I pulled the trigger and the rifle went click. I had made a rookie mistake by not chambering a round. The impala’s bolted toward and up the opposite rise. Kelvin grabbed the sticks and said “come on” and ran the 20 yards out of the thick brush into the open and set the sticks up again. Looking through the scope I picked up the impala buck again as he ran straight away. Kelvin said “at some point he will stop, turn and look.” At 80 yards from us he did exactly that.
I put the crosshairs behind his shoulder and squeezed the trigger. The rifle barked and pushed into my shoulder. I lost sight of the Impala. Kelvin said “he’s down” we where both relieved after I had made the easiest shot into a much harder one.
Written by Mark Luddy
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