Hunting Impala in the Rain

IN JANUARY 2018, I booked a father-and-son hunt for the July school-break on a farm bordering on the Matlabas River near Thabazimbi. In early February, the owner asked if I was interested in culling abo en non-trophy impala at reduced cost prior to the hunting season. By that time of the year, my freezer is long empty of venison, so I needed no persuasion.

It was very short notice, but my friend Johan Lundall and I shuffled our diaries and left Pretoria early on a Friday morning, towing a trailer for the return load. However, our enthusiasm was somewhat dampened by the dark