Safari Hunts › Species › Impala
medium antelope · Aepyceros melampus

Hunting the Impala

Compiled from Safari Hunts platform data and professional-hunter practice · Updated July 2026

The impala is Africa's everyman antelope and the perfect first animal of a first safari: abundant, alert, beautiful, and far harder to walk up to than the brochure photos suggest. Rams live in bachelor groups and breeding herds across virtually every bushveld property in southern Africa, and their explosive, rocking-horse alarm run has schooled generations of hunters in wind discipline. An impala also produces some of the best eating venison on the continent.

Judging a trophy impala

Look for lyre-shaped horns that rise, flare and then tip back past vertical — length in the curve, not just height. The mature benchmark is around 20–23 inches; heavy bases and wide tips separate an old ram from a promising youngster.

Method, rifle and season

Walk-and-stalk with shots of 60–180 m; any deer-legal calibre from .243 upward does the job with good bullets. Impala hunt well all through the May–September dry season and are a staple of package hunts.

What a impala hunt costs

$250Lowest listed
$550Median listed
$695Highest listed

Live trophy-fee range across 5 active Safari Hunts listings — updates automatically as farms change their prices.

Full cost breakdown: Impala hunting cost · All African hunt prices.

Where to hunt impala

South AfricaZimbabweNamibia

Farms offering impala now

Melodi SafarisWaidmannsheil SafarisAfrican Sun AdventuresOkangawa Hunting SafarisSummers Pride Safaris

Live from the Bush Telegraph

Welcome to Safari Hunts, Summers Pride Safaris — A third-generation family farm in the Eastern Cape coastal thicket, and the first outfitter…Safari Hunts HQ · 4 Sept 2026Welcome to Safari Hunts, Melodi Safaris — Two hours from O.R. Tambo, malaria-free, and the bushveld does the rest. Melodi Safaris is one of …Safari Hunts HQ · 25 Aug 2026shot 70m broadside with 243 Thompson with my dad first huntT.H. · 24 Aug 2026

Members posting real impala hunts as they happen — see all impala posts on the Telegraph.

Frequently asked

Is impala a good first animal in Africa?
The classic choice — plentiful enough to guarantee opportunity, sharp enough to teach you African wind and distance before the bigger-ticket stalks.
What does an impala hunt cost?
Impala consistently sits among the most affordable African trophies. The live listed range on Safari Hunts appears on this page and updates with the market.
Hunt a impala with escrow protection
Verified outfitters · transparent listed pricing · deposits held until you confirm the hunt.
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Before you book

Planning a first African hunt · rifles and calibres · best time of year · getting trophies home. All of it in the hunting guides.