Allow me to describe a Zim cull. In 1993 my wife and I were in Zim on our third hunt with Tshabezi Safaris. The owner/operator of the safari company had tendered for a 3500 impala cull. The cull was to take place on three Cold Storage ranches (Chumfuqwe, Mzingwani and Dubane. The area comprised approximately 225,000ac, and the impala were too numerous and had to be reduced by 20%.
Since we were there, and I was available, I was one of the "shooters."
Just at dusk, you prepare for the evening foray. Two Toyota Land Cruisers...each with two shooters, two spot lighters, and two skinners. In those days, state of the art spot lights were Q beams. Each shooter had a 12 ga and an ample supply of SSG shot shells. Plus, each carried a multi-battery "torch."
The cruisers separated, and each went to their selected areas to begin the evening work. You drive slowly along the back roads searching for the tell-tale green eyes reflected in the spot lights. Impala are gregarious, and quite often there will be as many as two dozen of them in one spot. As soon as the spotters make contact with the impala, they maintain a steady light on the group, and ever so slowly the vehicle is driven toward the impala until they begin to appear nervous. The vehicle stops, the shooters exit either side, and remain outside the light provided by the Q beam. The shooters move in slowly. sometimes within twenty feet of the impala, and the killing begins. If possible, there will be no survivors. Young, old, male, female, makes no difference. The object is to eliminate as many as possible, as quickly as possible. Head shots are a must,, so as not to ruin the meat. After the shooting, each animal is gutted, recovered, and stacked in the back of the Cruiser. As soon as the back is full, the load is taken to a drop point, then to be processed for shipping to a meat packing facility.
This operation continues until dawn. In ten nights, the four of us shot one thousand nine hundred and eighty seven impala.
And that was how it was done, back in the day.