SOUTH AFRICA: First-Timer Success With Kuche Safaris May 2023

[ILDRHNTR]

Congratulations on a fantastic 1st safari. I loved the excellent write up as well as the great pics. Best of luck planning for #2…..

 

[Katy Darren]

Excellent write up, thanks! We’ll be hunting with Kuche next year, have a good group going plus my wife and daughters and son-in-law. I met Koos and Cobus at the Houston Safari Club and chatted about the trip. Great guys, can’t wait!

 

[PARA45]

Outstanding!!! Congratulation on your first safari, and some fine animals taken.

 

[HookMeUpII]

Congratulations on an excellent hunt and report. You mention the GB listing by JD Outfitters in Oklahoma (buy a gun, get a safari). Did you buy a rifle from them? I've seen those ads and did a little research on JD Outfitters. Turns out they are located in Edmond, OK (suburb of OKC), very close to where one of my daughters and son in law live. Glad to hear they are legit, I might pay them a visit the next time I am in Edmond.

Yes, we actually bought 4 rifles from Jerry (JD Outfitters). 3 - X-Bolts in 300WM and 1-Winchester M70 in 300WM. We all received the same package. Jerry was actually flying in the day after we departed to hunt with Koos and Kuche. It was a completely legit deal. A week after receiving our rifles we received the certificates for the safari in the mail.

I did not have a suitable rifle at that time to go so it was a win-win for me. I now had a rifle and also the package of 3 animals + hunting/lodging/PH. I added the kudu and wildebeest (zero regrets) and also taxidermy for all animals. I am completely happy.

JD is a legit outfit and so is Kuche.

 

[kevin masters]

Great report!!! and fantastic trophies! I hunted with Koos in 18 and going back next year with wife and daughter. Always love a report from Kuche
Congratulations!!!

 

[SikaMDhunter]

Great man. I'm going there in August with my brother. I'll be bow hunting hell be rifle. Really cool to see how well it went.

 

[CamoManJ]

Congratulations on a great safari, nice trophies.
I’m happy to hear JD Outfitters from GB is a legitimate deal, several buddies of mine wondered & discussed it in the past. I enjoyed the detailed and entertaining write up, thank you.

 

[Houston Bill]

Looks like you had a great hunt and took some wonderful trophies. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Katy Darren]

Yes, we actually bought 4 rifles from Jerry (JD Outfitters). 3 - X-Bolts in 300WM and 1-Winchester M70 in 300WM. We all received the same package. Jerry was actually flying in the day after we departed to hunt with Koos and Kuche. It was a completely legit deal. A week after receiving our rifles we received the certificates for the safari in the mail.

I did not have a suitable rifle at that time to go so it was a win-win for me. I now had a rifle and also the package of 3 animals + hunting/lodging/PH. I added the kudu and wildebeest (zero regrets) and also taxidermy for all animals. I am completely happy.

JD is a legit outfit and so is Kuche.

Did you also do the taxidermy through Kuche? Were you able to see their work - was that theirs in the pics of the lodge? What did you end up going with, euros vs shoulder mounts etc?

 

[HookMeUpII]

Did you also do the taxidermy through Kuche? Were you able to see their work - was that theirs in the pics of the lodge? What did you end up going with, euros vs shoulder mounts etc?

We did elect to use Kuche for all the taxidermy. From what we saw in the lodge, the work was really nice. This was even considering guests probably were touching/petting it during dinners causing wear and what not. There's always concerns it

Blesbok - Euro + Flatskin
Impala - Shoulder
Warthog - Euro
Wildebeest - Shoulder + Backskin
Kudu - Shoulder + Backskin

 

[SikaMDhunter]

We did elect to use Kuche for all the taxidermy. From what we saw in the lodge, the work was really nice. This was even considering guests probably were touching/petting it during dinners causing wear and what not. There's always concerns it

Blesbok - Euro + Flatskin
Impala - Shoulder
Warthog - Euro
Wildebeest - Shoulder + Backskin
Kudu - Shoulder + Backskin

Who do they use for shipping?

How were the costs if you considered other options?

 

[MAdcox]

Great write up. Thanks for sharing. It really brought back great memories. My first trip to Africa was with Kuche as well. The Kudu in my picture probably came from the same property by the way it sounds.

 

[HookMeUpII]

Who do they use for shipping?

How were the costs if you considered other options?

We were told about a year or so we would be contacted for that. I would imagine they probably can recommend a shipper or you can coordinate your own.

 

[BWH]

Kuche is a dedicated Preferred Vendor of Ducks Unlimited. They have proved to be solid . Glad you enjoyed!

 

[rgajr]

Enjoyed reading that report. Nothing quite like that first trip to Africa!

 

[Ericedwinbates]

Great write up, have hunted with Kuchi 3 times and have booked 2025 and 2026. Excellent operation and shot wonderful trophies. My young son Wyatt comes everytime and is treated like family, he loves Cobus, Koos, Sharron , Monica, Zondra, and even the grouchy dog Spotty! Wonderful staff and operation, I consider them friends.

 

[huntress3006]

I am going to go through this day-by-day, post-by-post, to keep things organized. To say it was an amazing experience is an understatement.

Day 0: Background, Departure, and Arrival

This trip was borne by a random Gunbroker search on a lazy lunch break in April of 2021. I came upon an add for "Rife w/ Free Safari" by a firearms dealer known as JD Outfitters in Oklahoma. I shared it with my cousin, who after helping me verify it was in fact legit, shared with my brother and uncle. A little over 2 years later, all 4 of us were on our way to RSA to hunt with Kuche Safaris.

It was a long 2 years and 1 month. The last weeks were brutal. Finally, we found ourselves on our way to Newark Airport, NJ to leave on a 15 hour flight to Jo'Burg. The experience got off to an interesting start with the United rep not knowing how to handle checking in our rifles. She was pleasant, and actually funny, finally figuring it out. We boarded the plane to our Premium Plus seats, which I highly recommend. They are wider, recline more, have more leg and arm room, come with Premier Access boarding, and just make the 16-17 hour flight much easier.

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After a very, very long 16 hours. We touched down in Jo'Burg. It was, up until this point, pretty anti-climatic. It was dark on arrival so we couldn't see much. After going through customs, we asked one of the nice and soft spoken airport personnel where "Mr. X" was. She informed us that we would get our bags then head out the "exit" signs to meet him. We proceeded with our bags to the exit where we met Jacko, one of the PH's for Kuche, who would take us to Mr. X and then back to camp. We met Mr. X, who was very pleasant and enthusiastic. Our rifle cases were waiting in the SAPS for us. They reviewed our forms and we were off to the races.

The drive from Jo'Burg to Kuche was about 3.5 hours. We stopped a few times along the way to stretch our legs, fuel the van, and grab snacks/drinks. We shared the van with some other hunters and had quite a bit of laughs along the way. Finally reaching Kuche, Jacko took a quick stop to show us some of the animals on the way. To say we were primed with anticipation was an understatement. Reaching Kuche, we were greeted with cold beers, mac and cheese hot from the oven with wildebeest chunks, which we enjoyed in the beautiful lodge.

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I loved reading your post, thanks for sharing all the detail! We are headed to RSA in 6 weeks to hunt with Kuche. Is there anything you didn't take that you wished you had being the beginning of their winter, etc?

 

[HookMeUpII]

I loved reading your post, thanks for sharing all the detail! We are headed to RSA in 6 weeks to hunt with Kuche. Is there anything you didn't take that you wished you had being the beginning of their winter, etc?

Nope. Actually, I thought I packed perfectly. They are really good with the laundry there. You don't need a ton of outfits. I think the most important things are:

- A nice earth color or camo rain coat. It does rain this time of year. Unfortunately, the only time I got caught in it, I didn't have it on.

- An earth color or camo fleece. Super important. Mornings can get into the low 50's and even upper 40's. It was nice being able to ride in the back of truck and not get cold.

- Two pairs of boots. You will probably not be traversing water but it gets hot midday and your feet will sweat. It's nice to be able to let one pair dry for a day.

 

[huntress3006]

Nope. Actually, I thought I packed perfectly. They are really good with the laundry there. You don't need a ton of outfits. I think the most important things are:

- A nice earth color or camo rain coat. It does rain this time of year. Unfortunately, the only time I got caught in it, I didn't have it on.

- An earth color or camo fleece. Super important. Mornings can get into the low 50's and even upper 40's. It was nice being able to ride in the back of truck and not get cold.

- Two pairs of boots. You will probably not be traversing water but it gets hot midday and your feet will sweat. It's nice to be able to let one pair dry for a day.

Great thank you for the tips, I didn't even think about a rain coat or something like that. My son is going with us too, so the two pairs of boots is something I didn't think about as well, he's a teenage boy so he sweats when it's 40 outside Thanks for all the tips, I'm trying to make sure not to overpack and be as prepared as I can be. We're counting down the weeks!