Patrick Darby
New member
It's official, I am going hunting in Africa!
I was the high bidder at a charity auction for a trip with Kuche Safaris back in May of this year and it didn't take me long to find AfricaHunting.com. This site is a wealth of knowledge and has been extremely helpful, insightful, entertaining, informative and a great way to kill time at the office.
I didn’t know a thing about Kuche Safaris when I bought the package but after doing a little digging on AH I was able to get in contact with a couple of hunters who had experience with Kuche and helped put my mind at ease with positive reviews. Kuche is located near Lephalale in the Limpopo province of South Africa. While it might not be the nicest, biggest, or best outfitter it will hopefully serve as a great first time safari.
While this will be my first time to Africa I was lucky enough to be raised with a great deal of exposure to hunting and fishing. I shot my first whitetail deer when I was 7 with the barrel on the .222 resting on my father's shoulder and have been hooked ever since. I am passionate about the outdoors and hunt every chance I get but I have to admit saltwater fishing on the Texas Coast is how I spend most of my time outdoors.
My wife is far from and avid outdoorsman but she refuses to be left at home and will be joining me on this great adventure. She is ultra competitive and she tends to shoot the BB gun better than me, time to work her up to a 30-06 to take some plains game. Personally I will be shooting my Weatherby Vanguard 300 Win. Mag.
It became very real yesterday when I bought our plane tickets for June 2020 using Travel Express on the recommendation of AH. Lori has been extremely helpful and I highly recommend working with her. We will be flying Delta because I wanted to maximize my time in Africa by minimizing travel time, only 20H 45M from Houston to Johannesburg.
We will spend a full 7 days of hunting with Kuche, the package includes an Impala, Blesbuck, Warthog, and Widebeest for each of us. While I know I should take what Africa offers I am thinking about making a few changes to the list: Warthog, Springbuck, Impala, Burchell's Zebra, Porcupine, and Cape Kudu and/or Gemsbuck.
To make the cost for the trip a little more palatable for my wife we decided to extend the trip and spend 3 full days down in Cape Town to tour some vineyards and do some touristy stuff. I have a buddy who worked for Backroads/Semester at Sea in Cape Town and has sourced me with several things to do and places to eat, but I am open to suggestions.
For me the research and preparation of a trip is half the fun so I look forward to spending many hours on this site and appreciate all the information I receive. I will be sure and keep everyone posted along the way and provide my knowledge when applicable.
I was the high bidder at a charity auction for a trip with Kuche Safaris back in May of this year and it didn't take me long to find AfricaHunting.com. This site is a wealth of knowledge and has been extremely helpful, insightful, entertaining, informative and a great way to kill time at the office.
I didn’t know a thing about Kuche Safaris when I bought the package but after doing a little digging on AH I was able to get in contact with a couple of hunters who had experience with Kuche and helped put my mind at ease with positive reviews. Kuche is located near Lephalale in the Limpopo province of South Africa. While it might not be the nicest, biggest, or best outfitter it will hopefully serve as a great first time safari.
While this will be my first time to Africa I was lucky enough to be raised with a great deal of exposure to hunting and fishing. I shot my first whitetail deer when I was 7 with the barrel on the .222 resting on my father's shoulder and have been hooked ever since. I am passionate about the outdoors and hunt every chance I get but I have to admit saltwater fishing on the Texas Coast is how I spend most of my time outdoors.
My wife is far from and avid outdoorsman but she refuses to be left at home and will be joining me on this great adventure. She is ultra competitive and she tends to shoot the BB gun better than me, time to work her up to a 30-06 to take some plains game. Personally I will be shooting my Weatherby Vanguard 300 Win. Mag.
It became very real yesterday when I bought our plane tickets for June 2020 using Travel Express on the recommendation of AH. Lori has been extremely helpful and I highly recommend working with her. We will be flying Delta because I wanted to maximize my time in Africa by minimizing travel time, only 20H 45M from Houston to Johannesburg.
We will spend a full 7 days of hunting with Kuche, the package includes an Impala, Blesbuck, Warthog, and Widebeest for each of us. While I know I should take what Africa offers I am thinking about making a few changes to the list: Warthog, Springbuck, Impala, Burchell's Zebra, Porcupine, and Cape Kudu and/or Gemsbuck.
To make the cost for the trip a little more palatable for my wife we decided to extend the trip and spend 3 full days down in Cape Town to tour some vineyards and do some touristy stuff. I have a buddy who worked for Backroads/Semester at Sea in Cape Town and has sourced me with several things to do and places to eat, but I am open to suggestions.
For me the research and preparation of a trip is half the fun so I look forward to spending many hours on this site and appreciate all the information I receive. I will be sure and keep everyone posted along the way and provide my knowledge when applicable.