SOUTH AFRICA: Koringkoopie Safaris *Warning* Stay Away

[Moe324]

Here's the conversation and me calling another PH for help as my girlfriend was crying and panicking in the room after they verbally assaulted me and my character, and when Jac's brother came at me and Jac grabbed him.

 

[Rare Breed]

I posted on the other thread and I'll post here one more time.
When I read about this incident I was in Limpopo and hanging out with the PHASA PH of the year.
I directed him into the thread and he immediately alerted PHASA president who at the time was in Zambia(he might still be there hence the short post)
PHASA is a reputable organization in South Africa and they are also supported by SCI in various ways.
They are all aware of the damage these kind of incidents cause and I'm sure they'll remedy the situation and will come up with a more detailed explanation.
As far as hunting Limpopo, as someone who has been there many times I can flat out tell you that there are properties there where hunting as challenging as it can be anywhere in Africa.
The property I'm on right now is fenced on three sides but one side is open to the Limpopo river and we have leopards, kudu, bushbuck and even elephants coming trough from Botswana and it's as wild as it gets.
And yes I also hunted in Zim couple times and I can compare.
Yesterday morning we found a fresh leopard kill and animals are a skittish as it gets.
I'm not here to defend anyone but making blanket statements about Limpopo or South Africa in general are wrong.

Similar experience to mine. Yes Limpopo, other areas in SA and multiple times in Zim. All have been challenging hunts just different. The difference in no way reduced my absolute pleasure of each hunt and experience!

 

[Moe324]

Here's the conversation and calls I placed in the room with Tony the president from PHASA and old neighbor of Jac.

 

[Moe324]

Here's another conversation with another PH I was trying to get help from. Also you have to add 6hrs to the times phone was in eastern USA time.

 

[Moe324]

Screenshot from the day the giraffe got shot. I posted it on Facebook to see if I was wrong for being upset as Jac made me feel like I was in the wrong.

 

[Siennacoyote]

I find it strange there three positive reviews of the outfitter on the thread and its three new members with their first post. Seems fishy to me

 

[Moe324]

Screenshot from conversation with Jac. Can see where I tried calling him when we found giraffe blood. Can also see where I asked him to come move us while we hunted hornbills without him. Can even see where he sent me Tony from PHASA number even though I had it already by then. Look at the time he sent it to me and I'm in the room telling the other pH what happened and my girlfriend is crying and hiding.

 

[Moe324]

Jac telling me he would have air rifle for hornbills.

 

[Moe324]

This one showing my hunting dates that match all my screenshots. And the animals I wanted to hunt.

 

[Moe324]

Here's me asking him if he would like me to find someone else to take hunt if he didn't like the animals I was willing to hunt.

 

[Mekaniks]

I find it strange there three positive reviews of the outfitter on the thread and its three new members with their first post. Seems fishy to me

Yeah, it would be good if they would make some introductions and provide some pics and additional details to support their reports

 

[Queen]

Here's the video of giraffe after Jacques killed it

 

[sureshot375]

i have hunted with koringkoppie twice now, in 2021 and this year 2024. i have another trip booked for 2025 and i come from florida in the USA to hunt with them! i read most of this post and find it really hard to believe!!! i have never had Jacques tell me any of the things this gentleman claims,sounds like sour grapes to me! now i do bring my own precision rifles to hunt with and my own ammo and i feel it's my responsibility to carry the ammo needed,just my humble opinion! i find Jacques to be very honest and accountable,very accomodating,forgive my spelling. i also find them to be very honest and trust worthy!!! i booked and paid for a trip in 2020 and it got postponed for a year or so due to covid and Jacques honored the contract at no additional fee in 2021,can totally trust the man! i didn't get my zebra in 2021,my fault and didn't have to repay trophy fee for it in 2024. in 2024 i got all my trophys including my zebra. his wife does all my taxidermy work and does a wonderful job and they do all the salting of the hides,so i don't know what this guy is talking about??? i have always had a great time there and everybody has always been so friendly! i don't understand what this guy is talking about at all.none of what he says makes any sense to me at all!!!
oneriskski ,florida usa

Then tell this humble, honest, and accountable
gentleman to stroll on over here and answer a few questions.

There seems to be a common theme among the new members popping up with positive reviews, and that is a complete lack of experience hunting anywhere else in africa. I’m sure there are two sides to every story. Also, it seems like Op may not be the best communicator about some things, but as an experienced African hunter there are some things about his story which stick out as being problematic. In no particular order…

1. The impala and warthogs are obviously immature animals, and the waterbuck is not what I would ordinarily call a trophy.

2. It is the job of the Professional hunter to judge trophy/age of the animal and communicate that to the client.

3. It is the PHs job to identify a wounded animal and tell the client to shoot or not shoot. Telling the client it might be his Giraffe, but the client will pay double if he shoots and it isn’t the wounded giraffe is complete BS.

4.Calling the client an asshole is never ok. If you work in that industry you will have clients who are assholes. Occupational hazard.

5. Once you wound an animal, I have no problem with a PH finishing the animal. I believe that discretion lies with the PH. I don’t agree with the OP on this issue. You don’t get unlimited tries. If OP is mad at anyone about his giraffe he should be mad at himself…. however, the PH should communicate about this policy ahead of time and in the moment. “Hey Bob I’m sorry but I need to shoot now. You’ve had a couple cracks at him, but he’s wounded and I need to put him down.” Also, you need to have the client shoot each rifle before he hunts with it.

6. I’d be real surprised if shooting hornbills is legal. Also the cats and baboon require permits to be issued before the hunt. I’m going to guess that didn’t happen. Did he actually try to say the Hornbills would be 1k each to make up for the giraffe??? This is problematic for a number of reasons. It’s not the client’s job to make up for anything.

7. Refusal to skin and salt is unthinkable. He had a duty to skin, salt, and deliver to a local taxidermist.

8. This place seems to be on the lower end of the free range like hunt and seems to trend more toward the shooting semi domesticated livestock type of operation. The reedbuck sounds like shooting a domesticated goat. Not all operations are equal.

9. Having the client sign an empty PH register is BS. It defeats the entire purpose.

10. I get the vibe that OP may have been a little over dramatic and fearful with the worry of bodily harm. It does sound like the PH lost his cool and acted in an angry and unprofessional manner. Being a PH is going to be frustrating. You will have to deal with unreasonable people. Communication would have solved a lot of the problems. There is no excuse for acting the way described.

If Jacques disagrees with or factually disputes any of the items above, then let him show up and respond to each of the specific allegations above. If not then I’m not really interested in hearing how many first time safari hunters think this place is wonderful.

Look. We’ve all had a bad week at the office. If half of what has been listed above is true then the outfitter should refund the price paid at auction for the hunt and apologize.

If that happens op needs to report that the outfitter made things right and everyone needs to move on with the experience gained and lessons learned.

I doubt any of this will happen because generally speaking, nobody listens to Sureshot375.

 

[WAB]

I find it very disconcerting that these new members are popping up, seemingly from nowhere, to post positive reviews on this thread. If anything, it gives the OP’s account more credibility in my mind. Why is the outfitter not coming on himself to directly address the claims?

 

[Queen]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1c8iiERDnttb6slFeWD4-G_mj83cGPp_k/view?usp=drive_link

 

[Queen]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/11B78BQV2daQNRu75qfgQr5eO-ySIMX7V/view?usp=sharing

 

[Tokoloshe Safaris]

I might know a former EOD Battalion commander and few guys from 28th EOD at Bragg that you could probably trade some hunt time with in exchange for some clearing operations …

When the Goverment of Zimbabwe declares the area mine free it is mine free. The elephants that blow up our self destructing.

About five years ago two land mines showed up on the next door hotel launching ramp. I drove and walked over the same spot dozens of time. The army came and blew up both. I do not think they searched for anymore.

Lon

 

[Tokoloshe Safaris]

As several posts have mentioned, there are 2 sides to every story. So I would like to tell everyone about my experience hunting at KoringKoppie in June of 2023.

It all started at a sports show in Indianapolis, Indiana. My wife and another couple were visiting the show to possibly book an elk hunt. As we were browsing through vendor booths, we came across several African hunts but none compared to KoringKoppie. Jacques was there and after talking to him, we felt it was the right fit for us (both couples). We spent the rest of the day at the show deciding if all 4 of us were going and if we were going to book it before we left. Ultimately we decided to go back to the booth and book the trip for both couples for June (which was just 4 months away). Jacques was in contact with me through all the paperwork and was very helpful from start to finish. Several contacts were made before the hunt to make sure everything was in order, including drinks to have on hand, and if our wives wanted to book a full spa day, as well as anything else we wanted or needed.

Finally, the day came to leave for Africa. Flight was great and Jacques met us at the airport as planned. When we met up Jacques, we felt very welcomed. He helped us through the paperwork process and gun pickup. He took care of all of our luggage and were off to the lodge. Once arriving, a meal had been prepared for us since we had a long trip and arrived late in the night.

The next morning, we met Franna (Jacques' brother) and sighted in guns and drove through part of their land. We came back and had a big homemade breakfast and headed off to hunt. Franna was the PH for the other couple we came with. Our PH was Jacques.

Through the week, we had a GREAT hunting experience as well as the other couple. Both of us couples bought the Impala, Warthog, Blue Wildebeest package. The first day, I shot a beautiful trophy impala and a blue wildebeest. The impala was shot from a blind at the watering hole with a crossbow and the blue wildebeest was shot while stalking on foot with a rifle. When returning to camp that night, the other couple had shot an impala also. We sat around the camp fire talking with both PHs and the other couple while dinner was being prepared. The hospitality shown was absolutely amazing and the homemade meals were outstanding!!!!! (EVERY MEAL- breakfast, lunch, dinner for the week). Lunches were packed for the afternoon hunt in blinds and were amazing.

Both couples killed everything in their package and added additional animals, which were also killed. My wife (who is not an avid hunter) decided she loved the black impalas. So Jacques went out of his way to locate one of his trophy bucks so she could hunt it. After a couple practice shots with the crossbow, we went out to the blind. About 45 minutes later, she had killed a trophy black impala. That's the kind of special treatment both couples got at KoringKoppie Safaris. We always felt we were very safe and and part of the Combrinck family, including Franna (brother), Jacques' parents, and Jacques wife and children. We truly were treated like Royalty there - our lodging was nice and clean, the food was tremendous, laundry was always waiting for us when we got back from the evening hunt. They had our favorite drinks for us. We've never experienced such Hospitality. We came as strangers into their lives, but left feeling like friends and family. We still talk today. I personally have been in contact with Jacques at least once a month or more since we left there. I consider him and his family friends. I have several friends planning a future trip to Africa and have suggested they go to KoringKoppie.

We left our trophies with Jacques wife to mount. We have received several pictures on the progress of them. From what we've seen, they look absolutely amazing!! We also seen her shop and her work was beautiful!!!

I have been on several US hunts across several states. Most of the outfitters have been very good. I have had a couple experiences where the hunt was not as advertised. But this was our first experience out of country hunting and the hunt was as advertised. It couldn't have gone any better. Both of us couples always talk that we can't wait to go back.

I realize everyone has different experiences, hunting abilities, and personalities can clash. But I wouldn't let one persons bad experience with an outfitter put a black cloud over the outfitter or influence your opinion of KoringKoppie Safaris!!!! They are top-notch in our opinion!!! Give them a try!!!!

Jeff and Shannon S

This is the kind of review that I like to see, not that the negative one was not true. Possibly you could contact Jacques and ask if he could present the rest of the story.

I do not know if Jacque is a member or not, if he is not how can he post his side of the story. Maybe thru you?

Lon

 

[Queen]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1c8iiERDnttb6slFeWD4-G_mj83cGPp_k/view?usp=drive_link

Here's the video of girrafe

 

[Queen]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/11B78BQV2daQNRu75qfgQr5eO-ySIMX7V/view?usp=sharing

Pic