SOUTH AFRICA: Kuche Safaris

[Ruraldoc]

Do I think my outfitter is "the best"? I never looked at it that way. He was absolutely honest about what to expect,hard working, and delivered an exceptional experience.

And I am not a " cheap ass", but consider frugality a virtue. I have been on the site long enough to know that some people have nothing but distain for South African outfitters,especially the large ones.

My wife runs a large south Alabama hunting lodge, sometimes she has to field complaints that are very similar to the unfair things said about Kuche.

"I could smell the skinning shed" is a good one. What do you think it is supposed to smell like?

Or I thought I would be "the only one in camp", when it was made clear that the camp was built to accomidate a dozen or more hunters and that they did not have exclusive use of it.

Or " I didn't realize that bow hunters had a lower success rate than the rifle hunters in camp".

But like Kuche,they have many very satisfied clients who come back year after year.

 

[375Fox]

Or perhaps the first operator just provided a glove-fit experience. What's the point of experimenting with other operators in other locations and running the risk of getting screwed? Maybe I'm just easy to please (frankly, I have NEVER heard anyone but me say that ... and only this one time). But a good time is worth repeating, especially when tens of thousands of dollars are at stake. As we have seen in this thread, it doesn't take much to sour some folks when there's that much money involved.

In your case, one outfitter that can handle you for a week is probably enough. However, I’ve also seen you make more assumptions about hunting in areas you’ve never seen than any other member on this site. Africa is a big place.

 

[Hunt anything]

The Buffalo that I killed at Kuche would cost more at auction than the entire cost of my hunt.

My Waterbuck may make the Roland Ward record book. My trophy fee was far less than auction value.

I saw female animals with young at their side on every property. I saw many immature males of various ages on every property.

The math for put and take doesn’t work for my experience at Kuche. The animals that I saw were spooky and clearly wild.

And I have been on a couple of dozen hunts in many places and own and manage hunting properties in Alabama. I am not a hunter without experience.

Some of the things said about Kuche are utterly unfair.

I am going back again. Some people who want to hunt wilderness areas or small operations where you are the only client in camp or places with very high levels of luxury are probably best served in other camps.

But if you want to have a good hunt with good food and accommodations at a reasonable price where it is absolutely possible to take very fine animals, Kuche is a very good place.

Where in Alabama?

 

[Ruraldoc]

Where in Alabama?

Choctaw County Alabama.

Pushmataha Plantation.

 

[Hunt anything]

Choctaw County Alabama.

Pushmataha Plantation.

Almost due south of you in Baldwin county.

 

[375Fox]

And I am not a " cheap ass", but consider frugality a virtue. I have been on the site long enough to know that some people have nothing but distain for South African outfitters,especially the large ones.

My wife runs a large south Alabama hunting lodge, sometimes she has to field complaints that are very similar to the unfair things said about Kuche.

"I could smell the skinning shed" is a good one. What do you think it is supposed to smell like?

Or I thought I would be "the only one in camp", when it was made clear that the camp was built to accomidate a dozen or more hunters and that they did not have exclusive use of it.

Or " I didn't realize that bow hunters had a lower success rate than the rifle hunters in camp".

But like Kuche,they have many very satisfied clients who come back year after year.

It’s difficult to not have disdain for outfitters that operate this way when you’ve had opportunity to see many different hunting operations. There are large, well run outfitters in South Africa that lease high quality reserves and only hunt from sustainable quotas, but they charge for it (and many cases deserve it). Then there are large hunt factory operations like kuche or huntershill that operate off high hunter volume at low cost and are merged with game farming industry to sustain the model. A small outfitter may not be able to lease the reserves a quality large outfitter can, but a small outfitter can hunt the same ranches a company like kuche hunts and hunt them well. I don’t see the advantage of hunting with a large outfitter operating on the high hunter volume model unless you really want to stay at a lodge with a large number of other hunters. The price is same large or small outfitter. The large number of hunters makes a lot of variables at camp and the PHs to accommodate that many hunters are another variable. If looking for a basic ranch hunt in Limpopo a small outfitter provides a consistent experience that a hunt volume outfitter just can’t.

 

[Ruraldoc]

I have found that a man with an argument has a hard time convincing a man with experience,that he is wrong about his own experience.

I had a blast and will go back. I'm not alone,I have a good friend who has hunted all over Africa,but his last 5 trips have been with Kuche Safaris.

You are of course free to go wherever you like.

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

@375Fox you can lead a horse to water…

 

[Hunt anything]

Everyones African experience is different as are their expectations. Is my 39” sable taken in the Zambezi delta a better trophy than a 45” ranch sable in South Africa? Some would argue yes and some no. I would probably say yes but that is only my opinion. I’ve done 3 RSA ranch hunts and would rate them all as excellent but were they better than the time I spent in Mozambique? Probably not but they met my expectations. Ridiculing someone else’s experience does no one any good. Of course this is only my opinion. I for one have not visited a place in Africa that I don’t want to return to plus a few places I still want to see and hunt. Only time, health and money will determine that.

 

[375Fox]

@375Fox you can lead a horse to water…

It’s difficult to convince someone their experience was or could be different than it was. The comments are really for hunters researching. If if makes the member arguing for their side think that’s good too.

 

[Daisy]

It seems that the experience most have had has been in small camps. How do you know it you would like a large camp experience if you haven’t done it? How is that any different than saying we just don’t know better because we haven’t done what you have? The ones arguing most adamantly against Kuche have never been to Kuche.

Also, seems like everyone just has their minds made up and really don’t care to learn anything new. It seems those go around liking the posts they agree with and not the others. Someone can have an argument you disagree with and you can still gain insights from their POV.

 

[DonPablo]

I just got back from Kuche in August. This was a DU auction.

I hunted with Kuche at the end of June/beginning of July and I will offer what my buddy and I experienced. I also got the hunt through DU so I got a pretty good price for our hunt.

The good:
Ph's were great... knowledgeable, fun, good guys.
Access to many ranches with wide variety of game
main hangout/dinner spot was a nice building
The evening meal was pretty good, wild game with some basic sides. good dessert as well.

We (myself, my wife, my buddy and his wife) enjoyed our hunt (for the most part) but as someone mentioned, this was our 1st time and we don't have anything to compare it to. I agree our PHs were great and I enjoyed the different properties we visited. Dinners were great and we definitely gained weight.

The bad:
Lack of communication, this runs across most aspects of the outfit
- To start our group of four traded several emails with Kuche and responded timely to any requests they had, but our emails were not always replied to, so things were missed or not known.

I will say that communication is not one of Koos's strengths. In fact, he does not allow his PHs to share contact info with the hunters. My guess is that since they do not all work exclusively for him, it prevents them from promoting other outfitters.

Upon arrival, after traveling 24 hours, we were dropped off at our cabin and had no hot water. This would not have been an issue if we had known who to contact. The owner was not at the ranch until mid week and the ph's stay off site. The whole week we were never given a main point of contact. They need a manager to be this person and they just dont have it. They rely on the ph's to do everything.

My buddy and his wife had this issue but our PHs stayed on site and they were able to resolve the issue the following day. We let them borrow our shower that night.

Cabins are small and functional, nothing special, bathrooms suck. I would never bring my wife or kids here. There is little/nothing for them to do but sit around all day or ride around in the truck if you are hunting that way. I did not bring my family and it was never my intention just fyi.

We are not rich and found the accommodations sufficient. We also visited the Free State camp and the accommodations were much nicer but there we stayed at a resort that Koos has access to. Our wives opted to go to the blind with us and loved it. I know there was talk of a spa while we were in the Free State but they never made any attempt to take advantage of it.

- Breakfast and lunch was pathetic.

We enjoyed the breakfast and lunch but again, we're not very picky.

Camp is very close to cleaning/skinning area and constantly smells like death. I read another review about this and they are not lying.

We stayed (while in the Limpopo camp) in a room attached to the breakfast room and didn't smell the shed. Maybe there are rooms closer. I don't know.

Every day all the ph's get together and discuss or lobby where they will hunt the next day. For some of the guys i went with this was great. They were with ph's who owned their own land and hunted on it, therefore it was set where they were going. My guide did not own his own land therefore he had to lobby for places to hunt. More senior people get diff spots, hunter spending more money better spots , they like you more etc.

Did you get confirmation on this? After leaving, we suspected it. My PH was a senior there and I sat a different blind every day. Come to find out my buddy was stuck in the same blind every time (in Limpopo).

I was bow hunting and i would strongly recommend against bow hunting with these guys. Their blinds are trash/ cheap and vary greatly from location to location. I wish they had been up front about this as i would have switched to rifle before the last 2 days.

If you bowhunt with Kuche, reiterate to the PH when he picks you up that you're bowhunting. Koos somehow forgot that I was exclusively bowhunting and sent us to his Free State camp. Come to find out he's not set up for bowhunting there and they had to scramble to accommodate us. As a result we did not get to hunt the evening we arrived. He found us a property to hunt the next day and I took (what I consider) a nice kudu. The following day we left before sunup for his Limpopo camp 8 hours away. We arrived in time to hunt the evening and I took a gemsbok cow that was nice and long. Over the next three days I took each of the animals from my package (a warthog, impala and a wildebeest). My buddy took a kudu, a few blesbok and a wildebeest. Except for the blesbok, he shot his with a rifle on the last full day. He wanted to switch to rifle sooner but was not allowed. He also wanted to shoot a zebra but was told that one in particular was off-limits. I wasn't covered up in animals and every animal I shot was a challenge which made me all the more satisfied with my hunt.

Now, I will say this. At Kuche they usually do not allow you to hunt the day of departure. However, I explained to Koos that because of his mix-up we were only able to hunt three and a half days of a 5-day hunt. And so to make it right, he made an exception and allowed us to hunt the morning before leaving. I shot my wildebeest right away but my buddy and his PH were sent to a property and given the wrong combination. He didn't get much time to hunt by the time they got in and was so frustrated he gave up and left not long after that.

 

[Ruraldoc]

In the future I certainly want to see other parts of Africa. Talking to people about Zimbabwe now.

A good friend just returned from Zimbabwe with a huge leopard and two cape buffalo bulls.

But not everyone can afford the physical,financial and time demands of such an adventure.

And a good free range sable is a wonderful trophy.

The friend looked for Sable and Eland to no avail.

He may go back to South Africa to find them.

Everyone is welcome to their own favorite places and hunts.

 

[Roller]

There should be more honest, constructive criticism of hunt experiences posted. In the end it improves the industry. The main reason people come to sites like this is to educate themselves before they book a usually relatively expensive hunt . If everything posted is cotton candy and rainbows, that doesn’t serve anyone well. In my opinion , comparing the experience of a first class wilderness hunt in Zim to a Limpopo game ranch hunt is like comparing a McDonald’s hamburger to a dry aged prime ribeye . Some people may prefer the hamburger , but they are not even in the same league . So enjoy your hamburgers people , I don’t eat that shit anymore .

 

[375Fox]

It seems that the experience most have had has been in small camps. How do you know it you would like a large camp experience if you haven’t done it? How is that any different than saying we just don’t know better because we haven’t done what you have? The ones arguing most adamantly against Kuche have never been to Kuche.

Also, seems like everyone just has their minds made up and really don’t care to learn anything new. It seems those go around liking the posts they agree with and not the others. Someone can have an argument you disagree with and you can still gain insights from their POV.

The largest camp I’ve stayed at was 8 hunters and observers in camp. It was a good experience. However 40 hunters in camp could be a very different story, even 8 with the wrong people could be a different story. The more hunters the more variables. You can have the hunter who is unhappy with the hunt and lodging. You can have the group of competitive buddies putting stress on their PHs. You can have the group that wants to drink to excess and be obnoxious. You could have the family that brought along their undisciplined kids. With that many hunters there will be many PH personalities and experience levels as well. The smaller the camp, the less variables, the more consistent experience. The variance in reports points to that. I have never been and will never go to kuche safaris. However, those arguing most for kuche though have went once and on their only trip to Africa. There are better operations to choose for a second trip.

 

[Ruraldoc]

The largest camp I’ve stayed at was 8 hunters and observers in camp. It was a good experience. However 40 hunters in camp could be a very different story, even 8 with the wrong people could be a different story. The more hunters the more variables. You can have the hunter who is unhappy with the hunt and lodging. You can have the group of competitive buddies putting stress on their PHs. You can have the group that wants to drink to excess and be obnoxious. You could have the family that brought along their undisciplined kids. With that many hunters there will be many PH personalities and experience levels as well. The smaller the camp, the less variables, the more consistent experience. The variance in reports points to that. I have never been and will never go to kuche safaris. However, those arguing most for kuche though have went once and on their only trip to Africa. There are better operations to choose for a second trip.

The Kuche Limpopo camp can not and does not handle 40 hunters. There are 24 seats at the dinner tables.

Many of them are filled with PHs and their families. Also some are filled not by hunters but by their non hunting guests. It was very busy when I was there but there were perhaps 12-15 hunters on the busiest nights,and probably 6 or 7 hunters on the slow ones.

So on the nights when there were 40 people, at least half are staff or the family of staff.

This is stated in my Hunt Report,but the only time you see people other than your PH and Tracker are at breakfast and dinner.

When we hunted,we never saw another soul. Just animals,the hunting never felt crowded.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

The largest camp I’ve stayed at was 8 hunters and observers in camp. It was a good experience. However 40 hunters in camp could be a very different story, even 8 with the wrong people could be a different story. The more hunters the more variables. You can have the hunter who is unhappy with the hunt and lodging. You can have the group of competitive buddies putting stress on their PHs. You can have the group that wants to drink to excess and be obnoxious. You could have the family that brought along their undisciplined kids. With that many hunters there will be many PH personalities and experience levels as well. The smaller the camp, the less variables, the more consistent experience. The variance in reports points to that. I have never been and will never go to kuche safaris. However, those arguing most for kuche though have went once and on their only trip to Africa. There are better operations to choose for a second trip.

Yeah, I saw that image of their mess hall and went "Whoa!" Seating for fifty? Odds are there's gonna be at least one troublemaker in there somewhere. I doubt my lodge could seat more than ten at the table. Maybe not that. Only once have I been there when more than one hunter was on board. Then it was a guy and his son and their wives. Turns out he had been an engineer in the small town Montana lumber mill where I grew up. His son graduated from the same high school as me. Could not have picked a better bunch of folks to share the lodge with. Two other trips I had the place to myself. This past August a Danish biologist and his neice were the only other guests. They were doing a bit of culling and sight seeing. Very relaxed.

It's a wild night when I drink one light beer.

 

[Deepfork]

Yeah, I saw that image of their mess hall and went "Whoa!" Seating for fifty? Odds are there's gonna be at least one troublemaker in there somewhere. I doubt my lodge could seat more than ten at the table. Maybe not that. Only once have I been there when more than one hunter was on board. Then it was a guy and his son and their wives. Turns out he had been an engineer in the small town Montana lumber mill where I grew up. His son graduated from the same high school as me. Could not have picked a better bunch of folks to share the lodge with. Two other trips I had the place to myself. This past August a Danish biologist and his neice were the only other guests. They were doing a bit of culling and sight seeing. Very relaxed.

It's a wild night when I drink one light beer.

Everyone has diner together. Hunters, owner and family, PHs and a few others.

 

[375Fox]

The Kuche Limpopo camp can not and does not handle 40 hunters. There are 24 seats at the dinner tables.

Many of them are filled with PHs and their families. Also some are filled not by hunters but by their non hunting guests. It was very busy when I was there but there were perhaps 12-15 hunters on the busiest nights,and probably 6 or 7 hunters on the slow ones.

So on the nights when there were 40 people, at least half are staff or the family of staff.

This is stated in my Hunt Report,but the only time you see people other than your PH and Tracker are at breakfast and dinner.

When we hunted,we never saw another soul. Just animals,the hunting never felt crowded.

It’s stated several times in parallel thread on kuche safaris 40 hunters during overbooked weeks. You can PM those hunters and ask what they have to say.

 

[Daisy]

There should be more honest, constructive criticism of hunt experiences posted. In the end it improves the industry. The main reason people come to sites like this is to educate themselves before they book a usually relatively expensive hunt . If everything posted is cotton candy and rainbows, that doesn’t serve anyone well. In my opinion , comparing the experience of a first class wilderness hunt in Zim to a Limpopo game ranch hunt is like comparing a McDonald’s hamburger to a dry aged prime ribeye . Some people may prefer the hamburger , but they are not even in the same league . So enjoy your hamburgers people , I don’t eat that shit anymore .

My man. The criticisms are valid. But so are the praises. Give both the same respect.

I live in an upscale city in Alabama (oxymoron I know) meaning most everyone I know has the resources to do any hunt they want in Africa. I don’t know a soul who would take their first hunt to Africa in a remote camp and as the only hunter. My wife would never go to Africa hunting, and would have been adamantly against me doing that.

Now, “winning” a trip at a DU event and taking my 3 best friends to a large camp. A perfect first hunt in Africa.

I, like ruraldoc, have already booked my next hunt in Africa with a much smaller organization. No one here has said you should take every hunt at Kuche. But for a first hunt in Africa with friends, it was perfect and I can’t imagine being in a small camp in Namibia by myself would have been better.

I would challenge y’all to get your 3 best friends (the ones that say you’re crazy to go sleep in a tent in Zimbabwe) to go with you to Kuche for a week. Y’all will have a blast.