My third trip to Argentina was a little different than the first two trips. Nobody was interested in shooting geese. I wanted to concentrate on the ducks, there were still 2 species that I hoped to kill (unfortunately I still do). Actually I was hoping to maybe get in a 2 day goose hunt and then ducks for the rest of the week. The outfitter I go with hunts geese a few hundred miles from where he hunts ducks. So you can't do both at the same time. I think of myself as a duck hunter first and foremost, but still look forwad to shooting geese down there again. Anyhow, the party I went with included 2 elderly gentlemen (85 years old) and me. We overlapped a couple days with another party of 3 that had actually gone for a week's goose hunt, but the season was abruptly stopped so they ended up at the duck lodge as well.
The old guys were old. One was crippled and crazy, the other very cantankerous. I didn't enjoy their company very much. But the duck shooting was fabulous. We stayed at Daniel's lodge at Engr Luigi in the La Pampa province. Had an hour and a half ride to the duck marsh each morning. That was a bit much, but he had several different blinds all around a very large lake/swamp. I think there was sort of an irrigation project gone sour. The drought was already in full swing but we had water. The water even seemed to be rising or at the very least steady, while the rest of the country was drying up. I hunted 2 days over flooded soy beans, 1 day in flooded corn, one day on the edge of a large open water part of the lake, and two days out in the middle of a huge natural marsh. All of the locations were on the same body of water, but pretty far apart.
We shot ducks each morning. I killed the outfitter's limit of 50 birds in about 1 1/2 - 2 hours each morning. The old guys shot a lot as well, but I never really counted their birds. They claimed to be lifelong duck hunters, but neither seemed all that interested in the birds. I never saw either one of them examine or look closely at all the different species we killed.
In the afternoons we shot pigeons, doves, parrots and perdiz. I killed a beautiful Rio Grand Turkey one afternoon, and the old guys each shot a wild ram. The pigeon shooting was great. A very relaxed way to spend the afternoon shooting. I have never shot many doves in Argentina. Usually the first afternoon I'll shoot 50 just to warm up a little and get ready for the ducks but there are so many that there is no hunting to it, just shooting, and that is really not my thing.
We had one really crazy weather day that year. I was hunting on the edge of about a 100 acre open water lake. Bad luck that the wind was in my face (they have so many ducks down there that they don't have to think things through like we do here in the States.) Anyhow, I noticed the wind was coming up and the waves were hitting my legs right through the front of the little grass blind I was in. After about an hour I noticed my feet were getting a little chilly. I looked down at the water around my feet, trying to be careful where I stepped in the floor (?) of the blind, and noticed that there was ice on my waders. By the time I finished shooting the ice was forming pretty fast and the temperature was dropping fast. While we were driving back to the lodge the wind came up real strong. First time I ever saw tumbleweeds. They were blowing by at Warp 9. By the time we reached the lodge, they had closed the storm shutters and were preparing for a real blow. The wind got up to close to 100 mph and the wind chill must have gone way below zero. We had big fires in both firplaces and it stayed warm in the lodge, but if you put your hand on the concrete, outside walls of the house, they were cold enough that your hand would almost freeze to the wall. That was inside the house! I ventured outside a couple times to have a smoke and it was really rough. They said that wind storms were fairly common in La Pampa, but not in the Winter. After 4-5 hours it all blew out and the weather returned to normal. Took until afternoon the next day for the dust to all settle. Pretty bizarre.
The trip was wonderful. I have made such good friends with the Bird Boys, that they truly seem excited to see me when I arrive at the ranch. We have a good time making fun of all the other hunters. I did miss my old amigo, Jorge. He apparently fell on some hard times and was unable to work with Daniel that season. His replacement as the senior bird boy, Luis, drove me to Jorge's home on the way back to the airport just so we could visit for a few minutes. It seems that I have more friends in Argentina than I do here at home. Hunting and friendship seem to run hand in hand.
The old guys were old. One was crippled and crazy, the other very cantankerous. I didn't enjoy their company very much. But the duck shooting was fabulous. We stayed at Daniel's lodge at Engr Luigi in the La Pampa province. Had an hour and a half ride to the duck marsh each morning. That was a bit much, but he had several different blinds all around a very large lake/swamp. I think there was sort of an irrigation project gone sour. The drought was already in full swing but we had water. The water even seemed to be rising or at the very least steady, while the rest of the country was drying up. I hunted 2 days over flooded soy beans, 1 day in flooded corn, one day on the edge of a large open water part of the lake, and two days out in the middle of a huge natural marsh. All of the locations were on the same body of water, but pretty far apart.
We shot ducks each morning. I killed the outfitter's limit of 50 birds in about 1 1/2 - 2 hours each morning. The old guys shot a lot as well, but I never really counted their birds. They claimed to be lifelong duck hunters, but neither seemed all that interested in the birds. I never saw either one of them examine or look closely at all the different species we killed.
In the afternoons we shot pigeons, doves, parrots and perdiz. I killed a beautiful Rio Grand Turkey one afternoon, and the old guys each shot a wild ram. The pigeon shooting was great. A very relaxed way to spend the afternoon shooting. I have never shot many doves in Argentina. Usually the first afternoon I'll shoot 50 just to warm up a little and get ready for the ducks but there are so many that there is no hunting to it, just shooting, and that is really not my thing.
We had one really crazy weather day that year. I was hunting on the edge of about a 100 acre open water lake. Bad luck that the wind was in my face (they have so many ducks down there that they don't have to think things through like we do here in the States.) Anyhow, I noticed the wind was coming up and the waves were hitting my legs right through the front of the little grass blind I was in. After about an hour I noticed my feet were getting a little chilly. I looked down at the water around my feet, trying to be careful where I stepped in the floor (?) of the blind, and noticed that there was ice on my waders. By the time I finished shooting the ice was forming pretty fast and the temperature was dropping fast. While we were driving back to the lodge the wind came up real strong. First time I ever saw tumbleweeds. They were blowing by at Warp 9. By the time we reached the lodge, they had closed the storm shutters and were preparing for a real blow. The wind got up to close to 100 mph and the wind chill must have gone way below zero. We had big fires in both firplaces and it stayed warm in the lodge, but if you put your hand on the concrete, outside walls of the house, they were cold enough that your hand would almost freeze to the wall. That was inside the house! I ventured outside a couple times to have a smoke and it was really rough. They said that wind storms were fairly common in La Pampa, but not in the Winter. After 4-5 hours it all blew out and the weather returned to normal. Took until afternoon the next day for the dust to all settle. Pretty bizarre.
The trip was wonderful. I have made such good friends with the Bird Boys, that they truly seem excited to see me when I arrive at the ranch. We have a good time making fun of all the other hunters. I did miss my old amigo, Jorge. He apparently fell on some hard times and was unable to work with Daniel that season. His replacement as the senior bird boy, Luis, drove me to Jorge's home on the way back to the airport just so we could visit for a few minutes. It seems that I have more friends in Argentina than I do here at home. Hunting and friendship seem to run hand in hand.
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