The first picture is the birds from a morning's hunt 9 April 2008 with my guide in Argentina, Ranch Salvaje. We shot about 2500 birds this morning, and totaled 14,000 over three days. The link is to the guy's website here in the USA, Roger. He makes all the arrangements with the guide. Roger is a retired dentist and does this because he likes Daniel, the guide. If you are interested call Roger, if he seems full of crap he is, he is hilarious. I have been on several trips with him, and have come to really like him. If something he tells you seems like he is playing it up, it is the truth. It took me a while to get past him being a Yankee, but I have forgiven him. He got to the South as quickly as he could.The video is an afternoon hunt on Monday April 7, 2008. The biggest problem is having the self control to look down and load your gun. There are so many birds you just go on overload. I would load one shell and shoot, instead of loading the gun. OH, there he is, boom. OH, there he is, boom, etc., etc., 2000 times a day. You see a bird fall in frame to my left, but most are pretty far out. The ground is littered with the dead, and they just keep coming. There are about 15 million birds in this roost. They make 41,000 new doves each day. The only thing that keeps them in control is the occasional outbreak of disease. But that is another post as well.
I am shooting a Benelli Super Black Eagle 2. I had Johnny at Active Camo Products add the magazine extension tube and a large slide release paddle. You can just slap it to close the breach. He also redid the factory camo as bug spray and gun scrubber ate all the camo off. You can probably get a good gunsmith to sort this out for you. If not, call Johnny, or Briley. Both do great work.
I do not like hunting doves with the extended tube, the gun is too heavy, but it is the shit for ducks and geese. Argentina only, it is not allowed in the US, except for sky carp (snow geese). I prefer to hunt with 2 guns and have the bird boy load while I shoot. It saves your thumb, as it gets torn up stuffing shells in the gun. I never had a problem with my shoulder. I will cover guns in detail later. The slide release modification is a must. 2 identical guns are also a must, so if something breaks parts are interchangeable.
The most remarkable thing is that I have never seen another group of hunters when I am there. This is very different than hunting in Cordoba, which is about 450 km northwest of the area our outfitter has his lodge. Cordoba is a regular circle jerk of hunters, most of which you do not know, fewer of which you would want to be near with a gun.
This last picture is of a dove being relieved of his worldly troubles. You will notice the ejected shell falling, and the dove doing a back flip about 25 yards out. I eventually put in a full choke and only shot the birds at 50 yards or more. You can really work out a 75 yard shot this way.Well, that is all for now. I will dive into guns, outfitters, places, and good eating as I go on.
Until then remember:
Butt, belly, beak, BOOM!
Butt, belly, beak, BOOM!
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1 comment:
We had a great time in April. Abbe killed a lot of dove - his 3rd or 4th trip to Argentina but first hunting trip. Mark and his buddy Mike missed their flight - long story, but finally made it a day later. They had never seen so many birds in one place. Two buddies of ours from our duck lodge who no one thought could be "over" hunted (i.e. unable to continue hunting) actually stopped hunting the last day. My game was to shoot only double or triple shots - if I could not kill 2 or 3 birds with one shot, I did not shoot. You had to "be the birds" and be one with your gun to do it successfully. I actually shot more birds than I used shells.
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