Off to Argentina again

[Rapier]

Just put my deposit in the mail for a June trip to Argentina. We will be going down for a week long Dove and Piegon shoot. This trip we will be going to a new location in the mountains west of Cordoba. Looking forward to the week of winter in Argentina and the nice folks.

I will be carrying my Browning 525 guns, 12 and 20ga. The guns are named Sandman I and Sandman II.
Ed

[Nulle]

Shoot some pics while your there so the unlucky rest of us can see the fun.

[Rapier]

Will do.

In the mean time, enclosed is a photo I took of the sunrise in Argentina, with doves coming from the roost area. Every dot is a dove. If you save the photo and then enlarge it, look right over the top of the grass. The camera can not take in what your eyes see, thousands, upon thousands, upon thousands of birds in the air at once, coming towards you like a gray cloud.

There is a valley outside Aryeto where you can stand on a hill and watch the birds below you returning to roost in the afternoon, across the valley. They look just like cloud after cloud moving across the valley in huge flocks.
Ed

[Nulle]

Wow unreal ! That would be a great trip and shoot

[Rapier]

As promised a couple of photos from Argentina of the pigeon shoot. We did not do any piles of pigeons or piles of shells, just a few pictures. I am sending a photo of the birds in the air and a dead bird for viewing. Decoyed pigeon shooting involves smaller numbers.

When a flock of birds flew in, if you were shooting an O/U, you just got two shots and before you could reload they were gone.

The area where we were is about 3,000 ft altitude between the Andes Mts and the Sierra Cordoba (7,000 ft), a real big flat valley. They figured out how to irrigate the land 6 years ago and now with grain crops, the bird population has exploded.

The first photo is of speckled wing piegons in a normal small group.
Ed

[Rapier]

This is a speckled wing on the ground.

[Dom]

Interesting Ed, thanks for sharing. Looks like you had a great time. I woldn't mind doing that some day either, Waidmannsheil, Dom.

[Rapier]

This is a better picture of the flocks that would fly in.

[YoungBuck14]

If you don't mind Rapier, would you keep a decently close count on the expenses you spend on the hunt and while down there so those of us who would like to go could get a good idea how much it would cost us totally in the end. This could be interesting to see.

[Rapier]

Cory,
I will check my records at my office and give you a very close number. I keep record of all of my expenses except the meals going and coming in the airports.

Right now I would say about $6,000 tags, tax and dealer prep.
Ed

[Rapier]

Corey,
The total was 5,572.70 plus the duty free store (3 bottles of refreshment) and meals at the airports about $200. That would be about 5,800.

The numbers are like this
Air = 1461.70
Outfitter 5 D, 6 N = 2795
Permits = 156
Tax = 60
Shells & tips 1100

To shoot pigeons anything like this somewhere else would require a trip to South Africa which would be 10 more hours in the air both ways and cost about 7,500. So the trip to Argentina is not so bad, but..... there is always a but...... My best day in SA last year was 1,750 shells.

I always buy enough refreshment for the group to share and for some to be left as a gift to the housekeeper. Serento Ameretto is a favorite in Argentina for the ladies. I serve one round, on our last night, as part of a toast, then give the remainder to the head of the house staff. Always results in a big smile and wide eyes..... For Me?
Ed

[grayghost]

Sounds like you had a great trip Rapier!