Argentina Dove Hunt

[Riles1050]

Heading to Argentina (Cordoba) on a dove hunt in a few weeks. Any suggestions? Must have's/do's and don'ts?

 

[Mike 338]

I'm no help but it sounds awesome.

 

[Wallace]

I sell dove hunts for a living full time (along with other trips), I lived/guided over there in 2010, and I've hunted there on 5 or 6 different occasions for dove, duck, perdiz, red stag, water buffalo, and fishing.

Spend some time in Buenos Aires before or after your trip, it's a cool city to explore. I like the Palermo and San Telmo neighborhoods myself. For your hunt, you really shouldn't need anything. The lodge should/will have guns, shooting pads, ammo, food/drinks, etc. Weather should be mild, maybe a little chilly in the morning. Bring some pants and a lightweight fleece for the morning, a light rain jacket, shorts for for afternoon hunts. I bring a shell belt with bags so bird boys can just dump shells in when needed. That's not a necessity, they will usually load the gun for you if you want. I do recommend bringing some shooting gloves, or at the least a golf/baseball glove. The barrel will be hot, and your thumb will get worn out if you load the gun yourself. Sunglasses wouldn't hurt. They usually have them, but a converter for your phone charger and electronics is easy and cheap to pick up as well, and you know you will have one then.

Tip your bird boys. They work hard, and basically live off of tips.

Enjoy the trip, it's something every wing shooter should experience at least once in their life. Also, if you like beef, you're in for a treat. If you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer.

 

[Loco4dux]

I second spending time in BA before or after your trip, epic place... good luck and have a great trip. If you have the option one morning or afternoon skip the dove hunt and hunt pigeons or ducks. I hope to make it back someday, it was so much fun It's hard to put into words!!!!!!!!!

 

[Btaylor]

Have a buddy that just got back a couple weeks ago. He shot through 100 boxes of shells for the hunt so gloves for dealing with a smokin gun are a real good idea LOL.

 

[Loco4dux]

^agree shooting gloves are necessary, especially if you are doing your own reloading.

 

[Wallace]

I second spending time in BA before or after your trip, epic place... good luck and have a great trip. If you have the option one morning or afternoon skip the dove hunt and hunt pigeons or ducks. I hope to make it back someday, it was so much fun It's hard to put into words!!!!!!!!!

Pigeon hunting can be good in Cordoba. Problem with that, is that it takes a good bit of scouting to find a good location for a real pigeon hunt (decoying). Most places charge extra for pigeon hunting because of the extra hours to put it together. I wouldn't recommend ducks in Cordoba. There are some, but nothing compared to hunting in Santa Fe, outside of Buenos Aires, and a few other locations. It's a moot point anyways, duck season will not be in full swing when he goes (if he leaves in a couple of weeks).

 

[Riles1050]

Awesome! I'm really excited. Leave March 24th. I'll definitely get the recommended items. I'll be there for 3 days I'm not planning on dove hunting. We fly in and out of Cordoba so I don't know how easy it'll be to get to Buenos Aires but i'll look into. Thanks for the advice again!

 

[SFN2821]

I was in Cordoba a number of years ago.

Another vote for stopping off in Buenos Aires. Find the local lunch spots and you won't be disappointed in the food - unreal. Some of the best cooked beef I've ever had.

When I went there was a mix of 12ga and 20ga. Tons of shooting. I've never seen so many birds in my life. For obvious reasons, go 20ga haha, I was young and the only gun I owned then was a 12ga. I had some impressive bruises.

Agreed on the gloves mentioned above. The sun was brutal on me. Sunscreen helped but having long sleeves and shade with a hat was a welcomed relief. Bring some ear plugs for sure.

 

[quailybirds]

Definitely get some good shooting gloves as others have said. Would recommend shooting something light (28ga or 20ga) just to make it more enjoyable on the third day. Also look into getting a pocket sewn into your shirt for a good pad.

 

[Wallace]

How was the trip?

 

[Riles1050]

How was the trip?

I didn't mention this above but the outfitter we went with was Miles and Miles Outfitters. We all had a great time. The dove hunting was awesome. I ended up shooting around 1500 a day and that was with some restraint for shell cost. Food was unbelievable. Hospitality was impressive. Lodging was gorgeous and extremely well maintained. We didn't make it to Buenos Aires but did stay an extra day and a half in Santiago, Chile which I really enjoyed. Recommendations above helped a lot. Shooting gloves, and shoulder pad were definitely musts for me. Even though my guide took care of all the reloading I still was glad to have shooting gloves on. Here's a few pictures of the trip:

 

[3sdad]

I didn't mention this above but the outfitter we went with was Miles and Miles Outfitters. We all had a great time. The dove hunting was awesome. I ended up shooting around 1500 a day and that was with some restraint for shell cost. Food was unbelievable. Hospitality was impressive. Lodging was gorgeous and extremely well maintained. We didn't make it to Buenos Aires but did stay an extra day and a half in Santiago, Chile which I really enjoyed. Recommendations above helped a lot. Shooting gloves, and shoulder pad were definitely musts for me. Even though my guide took care of all the reloading I still was glad to have shooting gloves on. Here's a few pictures of the trip:

That's a pile of birds! What shotgun and what load did you end up using?

 

[Riles1050]

That's a pile of birds! What shotgun and what load did you end up using?

For the majority of the time I shot a 20 gauge Benelli Montefeltro. Played around with a Beretta over & under for a bit as well

 

[FHPTROOPER]

What does a trip like this cost?

 

[robie]

What does a trip like this cost?

The cost all depends on how much you want to shoot. Ammo is $12-$14 a box depending on 12/20 or 28/410.

He shot 1500 birds. If he did really well on shooting he could have shot 2000 times and had a 75% hit rate.

So 2000 rounds @25 a box or 80 boxes is $960/day just for ammo.

I've seen trips at DU or RMEF banquets go for as cheap as $2000 for 4 guys. Flights $1500 depending on where you are. Tips. $80-100/day. Gun rental $80-140/day.

Those are all ballpark numbers but if you really want to let the lead fly whatever you paid to be there and get there will quickly get passed by how much you spend on ammo.

 

[Riles1050]

What does a trip like this cost?

robie is pretty much right on for what I paid. I went with a group of guys that had mostly all been before. Two of which was their fifth trip out. They said the least they had spent for the entire trip was about 4k, the most was about 7k. (assuming coach flights) Some of that is with the cost of the outfitter, most that variation is on the shells you shoot. The outfitter told me the average hunt for them is a three day hunt, and the average shooter goes through about 45 boxes a day. We paid $13 a box.