DIY Patagonia Red Stag

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Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Apr 20, 2020
Messages
110
Hi All,

We have all heard about estancias in Argentina, and both estate and DIY options in New Zealand. Does anyone know if it is possible to DIY public land hunt red stags in Patagonia, either on the Chilean or Argentine side? I saw a comment about auctions for hunts in the National Park near Bariloche, but are those available for non-resident aliens without a guide? I ask because Patagonia is way cheaper than NZ for flights, food, car rental, etc.
 

JoshB94

FNG
Joined
Dec 30, 2020
Messages
32
Following. Red stag in 3 continents is my life hunting goal and public for all would be awesome.
 
OP
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Ultraheight

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Apr 20, 2020
Messages
110
Hi All, apologies, other priorities have come up in the last few months. I wanted to chime in that I haven't forgotten about this thread, I am still slowly working on it, but it's hard going. Understandably, any locals I know or meet during this process that know anything about stag hunting try to set you up with their buddy who is a guide, who charges 3-5k. My ideal scenario currently is to find a rancher who will let me camp out (no services needed), take 1 stag, and stay for a week or two, paying $500-1500 in trespass fee. I know it's out there, but the leg work is insane on this. It needs to be a ranch that has stags, but doesn't have a hunting lodge leasing or operating on it. Additionally, it's not like every valley in Patagonia has stags, they are in certain areas and not in others. Sometimes the difference of a few miles in the same altitude, terrain, and habitat can mean lots of deer, or literally no deer. Also you need to find a ranch that has some open country on it with timber, because you cannot hunt pure timber down there, it's just too thick.

The other important thing to know is that you can't really hunt the public ground down there with two exceptions. There are lottery hunts in the national parks, but require some sort of guide service to be hired to go with you $$$. There is an interesting option I have been looking at down near Lago Fontana, Argentina, which has a good stag population and some sort of public access allotment on ranches, but it's a hard nut to crack because it's super rural, not a lot of English spoken, limited internet access, and even finding contact info for people to figure how it works is hard.

The other difficulty is regulations, it's very hard to understand if you can bring a firearm into either Chile or Argentina if you are not sponsored by an outfitter. I think the best hope is probably an archery hunt, because bow importation is not restricted. Honestly, I can't even tell from the regulations if either Argentina or Chile allow unguided hunting by foreigners! They don't have a big game brochure or anything like that laying around the internet.

Please add any info you have found out and good luck!
 

jzeblaz

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Mar 23, 2012
Messages
278
Location
Santa Rosa, CA
Hey guys,

I just returned from NZ and didn't pull the trigger on a stag! I took a pretty nice Tahr and a red hind. Can't see myself not returning to NZ as it was amazing country. The stag I saw weren't wild or public land and reminded me of some whitetail I've seen in Texas. Impressive nonetheless. My hunting partner took a Tahr and a nice Fallow buck too. Wife took her first animal, a red hind. Successful trip and got what I hoped for in adventure and meat.
 
OP
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Ultraheight

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Apr 20, 2020
Messages
110
Folks still following this thread? I am potentially organizing a trip next spring (our spring, their rut) to Argentina to an estancia that is low-cost, high success, for a semi-guided hunt. The more hunters, lower the cost for everybody
 
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