DRIVEN
SHOOTING

A large part success has to do with scouting the various areas. All professionals in Argentina are expert at this.

Manuel lives at La Aguada which is a five-bedroom lodge new the town of Villa Del Tortoral. Recently and purposely built this compound includes a large living room with a roaring fireplace, a well stocked open bar, and an adjacent dining room. The food was outstanding and a good variety served by two white glove Butler's. A stone bridge over a small stream runs from the private bedrooms to this dining area. Rooms are all en suite, spacious and comfortable. All in all this is one of the best lodges as that I have visited anywhere. And while it is newly built, old traditional windows and doors were found and purchased and installed to make it feel like an old estancia of the region.

Six miles away is their flagship and original lodge called Posta Del Norte. Originally it was an old stagecoach stop but it has been completely refurbished and built out and now boasts seven bedrooms each with its own fireplace and bathroom. Service is similar in both, In other words outstanding, and both are kept immaculately clean. Octavo Crespo, Manuel's partner, runs this shoot and this house. One of the true beauties of both lodges is that as long as there are four shooters in the party, one can have the house exclusively for ones own group. This means that each shooter has his own private room and bath. I find this a big plus as I actually hate sharing with a stranger as no doubt one or both of us will snore.

From January through March, shooting can be combined with trout fishing in Patagonia. Golden Dorado fishing and duck shooting combinations are also available. All gauges including 410 are available. If I were to shoot this again with my 12 gauge gun I would pre-order very light 24g (7/8th ounce) loads. Doves do not take a lot of killing as they are very small bird. This is the ideal sport for shooting 20 gauge or even 28 gauge guns. Because of the high volume of cartridges shot, this is actually one of the few shoots where I would opt for an autoloader over a fixed breech gun unless I were shooting a 28. They do have shotguns for rent; both Berettas and Benellis which they feel are the only guns reliable enough to handle the thousands of rounds put through them on a daily basis.

While all three days of dove shooting was memorable, and each day was very different from the others, it was the second day shooting in the hills of the roost known as Churqui Canada, located north of a lodge which was my favorite.

The birds went out low on a strong southern wind and came back quite high. And while Some Like It Hot, I prefer my birds tall. It was with these tall doves returning to roost that I really connected.

Standing at the top of the hill with the trees behind to break up my silhouette, gave me good natural camouflage so the birds rarely flared; they did maneuver to their normal zigzagging pattern as they flew. After each box of shells, I would take a break and drink some water from the cooler which the bird boy carried. In addition to carrying the shells, soft drinks, and a clicker for keeping track both of birds killed and shots fired, these amiable, hard working lads would pick up the birds like non-slip retrievers. They were also very good at keeping a fresh and endless supply of shells in one pouch.

I carried only one gun with me on this trip, a 12 gauge Perazzi which was definitely too much gun for the dove, but perfect for the duck and geese which we also shot. Not to beat myself up too much with recoil, I limited myself to 250 cartridges a day. If one were content not shooting at the tallest birds, a tightly choked 410 would also provide a great sport at 25 yard targets.

For those who desire serious pigeon days to complement dove shooting, I recommend a different outfitter in Western Cordoba. Western Cordoba wingshooting is very reasonably priced. Their dove shooting is as good as the traditional areas of Cordoba. Their lodge and accommodation are first rate.