Sporting Gun UK – May 2019

Great subscription deals at http://www.sportinggunsubs.co.uk MAY 2019SPORTING GUN 33

IN THE FIELD

Shootingabroad

The lodgings were clean and comfortable

“Itis along

wayto gobut

thequalityof

thesportis

whatmakesit

worthwhile”

youneeda taxiateitherendandtheflight

isexpensive.If youmissa connectionyou

couldmissa day ’sshooting.Wewentfor

cheapestoption– a taxiforsevenhoursata

costof£230betweenus.Thiswas to Santa

Fe.Cordobaisfurther still.

Shootingcosts

A licence,whichisa legal requirement, is

£12.50perday.

• Gun hire: you can bringyour own gun but
  it isa hassleandthere’sanadditionalfee
  fromairline.Thereis£100feetobringit into
  thecountryanda lotofpaperwork.At£30
  perdayfora Beretta 391 (12-or20-bore),
  whichisa goodworkhorseandnoworries
  aboutit breakingdown,shootingit too
  muchorit gettingredhotoverandover.Use
  toyourheart ’scontentandleaveit there.


• Tips for the bird boys are around£25 per
  day,dependingonthelodge. Your host will
  tellyouthegoingrate.


• Day rate includingshooting,boardand
  lodgings,transporttoandfromtheestates,
  threemealsa dayanddrinks.Thiscanvary
  greatly.Wewantedsomewherecleanand
  warmtosleepandourtowelschangedevery
  nowandthen,goodhome-cookedmeals
  andpleasantsurroundings.Wemanagedto
  negotiatejustover£300perdayperperson
  (www.hunting-argentina.com)andwe
  werepleasedwithwhatwasprovided.Our
  contact,MassimoTiezzi,waseasilyavailable
  viaemailandsocial media and helped us to
  plan the trip.

What’s on offer?

Dove

Argentinaiswellknownforitsdoves;small,

fastandanunpredictableflightmakesthem

challenging.Thebirdboysstandyouina

fieldorona hedgeline;theydon’tseemto

seeanyneedfora hide.Youcanshooteasy

onesor40-yardcrossers,thechoiceisyours

andthereisplentytochoosefrom.Santa

Fedoesnothavethesamevolumeofdoves

asCordoba,butCordobadoesnothavethe

volumeofducksasSantaFe.Between 500 to

700 shotsperam/pmsessionwasenoughfor

usandwasa goodtestofourdisciplineand

stamina.Themagical1,000ina daywasn’t

achievedbut we weren’t disappointed.

Duck

Weusuallyleftbeforesunriseat5am.There

wasa shortdrivetotheestatethenouton

a boattowheretheduckswerefeeding.We

shotwadersoverdecoysina hidethatwas

builtontheday.Theduckscameinthick

andfast.Targetspeciesarelocallyknown

aslunaduck,crestona,carcino,gargantilla,

cucharaandcolorado.Therewerealsogeese

andplentifulotherbirds.Asthesunrose

theshootingcontinuedwithanamazing

backdropofa silhouetteofincomingducks.

The quotafor duckswas 30 to 40 per Gun

whenwewent.Itquieteneddownabout

9amto10amwhenwecollectedthebirds

andtookthedecoysin.Wereturnedtothe

lodgeby11amcoffeeandbythetimewehad

downloadedthe ShotKam and GoPro footage

it was time for lunch.

theafternoonsfrom3pm, as it was cooler for

thedogstowork.

Itisa longwaytogoandit isn’tcheap.

Ourtripwasbrokendownintohalf-days;two

perdix,sixdovesandsixduck.Thetotalcost

wasjustover£5,000.Thatworksoutat£3.26

perbird,or£739perdaytoshootonaverage

227 birdstoyourowngun.Itisa bigoutlay

buttheexperienceispriceless.Startsaving!

*Pleasenote that all thesepricesare likely

tovaryfromlodgetolodge.Thesearebased

onourtripinJuly 2018 and an exchange rate

of £1 to $1.2.

Threemealsa

day were included

Thereisnoquotafor

doves in Argentina

Perdix

Walked-upoverpointers,muchlikegrouse,

thequail-likeperdixlivesontheflatplains.

SantaFeisoneofthefewplacesyoucan

shootthem.Thedoggoesonpointasyou

moveintoposition.Thedoggetspushedon

steadilyuntilthereisanexplosionofenergy

infrontofyou.Theperdixisextremely

challenging.Thereisa strictquotaof 10 per

shooter per day. That was enough. We shot in