Happy Friday, friends! I am grateful for this short week, what about you? Mine was extra short, as I was off of work Monday as well… That’s the day we arrived back home from another Argentina Dove Hunting adventure! I returned to the same lodge as before (and before that), returning this time with not only my dad, but my Mr. and father-in-law as well. We had 3 other guys join the 4 of us, and it really made for a fantastic group. I probably heard more “guy trip” talk than I should have, but they kept me in stitches the whole time.
Yes, I would love another beer.
Ahh, on to the hunt. In truth, the dove hunting was slower than the last time I was down there, but “slow” is definitely a relative term. The area recently experienced an crazy amount of rain, leading to flooding that affected the dove population/areas where we hunt. Whereas I easily shot 1100 doves in one day in 2013, I topped out at “only” about 650 in one day during this trip. I know, right? I think I’ll take the 650 over the 15 we get around here! Plus, having to drive an extra 30-45 minutes to a new field gave us an opportunity to see more of the country. Always a plus!
We hunted two half days and two full days, for a total of 6 hunts. That may sound like a ton of shooting, and you’re right. I shot about 105 boxes of shells, and ultimately knocked down more than 1800 birds… And yes, I was sore. And yes, I wanted to stay for several more days and continue to hunt. It still boggles my mind that, after so much shooting, the only thing I wanted to do was take a nap and get right back out there.
Can you tell who taught me to shoot?
We didn’t do the classic “pile of doves and spent shells” photo that so often accompanies these trips, so I don’t have one of those for you today. But, the lodge did send a videographer into the field with us one day to film us shooting (and doves falling). He put together a great video of everyone, so I am thankful to have even better footage than we already got ourselves!
Between his video, and the 35+ GB of footage we got (between 2 GoPros and a regular video camera), I certainly have my work cut out for me in terms of the trip’s video diary. Don’t you worry, though – I am hard at work putting it together for you.
Our time in Argentina really flew by, and we’re left with fantastic photos, videos, and memories. And perhaps a sore shoulder or two. I couldn’t have asked for a more fun trip. All in all, I’d call it quite a success. Such a success, in fact, we’re already looking at our calendars to plan the next Argentinian adventure. The only question is, will we do combo dove/duck hunting, or set our sites on a red stag? Decisions, decisions.
Stay tuned!