My brief time in Argentina makes me glad the similarities between them and us end at population density and natural resources. Their politics and economy are wacky to put it politely....... Despite that Buenos Aires left a favorable impression on me and I'm actively lobbying my father to return on a hunting trip with me.
Back to this trip.
Met the guide this morning, picked up my firearms permit (good for life) and headed out of Stanley. Spent an hour dusting up the truck and chatting about hunting and life on the islands.
First stop: ducks. They have a teal that we were after. Its small, brown.... and crafty! Damn flighty nervous thing. We slopped around in a couple rivers trying to jumpshoot them and although there were plenty around I only had one shot within range. A little hunting humility never hurt anyone.
I did however see one of the most incredible double rainbows of my life. The ends touched the ground within 50m of me- just amazing!
Second stop: Goose Green. Is where the Argentines locked up all the farmers for a month during the war. I ordered the double breakfast and got lamb chops as one of the options. Delicious!
Third stop: Reseeded fields that the farmers have goose problems on. This wasn't exactly the most challenging hunting I have done in my life..... The geese were determined to eat the fresh green grass (the ONLY green thing I have seen the whole week I have been here and I've driven 2/3 of the east island). I was given a box of ammunition and told to take it all.
The wind had come up (and the wind here is legendary, being in the 'furious fifties' of the southern ocean) so the geese would hold, take off into wind and then circle downwind like a rocket! I shot enough geese to be thankful for the Comfor Tech Plus recoil reduction stock.
Being a plague to the farmers it felt good to give back a little. We stopped a couple times to take care of our downed birds and then got back to work.
Fourth stop: Rabbits. We moved off into the tall grass to mop up some geese and get onto my favorite, rabbit. More precisely here: hare. Crossing a couple fields we kicked up nothing but saw lots of sign. I was keen, ready and hopeful but all I got was a nice walk with a gun. OK, this is hunting, not grocery shopping so I was still happy. We spotted some geese and put a stalk on them (goose hunting with no camo, blind, decoys or calls is like big game hunting with a shotgun) and as I shot a goose a rabbit jumped out of his hole to see what was going on. Bad move..... The nail that sticks up gets hammered down! It turned out to be a big buck and holding him by the legs his nose dragged on the ground.
Fifth stop: turnips. Yes, turnips. I had the rabbit fever going and they are known to hammer the turnip fields but we only saw one and I doubted a 100m shot would be effective or ethical so let him go.
Home by 1830h, back to work by 1900h. A guy has to pay for the hunting somehow!
For the curious, the whole day was 320GBP. That includes the firearms permit, lunch, snacks, ammunition, shotgun rental and the guide. Worth every penny (farthing? pence? quid?)!!! To be honest though I think I need to spend some time and money on my shotgun shooting though. Its amazing how taking some time off can really make a guy rusty quick.
Photos once I"m back into reasonable internet. The data caps and bandwidth restrictions here are enough to make you weep or poor or both.
