I'll give this another try again this year. Does anyone know a place that I can hunt Chachalacha? I'm not looking for a hot barrelled hunt. I'd be happy to just bring one home for taxidermy. Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated.
Greg
You will need to be south of Raymondville or Rio Grande City. Chacalacas are not good upland birds. They don't hold for dogs, are slow fliers and favor heavy, heavy brush. The are dark meat. You might try the folks at El Canelo ranch in Raymondville. They run a guided quail operation but are in an area with chacalaca habitat and might be able to put you on some. They become backyard birds and will come to feeders in homes near heavy brush in Brownsville/Harlingen area. If you can find some rural areas with brushy undeveloped rescacas (oxbow lakes) you can find chacalacas. However, lots of people consider them sort of pets and will
not allow access to them. BTW--you know that jungle bird call you almost always hear in movie soundtracks? They are almost always chachalacas tho they are not a jungle bird, they like arid thorn scrub. Often they will run on the ground through spiny scrub a ways before flying into larger trees and flying from tree to tree. One way find them is to listen for them calling in early morning, especially on overcast days.