Texas Hunting Forum

6,704 doves killed in one day

Posted By: dune2218

6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/18/16 02:53 AM

I"m sure lots of you have hunted in Argentina by now,,,, if you haven't, this is how it looks. Notice, they dont fly from one direction to another, just helter skelter,, ALL DAY LONG. There is never a 5 minute break,,, they just come and come. We hunted 3 or so hours in the morning and again in the afternoon. They DONT pick up the birds, your bird boy reloads your gun and has a clicker in his hand to count the birds you kill. At dinner they passed around the tally sheet. I am posting a pic of that, some will find it incredible. I scratched out names. When we left on Sun. another group was arriving,,, from what I could tell they do this for 4 or 5 straight months. I still cant understand why they never run out of birds.

birds in the air in Argentina

Posted By: rickym

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/18/16 03:07 AM

Couple of you seriously put the smack down on em cheers
Posted By: skinnerback

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/18/16 03:14 AM

Pretty amazing.
Posted By: ImTheReasonDovesMourn

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/18/16 03:26 AM

That's unreal. Y'all put the smack down.

David needs to take up quilting though. eeks333
Posted By: dune2218

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/18/16 03:35 AM

I"ll post these pics also,,, here is the lunch table, not exactly roughing it--------- and the guard tower,,,, also 6 or 8 guys with military weapons guarded the perimeter every night,,, ,there are bandits there.


Posted By: Mankussm

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/18/16 03:42 AM

Thats pretty cool. You said that they dont pick up the birds. Does that mean that you pick them up at the end of the day?
Posted By: dune2218

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/18/16 03:49 AM

NO one picks them up-------- just leave them ----- to be honest it is almost sickening, we were in the middle of nowhere and no one to give the birds to. Just not what we are used to here.
Posted By: Pitchfork Predator

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/18/16 12:38 PM

Originally Posted By: skinnerback
Pretty amazing.
Posted By: Western

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/18/16 12:43 PM

eeks333
Posted By: Nogalus Prairie

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/18/16 12:58 PM

Leaving the birds there to rot is not cool, any way you slice it.
Posted By: rtp

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/18/16 12:58 PM

I went with some buddies back in February and other than the security detail out hunt was just as you described. Man it was a blast. I shot over 1000 both of the full day hunts. Our bird boys did pick up a lot of the birds at the end of each hunt but there were lots left in the field as well. My neck hurt form keeping it on a swivel during the hunts.
Posted By: krmitchell

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/18/16 01:18 PM

Originally Posted By: dune2218
I"ll post these pics also,,, here is the lunch table, not exactly roughing it--------- and the guard tower,,,, also 6 or 8 guys with military weapons guarded the perimeter every night,,, ,there are bandits there.





I bet it is sure fun in that tower during an electrical storm.....heck the climb up there looks brutal. Neat trip.
Posted By: blackcoal

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/18/16 01:22 PM

Would be interested in seeing a break down of approximate costs for 2-3 day hunt.
Posted By: TxsHunter99

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/18/16 01:25 PM

I'm glad you posted this is a way, I took quite an interest in dove hunting in Argentina after a buddy of mine mentioned he booked a trip, but now that I see what goes on there I won't be making that trip..
Posted By: Elkhunter49

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/18/16 01:36 PM

In many places in South America these are crop depredation hunts to minimize the damage the millions and millions of dove to local crops each year.
Posted By: SnakeWrangler

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/18/16 01:45 PM

I don't think I would want to shoot that much........I'd be unable to use my right arm for a month.....
Posted By: poisonivie

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/18/16 01:47 PM

What Elkhunter said. Why yall think there are so many to shoot? You're doing a huge service for them. Lots of yall shoot hogs and leave them lay.
Posted By: rtp

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/18/16 02:09 PM

Originally Posted By: poisonivie
What Elkhunter said. Why yall think there are so many to shoot? You're doing a huge service for them. Lots of yall shoot hogs and leave them lay.


Yep. We were there in the off time and could have shot all day long without a 5 minute break if we wanted to. Driving north out of Cordoba for 2 hrs and it is nothing but crops for as far as you can see in every direction other than a couple of small towns along the way. The amount of doves, are insane. Tons of crop damage just like our feral hogs.
Posted By: CRAnderson52

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/18/16 02:10 PM

Bruce is a bad dude!
Posted By: Nogalus Prairie

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/18/16 02:20 PM

Originally Posted By: Elkhunter49
In many places in South America these are crop depredation hunts to minimize the damage the millions and millions of dove to local crops each year.


That sheds a different light. Hope that's the way it worked.
Posted By: Black02z28

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/18/16 05:07 PM

My old man went this past year and we are going this year, I'm pretty pumped up about it.

He melted a vent rib off a shotgun last year.
Posted By: SniperRAB

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/18/16 05:16 PM

Originally Posted By: Elkhunter49
In many places in South America these are crop depredation hunts to minimize the damage the millions and millions of dove to local crops each year.



This ^^^^^
Posted By: dune2218

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/18/16 05:18 PM

cost ---- I cant give you a breakdown, but in general, flying out of DFW to Buenos Aries, spent 2 days there, then fly to somewhere else,, I dont remember where, spent 3 days at the hunting camp (or whatever you call it) and back to DFW ---- total cost was around $9,000.
Posted By: PMK

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/18/16 05:29 PM

Originally Posted By: dune2218
cost ---- I cant give you a breakdown, but in general, flying out of DFW to Buenos Aries, spent 2 days there, then fly to somewhere else,, I dont remember where, spent 3 days at the hunting camp (or whatever you call it) and back to DFW ---- total cost was around $9,000.

but you didn't bring any dove home?
Posted By: Sand_Fly

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/18/16 05:34 PM

Argentina is truly amazing. I went with a group 7 or 8 back in 2006. In 4 and a half days the group totaled just over 65,000 dove. It was a slow day if you shot 400-500 and most averaged 1500-3000 per day. My trip total was 10,040 and that was taking it easy on the last day. We went in may while it was hot here and winter down there. We even hunted while it was snowing one day. Until you go, nobody believes what it is like there.
Posted By: dune2218

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/18/16 05:34 PM

NO,,, didnt bring any doves home, but I did lie to my wife and tell her the total trip was around $4000.
Posted By: poisonivie

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/18/16 05:37 PM

Dang sure couldn't hide 5 grand from my wife.
Posted By: dogdown23

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/18/16 05:38 PM

For 9k I'll set up multiple trap stations and let you shoot all day with no 5 minute breaks.... same difference as shooting hundreds upon hundreds of birds and just leaving them lay. I'll even cook whatever you want and set up on my barn to watch for bandits...
Posted By: Nogalus Prairie

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/18/16 05:44 PM

Yeah I've had several invites but all I could think of is that's a couple of pronghorn hunts, a good elk/mule deer hunt, or half a sheep hunt.

Some guys love their bird hunting though.
Posted By: rtp

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/18/16 05:54 PM

Originally Posted By: Nogalus Prairie
Yeah I've had several invites but all I could think of is that's a couple of pronghorn hunts, a good elk/mule deer hunt, or half a sheep hunt.

Some guys love their bird hunting though.


This was my thinking for years. I just wanted to do the other stuff before doing that. Another opportunity presented itself and I decided at 52 years old, I would go ahead a check it off the bucket list. My wife thought I should take my two adult sons along, so they went as well. That made it even better. Getting to do something like that with them will be a forever memory for me. Neither of my sons care for deer hunting of any type but love to bird hunt so it was a real easy decision for me this past time. I was never one to give my kids anything, they always had to "earn" the things they wanted. Now that they are off on their own, doing well and making their way in life, it was time to give them something.
Posted By: Nogalus Prairie

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/18/16 05:59 PM

Sounds good. Nothing like making memories with the kids.
Posted By: jrgocards

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/18/16 08:51 PM

I think some of the outfitters pick up the birds and give them to farmers to feed to hogs.

JR
Posted By: jmac24

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/19/16 03:44 PM

There were about a half dozen hogs actually eating the doves as they fell for about 3 hours, they cleaned the place up. As we were told, either shoot them or the farmers will poison them, there are that many down there and they have multiple hatches each year. We hunted a roost area one evening and by the time we left, there were so many doves in there they looked like leaves on a tree.
We have been going about every 3-4 years and last time our hunt was $2,500, shell bill was about $2,000 at $10 a box, flight was about $2,000 plus a night in Buenos Aries. Probably totaled about $8,000.
Posted By: SniperRAB

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/19/16 03:55 PM

Its a good time for sure up


Don't want to shoot a Shotty for a few days when you return rofl
Posted By: Texas Tatonkas

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/20/16 02:29 AM

It's easy for us to pass judgements on other countries and how they handle hunting or killing their game. Its funny how sometimes without knowing all the facts, people will get all up in arms because it is different from what they are used to. You provided a bunch with your trip in my opinion......economic help to some folks down there, did some pest and crop control, and made some memories. Sounds like you did good to me. cheers
Posted By: pighuntingguide

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/20/16 03:34 AM

Heading to Argentina this summer for a Dove hunt and fishing trip. Looks amazing for sure!
Posted By: J.G.

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/20/16 04:50 AM

So it's a prairie dog town in the sky.
Posted By: SniperRAB

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/20/16 12:45 PM

Originally Posted By: Texas Tatonkas
It's easy for us to pass judgements on other countries and how they handle hunting or killing their game. Its funny how sometimes without knowing all the facts, people will get all up in arms because it is different from what they are used to. You provided a bunch with your trip in my opinion......economic help to some folks down there, did some pest and crop control, and made some memories. Sounds like you did good to me. cheers



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ up cheers
Posted By: PMK

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/20/16 12:56 PM

Originally Posted By: SniperRAB
Originally Posted By: Texas Tatonkas
It's easy for us to pass judgements on other countries and how they handle hunting or killing their game. Its funny how sometimes without knowing all the facts, people will get all up in arms because it is different from what they are used to. You provided a bunch with your trip in my opinion......economic help to some folks down there, did some pest and crop control, and made some memories. Sounds like you did good to me. cheers



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ up cheers

yep, I have always heard about the incredible dove hunting down there and the numbers were mind boggling ... I always wondered how in the heck one could transport thousands of birds back home to the freezer. Guess I now know.
Posted By: poisonivie

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/20/16 02:08 PM

Originally Posted By: FiremanJG
So it's a prairie dog town in the sky.

I can't believe I hadn't thought of that. Good one, JG
Posted By: chital_shikari

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/20/16 02:19 PM

That's crazy...
Posted By: flintknapper

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/20/16 07:41 PM

Good number of Pigeons there too. Some folks opt for a combination hunt. But Dove are the most popular since there are literally millions of them. Tens of millions in some roosting areas alone.

It is estimated that dove consume in excess of 25% of the grain production in some areas. Hence the need to constantly reduce their numbers.

This is isn't 'sport' hunting. It's an effort to reduce an impossible number of depredating birds.
Posted By: Always ready 2 hunt

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/21/16 12:19 AM

Originally Posted By: Texas Tatonkas
It's easy for us to pass judgements on other countries and how they handle hunting or killing their game. Its funny how sometimes without knowing all the facts, people will get all up in arms because it is different from what they are used to. You provided a bunch with your trip in my opinion......economic help to some folks down there, did some pest and crop control, and made some memories. Sounds like you did good to me. cheers


Agree. I went back in 2005 and enjoyed every bit of 16 days and can't wait to go back and take my son some day. The hospitality of B.A., the small communities, ranches up north for dove & duck and down south to Patagonia for Pardee and mixed bag were unforgettable. Food incredible and they like their wine and dancing! The farmers are very appreciative and on my trip birds were picked up by the toe sacks for the ranch/farmhands families and excess delivered to villagers many miles away.

But my how the cost has increased significantly. I went for over two weeks for what people are saying they are spending now for a 3-5 day trip.
Posted By: therancher

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/21/16 12:44 AM

Originally Posted By: dogdown23
For 9k I'll set up multiple trap stations and let you shoot all day with no 5 minute breaks.... same difference as shooting hundreds upon hundreds of birds and just leaving them lay. I'll even cook whatever you want and set up on my barn to watch for bandits...


Lol.

And you wouldn't have done a thing for the ag industry in Argentina. Letting varmints feed buzzards isn't a bad thing.

Plus, the trip to Argentina is pretty awesome I hear.
Posted By: KCH

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/21/16 03:32 PM

Back in my prior life when I made more money I looked into this, say around 02 or 03. Seemed like it was about $5 to $6k down and dirty. Guess like everything else its gone up. I know some guys that have done it and they say Argentina is a really cool place.
Posted By: poisonivie

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/21/16 03:37 PM

I know several that have gone and none said they didn't enjoy it.
Posted By: redfred

Re: 6,704 doves killed in one day - 04/22/16 08:23 PM

A couple of friends of mine went a couple of years ago and they said that while they were shooting, there were about a dozen young boys running out in the fields and retrieving the birds. They would take them back to their village and the doves were dinner for the whole village.
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