Over the past 7-8 years I have tried my best to work off my bucket list hunts. Some are small things, others are a good bit larger. Some will be things I may only get to put on the list, but they are a type of goal for me. Some people enjoy hunting turkeys in SC, others enjoy deer hunting a certain way, for me, it is the experience of hunting animals I’ve never had the opportunity to chase. Some maybe never again. Just being at a place you’ll never be again puts things in to perspective for me a little.
Argentina has become a location that has provided me great opportunity to work off some of those hunts while also becoming a very comfortable planning experience. Each time I go, I’m more comfortable, because I learn more about the culture, travel logistics, and the people.
I decided after my duck/dove hunt in Argentina last August, that I probably wanted to go ahead and work on a Red Stag hunt, while the knowledge and experience of Argentina was fresh on my mind. I kicked around burning my Elk or Mule deer points, but I’m really trying to hold out for better than I could draw right now. That made the decision for me to chase stag, as long as I could swing the money portion.
I started scouring the internet looking for reviews, lodges, and references. I spoke to folks that had been and spoke to folks that sold hunts. My wife and I went to Dallas to the safari club show and checked in on the Houston Show. I narrowed my lists down to 3-4 folks and started to get pretty serious on placing a deposit with whichever one was had the best dates available at roughly the same accommodating deal. Right before placing the deposit with a group, I followed an auction at the Houston Safari show from one of my finalists. I placed an opening bid and won the hunt with no other bids coming in. It worked out better than I could have imagined. I was able to get a hunt for a Free Range Stag for a hunter and a wild boar for another, which meant my wife could tag along and be covered for less than I could have expected.
We talked with the outfitter and I was able to secure April 1-5 for this year during the Roar. We booked our flights and got everything lined up for the hunt, and we were sitting perfect for everything.
Then the Tuesday before our Friday flight happened. My Dad had not been feeling extremely well for a few days, but nothing seemed too alarming. About 11pm Tuesday night, he called me and said he needed to go to the hospital, he was having chest pains. An hour later we are in the hospital hooked up to the EKG machine and blood test showing he had a heart attack. The next 2 days follow with tests, heart angioplasty, and a recovery window that is a little slower than normal. Everything considering he comes out extremely lucky and prognosis is great. As Friday morning rolls around though, he is still waiting to be discharged, and at this point I’m not sure if I will get on a plane 8 hours later or not. After getting him home and talking to him and my mom, my wife and I decide to go ahead and go. I felt a little uneasy about it, but with my mom and my sister watching everything he does, there wasn’t much else I could do. We go ahead and jump on a plane in Charleston to Buenos Aires via that shithole that is Miami.
Flight to Buenos was pretty uneventful other than the note that American Airlines flights are way more crowded than the Latin American brands. The leg room is piss poor, service is marginal, and food is terrible.
We had a near 36 hour layover in Buenos and we stayed at a hotel I have stayed at in the past. We grabbed room service for lunch and caught the best nap of my life. Ate dinner in the hotel restaurant that is da bomb. The dollar is strong versus the peso, so all of our meals were less than $65 total with tips.
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Day touring on Sunday took us around Buenos to the Recoleta Cemetery
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Museum
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Little street vendors
Few others
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Sunday night we took the only flight into Santa Rosa at 9:30pm. We were met at the airport by one of the guides for the ranch, but the first person I met off the plane was a guide from one of the other ranches I considered. He recognized me from Dallas. Small world, even 6,000 miles away from home.
One hour drive into the lodge. I unpacked everything and checked my bow and everything looks ok. We are in the bed at 1am for a 6am call.
Up at 6am and have a quick bite, shoot my bow twice at 20 and 30, and meet our guide Bob. Bob is from Montana and would fit in very well on this site.
We head out just at daylight and start walking. Stags are roaring in the dark and the first morning is fantastic. We see three or four stags that roar and we try to intercept over the next 2 hours. Each one either has a hind, isn’t a shooter, or we can’t sneak in on.
Couple of the 1st morning pics.
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We head back in around 11 to the lodge for lunch and to formulate a plan. The afternoon gets to be like 84 degrees and it is bone dry, so we make the call to head to a water hole for the evening.
The blinds they have set up are pretty awesome compared to what I am used too. Nice removable windows, insulation, carpeted floors. All this setup over a waterhole in the bottom of what they call a Piccata. Basically fire breaks that run for a mile and have been planted for the animals.
We setup and saw a good number of hinds and little ones come in. About 6pm a pretty good stag comes into the waterhole to drink with his girlfriend. His bad.
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He went 200yds and piled up. It’s not my biggest “trophy” with the bow, but under the circumstances, my coolest.
Arrow was spot on, but I did not get a pass through. Very little blood in fact, he bled in the chest cavity. Shot was 40 yards on the button, arrow was 475 grains, blade was Rage Hypodermic 2”. I had both slick tricks and the hypos in the quiver. I have seen great stuff on the hypodermics and the guide praised them from his experience on elk. I got 18” of penetration and need ~20” to get pas through on a stag. On this animal it made no difference as he was smoked, but I won’t shoot 2” hypodermics on anything over a deer again. 1.5” maybe, but probably back to the tricks. Blade hit a rib bone flush on both sides, and didn’t make it out. 20 yards or slipping a rib and I’m sure I’d have said they were the best ever.
Got some pics and head in for a great meal and a few whiskeys. Day 1 over.
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