Tbitty
AH fanatic
I'm March of 2022 (yes, this report is LONG overdue), I was fortunate enough to go on a fantastic trip to Argentina for a big game hunt. It was a package hunt bought at an SCI banquet for 2 hunters, 6 days hunting, with 2 Red Stag, 2 blackbuck, and 1 water buffalo. After a couple years of Covid postponement, by brother (Shane) offered me the 2nd spot when the original other hunter could no longer go. Lucky me! The outfitter for this hunt was Terra Pampa by Caichue in the Santa Rosa area and I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for a hunt.
The trip started off with some rough travel, but added to the adventure. Since you're here for the hunt report and not travel details, I will keep it to a simple summary. After delayed flight and entire route change, I met my brother and 1 other hunter, Maximilian, in Buenos Aires and Remi picked us up from the airport. We had a light lunch at Remi's home, did a couple hours of walkabout to explore BA, grabbed some snacks and water for the next leg of the trip, and relaxed with a couple local brews. Then it was on to the boring part, a bus ride to Santa Rosa, where we were met by the head guide, Rodolfo, and had an hour or so drive to the ranch. After 24 hours of airports, airplanes, waiting, bus ride, and transport, we finally were at our hunting destination. It was near midnight and being exhausted from travel, we were offered snacks and drinks, shown our rooms, and agreed to get a good rest before a mid morning breakfast and gather for staff and guide introductions and go through the hunting details. Off to bed we went, equally needing sleep and excited for the hunt to begin.
DAY 1:
After a good night sleep, we gather the next morning around 9am for a light breakfast and to start coordinating the hunt. We meet Chef Leo, who would prepare some amazing meals for us each day. We also met the ranch manager, who would be our primary hunt coordinator and was there to take any requests we had or answer questions. He had each of us 3 hunters pick a rifle from the gun rack (we all rented instead of bringing our own) and gave us a box of ammunition to match. After a rundown of the facilities and general plan for the week, our guides arrived to take us to the shooting range for rifle test fire and with everything on point we elected to do a partial tour of the ranch and get a feel for the land. We found a few herds of blackbuck and water buffalo as we went, plus drove past the cattle pens and working operations there. As an 85,000 acre ranch, we only scratched the surface of the property, but got a good feel for the dunes, the pastures, and the timber areas we would be hunting. We also saw their bird fields with thousands of dove and pigeon, and the 6000 acre high fence area that contained all the "other" game available to hunt.
Back to the lodge for lunch, which turns out is a 3 course feast each day. Follow that with an afternoon R&R period, and then getting the hunting started in earnest for the evening. The ranch is so large, they have it plotted in sections of low fence which allows each hunter/guide to have their own area of many square miles to roam. Rodolfo was my guide for the week, and we were dropped in our area for a spot and stalk session. The Roar was just starting, so we would stop and listen often as we made our way through the timbered terrain. While we didn't see much this first day, we did come across a young 5x4 and watched/listened to him from under 50 yards away for the better part of 15 minutes before backing out and continuing our pursuit of something more mature.
Soon enough the daylight ran low and we made our way back to the pickup point. As we waited for our ride, we listened to some dusk Roars winding down, and had a feral hog come up the roadway.
Back to the lodge, we were able to unwind a little with beer, wine and cocktails, share some stories of our first evening of hunting, and get ready for dinner. As we were awaiting dinner, we were told another group of 3 brothers would be arriving late that evening (much like we had the night before) to complete an overall group of 6 hunters in camp for the week.
They eat late in Argentina, but it was always a 3-4 course dinner with large portions, and plenty filling. By the time we finished dinner, it was generally time to retire for the night and be ready for the next mornings hunt. However, as the "Dakota boys" arrived shorlty after dinner, we stayed up a little later for introductions and building comraderie. Alas, we headed off to our rooms and prepared for the next morning.
DAY 2:
The next morning, we 3 original hunters woke before the sun, had our breakfast, readied our gear, and our guides met us at the lodge. Off we went to our morning hunt areas. I was in a new spot from the night before, but we had the same approach to the hunt. Unfortunately, it was mostly quiet and we did not see much of anything this outing. We ultimately wrapped up and met the others for pickup and return to the lodge. They'd had a bit more success in seeing some stags and hinds, but no shooters.
At this point, we had some time to kill before lunch, so my brother and I told our guides we wanted to go together to chase blackbuck. They happily accepted our request, so we loaded up in the truck and headed out to the plains and dunes. As we drove along, we would stop and glass different herds searching for a good mature trophy ram. Since this was originally my brother's trip, I deferred to him for first option at shooting. Soon enough we found some shooters, but the open ground and large herds made stalking difficult. After a couple busted attempts, we finally found a group that we could put a hill between ourselves and them before starting the stalk. As we got to the top of the ridge we began a hands and knees crawl- for which I was extremely grateful to have some knee pad inserts in my pants, and good leather gloves to protect myself from the "rosetas" (aka sandburs). As we peeked over the ridge, I stayed a few feet behind and below my brother and his guide, Sixto. They saw the Ram we were after about 200 yards out on another hill. He was facing almost directly towards us, so my brother had a decision to make. Confident in his knowledge of a .308 at 200 yards, and his own ability to make the shot, he elected to give it a go. Up went the shooting sticks, he found his aim, steadied, and took the shot. Being unable to see from my position, I scored the sound of the shot as a hit. I quickly got up and looked to see the blackbuck running up the hill he'd been on and working away from us. Meanwhile, my brother worked the bolt, lined up another shot and touched off a follow up. The result of that shot was unclear, but just a few bounding leaps later, the ram fell and was down dead. We had our first Argentina game on the ground!
Time to get some pictures, load him out, and head back to the lodge for lunch. Turns out it was a dead center heart shot, but the ram was able to use his last bit of life and adrenaline to run about 50-100 yards uphill from where the shot first hit him.
Back at the lodge, we showed off the trophy before it was taken to the skinning shed. Another hearty lunch, and spend the early afternoon relaxing as we waited for the evening hunting session. Some of the hunters napped, others talked and played cards or dice games. Wine and cervesas flowed in moderation, until soon it was time to gear up and go again.
The evening hunt yielded no substantial results. A few various sightings, the Roar seemed to be picking up a little more, and even with no shots taken, we all enjoyed our hunting time. Eventually we all made it back to the lodge again for more stories, both of the hunts and in getting to know more about each other in our hunting camp. Without having planned it, we managed to have 6 hunters come together in camp, all about the same age (roughly 30-35) that quickly became a group of friends. It would make for a phenomenal week of comraderie that went far beyond just the hunting.
The trip started off with some rough travel, but added to the adventure. Since you're here for the hunt report and not travel details, I will keep it to a simple summary. After delayed flight and entire route change, I met my brother and 1 other hunter, Maximilian, in Buenos Aires and Remi picked us up from the airport. We had a light lunch at Remi's home, did a couple hours of walkabout to explore BA, grabbed some snacks and water for the next leg of the trip, and relaxed with a couple local brews. Then it was on to the boring part, a bus ride to Santa Rosa, where we were met by the head guide, Rodolfo, and had an hour or so drive to the ranch. After 24 hours of airports, airplanes, waiting, bus ride, and transport, we finally were at our hunting destination. It was near midnight and being exhausted from travel, we were offered snacks and drinks, shown our rooms, and agreed to get a good rest before a mid morning breakfast and gather for staff and guide introductions and go through the hunting details. Off to bed we went, equally needing sleep and excited for the hunt to begin.
DAY 1:
After a good night sleep, we gather the next morning around 9am for a light breakfast and to start coordinating the hunt. We meet Chef Leo, who would prepare some amazing meals for us each day. We also met the ranch manager, who would be our primary hunt coordinator and was there to take any requests we had or answer questions. He had each of us 3 hunters pick a rifle from the gun rack (we all rented instead of bringing our own) and gave us a box of ammunition to match. After a rundown of the facilities and general plan for the week, our guides arrived to take us to the shooting range for rifle test fire and with everything on point we elected to do a partial tour of the ranch and get a feel for the land. We found a few herds of blackbuck and water buffalo as we went, plus drove past the cattle pens and working operations there. As an 85,000 acre ranch, we only scratched the surface of the property, but got a good feel for the dunes, the pastures, and the timber areas we would be hunting. We also saw their bird fields with thousands of dove and pigeon, and the 6000 acre high fence area that contained all the "other" game available to hunt.
Back to the lodge for lunch, which turns out is a 3 course feast each day. Follow that with an afternoon R&R period, and then getting the hunting started in earnest for the evening. The ranch is so large, they have it plotted in sections of low fence which allows each hunter/guide to have their own area of many square miles to roam. Rodolfo was my guide for the week, and we were dropped in our area for a spot and stalk session. The Roar was just starting, so we would stop and listen often as we made our way through the timbered terrain. While we didn't see much this first day, we did come across a young 5x4 and watched/listened to him from under 50 yards away for the better part of 15 minutes before backing out and continuing our pursuit of something more mature.
Soon enough the daylight ran low and we made our way back to the pickup point. As we waited for our ride, we listened to some dusk Roars winding down, and had a feral hog come up the roadway.
Back to the lodge, we were able to unwind a little with beer, wine and cocktails, share some stories of our first evening of hunting, and get ready for dinner. As we were awaiting dinner, we were told another group of 3 brothers would be arriving late that evening (much like we had the night before) to complete an overall group of 6 hunters in camp for the week.
They eat late in Argentina, but it was always a 3-4 course dinner with large portions, and plenty filling. By the time we finished dinner, it was generally time to retire for the night and be ready for the next mornings hunt. However, as the "Dakota boys" arrived shorlty after dinner, we stayed up a little later for introductions and building comraderie. Alas, we headed off to our rooms and prepared for the next morning.
DAY 2:
The next morning, we 3 original hunters woke before the sun, had our breakfast, readied our gear, and our guides met us at the lodge. Off we went to our morning hunt areas. I was in a new spot from the night before, but we had the same approach to the hunt. Unfortunately, it was mostly quiet and we did not see much of anything this outing. We ultimately wrapped up and met the others for pickup and return to the lodge. They'd had a bit more success in seeing some stags and hinds, but no shooters.
At this point, we had some time to kill before lunch, so my brother and I told our guides we wanted to go together to chase blackbuck. They happily accepted our request, so we loaded up in the truck and headed out to the plains and dunes. As we drove along, we would stop and glass different herds searching for a good mature trophy ram. Since this was originally my brother's trip, I deferred to him for first option at shooting. Soon enough we found some shooters, but the open ground and large herds made stalking difficult. After a couple busted attempts, we finally found a group that we could put a hill between ourselves and them before starting the stalk. As we got to the top of the ridge we began a hands and knees crawl- for which I was extremely grateful to have some knee pad inserts in my pants, and good leather gloves to protect myself from the "rosetas" (aka sandburs). As we peeked over the ridge, I stayed a few feet behind and below my brother and his guide, Sixto. They saw the Ram we were after about 200 yards out on another hill. He was facing almost directly towards us, so my brother had a decision to make. Confident in his knowledge of a .308 at 200 yards, and his own ability to make the shot, he elected to give it a go. Up went the shooting sticks, he found his aim, steadied, and took the shot. Being unable to see from my position, I scored the sound of the shot as a hit. I quickly got up and looked to see the blackbuck running up the hill he'd been on and working away from us. Meanwhile, my brother worked the bolt, lined up another shot and touched off a follow up. The result of that shot was unclear, but just a few bounding leaps later, the ram fell and was down dead. We had our first Argentina game on the ground!
Time to get some pictures, load him out, and head back to the lodge for lunch. Turns out it was a dead center heart shot, but the ram was able to use his last bit of life and adrenaline to run about 50-100 yards uphill from where the shot first hit him.
Back at the lodge, we showed off the trophy before it was taken to the skinning shed. Another hearty lunch, and spend the early afternoon relaxing as we waited for the evening hunting session. Some of the hunters napped, others talked and played cards or dice games. Wine and cervesas flowed in moderation, until soon it was time to gear up and go again.
The evening hunt yielded no substantial results. A few various sightings, the Roar seemed to be picking up a little more, and even with no shots taken, we all enjoyed our hunting time. Eventually we all made it back to the lodge again for more stories, both of the hunts and in getting to know more about each other in our hunting camp. Without having planned it, we managed to have 6 hunters come together in camp, all about the same age (roughly 30-35) that quickly became a group of friends. It would make for a phenomenal week of comraderie that went far beyond just the hunting.
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