# Argentina...WOW (Picture heavy)



## Duckman3000 (Apr 26, 2012)

First I want to introduce myself. My name is Eric Schmidt and I run and own Alive Again Recreations here in Corpus christi. I have two great kids, Brant 7 and Hailey 2. I specialize in waterfowl and upland birds and enjoy travelling around to go after all of the awesome game bird species we have in the world. Recently I had the opportunity to go down to Argentina for an awesome hunt where I did a little bit of everything to full experience what this outfitter had to offer. I'll let the pics do the talking from this point on so hope you guys enjoy them. Any questions please just let me know.

Recently returned from a fantastic hunt in Argentina this week. Same one I made a few posts about earlier in the year here so wanted to let everyone know how it went. Anyone still thinking of making the trip I can certainly say that it's an experience like no other.

First morning was designated for a classic Argentina dove hunt, it was quite amazing to say the least. When they begin the fly you are pass shooting as they coming to feed. You arrive at the fields and set up in a similar fashion to what we do here except they come in waves and waves and waves. Honestly I wanted to experience the dove hunting but not going to set any kind of records so the bird boy looked at me funny when after about 40 doves shot I stopped and walked over to take pictures and video of the other hunter
Clouds of them:









More clouds!









A lot of this happening









That afternoon was to the main event, duck hunting! We hunted a type of flooded marsh that had so many different types of birds on it that you couldn't keep up with everything that was flying around. Much of the hunting was nice because many of the shots were in the 15-30 yard range and were 1-3 birds so you weren't just flock shooting. We shot right at 40 that afternoon of mostly silver teal, brazilian teal, and red shoveler. Some missing in the pic from the one's saved for mounting. 









Day 2 was pretty interesting because we did a decoying pigeon shoot. I really can't express how much fun that ended up being. They back peddle just like ducks and the wild species they have there are just gorgeous birds! Lots of doves as well but didn't want to mess with anything but the main target, pigeons were actually much more difficult to knock down compared to the doves.
Picazuro pigeon









Spot winged pigeon









Total for the hunt we had a pretty impressive bag, certainly a great experience and kept a couple of really stud birds to bring back. Those spinners sucked them in like a magnet, had to see it to believe it but a large number of the below birds were a foot off the ground and couldn't shoot because they were so close to the spinner.









Continued.....


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## Duckman3000 (Apr 26, 2012)

Downloaded a few more pics I wanted to share of the birds themselves plus some bonus pics I think everybody will get a kick out of

From the first day hunt I had to take a pic of these fresh Silver teal as they layed there. Just gorgeous birds and was the most abundant at this particular spot. 









Great Brazilian Teal drake, can't wait to get one of these guys mounted and show off those wings!









At first I didn't know if I wanted to save a Fulvous since I've gotten some here but after we shot a few it became obvious that the one's down there were probably 25% bigger and much more rich in color. Long story short I had to keep one,lol.









The bills on the Rosy bills are pretty cool I think, very distinctive feature on a duck









I doubled on this pair of Speckled teal (male on left), actually a little bigger than I thought they would be, bigger than a blue wing.









A bird that I was not expecting on seeing let alone shooting was the comb duck, not many places have these guys and really most collectors find themselves having to go to Bolivia to collect some, well until they find out about this place!









Not the greatest pic but a nice flock of Comb ducks flying around the special teal pond we hunted. There were several hundred on there for whatever reason, such a cool bird and from a collector standpoint I always love being surprised. 









When we first arrived I was taking pics of ducks flying by and there was one I couldn't tell what it was until I zoomed in with the camera and realized it was a nice Speckled teal that I had been looking for.









Lastly for those who know me I really enjoy rail hunting around here. Very traditional sport that is dying out pretty quick but them being such a challenge to hunt and so few that go after them it makes for a nice trophy at the end of the day. As we were driving back from the first morning hunt I noticed this HUGE rail running up the bank and realized what I had seen. So from that point on I was always on the lookout and since the bird boys were so cool they actually took me around in the boat to hunt some of these guys. Not only are they just enormous but very very colorful as well. I was officially the first client to ever request a rail hunt

















Thanks again for looking,

Eric


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## Duckman3000 (Apr 26, 2012)

After the pigeon hunt we transferred over to the primary duck lodge, after a huge steak for dinner we settled in for the morning hunt and many species to come! The lodge itself is a great comfortable place that is very well kept. Here is where we ate dinner and played on the internet.

















The steaks they cook for you on a regular basis are some of the most tender and tasty one's a person will ever have, it was like an episode of the flintstones!









An open bar is certainly a plus to the experience as well, all kinds of liquor, fine Argentina wine and local beers.









The first morning out brought a great bag of duck species and still shot quite a few ducks even though we were shooting more on the selective side.
Brazilian teal, silver teal, Rosy billed pochard to name a few









One afternoon we wanted to hunt somewhere different to specifically go after the Ringed teal and possibly Speckled teal. So we headed to a large cattle field that was holding maybe 5-6 acres of water and had exactly what we needed!









Nice Red shoveler for good measure, really like those birds for some reason.









After you shoot so many Silvers sometimes it's nice to get a pic or two

















continued...


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## Duckman3000 (Apr 26, 2012)

The last morning we set out to do just a lights out shoot since we had all the species likely to get and was the last actual duck hunt. There they use bait for the birds which doesn't always mean they just pour in because there is so much water available to them but when your in the right spot their using the numbers add up quick!









It's hard to beat the wing of a Brazilian teal, man there were a lot of them down there but no complaints









On the way back it was a great experience to see many of the local children come out from their small homes to grab a few ducks for a good dinner. This little guy in particular was a cute one









Got to see some other things while driving around like Caymen alligators and this big Anaconda laying out to soak up some sun on a cold day









These parrots are just everywhere and boy are they noisy! No wonder they are considered such pests.









The last afternoon had us out to experience hunting Perdiz which is similar to a partridge or large quail here. They have a pointer that does a great job of finding them and since they are mostly found in singles or doubles it makes for a great hunt for a very interesting bird. The majority are the spotted nothura which are about 25% bigger than a bobwhite and very challenging to shoot. Since we were doing more of the collection aspect they took us to another area after we shot a few of the smaller one's to go after the red winged tinamou which is a little bigger than a sharptailed grouse. They aren't as abundant but we were able to find a couple and knock them down. The wings make this guy a pretty attractive bird I think.









After the hunting was over we had it arranged to do a little site seeing in Buenos Aires before we left and do a little shopping for the family. Got to see some of the more famous sites well known for the city









All in all I would recommend people to experience this hunt for so many reasons, if high numbers are your thing you won't be disappointed, if species diversity is your goal I ended up with 15 game bird species which is hard to do in many places. On top of that to go somewhere where you can get fine dining every time you turn around it is literally the icing on the cake!

One thing that really spoke volumes to me is the outfitter I'm using isn't doing the normal overcharging like so many do down there. When arriving at the duck lodge I had noticed it from pictures I had found elsewhere and asked if any other outfitters use it which they do. I was shocked to see that some of the other hunters there through a different outfitter were paying $225 more per person per day for the same lodge/food/hunting that we were. That is one thing I made sure to relay that the price of this hunt stays reasonable so not just a handful of hunters can have the opportunity to experience such a great hunt but many can.

Hope everyone enjoys the pictures and feel free to ask any questions that may pop up. There are only a few places that I would really like to visit again and Argentina is certainly top on that list.

Thanks for looking,

Eric


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## Fishaholic (Jan 9, 2005)

That is awesome looks like yall had a blast.


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## Sounding_7th (Dec 20, 2011)

Looks like paradise. On the bucket list for sure


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## gulfcoast200 (Jun 26, 2004)

Cool pics Eric, cant wait to see some of the mounts when you get done.


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## Chuckwagon (Aug 30, 2006)

Great pics! I'll be down there hopefully by next summer.


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## Duckman3000 (Apr 26, 2012)

Thanks guys! I am excited as can be to do a few mounts from the trip. Doing some customer stuff first to get caught back up then try to fit a couple in there 

Eric


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## chad (Sep 7, 2006)

Nice pics. What lodge did you hunt?


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## Duckman3000 (Apr 26, 2012)

I tried out a couple of lodges to see what was best depending on what somebody was going after. One lodge was in the Santiago del Estero province and the main duck lodge in the Santa Fe province.

Eric


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## panhandle_slim (Jun 1, 2012)

thats awesome. i've wanted to get a bird mounted by you forever. one day


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## Cajun Raider (Jun 15, 2008)

Great pictures. I used to go to Argentina on business and had invitations to go hunting. Was into golf then, what a mistake!


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## crashboatbasin (May 21, 2009)

Great pics .. Thanks


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## WildThings (Jan 2, 2007)

Welcome to 2Cool Eric!!


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## sfotiades (Jun 7, 2009)

Eric what does a trip like that run?


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## JFolm (Apr 22, 2012)

Great write up! Looks like a blast!


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## DuckMendenhall (Nov 5, 2007)

Speckle Teal, Brazilian and Silver Teal on a group mount for sure!!!!


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## Duckman3000 (Apr 26, 2012)

Thanks again everyone! Have really enjoyed this forum for quite some time and glad to be a part of it! Have a good number of fantastic customers on here as well so should be fun. 
sfotiades: The trip is 1,995 for a four day hunt, where if a group was going to the main duck lodge they would not only shoot a whole boat load in that time but anywhere from 8-12 species of ducks. I suggest renting guns at 50 bucks a day because your using high quality guns and not having to worry about permits, extra baggage fees, hassle, etc of bringing your own. Bird boys work for primarily tips at 30 a day, worth every penny! He would ask me if the bird I shot was for taxidermy and if I said yes he had plastic bags set aside to put them in, if not they went on the strap. Pretty awesome thing to do to keep those mounters in tip top shape. You have the option of renting waders or bringing your own, I brought my own but could see where someone might not want to. Certainly nice to have that option at least.

Duckmendenhall: I've got a strap idea to incorporate the four teal species, red shoveler, and two different types shotgun shell boxes used on the trip. Hoping to start on that after I get the remainder of a customer batch done first.

Eric


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## Garwood57 (Jul 1, 2007)

On my list as well, looks awesome!


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## Take'emGator (Apr 10, 2012)

Been on my list


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## ak (May 6, 2012)

Was it hard to bring those birds back I know customes musta been fun with that?


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## Duckman3000 (Apr 26, 2012)

No different than any other country like New Zealand, Scotland, as long as not on the Avian Influenza list or Exotic Newcastle then it's a simple declaration of bird trophies, birds going to a USDA approved facility, and a 3-177 US Fish and Wildlife form and your good to go. It's much easier than one would think as long as you go by the rules.

Eric


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## Duckman3000 (Apr 26, 2012)

Update to the hunt post, recently completed and super happy with the turnout! I think those (teal especially) have to be the prettiest ducks with iridescence that just glows like that. This is a great representation of a particular flooded field hunt down there.

From left to right: Brazilian teal hen, Brazilian teal drake, Speckled teal drake, Ringed teal drake, Ringed teal hen. Bottom row: Red shoveler, Silver Teal










Eric


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## ccbluewater (May 21, 2004)

That is a awesome display!


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## JDS (Jul 14, 2004)

Beautiful mounts.
For a non-taxidermist such as myself, what is the best way to transport the skins- frozen, salted, other?


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## Mojo281 (Sep 7, 2006)

Just awesome Eric!!


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## Duckman3000 (Apr 26, 2012)

JDS said:


> Beautiful mounts.
> For a non-taxidermist such as myself, what is the best way to transport the skins- frozen, salted, other?


For international I generally skin, put in freezer bags with any needed tags then freeze up until I leave. This helps greatly with less weightand size when coming back. I know everybody can't skin everything out so freezing solid in a freezer bag is always a best. Just make it as compact meaning tucked head and neck as possible. When traveling abroad or domestically if the birds are frozen prior to leaving and put in some type of cooler bag then there are no issues. Now if I think the travel time is going to be excessive like two plus days then I will salt the skin but the important thing there is I was all the salt off sooN as I get home so the skin can freeze properly and doesnt dry out.

Thanks for the compliments guys and hope this information helps,

Eric


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## Arlon (Feb 8, 2005)

Worked in Argentina for awhile a number of years ago, they were some of the finest people I ever worked with. Learned about Quilmes beer there too..


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## Law Dog (Jul 27, 2010)

Looks like a great hunt and paradise. Its on my bucket list..Nice pics, Congrats!


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## Law Dog (Jul 27, 2010)

Awesome looking display, duckman3000...Congrats!


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## JDS (Jul 14, 2004)

Thanks a lot Duckman, very informative.



Duckman3000 said:


> For international I generally skin, put in freezer bags with any needed tags then freeze up until I leave. This helps greatly with less weightand size when coming back. I know everybody can't skin everything out so freezing solid in a freezer bag is always a best. Just make it as compact meaning tucked head and neck as possible. When traveling abroad or domestically if the birds are frozen prior to leaving and put in some type of cooler bag then there are no issues. Now if I think the travel time is going to be excessive like two plus days then I will salt the skin but the important thing there is I was all the salt off sooN as I get home so the skin can freeze properly and doesnt dry out.
> 
> Thanks for the compliments guys and hope this information helps,
> 
> Eric


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## Mike Stevens (Sep 4, 2012)

Definitely need to put that trip on the bucket list!


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