It seemed like it wasn’t going to arrive, but new small game hunting season 2024 began on May 3 in the province of Buenos Airess. And obtaining permission to go out into the countryside that same weekend was complicated, because although the ministerial resolution was in place, the Web page to process them it was only enabled on Monday the 6th, with subsequent drops due to traffic, systems, the solar storm or who knows what. The thing is that I was only able to go out into the countryside on Sunday, May 12, and I headed towards a dairy farm in the surroundings of Carmen de Areco, where there are no crops or agrochemicals. There I met Enmanuel Casal and his pointer dog –Chiqui– 7 years old, and we get the shotguns: a 16 gauge single barrel Sportman loaded with 26 g cartridges, 7 ammo, and a 20 gauge semi-automatic Remington, ready with 26 g cartridges, 7.5 ammo. Vests, hat, water to hydrate ourselves and a bath of cream repellent on exposed skin areas and spray on clothing.
Behind the authorization prior to the owner of the field, we go out to the purely livestock cadres. The heavy rains of April and May had left them very muddy. And the first thing that caught our attention was the large number of footprints that they had: the cows’ hooves made large marks on the ground, one next to the other, which made it difficult to walk. But not only that: moisture was retained at the base of the footprint, which translated into a breeding ground for the mosquitoswhich were in hundreds of thousands, to the point that they formed an almost constant curtain which, added to the wells, made the walk difficult.
In search of other pastures
After exploring the area for a while, we decided to look for less traveled squares with better pasturesbecause on that trodden ground we did not find specimens of anything: it was impossible for a partridge’s nest or a hare’s cradle. We opted to advance a couple of hectares until we reached more level land, with shorter grass, because in general they were all with tall, green pastures due to the lack of frost (rare at this time). However, it caught our attention that we did not see a single hare during this entire route.
It was only when we reached the scrubby pastures that the partridges began to appear close and with a relatively low flight that made it easier to shoot. This allowed us to achieve success with a single cartridge. We laughingly estimated that after each shot we shot down a partridge and 50 mosquitoes, because the amount was terrible. The quota of six partridges was achieved quickly, just in half a morning day, but it is striking how diminished the number is. hunting population in this area. Although the specimens were of good size and development, the abundance is not the same as in past times, perhaps a product of last year’s droughts.
So that this note had a more empirical foundation with respect to the rest of the province, I contacted other well-known hunters, who shared their own experiences with me. The first was Ariel Schiavonewho along with Miguel Larrotonda went to Ayacucho. And the second turned out Gino Osso, who with a group of three other hunters visited Rauch. The result was that the latter, with 12/70 shotguns and 28 or 32 gram cartridges loaded with number 8 ammunition, in two days of hunting they only shot 32 partridges, well below the quota which was 48 specimens (six per day/ Hunter). For their part, Ariel and Miguel, with shotguns and similar cartridges, agreed with the results of my outing: there are partridges, but the hunting population decreased, beyond the mistakes that may be made due to lack of training.
For those who plan their departure based on this note, let’s say that Doing it without a dog is practically impossible to achieve a good hunt, because if something is missing it is an abundance of partridges. And we didn’t see a single hare! Only Ariel hunted the only one she had within range. We have two more months ahead of us. Let’s hope that the situation improves, and if it doesn’t, hunting activity is still assured, because hunting is not just shooting down game and taking it to the pot, but it is hunting, with all the folklore that this entails.
2024-06-20 13:00:00
#small #game #hunting #experience #partridges #mosquitoes
