Argentina duck species

Duck hunting in Argentina is an epic shotgunning vacation, especially when hunting at the right place - not all Argentina duck hunts are created equal.  Relative to duck hunting in the U.S., bag limits are generous, and then there's the whole South American duck camp experience - steaks as thick as cinder blocks, malbec wines, Spanish accents, the works; the new hunting environment, sights and sounds.  But for our many clients, mostly it's all about the ducks; the rest just comes with the territory.

To some hunters, it's more about numbers, limits. Most hunters appreciate the diversity of new duck species in Argentina.  There are about a dozen duck species commonly encountered while duck hunting in Argentina. A few other species are less common.  Argentina is a very big country, too.  Some species are more abundant in some regions, and others have a fidelity to specific habitats.  Brazilian ducks and ringed-teal, for example, may be taken throughout Argentina but predominate the bag in some northern areas; black-headed ducks are usually going to screech over the decoys at Mach 3 when hunting sizable marshes with large patches of open water.

Everyone asks if we're hunting the same species as here in the States. No.  Some are very similar, do not migrate across the equator and have established separate breeding populations. An interesting thing about Argentina ducks is that many exhibit a continuous molt pattern.  Unlike here in North America, where our ducks molt twice annually, most look exactly the same throughout the year.  It's possible that this is because they have such extensive breeding seasons. In good, wet years, they've been known to have 2-3 clutches during the year.

Rosy-billed pochards are to Argentina duck hunting what mallards are to U.S. duck hunting. Large and gregarious, they decoy readily. If I had to choose a single duck to hunt outside the United States, it'd be the rosy-bills in Argentina, and nobody but nobody flat out OWNS them like our long-time outfitter at our most popular Argentina duck hunt Las Flores, but I digress. Rosybills do that to me.

In addition to rosy-billed pochards, other common Argentina ducks include speckled teal, silver teal, cinnamon teal, ringed-teal, Brazilian duck, Chiloe wigeon, red shoveler, white-faced whistling duck, fulvous whistling duck, yellow-billed pintail and white-cheeked pintail.  Other far less common species include masked ducks, knob-billed ducks and even blue-winged teal. We've encountered all of the species during a single week hunting at our Rio Salado Argentina duck hunt destination.

For more information, we've posted video discussions here: Argentina Duck Species.

Ramsey Russell  is a certified  wildlife biologist.  He owns and operates GetDucks.com, a full-time, full-service agency specializing in world-wide trophy duck species and epic wingshooting adventures.  Exploring the world's wetlands for the best client duck hunting experiences is a life mission, but hunting in Mississippi with family and friends, he says, is top priority when home.  It’s always duck season somewhere.

Changing Times for Texas Gulf Coast Snow Goose Hunting

It was 20 years ago that I made a weekend trip to snow goose hunt the fabled rice prairie near Katy, Texas.  I was young, skinny, still had hair, and was a year-plus from marriage,  I still shot a Remington.  It was a friend of a friend that knew somebody's buddy that guided kind of deal; more than enough to compell me.  It was my first-ever waterfowl hunting trip away from Mississippi.  It ignited the flame that still burns to pursue waterfowl everywhere that they're huntable.

I watched snow geese fly over Mississippi's delta during their migration to the Gulf Coastal prairies while in grade school.  While I should have been pouring over math homework in high school study hall, I instead read and dreamed about one day hunting snow geese on the Texas rice prairies.

We layed on our backs in bare mud.  Comfortable ground blinds had yet to be invented. Our decoys were white plastic trash bag-looking decoys numbering in the thousands.  We hid among tight clumps of them. There was the perfect combination of wind, low clouds, rain, and skillful calling.  The snow geese decoyed perfectly, and I later grinned ear to ear while holding first snows, blues and white-fronts.  Three of those firsts were destined to adorn game room walls for eternity.  I was young enough to naively thought that, like the immortalized trophies, snow goose hunting in Coastal Texas would last forever.  But nothing lasts forever.

Urban sprawl has since flourished.  Combine a little dirt work and vision with the demands of civilization and proper zoning ordinances, and the table-flat agricultural fields along the Texas Gulf Coast are perfect for shopping centers, schools and residential areas.  Much of the historic wintering grounds have been paved pursuant to increased expansion of the Greater-Houston Metro area.

Last week I was disheartened to read that the Lower Colorado River Authorities relegated water for rice farming and duck ponds to the status of least-importance.  Meaning that permits to pump water for such useages are no guarantee.  Less food, in the instance of rice production, and less roosting area, in the form of irrigated duck ponds, necessarily equates to fewer snow geese along the Texas coast.  Texas outdoor writer Steve Knight opined that, "City growth and the demands of humans and industry now are at the top of the heap."

Certainly, the needs of humanity come first.  Changing land usages and public policy are inevitable consequences of time.  As another historical waterfowling area succumbs to time and to civilization, I review old photos from yesteryears while wondering what changes the next 20 years will bring to bear.  And I'm determined to enjoy the waterfowling opportunities that remain.