In early May 2018 I had the distinct pleasure of hunting Doves, Ducks and Perdiz at Los Laureles Lodge in Argentina’s Entre Rios Province along the Parana River. It’s an hour flight northwest of Buenos Aires and a lazy 75-minute drive from either the Santa Fe or Parana airport. The lodge, services, cuisine, and hunting proved superb.
One day one, after a late lunch and siesta, I photographed and hunted a Dove roost 20 minutes from the lodge with Los Laureles lodge manager Aldo Machin and my guide for the week, Pepe. Vowing to shoot only a flat (10 boxes) of shells actually didn’t happen. Pepe kept pouring shells into my pocket and more Doves were seen in the first 15 minutes at Los Laureles than I’d seen in 10 years of state-side Dove hunting.
The Los Laureles Lodge sits on a hill above the Parana River surrounded by Dove roost. The lodge is spacious, beautifully appointed and comfortable.
Starting slowly with a string of misses due to over leading, I finished strong with 20 Doves falling to 25 shots on my last box using one of their rented semi-automatic shotguns. The hunt was followed by cocktails, a massage, a wonderful grass-fed Argentine beef steak dinner complemented by a delightfully smooth Mendoza Malbec wine and a homemade apple crisp dessert.
The next day my good friends Mark and Roselind Travis arrived from the U.S. After a late lunch and brief siesta we headed to a different location in the same roost I’d hunted the day before. Despite the rain the air was full of Eared Doves or E.D.s as we called them. Eared Doves are very similar to Mourning Doves except they have slightly shorter tails and are a bit smaller.
Roselind Travis with a lodge-supplied Beretta semiautomatic shotgun poised and ready to swing on passing doves.