Destinations

Over dogs and overhead, pheasants took to the sky as Primland hosted a weekend of both European driven shoots and walk-up hunts in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.

British best-gun maker Holland & Holland had invited a handful of clients to experience the jubilation of traditional guns-on-pegs hunting as strong-flying pheasants were driven from the fields above by a line of beaters. Meanwhile, I spent a full day with a guide and his dogs flushing pheasants in a mountain-top clearing cultivated for habitat.

I’ve never considered myself to be one of those pampered hunters who expects to be catered to and afforded the type of treatment normally reserved for royalty and rock stars.

I would not, however, completely exclude the possibility of occasionally experiencing such treatment (voicing just the right amount of protest, of course), all for the sake of reporting on one such operation, Rough Creek Lodge and Resort, a hunting and resort destination located a 90-minute drive southwest of Dallas-Ft. Worth airport.

Both Uruguay and Argentina have great dove shooting every month of the year. Of course, their perdiz and duck shooting takes place in their winter – May, June and July – in a few instances into August. Many prefer the combination of ducks and perdiz or perdiz and doves or ducks and doves. With some outfitters it’s possible to hunt all three.

In Part I of the series “Dove Hunting in Argentina Beretta Style” we talked about our mission: To determine if a 12-gauge is overkill, compared with sub-gauge shotguns, for high-volume dove shooting in Argentina. Now in Part II, we reach our first hunting destination, the Sierra Brava Lodge.

An important point you should understand about high-volume dove hunting in the Cordoba region of Argentina is that it ain’t for crybabies. Set out to shoot 1,000, 2,000 or 3,000 doves per day or more and you will inevitably experience the pain. Cheeks swell, shoulders bruise, palms blister and related bumps and aches arise as a matter of course.

I bring my best to Lazy Triple Creek Ranch – my best guns, my best clothing, my best accessories and my best cigars. Lazy Triple Creek Ranch induces the best as iron filings are drawn to a magnet. In July, my wife Nancy and I visited Lazy Triple Creek Ranch to experience its clay target offerings, savor its cuisine, traverse its new hunting acreage and become educated about the art of the driven shoot.

An hour drive in a westerly direction from New York’s Central Park, a quiet revolution has successfully transformed one of the great sporting gun institutions that’s long been associated with legendary adventurers such as Ernest Hemingway, Robert Ruark and Teddy Roosevelt.

Years ago, I had the opportunity to bird hunt in Mexico when I was the Senior Editor at Petersen’s Hunting Magazine. I thought I had died and gone to bird hunting heaven. Ducks, geese, quail and dove in virtually unbelievable numbers.

An exciting new service by an American company now provides enthusiasts of classic driven shoots an international passport to among the most desirable destinations.

I recently accepted an assignment that would take me to the Phoenix area to cover a trapshooting event, and as always I try to determine points of interest that might make a good story or certainly some great or unusual photo opportunities.