ARGENTINA: Epic Argentina hunt

[Green Chile]

So the head of the guides drives Nestor and me back to a large valley I haven’t seen before. It has fields down low and then very thick cover on both sides of the valley. It’s not high fence but it’s fenced differently…about chest high with cables for fencing…clearly a different kind of fence but even that is just a deterrent to the buffalo, not a buffalo proof fencing in any shape or form.

This area is MUCH thicker than where I have been hunting stag and blackbuck. From the road it looks like you can’t walk into it. They tell me when the buffalo are pressured that they go into this thick stuff and hide. We cruise the edges of it for a little bit to glass different areas. Then we see some buffalo on the edge of it and they see us and walk back into it.

Nestor wants to get into the brush here and work our way towards where the buffalo went back into cover. So we load both of the 300’s and I’m thinking I’ve never done this before…hunt DG with a deer rifle but Nestor and Carlos (head guide) don’t seem concerned so I go with the flow.

We get into the brush and wow it’s thick in here. Lots of thorns and scrubby bushes trying to grab you. We have switched out of rain gear as that’s just too noisy in the thick stuff. You can see a lot of buff tracks…unmistakeable in their size and obvious weight cutting into the ground. Most of the sign is older but some is recent after the rain.

I wonder if we will be able to see them before they see us but we are using the slight wind to our advantage and there is not a lot of wind in here where the cover is so dense. I’m staying close behind Nestor but not so close that we would both get hit at the same time. There are lots of armadillo holes here in this area that create terrible footing. One of the guys strained something falling into one of them already. Most of the time you can’t see your own feet but I try to watch where Nestor places his feet then I’m there in 2-3 steps repeating where he walked.

After about 45 minutes of walking, we still haven’t seen any buff or heard any movement but we are getting closer to where we saw them enter the bush. We pause at a big bush that forces a left or right decision and as Nestor is looking to the left, I look above the bush and see a buff stand up on the other side of it. Hand on the Bible, honest to God this buff is looking down at us from the other side of the bush. He is massive and actually taller and wider than the bush. I hiss at Nestor and he doesn’t hear me…I hiss again and he turns to look over his shoulder at me. I point up with the gun barrel and he is visibly startled by the buff looking down at us. He is one or two steps from being directly in the path of the buff. We all freeze for a moment that seemed like minutes and the buff snorts and runs forward past Nestor within a foot or two of him. Nestor drops his head and shakes it slowly. He says that was him…el jefe. We stand there for a minute while the heart rate lowers back to something like normal. I cannot adequately state the size of this beast…far bigger than any Cape buffalo I have shot and I have one that we recovered whole and it hit 2400 lbs on the scales when hunting with Craig Boddington. Hey this is getting exciting!

 

[buck wild]

Wow, seems like you just left.

Are any of the other 10 hunters with you, or were just there that many others booked simultaneously?

Great stag BTW !

 

[Green Chile]

I knew one of the other 10 hunters but left as friends to all of them. That's not a common thing and I will talk more on that later in the hunt report. We were booked into a full camp of 11 hunters. Most came with 1 hunting friend and several came knowing none of the others. This was a very good group of guys and I was happy to get to know them.

 

[Red Leg]

1st evening continued….

So we have passed a few stags including one that would be a shooter in many places. Keep in mind, this is low fence hunting. There is a high fence portion of the 38k acre ranch where there are stags of 500+ inches. We are on the low side…all of the hunters in camp with me are hunting low fence only. That is one of the biggest takeaways from this week; the quality of the low fence side was unbeatable. I stand by that and will offer proof and additional info as we go.

Nestor and I continue stalking and moving on to other fields and transition zones…typical of most deer hunting strategies. One thing I’m picking up on quickly is that the stags seem less tuned in but the blackbuck…geez! Those suckers are wired and on caffeine, Red Bull and crack! You could be 100 feet back from a field edge and in heavy cover in the woods, wearing camo and face mask, moving slowly and playing the wind smartly…but the friggin blackbuck (especially the females) would often see you first from the farthest edge of the field and well back into the cover. Probably 2 out of 3 times, consistently, when I would glass them from way back in the cover, they were already watching me. Amazing animals and on that point, all 11 hunters agreed. The blackbuck are wired tightly and put up with no nonsense! It reminded me a bit of how monkeys and giraffe are so aware in Africa and the other animals use them as sentries.

The sun is setting and we come into another area and see 2 stags that look to be trophy quality. The problem is they are mixed in with numerous hinds (female stags) and worse than that, they seem to be using a small group of blackbuck as their sentries. We tried to sneak in with face masks using all available cover and the blackbuck picked us up quickly. The stags bumped a little bit and went back to feeding. This happened several times and I really didn’t think it was going to work out. Hey, it’s the first night and we are just seeing what’s out here. However, Nestor was so turned onto one particular stag that I took that seriously. Any time a guide really likes an animal, the client should pay attention to that.

I got on the sticks once…then they bumped and we setup again. The larger of the 2 stags goes from feeding to laying down and then is back on his feet again at about 120 yards. The light is fading fast and the sun is down. The larger stag separates somewhat and I send a shot…impact. Quick reload but the animals are all too close together now almost as if they didn’t know where the sound came from. No running yet…I watch and the stag has locked his legs and then takes a little wobble step. I send another round…impact is heard. At this point it’s really too dark to see distinguishing features but he slowly walks to the edge of timber with his head down.

I reload and we walk forward in the dark. I know he’s hit twice. The first hit should be on the shoulder…the 2nd hit about the same but on the opposite side. We get close to where he entered the trees and we hear him on the ground. We turn on a light and I shoot once more out of respect to finish this strong stag. It’s done. As always, it’s a very sobering thing and I stand quietly thinking about him before going forward to get a closer look. Awesome animals. Awesome first hunt with my new friend Nestor.

View attachment 671048

View attachment 671049

Extraordinary animal for that area.

 

[Red Leg]

So the head of the guides drives Nestor and me back to a large valley I haven’t seen before. It has fields down low and then very thick cover on both sides of the valley. It’s not high fence but it’s fenced differently…about chest high with cables for fencing…clearly a different kind of fence but even that is just a deterrent to the buffalo, not a buffalo proof fencing in any shape or form.

This area is MUCH thicker than where I have been hunting stag and blackbuck. From the road it looks like you can’t walk into it. They tell me when the buffalo are pressured that they go into this thick stuff and hide. We cruise the edges of it for a little bit to glass different areas. Then we see some buffalo on the edge of it and they see us and walk back into it.

Nestor wants to get into the brush here and work our way towards where the buffalo went back into cover. So we load both of the 300’s and I’m thinking I’ve never done this before…hunt DG with a deer rifle but Nestor and Carlos (head guide) don’t seem concerned so I go with the flow.

We get into the brush and wow it’s thick in here. Lots of thorns and scrubby bushes trying to grab you. We have switched out of rain gear as that’s just too noisy in the thick stuff. You can see a lot of buff tracks…unmistakeable in their size and obvious weight cutting into the ground. Most of the sign is older but some is recent after the rain.

I wonder if we will be able to see them before they see us but we are using the slight wind to our advantage and there is not a lot of wind in here where the cover is so dense. I’m staying close behind Nestor but not so close that we would both get hit at the same time. There are lots of armadillo holes here in this area that create terrible footing. One of the guys strained something falling into one of them already. Most of the time you can’t see your own feet but I try to watch where Nestor places his feet then I’m there in 2-3 steps repeating where he walked.

After about 45 minutes of walking, we still haven’t seen any buff or heard any movement but we are getting closer to where we saw them enter the bush. We pause at a big bush that forces a left or right decision and as Nestor is looking to the left, I look above the bush and see a buff stand up on the other side of it. Hand on the Bible, honest to God this buff is looking down at us from the other side of the bush. He is massive and actually taller and wider than the bush. I hiss at Nestor and he doesn’t hear me…I hiss again and he turns to look over his shoulder at me. I point up with the gun barrel and he is visibly startled by the buff looking down at us. He is one or two steps from being directly in the path of the buff. We all freeze for a moment that seemed like minutes and the buff snorts and runs forward past Nestor within a foot or two of him. Nestor drops his head and shakes it slowly. He says that was him…el jefe. We stand there for a minute while the heart rate lowers back to something like normal. I cannot adequately state the size of this beast…far bigger than any Cape buffalo I have shot and I have one that we recovered whole and it hit 2400 lbs on the scales when hunting with Craig Boddington. Hey this is getting exciting!

Not sure about a .300, but I have always thought a 250 gr bonded core bullet from a .338 would be a superb buffalo rifle for the Zambezi Delta. After all, the British thought the .318 WR was an excellent choice.

 

[JG26Irish_2]

Great hunt report so far, GC. Looking forward to hearing more about Mui Grande.

 

[Green Chile]

Not sure about a .300, but I have always thought a 250 gr bonded core bullet from a .338 would be a superb buffalo rifle for the Zambezi Delta. After all, the British thought the .318 WR was an excellent choice.

100%. I know that I cannot get through a buff shoulder with a 180 Core-Lokt but I can take lung shots. More to come on that subject.

 

[BourbonTrail]

That stag is a real stud.

Close call on the buff. I know a 300 WM can do the job, but talk about feeling under gunned. I felt under gunned with a 416.

 

[Green Chile]

That stag is a real stud.

Close call on the buff. I know a 300 WM can do the job, but talk about feeling under gunned. I felt under gunned with a 416.

I can't tell you how under gunned I felt when that beast looked down his nose at me...and the guide almost stepped in front of him! I have NEVER had a buffalo look down at me like that. They are big but not that big. This thing was built more like a gaur than any buffalo I have hunted. More to come on that note as well. I looked down at this little .300 and said to myself, where is my 416, 458...something with a FOUR in the description?!?

 

[Green Chile]

One important benefit to this little heart stopping encounter was I now know what he looks like...I have seen him at 2 yards literally...and I know his track now. He has a chunk out of his left rear hoof. By the way, his hooves are the size of medium dinner plates and I'm not exaggerating. The other tracks are about 1/3 smaller and would fit inside of his tracks.

 

[BourbonTrail]

I can't tell you how under gunned I felt when that beast looked down his nose at me...and the guide almost stepped in front of him! I have NEVER had a buffalo look down at me like that. They are big but not that big. This thing was built more like a gaur than any buffalo I have hunted. More to come on that note as well. I looked down at this little .300 and said to myself, where is my 416, 458...something with a FOUR in the description?!?

That size is truly difficult to imagine. I had a regular size cape buff walk up to the window of a Toyota Prado and look down on me while sitting. That was uncomfortable from the “safety” of the vehicle. On foot would truly feel like hunting some guar, ice age buffalo, or auroch. Please continue…

 

[Green Chile]

There is something that happens to me sometimes when hunting and I have tried to describe it in other hunt reports…like the big cinnamon bear in Canada last year…where I see a special, unique, large animal and I get very focused on that one particular animal. I get so focused sometimes that I think if I can’t get that one, I will go home without one. After having this buff look down at us, I felt those old feelings coming back to me. Even though I did not have the rifle I wanted (even a 375 feels small around them), I wanted to spend more time around this buff. I didn’t want a different one…I wanted HIM. I think that feeling can be detrimental sometimes but more often than not, it just lights a fire under me and I feel a tremendous energy to be successful with that one goal in mind. It’s hard to describe but I don’t feel cold, tired, weary like I did before seeing that animal. Now I just want to go, go, go.

So we took a little moment to recover and discuss what had happened and then we moved forward. Nestor felt like the beast had joined some others (tracks also confirmed) and was going across the valley so we moved to join them. A few times the visibility opened up and we could see a group moving across the open valley towards the other side. We covered a lot of ground trying to get ahead of them and the wind but ultimately couldn’t get there that morning. So we climbed out and went back to camp for lunch.

Everyone asked about it during lunch and the story was retold several times. Someone said are you still going for blackbuck and I said what’s a blackbuck? Some of the guys said you look pretty focused and I said I will spend the rest of this week looking for that bull…not any bull but that bull. If I don’t get him, I will go him without one.

At this point, a staff person came up and handed me something they had found…3 shells.

 

[ImNumberOne]

Well, I’m wrapping up a hunt that had been a long time in planning and looking forward to. I write this from the Buenos Aires airport. I had booked this hunt prior to Covid and it got rescheduled twice for that. Then those dates fell through and I had to switch outfitters and locations. As I have done many times, I booked this hunt through WTA and on their recommendation decided on Los Molles in the La Pampa region.

It has been an epic trip in numerous ways with lengthy travel, memorable people and outstanding trophies. I look forward to getting photos and lots of details to you soon! As always, I will be sharing the good, bad and ugly of a real trip with real outcomes. I will also endeavor to share everything I have learned on this trip for your benefit and enjoyment. I look forward to getting photos and lots of details for you! The gate is closing and I will be back to begin sharing more tomorrow and later this week.

So whi h game did you go for??
A Red Stag, water Buffalo, etc??

 

[Green Chile]

During lunch we heard a noise outside and there was a huge swarm of bees coming out of one of the large trees in camp. I think the heavy rains affected them and maybe they needed to air out their hive. Impressive.

 

[deewayne2003]

At this point, a staff person came up and handed me something they had found…3 shells.

View attachment 671178

Wow, who wouldn't feel confident with 3 random rounds of .375H&H with an animal that size?

Waiting patiently for this story to continue so I can find out what .375H&H rifle they had and those 3 shells your holding appear to be vintage Federal judging by the plastic holder?

On a side note, while hunting Australia October 2023 I saw a .300win with 180gr TTSX and a .338-06 with TTSX used quite effectively on Water Buffalo, Scrub Cattle, feral horses & pigs.

Some of the guys in the NT swear by the .338win with Woodleigh weldcores or Hydros; personally I prefer more gun and borrowed a .404J

 

[Green Chile]

I would have loved to have 180 TSX or TTSX! Hornady Whitetail Core-Lokts baby! Now we have 3 random shells of 375. Good times in Argentina! Lots more to come.

 

[Beretta391]

There is something that happens to me sometimes when hunting and I have tried to describe it in other hunt reports…like the big cinnamon bear in Canada last year…where I see a special, unique, large animal and I get very focused on that one particular animal. I get so focused sometimes that I think if I can’t get that one, I will go home without one. After having this buff look down at us, I felt those old feelings coming back to me. Even though I did not have the rifle I wanted (even a 375 feels small around them), I wanted to spend more time around this buff. I didn’t want a different one…I wanted HIM. I think that feeling can be detrimental sometimes but more often than not, it just lights a fire under me and I feel a tremendous energy to be successful with that one goal in mind. It’s hard to describe but I don’t feel cold, tired, weary like I did before seeing that animal. Now I just want to go, go, go.

So we took a little moment to recover and discuss what had happened and then we moved forward. Nestor felt like the beast had joined some others (tracks also confirmed) and was going across the valley so we moved to join them. A few times the visibility opened up and we could see a group moving across the open valley towards the other side. We covered a lot of ground trying to get ahead of them and the wind but ultimately couldn’t get there that morning. So we climbed out and went back to camp for lunch.

Everyone asked about it during lunch and the story was retold several times. Someone said are you still going for blackbuck and I said what’s a blackbuck? Some of the guys said you look pretty focused and I said I will spend the rest of this week looking for that bull…not any bull but that bull. If I don’t get him, I will go him without one.

At this point, a staff person came up and handed me something they had found…3 shells.

View attachment 671178

The joys of renting a rifle!

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

@Green Chile

 

[bashaw]

I shot 2 Water Buffalo Bulls in NT AU with 338 Win Mag 250 gr Nosler Partition first Bull took 2 shots second Bull 1 shot

 

[Green Chile]

I know everyone wants to know the hunt outcome but this is the way it goes…one effort at a time and we learn as we go. After lunch we went back out to the thick cover where the buffalo were spending most of the day. We have a 375 with 3 bullets of unknown description but probably 270 softs…and the 300 with 180 Core-Lokts. I carried the 375 of course and we dove right back into what looked a lot to me like African jesse bush. Also, we have seen the big bull and know him and his track better. It was super helpful to know that his left rear hoof had a chunk out of it and so he left a distinctive track that was also larger than the other tracks.

We found where the old dugga boy had gone into a really dense area of brush. The ground was freshly chopped up with his hooves cutting into the earth vs pressing down. He is heavy but he seems particularly strong in how his tracks look compared to others. He doesn’t press down brush…he breaks it…lots of aerial sign if you know what I mean? Aerial sign is when you can track something by what it does off the ground on the branches, trees, etc. versus just looking down for tracks on the ground. Aerial sign is above the ground and very helpful in tracking large animals like buffalo.

This was a very interesting afternoon. We have already pressured him into his favorite area to escape pressure…but now we are pressuring him in his bedroom. The afternoon wasn’t hot but it was humid after the storms and I don’t remember sweating so much in a long time. The air was still and heavy in these dense thickets. There was a lot of ground and aerial sign to pay attention to. We were moving VERY slowly trying to sort out the sign and I missed my African tracker friends and thought of them several times that afternoon. We were tracking in circles and it felt like he was just ahead of us. The problem is we couldn’t see farther than 10 feet at most and often 5 feet or less. Also, I was trying to keep in mind his height and the fact that I might see him down low but he would be above us physically.

The first time it happened, my skin jumped…we were inching forward and I could smell something like a barnyard…I thought…he’s right here close. I snapped my fingers and Nestor stopped. I pointed at my nose and ears…smell and listen…he nodded and stood still. I think it was a bit like being so close to quail when they finally lose their nerve and break out. After about a minute, there was a loud crash from about 10 feet away and it went away from us…that loud drumming sound on the ground from a heavy body moving. We went forward and his tracks were there cutting into the ground in great gouges. Hmm…that was interesting.

We followed the tracks down into a strange cut or ravine that was covered in brush. It was almost dark down there in the middle of the afternoon. There were obvious bedding areas and we had found one of his private spots. Coming out of it, we had to lean down and extend a hand so the other one could climb up the side and out of it. I admit that place was a little creepy to know we had found one of his bedding areas down in the dark. There was no room to maneuver down there. Thankfully he wasn’t in it or had left it when we came close by.

Three more times that afternoon we got close enough to smell him. One time I heard his stomach rumble near by and then the swish of a thorn brush sliding off his thick skin. I kept crouching low to see legs and then looking high to see if he was above it all. After 3 hours of this high intensity, I was getting tired and we were losing the light. Nestor said let’s move out of here and try to catch him on the way to his watering area.

We moved about a mile through the brush to the edge of the brushy country that breaks into an open area going down to a water hole. Nestor said he will probably come to water on this side or that side. It’s a guess so let’s try this side. We scraped out a place to sit quietly and waited about 30 min as the sun went down. Just before losing the light, he came out the other side of course! He was leading 7 other bulls and even from 500 yards distance and the naked eye, you could see how he was at least 1/3 bigger than the other bulls. Looking through the binos I said my God, his shoulder is at the level of the hump on the other bulls’ backs. We watched him quietly and said today you win…tomorrow we try again. Then we walked 1/2 way back to the lodge in the dark talking quietly about this bull and how we were focused on him. We were the last ones to dinner…again.