Finally got this bird back from the taxidermist.



This is a PLAIN CHACHALACA...and it belongs in the Cracidae family. I tried to get them while pursuing the Ocellated Turkey in jungles of Yucatan, Mexico.....but they were kind of hard to find in the jungle canopy.

Finally engaged with this guy on a long 10 km walk back from a watering hole where a bunch of Tapir and a lone Jaguar were hanging out. I put quite a few #4 pellets on one side of this Chachalaca so had to turn him a bit to show his better side. These birds are arboreal and spend most of their time in the trees and their feet seldom touch the ground.

Uber cool!

In the Chaco they called them Charatas or jungle chickens. Good eating. With subsonic .22s and a suppressor on the rifle, several birds could be taken out of a flock.
Willie showing a bird

Criollo boys with birds and armadillo taken by their fathers for supper

Dude! Please, use some better judgment. Don't you know that you could have just triggered a stroke in Collector, with the sight of those plucked birds?!?

Nice shooting, BTW.

we have the "Plain Chacalaca" in S. Texas and the daily limit is 5.

That Yucatan variety is quite pretty compared to our brown-camo subspecies.

Good shooting and a very nice mount!

JW

quote:

Finally engaged with this guy on a long 10 km walk back from a watering hole where a bunch of Tapir and a lone Jaguar were hanging out. I put quite a few #4 pellets on one side of this Chachalaca so had to turn him a bit to show his better side. These birds are arboreal and spend most of their time in the trees and their feet seldom touch the ground.

Collector, did you get any pix of the tapir or of the jaguar?
In 4 weeks I will be in Northern Belize. Hope to see currasow, tapir, feral buffalo, brocket deer, and paca. We will do some fishing also, including some for alleged landlocked tarpon.
__

Always enjoy seeing pix of your mounted specimen.

@Kamo Gari
You know my heart did skip a beat when I saw all them plucked Chachalacas There are very few mounted Chachalacas in USA...there are probably more Ocellated Turkeys in people's collections.

@Steve
Good shooting...there are couple of species of Chachalacas....where exactly did you hunt these birds ? The coloration of the bird in the first pic is throwing me off a bit.

@Jeff
Texas population must be healthy if there is a 5-bird limit. Do many people hunt them ? I saw very few birds in the Yucatan.

What's the other little fellah holding up there, an armadillo? Cool! Did you partake? If so, what do they taste like? Serious question.

Collector,
If memory serves correctly, we were on the north shore of the Rio Bermejo, which separates the Provinces of Chaco and Formosa in the far north of Argentina, about 30 miles south from Paraguay southern border. In that area were an abundance of cougar tracks, and tapir tracks. I passed up shots on numerous hogs because it was simply not possible to know if they were feral or belonged to the local Criollos.
Kamo Gari, the armadillo is a hairy armadillo, and I did not get to eat any. I can report that large caiman are very good to eat, particularly in the absence of red meat (their meat is white).

Neat! Thanks, SG.

I love how our bird discussions turn into fun discussions

@Steve
Ok...I was right, if you were in the Formosa area then this is without a doubt 100% a different species of Chachalaca called the CHACO CHACHALACA (Ortalis canicollis) ... the coloration is quite a bit different from Plain Chachalaca (Ortalis vetula). I have never shot that species, so good for me to know whenever I end up in north Argentina to go look for them. Looks like their size is a tad bit smaller than the Plain...but their wattle is much bigger.

@Kamo
Little while back I was iin Bahia Blanca province of Argentina hunting Perdez over dogs. All of a sudden there was a lot of excitement among the dog handlers....then I saw the little armour-clad critter running around...they wanted me to shoot it. I was a bit hesitant as I was not sure if this critter was going to harm someone and maybe that is why they wanted me to shoot it to save damage to people or dogs. In any case I did not squeeze the trigger on him....the critter ran into a hole and then two of the handlers went apesh1t....one guy held the other guys legs and he crawled inside the hole....seconds later he emerged with this thing alive and kicking.



Turned out they LOVE eating Armadillo and that is why they went crazy when they saw it....here is another closeup. They cooked the damn thing that night....I politely passed on it and stuck with the steak option.



We lost a bit of time securing their prized dinner.....I ended up shooting a fair amount of 2 species of Perdiz that day.


Argentina is a great country to visit and a great destination both for bird hunters as well as big game.

Collector,

I cannot see a red winged tinamou (or brazilian perdiz) and not comment.

What is your thoughs about hunting them ? Did you use you own dog ?

Just to see how dificult they seem to be to others jagers.

Regards,

Reiter.

Collector, the season in the Rio Grande Valley runs from about Nov 1 thru Feb 28. 5 birds.
Ive been wanting to go down there after chachalaca. several public areas are aviliable google TPWD for info.

Cool pics as always!

@Reiter
I shot both Red-winged Tinamou (Rhynchotus rufescens) and Spotted Tinamou (Nothura maculosa) both were fun to hunt. The guide called them Perdiz Colorada and Perdiz Chica....I guess they were the local spanish names. From a shooting difficulty/easiness they are about at par with flushing quail. I was using my own gun...so they had no chance had I used one of the lodge guns then I am sure a few would have gotten away....ok I will stop now





Taking a dog to Argentina from USA and then bringing it back is a royal pain in the butt. I was quite happy with the dogs in Argentina, the dog handlers did a fantastic job.






@kweber
Thanks for the info, I will do that. And if you happen to go on a hunt please take pics, would love to see them.


@LDK
Thanks much....looks like you are in Turkey Nirvana these days

Thanks, it seems that way. I'll try again next week. Would be cool if I could get my limit of 4 toms, although our regs read "any bearded bird." We do on occasion have bearded hens, and the TWRA wants them removed from the flock.