Travel:
Atlanta traffic sucks!!! To be honest, I hate the mere thought of going to the place. On the brite side all the rest of the travel went great. The daily delta flight traveling both directions leaves out around 8:00 local time. This works out great as you take off, eat a meal, watch a movie or read, take a nap and when you wake up your descending into Argentina / Atlanta. The flight was not full and I had an empty seat next to me both coming and going. My Argentina airlines flight from BA to Santa Rosa was on time and in a nice new plane. I returned to Buenos Aries on a first class bus. The seats fold down flat so you can sleep well. The bus leaves out of Santa Rosa at night. So again you can take a nice nap and when you wake up your there. I did not travel with guns. The stars just seemed to line up against it. New regulation’s in Argentina. New req’s in the USA plus going fishing and having to drag a rifle case all over Argentina. It just seemed sensible to rent a rifle from Ale. He has a nice selection of rifles that are clean and well taken care of.

Fishing:
Mike from TGB outfitters was waiting for me at the gate. We loaded up his car and head north for the long drive to La PAZ. After checking in to the hotel (very nice by the way) we cleaned up and went for a stroll down the river walk. It was hot that afternoon and there were plenty of people swimming at the beach. You would never guess the river is infested with Piranha. The river was on the rise and muddy not good for Dorado fishing I was told.



To make a long story short. The combination of rising muddy water clouds and high winds really hampered the fishing. I only caught one Dorado and it was a small one. I did hook into one big one but true to form as he was porpoising across the river like a marlin he threw the hook from his bony jaws. We also caught Suribi, Piranha and fresh water stingray. It is called fishing and not catching after all.









Boat used to ferry cattle back forth to the islands in the river


Hunting:
The La Norma ranch is a working cattle ranch that sits at the end of a long dirt road. Its isolated and when everything gets quite there is no sound but the birds and crickets. The lodge sits on top of one of the few hills in the area giving a 180 degree look out at the endless miles of scrub. Its spacious and comfortable with plenty of trophy’s to look at.

My new friend - Argentine Dogo



First morning. We drove towards one corner of the ranch and parked. I didn’t even have my stuff together when the first stag roared nearby. We stood and listened for a few minutes. I could hear 5 stags in two different groups. Gustav motioned for me to follow as we circled downwind of the group of three. We were walking swiftly weaving thru the brush and I could tell we were losing ground. We started to jog. All of the sudden we caught up to them. The stag roared and he was close. I could see a small rise in the otherwise flat terrain. We headed that way and the stag roared. He was just on the other side of the rise. We eased up to the top and I peeked over thru the grass. At the same time Gustav slid the sticks up. I don’t know which one he saw but the stag pegged us. Gustav started to stand up and I put my hand on his head and held him down. The other stags were still roaring just out of sight. This distracted the one I was looking at. When he turned his head and roared I could feel it in my chest. This also gave me a good look at his rack. I knew that given the chance I was going to shoot this stag. We had us a good ole standoff going. With the stag at 30 yards and looking at us between roars and two hinds on the opposite lip of the dune, I dared not blink. I felt a slight breeze on my neck. It wasn’t blowing directly at the stag but it was going into the low spot. As my brain is processing whether he would wind us or not, a hind snaps her head up. She is so close I could spit on her. She sniffs the air a couple of times and starts walking stiff legged to the stag. When she reaches him she takes off across the dune. I grabbed the sticks, laid the rifle on them and found him in the scope. Gustav is hissing shoot, shoot, shoot. The stag reached the far side of the dune and paused to look back. I buried the cross hairs behind the shoulder and shot. With the recoil the sand collapsed under my feet and I lost the sight picture in the scope. I was pretty sure I saw him do a big mule kick and I had heard the solid thump of a good hit. The stag ran a half circle and crashed just out of sight. We scurried across the dune and found him piled dead behind a screen of brush. The 180 grain Accubond from the .308 had made quick work of him. He was a fine free range stag and I immediately knew I made the right choice as Gustav was very excited. As I knelt beside him I noticed the sun had not even broke the horizon yet. Wow, first morning within the first 30 minutes. That has never happened to me before on a guided hunt. A few minutes later I heard another shot in the distance. Gary Joseph from the Magnum hunt club was in camp filming for the TV show. I would find out later he had killed a big free range stag also.



I am standing were the stag was when I shot him.


I had a management stag and black buck on my package so there was still plenty of hunting to do. For the afternoon hunt we returned to the same area. Gustav wanted to try and get a look at the other stags. We did not hear anything until after shooting light on the way back to the truck. I did see a Rhea up close and Gustav almost stepped on a small Coral snake.
TGB has a high fence area (over 2000 acres) that has big stags in it. There are also lots of fallow deer, Axis, Mouflon, Buffalo and wild boar. Ale asked me if I would try to take my management stag from inside the fence. I was unsure but told him I would try it and see. It turns out the place is super thick and its hunted so much that the animals are very switched on. If you stand in the sunshine and one looks at you they are gone. That being said, there are so many stags that its almost guaranteed you will get on one eventually. I don’t know if you could call it fair chase but I had a great time stalking up to many roaring stags over the next 5 days. I was able to watch them roar, posture, fight and chase females all around. We probably got busted about 50% of the time and had clear shot opportunity’s may be 20%. We only saw two stags that qualified as a management stag. One was an assassin that had a big frame but no crown points. The other had an absolutely giant body with only an 8 point rack. We were unable to get a shot at either.

Pictures of the terrain:





Black buck
All three of the hunters in camp wanted to hunt black buck. Ale suggested we take a day and head to a ranch that is an hour south. He explained the have a huge section of land were the trees don’t grow. Its rolling short grass prairie and the black buck thrive there. We left just before daylight and drove to the other ranch. This place is enormous with it taking a solid 15-20 minutes driving off the pavement to get to the ranch house. After a short meeting with the ranch manager and head guide we headed out. Suddenly we are in Wyoming or one of the other prairie states. We ease around and slip up on top of a big hill. There are several groups of black bucks that we can see. Gustav leads the way off to the left. We make a good stalk using the terrain to our advantage and slide into position on top of a hill unseen. Here’s were it gets tricky. When we were getting into the truck I asked Ale if he had the rifles. He said yes, but he did not bring the .308 as it wouldn’t do the job here. So now I have .300 win. Mag with a fixed 7 power scope on it that I have never shot. I ranged the buck and could not get a reading. I finally got a reading off a light colored clump of grass in front of him. It read 308 yards. He was at least 30-50 yards further on. I tell Gustav it’s too far. We back down and make another move. We have to crawl a short distance but make it around undetected. Now we are a 170 yards from them, much better. When we were watching them before he was rutting around a particular female with several other nearby. He actually sounded like an impala ram when he made his rutting call. Now he’s lying down and so is the female. Her head is covering his vitals. The sand spurs are horrendous and I am not going to lie down prone. So I kneel down with my butt resting on my heels and the gun on the sticks. We wait and wait. The sun is roasting the side of my face and my ear feels like it might melt off. Yep feels like Wyoming and I’m stalking pronghorn. At one point when my calves and feet were cramping I bent over to relieve the pressure and hid my face behind the stock. Eventually the female gets up and starts feeding. The male will not be still. Finally, he’s standing still and broadside. I shoot and hear a loud crack. The buck is spinning in circles and I’m trying to get back on him. About the time im going to shoot he collapses facing away from me. We stand up and congratulate each other. I look at the buck and I see his head move. I get back on the sticks just as he looks over his back and takes off. He disappears over the hill and out of sight. We jump him two more times before we finally spot him bedded in the grass at 40 yards. The guides whistle and I finish him when he stand up. I am in disbelief when I investigate the first shot. I did push it over and down a couple of inches. It hit him right in the elbow. The bullet ricocheted down the rib cage and exited thru the sternum. It cut the chest cavity open between the ribs but never entered. The vital organs were untouched. Never would have imagined with a .300 win mag and a 70 lb. antelope that could happen.






In closing: No hunt is perfect. This one couldn’t have been much better though. I would recommend TGB to anyone seeking a red stag or other game in Argentina. I booked the hunt thru Tim Herald at Magnum Hunt club.

Congrats on a great hunt!

Well done Thunder Head. Very nice free range stag and I like the mass on those Argentine blackbucks.

Exactly the type of hunt I would like to do if I ever get something organized down there and talk a friend into going with me.

Thanks for posting your hunt report.

Great stuff man, congrats!!

Great report. Congratulations. I have hunted "free range" stags and am always mad when some TV host holds a 450 inch stag and boasts about is being free ranch.
Yours is a nice trophy done the right way.

Ski+3

Heckuva blackbuck! Argentina is a great destination for birds, bucks and fish... well done!

Glad your hunt went well Steven. I knew it would. I am taking two groups of guys down next year for the roar. This hunt is CHEAP...anyone interested, please contact me...

Great report. TGB is a great outfit. Hunting free range stags there reminded me of Africa hunting. Lots of stalking in thick cover.

Thanks for sharing your most excellent adventure with us.

The Blackbuck is a brute!

~Ty

Outstanding!

Nice to see that you enjoyed our wonderfull country.