Finally, I’ve found some time to post a report on my big game hunt in La Pampa province in Argentina during the third week of March this past spring. I’ve hunted in Argentina for many years and this past season was no exception. I’m a pure bow hunter and have been fortunate enough to take several red stags, a water buffalo, and blackbuck over the years with my bow. This year I hunted at Estancia Quini Malal, which is located 1½ hours south west of Santa Rosa about 15 miles west of the town of General Acha in the region known as “Valle Argentino”. Quini Malal is a 65,000 acre working cattle ranch and is managed by the owner’s son Felipe Miguel Downey and his wife Evelyne.

Although the ranch has hosted hunters for many years, up to this point they have catered primarily to local Argentine, Uruguayan, and Spanish hunters and have had relatively low hunting pressure. Felipe only allows a maximum of four hunters per week, so the hunting pressure is light. The ranch supports large numbers of high quality free range stags. I was amazed at the number and quality of the stags that I saw while I was there.

The food and accommodations at the ranch were excellent and the wine was outstanding. I learned that in addition to great Malbec, Argentina also produces some excellent cabernet sauvignon in the mountains of Patagonia as both types were served at the ranch. The lodge, which can accommodate four hunters is practically new and was only built two years ago. The bedrooms are spacious and each has its own modern bathroom with both a bathtub/shower and walk in shower.





The kitchen was overseen by Felipe’s wife Evenlyne and the food was delicious and plentiful. Felipe was in charge of preparing the asado at which he excelled and loved to do. Below one of the ranch hands guards the parrilla to make sure the dogs don’t help themselves.



What a change awaited me when I got to La Pampa this year…instead of looking out at a dry and brown landscape of dead grass and shrubs what I saw was a lush green landscape full of wild flowers and it seemed water everywhere. They finally started to get normal rainfall during the second half or their summer and it completely changed the landscape. Felipe told me that dry lake beds that had not seen water in years were full and many I saw had flocks of ducks and geese wafting on them as well as flamingoes wading in the shallows.







This is a true working cattle ranch and they raise several thousand of head of cattle as well as some of the most beautiful horses I’ve ever seen. The gauchos could be seen out doing their thing every day that I was there.







One of the things that distinguishes Quini Malal from other hunting ranches in Argentina is that both Felipe and his wife speak excellent English as do several of the guides. I have picked up enough Spanish over the years to get by, but it was a real pleasure to hunt with a guide that spoke English well. Unfortunately, having an English speaking guide doesn’t help when you miss. Yep, I missed a really nice 6X6 that would have been the biggest stag that I’d ever taken.

It was the afternoon of my third day at the ranch. We had seen plenty of deer the first couple of days of my stay, but getting close enough to a stag to get an arrow into one is a real challenge. I was only the second bow hunter that they ever had at the ranch, so it was a learning process for the guides as far as deciding which areas had the right kind of terrain in which to stalk close enough to get within my maximum range.

It was still relatively early in the afternoon, but the deer were in a vocal mood and my guides Patricio and Mario heard one that they really liked and so off we went. Now there’s a lot of differences of opinion among the folks in La Pampa as to whether calling really works on red stag. Most guides don’t even carry a call and the ones who do use it primarily to locate deer or stop one for a shot. Almost no one attempts to call in a stag. I’ve only seen it done a handful of times and this was one of them. Mario was by far the best I’ve ever heard with a piece of PVC pipe in his hands.

We first spotted the stag out at about 100 yards or so with a group of five or six hinds. It was still early and it appeared that they had just gotten up and started to mill around feeding. We were in an area that had small islands of cover and we took our time moving on the deer. It got to a point where we knew we couldn’t move any closer without getting busted by one of the hinds, so Mario did some low calling. Not a real roar, but more like a low groan. Sure enough the stag and the hinds started to move in our direction. We had found a good spot behind a bush to wait and watched as several of the hinds filed past from left to right at about 45 yards with the stag following behind. I ranged several calden trees and waited as the stag slowly approached.

When the stag passed behind a bush out in front of us I drew and waited for him to step out. Only he didn’t…he just stood there and looked through the bush right at us. After waiting for what seemed like an eternity he stepped out and started to follow his hinds. When Mario let go with another soft roar he stopped and I let her fly. At first I thought that I had hit the deer by the way it reacted, but after it took off Patricio told me that he saw the arrow fly about 2 inches right over the top of it’s back. When we ranged the shot afterwards the deer was closer to 35 yards rather than 45...I just miss judged the yardage.

It was disappointing, but hey, stuff like that happens when you’re a bow hunter. Whenever I talk to other bow hunters about hunting for free range stag in Argentina I always tell them that if they’re not willing to take a rifle along then they should be prepared to go home empty handed. Spot and stalk hunting for red stag is extremely difficult and subject to a lot of luck.

The other folks who were in camp while I was there were local Argentines and some guys from Uruguay. They were able to take some nice stags as well as a big boar during the week and I managed to get these photos.









This is the head guide at Quini Malal, Eugenio Lutz and his son Patricio, with a nice stag that was taken the day before I arrived. They told me that it was a very old animal and even though it was only a 5X4 the rack was pretty impressive.



But I think that the most impressive trophy that I saw was taken by an 11 year old girl named Martina who was there with her parents. She shot this deer with a .308 at 100 yards and killed it with one shot. Not bad for your first deer! She’s pictured here with Felipe and Evelyne that evening back at the lodge.



Felipe is a hunting and fishing fanatic and he told me that he hunts whenever he can, but that he only shoots descartes (management deer) on the ranch. After the morning hunt one day when the story surfaced that a descarte with a huge spiked rack was spotted Filipe said that he was going to go look for it that evening. He said that they want to take them out of the herd, not just because of the genetics, but also because they can and do kill bigger deer when fighting. He laughed and said that it also gave him an excuse to go out hunting. The photo below is the result.



All in all it was a great trip even though I went home empty handed. I’ve been hunting long enough to know that it’s not just what you kill that determines the success of your hunt. I got to make new friends, enjoyed great food and wine, and undoubtedly could have taken several nice stags had I chosen to hunt with a rifle. I’m already looking forward to going back next season. Gotta get me a new camera though…

Wonderful pictures. Looks like you would have easily filled a tag with a rifle. That long spike on that odd bull would be a real killer used on other bulls.

Hahaha, nice to see all my friends here

I go there every year, this time I sent some friends and I went to the Patagonia first and then I went to Quini Malal on april.

Mario is a great chap and an increadible guide, well all of them are great guides.

I always hunt with Pato and one or two days of my trip with Eugenio.

L

Mario, Vasco (he was not guiding this year) and Pato with a deer I took a couple of years ago.



L

Thank you for sharing your adventure with us. It looks like a most enjoyable place to be hunting, with excellent accommodations and food, and a very good probability of taking a fine stag....how can they be contacted?

Hi Bill

Send an email to Eugenio Lutz eblutz@gralacha.com.ar

Tell him I gave you his email and that we have hunted together once (without luck )

He is a good friend of mine.

Cheers
L

quote:

Originally posted by billinthewild:
Thank you for sharing your adventure with us. It looks like a most enjoyable place to be hunting, with excellent accommodations and food, and a very good probability of taking a fine stag....how can they be contacted?

I suggest that you contact Felipe directly. I have kept in contact since I am going back next season. I have his personal e-mail address and will be happy to give it to you via PM. You can also check out his website at www.quinimalal.com.ar. Some of the info on there is outdated, but he's in the process of updating it as we speak.

Bill,

Maybe Mikey49009 is right, Felipe speaks english perfectly so it will be easier for you. I don't know if Eugenio speaks too much english..

Mikey, from what I have talked to the guys there hunting a stag with a bow is a reall challenge !!! MUCH more difficult than with rifle....

For me with rifle it's already difficult so I can't imagine the challenge of taking one of those stags with a bow !! My hat off to you sir, that must be really sportive.

What equipment does one needs for hunting stags with a bow ? do you think a crossbow is much easier to have success ??

Felipe will be father next year so I see more diapers and milk bottles for him next season rather than hunting for "killer" stags..

L

Lorenzo. Mikey did PM me with the info to make a contact which I will do....

New baby, wonderful. Now he needs a baby back pack.....

Nice Mike...

quote:

Originally posted by Lorenzo:
Bill,

Maybe Mikey49009 is right, Felipe speaks english perfectly so it will be easier for you. I don't know if Eugenio speaks too much english..

Mikey, from what I have talked to the guys there hunting a stag with a bow is a reall challenge !!! MUCH more difficult than with rifle....

For me with rifle it's already difficult so I can't imagine the challenge of taking one of those stags with a bow !! My hat off to you sir, that must be really sportive.

What equipment does one needs for hunting stags with a bow ? do you think a crossbow is much easier to have success ??

Felipe will be father next year so I see more diapers and milk bottles for him next season rather than hunting for "killer" stags..

L

Lorenzo,

In my opinion the red deer is the hardest of the deer species to take with a bow. I think that when compared to a whitetail their nose is as good, but their hearing and sight are actually better. There are things that you can get away with in the whitetail woods that you can't with red deer.

As far as equipment goes any modern compound bow with a draw weight of 60 lbs. or greater will work. My bow is set at 70 lbs. and I've had no problem killing the deer quickly.

I don't think that a crossbow gives you any advantage over a regular bow on red deer. The only advantage that I see would be that's it's easier to shoot, but you still have the same range restrictions that you have with a regular bow.

By the way, that was a really nice stag that you shot. During my years of hunting in La Pampa I've seen some stags like that, but have never been able to get an arrow in one. But hey, that's why I keep going back. It will happen someday.

Mikey