Tips for High Volume Hunts

On a recent high-volume dove safari to La Zenaida Lodge near Cordoba, Argentina, several lessons were learned by everyone in our group. We felt eager to share them with our readers, so here we go. 

Of course as is standard in Argentina, the birds cooperated, and there were many birds offering different challenges to different shooters. We typically take a group to the dove lodge first and coach them in the field, and then on Montaraz for pigeons where they use their newly-learned moves on decoying pigeons. A day in the field usually finds our shooters in their blinds lined up along the flight path and the shooting commences as the birds begin to fly. Vicki and I are typically in the middle of the line and we split up. She goes one way and I go the other, and we spend as much as 20 minutes with each shooter helping them learn to hit birds that, for whatever reason, seem difficult to them. 

It is a great way to learn because of the target-rich environment and no limit to how many you can shoot. A shooter can really improve their skills just by being there. But when you combine that with professional instruction you have the best of both worlds. You arrive a hunter and you depart a lethal wing-shooter. The improvement is amazing and the lessons learned are always many – aside from the fun of hunting and being together. 

It seems that the smoothbore has such a mystique about it that everyone who shoots one would like to get just a little bit better. But few have the time or take the time to do what it takes to achieve that goal. Well, this trip fills the bill: professional coaching in the fields of Argentina. It’s like a perfect storm.

Back to the lessons learned…

 1. Put your screw chokes in with a wrench and check often. Kate Trad had a new Guerini Syren 12 ga with an Isis pad on it to shoot on this hunt. On the first hunt, the choke blew out of the top barrel. My supposition was that since they had no wrench slots and could only be finger-tightened that the choke backed out of the top barrel. It eventually got far enough out so the gas got behind the skirt of the choke where the gas seal is and just blew it out and split the top barrel on the bottom part. So, if you have a gun with screw chokes, put your chokes in with a wrench and periodically check them for tightness. The company stood behind the problem and replaced the barrel and all is good in Mudville! 

2. To prepare for this trip, shooters should go out and train by shooting easy targets – 200 at a time without rest. Build up your muscles while getting reacquainted with the gun move and mount. 

3. Begin with skeet and/or IC chokes on the first hunt and then move to modified choke. On the first hunt use skeet or IC and shoot closer birds and get into a rhythm and do not count the birds you are shooting. On the first hunt you are establishing a rhythm and simply moving and mounting the gun and seeing the birds heads and enjoying being there. Make each situation you find yourself in a learning situation. Don’t compare today’s hunt with yesterday’s or last year’s for that matter. Each hunt will be unique and as a result, it will yield unique learning opportunities.

4. The wind is a great factor in the difficulty of the birds and the wind will blow on at least one day of your hunt. On this trip at the dove lodge, we had at least two hunts where the wind was blowing. And man, was it obvious what an advantage it gave the birds – but not nearly as obvious as on the next hunt when there was no wind. Leave your expectations from the last hunt behind and make each one a learning situation. When you approach a tough hunt this way, you accept the conditions and begin to, through process of elimination, find something that works. This is how you get better! You ain’t going to get better shooting the chip shots over and over. You are either missing and learning from the misses or shooting the easy ones and not learning. We try to push ourselves beyond what we are comfortable with every time we get to Argentina because of the opportunities that so many targets bring.