Some things you've just got to see for yourself. After hearing reports of unfathomable numbers of doves in the Northern province of Salta, Argentina,  something had to give. 100 million doves? Are you freakin' kidding me?! Get me a ticket now.

   The comma shaped province of Salta lies in the Northwest corner of Argentina and is blessed with warm winters, a vast and varied topography, and most importantly for the wingshooter, plague like swarms of doves.

   To many who follow wingshooting trends, predictions are that Salta may one day overtake the Cordoba province of Argentina as the dove shooting capital of the world. With only one outfitter and over three times as many doves, Salta is the true pinnacle of dove shooting; the best spot in the best country to fulfill any dove hunter's wildest dream.

   The city of Salta was founded in the mid 16th century by Spainish explorers. It is known as " Salta the beauty" because it is a true Argentinian gem and probably one of the few places outside of Buenes Aires that would be considered a  "must see" tourist area and worth a  visit even if hunting was not on the agenda. It is home to one of the three highest train rides in the world. The "tren a las nebes" or train to the clouds departs every Saturday and winds its way over spectacular gorges, bridges, and beautiful terrain as it climbs to dizzying altitudes of over 13,000 ft. A true must for any train ride enthusiast. The city of Salta also has some unique and classic archictecture with is its' stunning cathedral and well maintained main square; beautiful throwbacks from a bygone era which allows you to " step back in time".

   But I digress......... Did I mention there are 100 million doves there?

   The incredible volume of doves is a recent phenomenon and therefore Salta is off the radar screen for most hunters planning on visiting Argentina. Around 10-15 years ago, the province was not the agricultural giant it has become and with it, the aboundant food source for the Eared dove. Vast acres of fertile land was cleared and planted with corn, sorghum, and soybeans.  Combined with a huge amount of thick, thorny, almost impenetrable brush for  roosting and breeding, the dove population exploded. There are almost no natural predators for the Eared dove which breeds 3-4 times a year. Young birds mature at 3-4 months and then begin breeding as well which puts this dove factory into "hyper-drive". A single breeding pair can become great-grandparents in a year.

    All these birds do is fly, sleep, breed, and eat. The farmers have no problem with the first three but have a huge problem with number four as these birds eat their weight in grain every few days. This would not be so bad for  the farmers except the Eared doved differs significantly from our Mourning dove which feeds mainly on fallen grain leaving the unharvested grain untouched. Oh no, no, no, senor, these little pests land on top of the sorghum, sunflowers, or whatever is planted and pick the stalks clean. Our head guide and manager Cristian Druetta explained how one small farmer lost 70% of his crop because an untimely rain prevented him from cutting the stalks which allowed the birds to infest his crop for nearly a week longer than usual. Latest estimates put crop damage in the millions as 30-40% of the bounty is devoured by the doves. Needless to say,  the farmers love American hunters.

    The hunting begins at Las Lajitas, a small agricultural town of 5,000 at the base of the Andes Mountains and a very welcome pearl at the end of a 2 plus hour drive from Salta, much of which is on a bumpy, gravel road. This road, which is currently under construction, is scheduled to be completely refurbished by Nov 2006 and when completed, should cut the drive time from the Salta airport nearly in half.

    The only outfitter in the province, Sierra Outfitters, bases the operation out of the Las Lajitas Hotel, a clean, comfortable, hotel with good airconditioning and blasting hot showers. The food is excellent and hunters at the hotel are on a separate "all inclusive" plan for food and drinks. There are plans for a lodge in the near future but the hotel is more than adequate for all but the most discriminating hunter.

    Pablo Mazza, a partner in Rio Seco outfitters, Cristian Druetta, the head guide and manager, and his "right arm" Abel Figueroa all work very hard to make sure your stay is a memorable one. The bird boys also do a fantastic job.  Pablo and Cristian speak good English but if you want to make your hunt even more fun, brush up on your Spanish to communicate with the bird boys. For what it's worth, your mangled attempt at Spanish is an indirect compliment to the bird boys and others rather than insisting on English.

    Did I mention there are 100 million doves there? After going to Argentina on three other occasions in the Cordoba area, I can unequivocally state that the numbers of dove in the Salta area greatly exceed anything I have witnessed elsewhere. The numbers defy any attempt to describe them. Rising like smoke and flying in virtual unbroken clouds to and from feeding areas, the scene can only be descibed as a plague of biblical proportions. Pictures don't really tell the story but looking with binoculars to see not only the numbers up close but the depth of the endless waves drops your jaw and leaves you dumbstruck. It just doesn't seem possible.

   Day one began bright and early with a knock on the door at 6:15am. After a quick breakfast, myself and a fun bunch of 3 generation strong hunters from Texas and Georgia headed out to a large cornfield. After stomping out a small circle just off the road and inside the cornfield, the shooting began in earnest. Like all other dove hunting situations, camo is a must. Doves are doves are doves and standing in the open, or not wearing camo, will flare the birds like a firework exploding. Being fairly well concealed in the corn, and with endless flights and opportunities every few seconds, the birds and shells began to pile up at an enormous rate. 52 boxes later, it was time for lunch.

    Walking back out of the cornfield and on to the dusty road, it looked like a scene from the "sunken road" at Antietem. Unlucky doves were scattered everywhere, many literally touching each other. This made for an easy clean up by the bird boys and like always, the excess birds were given away to the local farmers and their help. Anything left in the field was eaten by the ever present Latin American Carancho or hawk.

    After lunch and a short siesta, it was time for the afternoon hunt. The other group of hunters, Ray Kilgore, his two sons and their two sons,  known as the "Kilgore five" decided to try some dorado fishing leaving the bird hunting to myself. That's right, me and 100 million birds. As far as I can tell, I was the only hunter in the entire province that afternoon. Placed in the middle of a sorghum field,  the shooting was the most furious I have ever experienced. An unbroken, continuous cloud of birds swarmed me as I shot as best I could. Picking out individual birds was exceedingly difficult. It is one thing to shoot doves, it is quite another to feel like a market hunter in the Passenger pigeon days! 3 hours, over 1000 birds down, and 60 boxes later, my hard working bird boy Salvador Martinez and I were exhausted. It was still daylight but I had had enough. Abel decided to show me one of four major roosts and laughed out loud as he blew an air horn causing a disturbingly, frightening deep roar as hundreds of thousands of doves took to the air. Further into the roost, the droppings of the birds were knee deep.

    Day two found all of us at another field with similar results although everyone's shooting percentage began to improve. At lunch we had a traditional asada or Argentine outdoor barbeque, consisting of several meats cooked over open coals, bread, salad, and Argentinian wine if you wished. Our assistant Abel entertained us with traditional Argentinian songs while playing the guitar. He was amazingly good and has several CDs cut to his credit. A true talent.

    By day four the "Kilgore 5" had to leave after a quick morning hunt as well as an interesting English chap named Christopher Mason-Hornby who dropped in on us for a day to shoot and observe. Christopher is an outfitter in England at Davis and Bowring Sporting,  and needed to see this place first hand in order to let his clients know what to expect.

    Once more, I was the only hunter trying to put a dent in 100 million doves. Have I mentioned that number before? Before the last hunt,  Abel drove me by a shallow water hole where thousands of doves were watering midday. Thousands more waited their turn as many more filled the air. Abel asked if I would like to hunt the water hole that afternoon to which I replied "Hell no.".................NOT!!!

    By 2:30pm I was firmly planted in cattails 8 feet tall, blasting away at a cloud of doves that seemed to come from everywhere. If you can imagine the hottest water hole shoot in South Texas and multiply that by a thousand , you might be close to the Salta water hole experience. It wasn't just outrageous, it was freaking insane! By far the most difficult thing to do was to pick out the unfortunate dove in the middle of flocks of over a thousand. Two or three would often fall from a single shot as close doves or even those layered over top just happened to get whacked by accident.

    In less than 3 hours, 51 boxes and over a thousand more doves down, I was exhausted. There is only so much shooting you can reasonably do and I had reached that limit.  I continued to watch Saltas' version of Alfred Hitchcocks' "The Birds" for another 45 minutes as we all gathered up the doves and shells.  Day 5 arrived and it was back to the airport and reality.

    Although those that experience Salta's bounty could selfishly try to keep this place under wraps, it is past time to open up this new frontier. Cordoba is not the only game in town. In fact, the Cordoba area now has over 50 outfitters with more on the way. It is unclear if all will be able to attract enough hunters and offer the quality experience necessary to stay in business. Salta, however, has the opposite problem; three to four times as many doves, only one outfitter, and a lack of hunters to take advantage of the situation. Growth is inevitable.

     If you decide to go to Salta, a few pointers are in order. For one, do not try to book in the Argentine summer. Nov- Feb are unbearably hot and with numerous downpours that drive the humidity through the roof. Hunting in double hundreds (100 degrees and 100% humidity) just isn't worth it. You might as well be at a swim up bar in Cancun.

    Secondly, Use a quality booking agent to help you such as Dick Kennerknecht at Global Sporting Safaris. I book everything I can through GSS and have found them to be very helpful at every step.

    Try to book  a day or two on the end of your hunt to enjoy the city of Salta or Buenos Aires. Argentina has a unique blend of European and Latin heritage; handsome men, strikingly beautiful women, and very strong family ties. Outings such as tango shows and reasonably priced hotels can also easily be arranged by the travel agent and outfitters.

    Also, to understand Argentinians, you must understand futbol or soccer which is not just a sport but a national obsession. During Argentine World Cup games, the economy of the entire country comes to a screeching halt for 3 hours at a time, and this is no slight exaggeration. The normally busy streets are empty and those skilled and fortunate enough to wear the sky blue and white for the national team are nothing short of "mini-Gods".

   Probably of more interest to American hunters, besides the fact you can't find ice tea anywhere, is that Argentinians, by and large, have little interest in hunting and absolutely no interest in dove hunting whatsoever. Strange but true. The hunting tradition is simply not entrenched as it is in the USA, and especially in the Southern and Western states. Don't you know they think we Americans have lost our collective minds!

   To book a hunt to Salta, contact Dick Kennerknecht at 888-850-HUNT (4868)

    Good luck and good hunting. Did I mention there are 100 million doves there?

     David Palmer DDS is a dentist by trade but spends his spare time searching for new hunting and fishing adventures in the US and abroad. He can be reached at palmerdental@consolidated.net or at (936) 637-3788