ESTANCIA LA CATALINA

CORDOBA, ARGENTINA

HIGH-VOLUME DOVE AND PIGEON

Over the last two decades, Cordoba Province has become synonymous with the phrase “high-volume dove hunting.” The region has a delightful climate that allows grain crops such as corn, wheat and peanuts to flourish most of the year. This enormous food supply is bordered and interspersed with dense hillside roosting cover, and the combination of food source and roost has produced a population of Zenaida Auriculata estimated to be more than 20 million birds—Argentina doves that do not migrate, reproduce up to four times annually and provide literally year-round shooting.

You will feel instantly at home upon arrival at La Catalina, a lodge that combines the elegance and tradition of yesteryear with the comfort and convenience of modern living. During your stay you will feel that you are staying with friends, enjoying a wonderful mix of great Argentina hunting and relaxed country estate living.

The shooting

Argentina’s eared dove—like doves worldwide—offer fast and challenging shooting. The difference here is their monumental numbers. On a typical day, hunters will fire anywhere from 1000 to 3000 shotshells, or even more, depending on conditions and personal inclination. Each hunter is provided with a young man who assists with shells and drinks, keeps the area around the shooter picked up, serves as a loader if requested and of course, picks up fallen doves. Many of the birds are retrieved immediately after the hunters depart, so as to not interfere with the shooting.

Miles & Miles have private access to many of Cordoba Province’s finest dove shooting ranches and roosting areas, and they take particular pride in offering a variety of bird shooting styles and options. And there are no long drives to the shooting areas, rarely do they require more than 30 minutes travel.

Miles & Miles have a fantastic selection of high-quality shotguns available for rent, including new Benelli and Beretta autoloaders and higher-grade Beretta and Rizzini over/unders. Of course the guns are transported to and from the field for you, and cleaned after each use. Miles & Miles provide only high-quality shells, as is not always the case with other Cordoba dove hunting outfitters. Miles & Miles love high-volume shooters and have a Club 1000, a Club 2000, and a Club 3000, award prizes for shooters achieving those milestones, and place each name on a beautiful hand-carved board.

The hunting for eared doves in this area is excellent twelve months a year, and in certain months – February through July – outings can include field and decoy shooting for wild pigeons (spot-winged and picazuro), either in combination with the doves or as a dedicated shoot.

And of course, all of this shooting is broken up midday for a wonderful lunch at the estancia or more often, with a classic Miles field lunch – an asado of grilled steaks, sausages, ribs, robust wines, salads and fresh breads, followed by some rest and relaxation and then a return to the field.

Accommodations

Estancia La Catalina has been designed from the ground up to be the exact lodge that an American sportsman would enjoy on a trip to Argentina. The lodge features hand-hewn beams, tile floors, lots of heavy wood, beautiful landscaping, a huge hot tub, ten oversize bedrooms with either king or double beds, and all of the architectural touches found in the classic old estancias. The great room features comfortable seating/cocktail areas, which flow into the spacious dining room and the bedrooms extend out in two wings from the main area.

The lodge looks like a classic one-hundred-year-old home, but it is actually only eight years old, so it has all of the modern touches, including wi-fi throughout!

Dining is uniformly terrific, featuring famed Argentine beef, Italian and German specialties, delicious game dishes, homemade desserts and of course, delightful and robust Argentine wines and open bar.

One last luxury item: a professional massage therapist is available at all times to relax and reinvigorate exhausted limbs and sore shoulders.

non-shooting activities

Guests may opt to see a polo match, horseback ride, play golf at nearby Ascochinga Golf Club; enjoy a day visiting the area’s historical sites, including the 450-year-old Jesuit mission; enjoy a little pampering in one of Cordoba’s lovely day spas followed by lunch at a fine restaurant; or take advantage of the Argentine peso’s relative weakness against our currency and do some serious shopping for silver, leather and fine handmade goods.

RAtes

$795 / NIGHT (dove only)

$895 / NIGHT (dove/pigeon)

$450/NIGHT (non-hunter)

Included are accommodations, all meals, open bar, land lease fees, all services of professional guides and round-trip airport transfers. Not included are commercial or charter air travel, gun rental ($100 per gun per day), Cordoba Province hunting permit ($65 per day), tips, shells at $23/box for 12 and 20 gauge and $24/box for 28 gauge.

PRIME TIME: Year round.

Travel

Because Cordoba City is second in size only to Buenos Aires, there are numerous international and domestic flights, arriving and departing the nearby Cordoba’s Pajas Blancas International Airport from all other major airports in Argentina. Although there is no nonstop flight service from the U.S, connections in Santiago, Chile and Buenos Aires will generally put you in the field by plenty of time for a full afternoon shoot on arrival day.

Download important pre-trip details here:

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