Hunting in the Mountains of Patagonia

Last month I got the opportunity to travel to Patagonia, which is the lower southern end of South America. Patagonia, without a doubt, was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. Gina & Hector, my friends from Argentina, invited me down on a last minute trip to hunt the elusive red stag, which are known as red deer. Hunting stag is similar to hunting elk, except the stags roar instead of bugle. It is a hard hunt if they are not vocal due to being unable to locate them in the lush environment. The key to spot and stalking any animal is to be able to see them before they see you; therefore, when a stag roars, we are able to have an idea where they are at, and slowly make our way to them. Also, for reference, the males are the only ones that roar, this is the same with an elk bugle, which occurs during their mating season.

After making a right off of the "main road", which was a gravel / dirt road right outside of the little town, it took us about a hour and a half to make our way up the mountain and into the middle of nowhere. There was a couple of times that I wasn't sure the stick shift Toyota was going to make it, but that little sucker proved me wrong every single time. Once we made it to camp our main source of transportation further up the mountain was either by foot or by the mountain horses.

I was for sure looking forward to the challenge of the miles I was about to put on my Rocky boots, and the opportunity to potentially stick one of these beasts with my bow. However, one of the most exciting parts of this trip was the camp experience. Where we stayed was totally remote with no service, expect for the 15 mile long hike to the very top of the mountain, that I conveniently stumbled upon.

Our campsite overlooked a spring lake, which was full of trout, & probably 30 degrees Fahrenheit at the time. Tucked in the far bottom right corner of the picture below is a fire pit where we would end each of our nights eating dinner and drinking wine.