Argentina Upland Hunting

Although wild quail hunting is available in the Patagonia region of Argentina; far and away, the Tinamou is the most popular quarry of visiting upland birds hunters. Tinamou is the scientific name given to the game bird that is never referred to by this name...South American bird hunting outfitters call them Perdiz (pronounced “pear-deez”). Visiting American hunters pronounce it “perdeez”.

Whatever you want to call it, hunters often use more colorful words (usually the four-letter kind) to describe these birds while their pointer is shifting from one point to another in a constant effort to relocate these fast running, and highly invisible creatures. Click here if you wish to read more about Argentina Perdiz hunting.

Unlike duck or goose hunting, where the skills of the hunter are put to the test with regard to: scouting, decoys, decoy placement, camouflage and concealment—successful Upland bird hunting is almost completely dependent on two things: the dogs hunting ability, and the hunter’s shooting ability.

We assume you have practiced up on your trap shooting and sporting clays before you come down, so let’s talk about the dogs. Los Gauchos Outfitters has numerous dogs, in various breeds, from the top bloodlines available in South America. All of our dogs were bred and trained in Uruguay—the only country in South America where top European breeders and trainers are found.

Among top breeders, Uruguay has a large field trial community. This should come as no surprise in a country that easily has the best Perdiz hunting available anywhere in the world.

One main difference that a North American hunter might notice and mistakenly give one of these dogs a poor mark, is the fact that the trainers in South America do not force-fetch or dissuade the dog from breaking on the shot.

The prevailing attitude is to apply as little pressure as possible to the dogs during their training, only enforcing basic obedience and range control. Little pressure is applied during the training process, keeping the dogs very “birdy” and motivated.

Many critics view sparing the force fetch and not breaking the dog for shot as a lazy approach to dog training. This is a matter of personal preference, and outside of the scope of this infobit.

Breeders and trainers from South America say that they prefer to let their “dogs be dogs” believing that it keeps their overall spirits higher—increasing their desire to hunt. But make no mistake, the rod is not completely spared on these animals…all trainers use e-collars to reinforce basic obedience and control the dogs range, if necessary.

One common misconception is that there exists wild quail hunting in Uruguay. No Uruguay quail hunting is available—they are just not there.