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LOS GAUCHOS OUTFITTERS
By Stuart Williams |
| *** For reference, please note that this article was written in 2003. |
| Los Gauchos Outfitters is a relatively new company, but a very good one in spite of its newness. It was founded just two years ago by George Criddle, a young Texan with a passion for waterfowling, and his Argentine partner, who comes from an influential family in Bahia Blanca and speaks excellent English after four years at the University of California. Los Gauchos offers excellent shooting for geese—their specialty—and very good shooting for Argentina ducks and doves. Los Gauchos offers stand alone Argentina dove hunts in Cordoba, but only ducks, Magellan goose hunting, Ashyhead goose hunting, Perdiz, and pigeons at their flagship Argentina hunting lodge in Bahia. |
| George Criddle has the advantages of youth and enthusiasm—he is only in his mid-30’s—but he has another advantage too…he is a pilot for American Airlines, which means that he makes frequent trips to Argentina and is able to carry with him all the elaborate equipment necessary for successful waterfowling. For example, he just took delivery ghillie blankets, and Final Approach goose hunting blinds to cover up his goose shooters. These comfortable chairs, and three-dimensional camouflage blankets are far superior to ordinary camouflage cover-ups. They cover the whole shooter from chin to foot, and make him look like a pile of dirt. George has 12 green blankets for use in wheat fields and 12 tan ones for use in harvested sunflower fields. He has also ordered 38 Hardcore goose decoys. These are custom-made full-body decoys that are hand-painted to look like the real thing, and are copied from detailed photos of ashy-headed and Magellan geese. They are the finest and most expensive goose decoys on the market, and will be the finest decoys in Argentina bar none. In addition, George will have Final Approach “One-Shot” bilnds, which enable the shooter to sit up, with the advantages that he can shoot better than if he were lying flat on his back, and the goose hunter can keep perfectly dry. George claims very credibly that he has more money invested in quality waterfowling equipment than any other goose hunting outfitters in Argentina. |
| George is also a major player in the Argentina duck hunting business because he baits heavily and does extensive pre-hunt scouting. He uses spinning wing Mojo duck decoys and species specific duck decoys, as well as maintains a kennel of fantastic Labrador retrievers. |
| George and his partner have a brand new Argentina bird hunting lodge near the city of Colonel Pringles. It is a basic place—brand new, clean and comfortable, and more than adequate to fulfill the requirements of all but the most demanding clients. There are five double bedrooms with very comfortable beds, beautiful private bathrooms—and even central heating! There is also 24-hour Internet access available in the business center. This Argentina goose hunting lodge has a large social/dining room with a big fireplace, big comfortable chairs, and a big dining table. George’s cooks serve up appetizing Argentine dishes such as steak and pasta and dulce de leche, as well as game dishes such as escabeche of Perdiz, duck stroganoff, and brochettes of pigeon breasts with sliced onions and red peppers. George keeps a limited supply of Benelli waterfowl hunting shotguns for shooters who do not bring their own. George employs men who have years of experience as goose hunting guides and scouts. |
| They scout vast areas daily, and place shooters only in the best fields the following morning. Really good scouting is the sine qua non of outstanding Argentina goose hunting, or Canada goose hunting—or goose hunting anywhere else in the world for that matter. |
| Another salient feature of George’s operation is his outstanding bird dogs. By and large, Argentine bird dogs are a sorry bunch of mutts—most of which should be shot—but George’s dogs are the best that I have ever seen in Argentina, and a sheer delight to shoot Perdiz over. He purchased them from a renowned Uruguayan dog breeder and trainer, who has the best bird dogs available in South America. All the Perdiz are wild birds. |
| Now I will tell you about some unforgettable days with Los Gauchos Outfitters: |
| The first morning I shot in a field of harvested sunflowers with Robert “Big Boy” Bonev and Skip “Lord Hog” Hoagland. Our Argentina hunting outfitter, George Criddle, arranged us on a line about 15 yards apart, lying out on comfortable foam pads, flat on our backs. Behind us was a trio of Argentina hunting guides—and George. Together they kept up an impressive chorus of loud calling. All around us was a spread of shell, windsock, and silhouette snow goose decoys. It was a cold, overcast morning with a 15 mph wind at our backs. Perfect conditions! |
| The first flock came in at precisely 8 am: a wide wave of brown birds and snow-white birds, wings working in perfect unison, heading straight for us just ten yards off the ground, until they were all over and around us and the guns roared again and again and again, filling the air with a storm of shot and smoke, and heavy goosebodies thumped the earth whompwhompwhompwhompwhomp! and cries of exultation arose. |
| Soon the sun arrived from the land where day begins, and it smeared the ivory-white breasts of the males a hot incandescent pink as they approached us. Again and again, we let the birds come in until they were right off the gun muzzles, and again and again we sat up to salute them and again and again the guns roared and again and again heavy birdbodies smote the earth and cries sounded out. George and the bird boys kept up their chorus of cajolery and more and more birds came in and we let fly the lead and sent them tumbling. |
| This is a scenario I have experienced a thousand times, but each time it fills me with adrenalin and makes me tremble. I was using Remington Nitro-Magnum 2 ¾” #2’s, a wickedly authoritative goose hunting load that enabled me to reach and knock down birds at 50 yards and beyond. Pure pleasure! |
| Everything worked to perfection that morning. The birds decoyed perfectly and we all shot brilliantly. We got 164 geese between three shooters. It was, in the words of Herman Melville in MOBY DICK, “top-gallant delight.” It was one of the top goose hunting mornings in my whole life. When I am enjoying a great shoot like this I often think of that saying by Gandhi: “Live each day as if it were your last,” and that is precisely what I did that day. |
| Such mornings are rare indeed in this mortal life, but the next morning was even better: we got 175 Ashy head and Magellan geese. |
| I should emphasize that such mornings are exceptional, and that shooters booking with Los Gauchos cannot routinely expect mornings like those two. In fact, the following morning we got just 30 geese. There was a 50mph wind and the birds simply did not fly very well, and the ones that did could not hear our goose hunting guides calls. |
| I should also be noted that in the Province of Buenos Aires geese are considered a plague, and there are no limits on them. However the birds are not left for dead, Los Gauchos donates cleaned ducks and geese to shelters, schools, and old folks homes on a regular basis. |
| Back at the lodge in the evening we celebrated with aperitivos by fireside: slices of chorizo; marinated breast of duck and goose; and thin-sliced prosciutto. Then we migrated to the dining table for milanesa de pollo napolitana (breast of chicken with a melted cheese and tomato sauce) and panqueques con dulce de leche, meaning, crepes filled with caramel custard, and plenty of fine malbec. |
| Ah, those wonderful days with Los Gauchos! |
