Hunting: Kiwi birds of passage

John Cowley, Kent Baigent, Murray Fisher, Grey Thorne-George and doug Casey enjoy lunch. Photo / Geoff Thomas

Yola, Hermosa, said our driver with a smile, leaning out the window as the minivan passed a young woman walking along the footpath. She smiled back.

What he had said was, "Hello, beautiful." But it was said in such a way that it was a compliment, nothing derogatory or suggestive.

That is how the people are in the town of Esquina. Friendly, smiling, seemingly happy with their lot, which does not extend to any form of welfare or handouts. We could learn a lot from such people. The town of Esquina is in the province of Corrientes in Argentina.

Omar has driven us around on several trips and he speaks good English, which is important as our grasp of Spanish doesn't go far beyond "Cerveza por favor", which means, "Do you reckon I could have a beer by any chance please mate?" or something along those lines. We also know what senor and senorita mean, mainly through watching Clint Eastwood in those old spaghetti westerns.

Now we know what "Yola, hermoso" means, too, but we have trouble with the inflection which gives it the right meaning.

We have come to know Omar and the guides, or "bird boys" as they are called here.

They all have large families - my man, Jorges, has nine children - and they work hard, guiding bird shooters during the April to August season and finding other work for the rest of the year. Jorges fishes commercially and hunts nutria for meat and fur. These are rodent-like animals which live in the vast network of swamp and weeds.

The bird boys ensure there is always a chillybin handy filled with cold cans of cerveza, while they suck on their green tea. This is a bitter liquid called mate (pronounced mah-tay). They make it in a small silver bowl which is topped up occasionally with hot water from a thermos. We tried it, but decided unanimously to stick with the cerveza.

It is the wing-shooting which draws sportsmen to Argentina from throughout the world. There is a network of high quality lodges in the main shooting provinces of Corrientes and Cordoba, and the shooting is unbelievable.

As well as cattle ranches the people grow crops on an amazing scale. It is hard to comprehend the size of the country. The braided shallow rivers are tens of kilometres wide and the fields of crops seem endless.

They grow rice, sorghum, soy beans and other crops we rarely hear about and these rich fields support birds in their millions - doves, wild pigeons, ducks and many others we have never seen before. There are said to be 40 million doves in the area covered by our favourite base, Malalcue Lodge.

A typical day will involve a dove shoot in a field where birds are passing in endless streams. One gun may shoot 500 or 600 birds, and nothing is wasted. The bird boys carry ammunition by the case, and most of the shooting is done with 20-gauge semi-automatic shotguns. They also carry a machete for making the blind, seats for us, a chillybin and our gun-bags.

The first time we encountered this system we naturally offered to help carry some of the gear. "No, no, no," they said as they struggled under the weight - for they are not big blokes, these bird boys.

It took the Kiwi visitors about five minutes to change that particular habit. They had not encountered Kiwis before, all their clients having come from North America.

We changed a few habits, actually. Like getting together and having a party at the end of the trip with all the people who had looked after us. That had never happened before, either.

Gloves are needed to protect hands from the gun barrels which become so hot that serious burns are a real threat.

Every shot is counted, every bird counted and the empty cartridges are all picked up. The birds are donated by the sackful to local people who wait by the road as the convoy of 4WD vehicles passes.

The lodge cooks ducks, pigeon and dove breasts and the Spanish partridge or perdiz, which is hunted with dogs which will freeze on point when birds are located.

After a morning shoot the hunters are picked up from their makeshift blinds on the edge of the field and taken around the corner to where the support team has been cooking a barbecue all morning.

The table is set up with fresh linen, the wine and cerveza is cold, and the sausages and steaks and salads and empinadas keep coming until, sated, the shooters take a siesta in hammocks strung between trees or vehicles.

Then the afternoon shoot begins and, in late afternoon, Omar collects the shooters in his minivan for the long drive back to the lodge.

It's 100km or more but the hot showers, nibbles around the bar, followed by another huge meal and shared stories ensure sleep is not long coming.

Argentina is famous for its meat. Whether a lamb split and roasted over a fire, steaks, sausages or chicken or pork - they know how to raise, prepare and cook it.

Then there are the local wines.

And you can always lean out of the window and try to raise a smile with "Yola, hermoso".