Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Mexico hunting destinations report it’ll be game on
Seasonal rains have really contributed to an abundance of upland game birds and waterfowl for Baja Norte and the Mexican states of Sinaloa and Sonora. The entire region enjoyed very good bird hunting last season and a carryover of adult birds and some peaks in the migration of waterfowl should produce excellent hunting again this fall. Western Outdoor News stays in contact with outfitters and representatives and this past week there were some very positive reports being posted.
The Sinalopato Duck and Dove Club, based out of Los Mochis, annually attracts millions of ducks to the vast marshes of this southern end of the Pacific Flyway. Outfitter Bobby Balderrama expects hunting to be better than last year, which was excellent, and that there should be lots of dove and Gambel's quail harvested over the long season. The duck season for Sinaloa this year will kick off on November 2 and continue strong through the end of the season with the last day of hunting being March 6, 2013.
"Jim, we are seeing more and more ducks using our marshes both to the north and south of Los Mochis. We have worked to manage these wetlands to provide waterfowl hunters with the best shooting available in the state of Sinaloa. Coming off an excellent season last year that produced very consistent hunting for puddle ducks and divers this year should see even better gunning based on reports from the breeding grounds and the waterfowl populations expected to use the Pacific Flyway as they head to Mexico to winter. I would think the wetlands surrounding Los Mochis could hold as many as 3 to 4 million ducks during the peak of the season," said Balderrama.
AWESOME DUCK
SHOOT AT SINALOPATO — Last year offered up some excellent waterfowl
hunting for shooters hunting the vast marshes of the Sinalopato Duck
and Dove Club based out of Los Mochis. Gus Osterkamp of Tustin had a
blast hunting with WON's hunting editor Jim Niemiec in a blind on the
South Marsh. It was fantastic shooting with all kinds of big puddle ducks filling the blue sky over the vast wetlands. WON PHOTO BY JIM NIEMIEC
Balderrama went on to add, "Farms in the valley are holding good numbers of white winged and mourning dove right now. There was an excellent hatch of local birds and ample rain fell to make for a strong survival of dove, which should put lots of birds in the sky where we take our clients. We saw a pretty good year on Gambel's quail last year and I would think that this year will be similar in results with lots of limit hunts for those opting to include a quail hunt in their all-inclusive hunt package with Sinalopato offering lodging and meals at the 5 Star Plaza Inn."
Monsoonal rains filled stock ponds, recharged aquifers and made many creeks come alive in the northern part of Baja California. Coming off a very strong season of California Valley quail hunting last year, with a good carryover of adult birds, should produce awesome shooting for those heading down along the coast of Baja and into the lower elevations of the Sierra Madre Mountain range.
Gregg Shobe, spokesman for Rancho El Coyote-Meling, has been checking on the quail populations in San Telmo Valley where Esteban and Alfredo Meling base their unique hunting lodge amid a huge working cattle ranch with the right mix of cover, water, feed and natural habitat for quail. According to Shobe this part of Baja is showing evidence of an excellent quail hatch and even more important, with the rains that have been falling, the survival of this year's chicks appears to be very high.
"The Meling brothers are very excited about this year's quail hunting. They have been riding the range checking on cattle and stock ponds and report they are seeing lots of big coveys of quail. Cover is expected to be just right this season to offer up excellent gunning for quail for hunters booking 2 and 3 day hunts. Rancho El Coyote-Meling offers a very good quail hunting package that is all inclusive of lodging, meals, guiding and shotgun rental with plenty of ammo for purchase. Hunters can make all the arrangements for a multiple day hunt by contacting Victor Morales at (858) 522-9547 for gun permits and licenses or call me direct at (619) 540-9846," stated Shobe.
Upland game bird hunters that crossed over into the Mexicali region to hunt dove earlier this month reported back to WON that there were lots of both white winged and mourning dove winging over fields and fallow ranch land. The quail population appears to be up for Gambel's quail and there was a very good native pheasant hatch in the valley near Guadalupe Victoria. There are a number of excellent outfitters that hunt around Mexicali and offer up good hunting packages for hunters crossing the border at Calexico.
All hunters who plan to hunt in Mexico this season and bring home birds should be aware of a new regulation that was just put into force for hunters crossing the international border.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Office of Veterinary Services has implemented this new requirement in response to the recent confirmation of Highly Pathogenic Avian influenza at commercial poultry productions facilities in Mexico. The purpose of these new requirements is to prevent further spread of virus and to protect U.S. poultry.
According to the release the following information has been posted on the web site fws.gov/le/huntfish/bird_hunt_mexico.htm.
Fresh, uncooked, hunter harvested game bird carcasses brought from Mexico for human consumption are prohibited. If the carcass for human consumption has a full-cooked appearance, as determined by CBP,(Custom and Border Protection) it may be allowed. These carcasses are different from hunter-harvested carcasses that are brought as trophies from Mexico.
The release further states, "Hunters wishing to import trophy game fowl taken during a hunting trip in Mexico must have an approved import permit for the birds from USDA's Office of Veterinary Services. Hunters are now required to declare all game fowl to CBP upon their arrival at a U.S. port of entry and present the USDA Veterinary Services import permit. They are also subject to verification of the import documentation by a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officer. Editor's note: During the last major alert on the outbreak of Avian Influenza in poultry a similar requirement for bringing dove, quail and ducks back into the U.S. was enacted and made it difficult to bring home un-cooked wild game birds from Mexico.
For additional information on hunting opportunities in Mexico contact: bookings@plazainnhotel.com.mx, ranchoelcoyote.com, bajahunting.net.
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