Clients Watkins Johnston and Michael Jenkins joined me for an exploratory trip to Nicaragua for ducks and doves with outfitter Marvin Townsend. In summary, the trip was excellent, well handled by the outfitter with superb duck shooting, good to excellent shooting for white wing doves, very nice accommodations and good food at Hotel Los Volcanes in Chinandega. |
The Country:
Nicaragua was in the world headlines in the
1980’s when the Sandinistas were in power. The country, bordered by
Honduras
and Costa Rica with coast lines on both the Pacific and the Caribbean,
converted
to a democracy in 1990 with a conservative President who is tough on
crime
and committed to creating an inviting environment for tourism, business
and
investment. Nicaragua today is a peaceful, stable country that welcomes
tourists
and hunters. It is also a country of rich ecological diversity with
large
areas of rain forest, rugged mountains, volcanoes and verdant
agricultural
valleys. The cities of Managua and Chinandega are attractive and
steeped
in history and colonial architecture.
The Shooting:
Duck shooting
is in picturesque lagoons
against the backdrop of mountains and an active volcano. Ducks are
mostly
blue winged teal and fulvous tree ducks though the group took a few
green
winged teal, wigeons and a couple of pintails. Shooting is from dry
blinds
over decoys, well placed among the reeds and mangroves, usually one
person,
but no more than two to a blind.
The ducks are there in
incredible numbers, rising
like waves early morning as the air boat pushes through the reeds and
lagoon
channels. It's a spectacular sight to see ducks, cranes, egrets,
herons,
gallinules, oyster catchers and colorful small birds thrashing through
the
water to get airborne as the boat moves toward them.
Townsend limits hunters to 25 ducks
per shoot;
50 per full day's shooting and those numbers are often attained. In our
own
group, we had lows on a half day shoot from 10 downed, 7 recovered to a
high
of 33 recovered depending on the shooter and the circumstances. Most
hunters
averaged from 12 to 25 ducks for a half day. Keeping in mind that the
ducks
are mostly teal, moving like miniature F86s, the numbers were very
satisfactory
to everyone in our group.
The Dove Shooting doesn't
compare to
Cordoba but is very comparable to Mexico with good numbers of white
wings
over sorghum or coming to roost. Our hunters averaged from 4 to 10
boxes
per shoot. One shoot was very poor as we just couldn't get positioned
for
the main flights, another was outstanding and would have been even
better
if the rain hadn't cut us off.
It's a heartening sight, by the way, to see families lined up at the air boat launch point and in the fields to receive ducks and doves that were brought in. The bird boys are attentive and bring in most of the downed birds and it's good to know they are going to be some family's evening meal.
The Outfitter:
Marvin Townsend
and his brother Richard are
experienced and capable Nicaraguan Americans with a love of the
country, a
feel for quality hunting and the desire to get results for their
clients. They use late model trucks & vans in excellent condition
and their handling
of our group was near flawless. They were close to the group from the
moment
of arrival in Managua until departure and were totally accommodating to
our
clients.
The Lodging: Hotel
Los Volcanes is
modern and very nice with air-conditioned
rooms, a well stocked bar and lounge, large and well furnished dining
room.
Meals are served buffet style except for the
last morning when guests order al a carte. Dishes are mostly typical
Nicaraguan
with chicken, steaks, pasta, black beans and rice, salads and excellent
desserts.
The Best Features: First, if you have any adventure in your soul, it is interesting to venture into primitive areas that no one else is hunting and that will see very few hunters in an entire season. There are currently only two outfitters offering trips there and Marvin Townsend is the most active, booking groups from Frontiers and Trek as well as Classic Sports International. He estimates that no more than 250 hunters will shoot the thousands of acres of lagoons available in an entire season-miniscule compared to Mexico and Argentina where the number of hunters is in the thousands.
The limits on ducks are very liberal at 25 per shoot. In Mexico, most outfitters limit clients to 15; in Argentina, 20 to 25 is the general rule.
In distance traveled and cost, however, Nicaragua beats Mexico and Argentina hands down. In Argentina, an average duck stay costs about $2,500 plus about $1,000 air fare and a 10 hour flight; it's about the same $2,500 plus $450 in gun permits in Mexico.
The cost for a similar program in Nicaragua is $2,100 with a 2 hour flight from Miami ($300-$450) and no extra gun permit, red tape or cost.
Finally, it's an interesting cultural experience to see the changes being made in a country that was once dominated by Sandinistas and Cubans and is now in the hands of a very conservative, democratic government committed to the economic rebuilding of the country, encouraging tourism, and crime control. No one in our party spent much time worrying whether Daniel Ortega might jump out from behind a bush and grab them.
The
atmosphere was
very American friendly and hospitable.
The
Drawbacks:
The only real negatives were the long security
lines at the airport and the typical Central American washboard roads.
We recommend a connection time in Miami of at
least 3 hours since flights could be closed early due to the long lines
going
through the tightened security procedures.
The roads in Nicaragua are generally very rough and
laced with pot holes. Plan on a 1-1/2 to 2 hour drive to most hunting
areas and count on being banged around for most of the trip. As
mentioned,
Marvin's equipment is near new and comfortable but unable to take much
of
the sting out of the potholes.
As a side comment, I've found that rough roads
is the usual price for being able to access virgin areas that have
little
hunting pressure no matter where you go.
Nicaragua is now on our short list of great duck hunting locations and we plan frequent trips in the future and are working with Marvin to set aside prime dates for next season.
We also offer the option of staying
at a smaller, but very nice hotel, a bit closer to the hunting and with
excellent
gourmet food at a slightly higher cost.
Best regards; John Cornett
Trip Report
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