Published Article “Sated In Sinaloa” Reprinted Inside.

Published Article “Sated In Sinaloa” Reprinted Inside.
The afternoon wind blew hot
on the shooter hiding in the sparse
shade of a white-thorn mesquite. In
late December at half past three, the
sun in the Mexican State of Sinaloa
was relentless, and the warm, gusty
wind erased any comfort afforded
by the tree. Relentless, too, was
the flight of mourning doves
flashing overhead like windblown
leaves, many of them employing
the unpleasant tack of slipping
sideways for no apparent reason in
their headlong rush to the fields. This
characteristic was not lost on the
gunner, who did his best to swing with
each bird before pulling the trigger.
For almost 90 minutes the onslaught
continued, with birds flashing
through openings in the mesquite,
sailing over the tops, diving down
like phantoms between branches,
and then leveling off just above the
ground. Often it was impossible to
load fast enough.
During infrequent lulls in the
action, the shooter faced squarely in
the direction of the flight, holding his
gun lightly, shifting nervously on the
balls of his feet like a tennis player
awaiting a serve. Success came now
and then as a bird arced out of the
sky and hit the ground with a lovely
plop, trailing feathers as it rolled on
the hard desert floor. A few of the
birds immediately stiffened and spun
down like propellers; others flinched
and flew on, only to collapse when
their “oil light” finally went out. It
was the kind of shooting to rival
the driven grouse of Scotland, the
partridge of Spain, the gyrations of
snipe. A mourning dove under such
circumstances is simply a worldclass bird: How many shooters can
appreciate that?
On my trip to México last
December,
conditions
couldn’t
have been better. I departed LAX
in the early afternoon on a new
Aero California regional jet and
touched down, after connecting in
Hermosillo, as the sun was setting
on a balmy tropical evening in Los
Mochis, Sinaloa. My host was Bobby
Balderrama, whose Sinalopato
Duck & Dove Club offers a host of
waterfowl species and superb white-
winged and mourning dove shooting.
As a measure of success, Balderrama
has been going strong in Los Mochis
for more than 20 years.
This thriving agricultural town of
230,000 is a bit north of the Baja tip
but five miles inland on the mainland
side of the Gulf of California. It is
also the western terminus for the
Chihuahua Pacific Railroad, which
traverses world-famous Copper
Canyon. Many shooters and their
wives enjoy taking the train as a side
trip while in town. Weather-wise,
daytime highs might reach 85, and
mornings are cool and pleasant. In
four days of hunting there was no
rain. Balderrama, a Mochis native,
owns the Plaza Inn Hotel, the premier
hotel in the city and his venue for
lodging hunters. It takes about an
hour to reach the most distant hunting
spots, and some of the dove fields are
only 30 minutes away.
The evening I arrived, I met the
other five Guns—two of them fathers
with teenage sons—in the hotel
dining room. After an early supper, I
settled into the well-appointed room
Sated in Sinaloa
CLAIR KOFOED
to unpack and get some sleep; wakeup would be 4:30 am.
The next morning we started out
toward the Sierra Madre Occidental,
which forms a formidable barrier 50
miles east of town. Field workers
already were heading out for the
huge tracts of tomatoes, corn and
sugarcane surrounding the city.
Soon we topped another rise and saw
our destination: a field of sorghum
tucked away in the shrub-covered
foothills. The field, backing against
rocky cliffs, was the perfect lure for
grain-loving birds, and the surrounding
thickets offered a day-roost as well.
As we pulled off the blacktop on a
sandy two-track bisecting the tall
stalks, silhouettes of swift-winged
birds whistled overhead. The main
event here would be paloma blanca,
the white-winged dove. There also
had been rumors of a few red-billed
pigeons, and now and then we could
see the larger birds, looking out of
place among the myriad doves now
streaming into the field.
As with most dove shooting, our
setup was simple: We sat on buckets
at auspicious crossings. The first
bird that approached me, a 40-yardhigh incomer, posed an immediate
dilemma. Should it be taken like a
Station 8 skeet target, with my gun
pulled straight back and the shot
loosed on blot-out, or should it be
“turn sideways” with the bird in
sight the whole time? On a high
bird, the second option generally
works best for me, and a puff of
white feathers signaled the shoot had
started.
After that, things quickly got crazy
as the white-wings began to come
over from all quarters. I tried to hold
off on the long side shots and pick
doves flying closer to the roadway.
I figured that eight-foot-tall sorghum
might make recovery very difficult.
Regardless, a cripple drifted out
over the tangled jungle, and my
birdman, Edgar, set off on the run.
While he was searching, I dropped
four more doves, marking them all
myself. There was no need. Edgar
had remarkable eyesight and had
marked every one while searching. I
don’t think I have ever seen anything
like his skill, and his recovery of
several “impossible” birds was the
highlight of the morning.
As the sun got higher and birds
filling their crops began to shift
locations within the field, the
shooting became almost too easy. I
then concentrated on higher birds
and difficult angles. Some of the
beginning shooters enjoyed their
first real wingshooting success on
some of the “floater” doves.
Later that day I gathered my
belongings and headed to the airport
for the flight home. After takeoff,
I looked down on the sprawling
estuarios lining the coast west of
Mochis and saw the huge agricultural
fields just inland. Off to the east,
the Sierra Madre rose in reddish
jagged blocks, forming the southern
backbone of the North American
continent. With such diversity of
habitat and terrain, it was hard not
to wonder about the multitude of
places perfect for gamebirds. There
was no doubt that I would be back to
explore them.
5 Nights / 4 Days
3 Duck Hunts
3 Dove Hunts
$ 2,495.00 USD
HUNTING PACKAGE PRICES 2007-2008
DUCK AND DOVE - November - March
PKG 2
4 Nights / 3 Days
3 Duck Hunts
3 Dove Hunts
$ 2,495.00 USD
3 Nights / 2 Days
2 Duck Hunts
2 Dove
6NHunts
/ 5D
$ 1,795.00 USD
7N / 6D
Hunter & Non Hunter
DOVE AND DOVE
Couple Both Hunters
4 Nights / 3 Days
PKG 3
Single Room-Hunter
PKG 1
-
$ 3,445.00 USD
$4,195.00 USD
$ 4,695.00 USD
6 Dove Hunts
$ 2,795.00 USD
$5,895.00 USD
$ 1,975.00 USD
$3,495.00 USD
November - March
3 Nights / 2 Days
4 Dove Hunts
$ 1,495.00 USD
CAST & BLAST
5 Nights / 4 Days
5 Nights / 4 Days
5 Nights / 4 Days
Hunter
& Non Hunter
2 Days of bass
fishing plus 2 duck
$2,295.00 USD
& 2 dove hunts
3 Duck Hunts
$ 2,495.00 USD
3
Dove
Hunts
Couple
2 Days of bass
Both Hunters
fishing plus 4 dove $2,695.00 USD
hunts
Includes fishing license.
SINALOPATO & COPPER CANYON TRAIN TOUR
6N / 5D
7N / 6D
PKG 2
Hunter & Non Hunter
$ 3,445.00 USD
$4,195.00 USD
PKG 1
Couple Both Hunters
$ 4,695.00 USD
$5,895.00 USD
PKG 3
Single Room-Hunter
$ 2,795.00 USD
$3,495.00 USD
Extra day: $690.00 Hunting at Sinalopato and Plaza Inn or staying at El Mirador Hotel on Copper Canyon.
Non hunter cost per day: $165
ALL PACKAGES INCLUDES:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
All lodging at deluxe Plaza Inn Hotel (double occupancy).
All transfers from/to Los Mochis International Airport and to all hunts. In case of Cast and Blast transfers to lake Huites Camp or Train Station.
Airboats and blinds for duck hunts, bird retrieval, bird boy for dove hunts.
Early snack and coffe, all meals, five star service.
Complimentary beer, soft drinks and ice in the field.
All day fishing with mid day lunch on bass fishing.
First Class Train tickets on Copper Canyon Tour.
Bass boat for two fisherman, with skipper, Fishing licenses.
NOT INCLUDED IN PRICE:
•
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Mexico Hunting License.
Shotgun shells.
Shotgun rental per day.
Tips for bird boys and lodge tips