The Pigeons of Paraguay

Picazuro, plague, pest-a pigeon by any name (or in any language) means great shooting. On Paraguay's Gran Chaco plain, it's Columba picazuro-a hearty, hard-flying bird that draws the ire of local farmers but the attention of appreciative wingshooters. Spring in Northern climes is fall south of the equator -harvest time for peanuts and milo and the birds that feast on them. The quarry comes in hordes, descending on fields en masse. Stroking, swooping, employing evasive maneuvers. Numbers are thinned by pass-shooting and gunning over decoys -faux and friend.

Do you like what you read? Subscribe to Shooting Sportsman»