Sunday, October 14, 2001

Bordering on opportunity

David Sikes/Caller-Times

A San Antonio wingshooter attempts to put a bead on a flight of doves in the Mexico dawn. Hunting across the border has become easier in recent years as ranchers and outfitters have organized.

TAMAULIPAS, MEXICO - The dizzying swirl of palomas that mock and thrill shotgunners is nothing compared with the political challenge that faced Mexican ranch owner Abraham Garcia II more than a decade ago.
   Today, dreams have converged at Rancho La Palma, where the doves fly as they always have, but the seeds planted by Garcia and a handful of visionaries are changing the landscape to allow more foreigners a shot at them and other game.
   There was a time when U.S. hunters with eyes for Mexican game held apprehension and fear about crossing the border, an attitude founded on tales of damp dark prisons and corrupt officials. For those Americans who went anyway, common sense told them not to carry cash across the border. But those with enough money to follow their adventurous dream knew that cash would be necessary to further their journey and for a safe return.

David Sikes/Caller-Times

The sprawling greenery that is Rancho La Palma is seen through the second-story window of an old ranch house, long abandoned.

   The promise of good hunting often erased better sense. And in some cases the gamble paid off, despite the greed and graft. But the repercussion of prohibitive tales - whether myth, overblown or accurate - effectively erected a roadblock that for years stifled dreams as well as the flow of dollars into an ailing economy.
   The effects still linger.
   The roots of corruption were deep. But the resolve held by men such as Garcia was deeper.

David Sikes/Caller-Times

Mostly mourning doves flew for us, hundreds of them. Flocks of white-winged doves road out of Rancho La Palma on a cool front two weeks before our arrival.

   And just last week I saw firsthand what the future holds, thanks to the continued diligence of Garcia's son, Abraham Garcia III. Like his father who graduated from Texas A&M University-College Station, the 25-year-old business graduate is an Aggie. His business degree is from Texas A&M International University at Laredo.
   The elder Garcia, along with other resolute ranchers from his generation, believed that solidarity would further social and political change. And they saw their country's natural resources as a means to economic salvation.

David Sikes/Caller-Times

Guides and bird boys were helpful, keeping an eye on approaching and falling birds.

   It appears they were right on both counts.
   Garcia and a handful of Mexican ranchers banded together 13 years ago to form ANGADI, the acronym of which roughly translates to the National Association of Cattlemen Diversified into Wildlife Breeders. Basically, they were a group of well-established, fledgling and wannabe hunting outfitters who formed a political action committee.
   Today, ANGADI involves about 1,300 members, comprising about 30 million acres in nine states.

Hunting in Mexico 2 J Outfitters — (866) 754-4755; e-mail fergusonjimmy@hotmail.com; Website, www.2joutfitters.com ANGADI — www.angadi.com.mx

   David Langford, executive director of the Texas Wildlife Association, considers ANGADI a blood brother organization with TWA. The two groups have held a joint conference to discuss and share information on wildlife management, conservation and the promoting of hunting across borders.
   More than 2,000 U.S. residents hunted ANGADI ranches last year. Garcia expects this number to grow as confidence builds.
   Building on their fathers' foundation, the sons of ANGADI founders plan to further exploit the potential of the North American Free Trade Agreement through education and diplomacy. And they are not averse to using the leverage they have garnered to streamline border crossing procedures and tweak laws to create a more user-friendly atmosphere for visiting hunters.
   This has been an uphill battle.
   Because of the black-market gun trade in Mexico, hunters carrying firearms without proper papers have been treated like felons by the Mexican government, which viewed gun smuggling much the same as the U.S. government views illegal drugs. This has relaxed somewhat, thanks, mostly, to ANGADI, according to Abraham Garcia III.
   "This was a tragic precedent to set," Garcia said. "But we've been able to change this to where it's no longer prison, but a fine and you're turned back in cases when it's a simple mistake, ignorance of the law or culture. We're really just trying to promote free trade."

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   Positive changes are most evident to hunters who book trips with ANGADI member-ranches. These outfits are approved and registered with the Mexican government, which makes sure the ranches are biologically sound and legitimate. ANGADI has an arrangement with the Mexican military, which has shortened the approval process for guns into Mexico. This has made a big difference.
   The usual procedure for ANGADI ranches is to have all the necessary paperwork for clients completed in advance. Many ANGADI members also provide transportation for clients from a United States location to the hunt ranch.
   Border crossing for us was a breeze. We arrived at the lush and spring-like fragrant Rancho La Palma after a 45-minute drive from Laredo. Because our outfitter had provided shotguns that awaited us at the ranch, we left ours at home. The 11,000-acre Garcia ranch's American partner is 2J Outfitters, owned and operated by James Ferguson Sr. and James Ferguson Jr., of Wharton. 2J Outfitters is best known for trophy deer hunts. The Fergusons offer bowhunts too, but a growing market has expanded their operation in dove and quail outings.
   A cool front had pushed birds from Texas and northern Mexico farther south, lowering our expectations for bags bulging with white-winged dove. But as we approached the 1920s-built stone hacienda, dozens of mourning doves flushed and fled in the late-September air.

David Sikes/Caller-Times

A turn-of-the-century hacienda is an elegant reminder of a ranching culture that is evolving into one of hunters and wild-stock. Notice the deer blind on the roof.

   To bird hunt in Mexico was a lifelong dream for me, as well as for ranch guests, Ralph and Kevin Jones, a father and son from Duncanville. Apprehension probably had as much as anything to do with why this dream had gone unfulfilled for all of us. I wished my father could have been with me to see it happen.
   The professionalism and hospitality that greeted us at La Palma melted my fears into eager anticipation.
   During the first evening's hunt, I felt as though I was under attack. The flurry of birds splintered my focus. I was swinging on one bird when distracted by a dozen more.
   Somehow I bagged maybe 20 in 2½ hours. My bird-boy, Beto, was polite and helpful, but his cruel sense of humor showed in the end when he told me how many boxes of shells I'd emptied.
   You'll have to ask him. I'm not telling. I will say that in my dream I used fewer shells.
   Even so, this short hunt topped my best ever.
   The evening meal was fried dove breasts, sautéed mixed vegetables and homemade corn tortillas. I slept
   The next morning, we hunted a different spot, within several hundred yards of the hacienda grounds. About a half-hour into a brilliant sunrise, my hunting partner, two bird-boys and I began barking dove alerts.
   It was a noisy dawn, topping the previous day's excitement by many decibels.
   Shouts of "behind you, three; Paloma, paloma; Ten coming from the field; A pair in front; Look left." And so it was for the next three hours, a wingshooters fantasy come true.
   Barrels heated and adrenaline pumped.
   And to top it off, Beto was too busy to count empty shell boxes.
  
  

Talk about fishing in the Coastal Bend