With conditions in Mexico apparently becoming more unsettled, or at least unsettling for some hunters, interest seems to be growing in hunting in Central America for many of the same species found in southern Mexico. Now, a once-famous Central American hunting country is close to coming back on the grid.
Wedged between Mexico and Guatemala on the Caribbean coast, Belize, or as it was once called, “British Honduras,” was a well-known jaguar-hunting destination from colonial days in the late 1940s up through the name change and independence in 1981, and for a time afterward. In the day, there were several “hunt clubs” in the country, along with colorful and legendary guides, such as “John,” “Little John” and Jackie Vasquez, who called in jaguar; it was also a familiar haunt of the late Peter Capstick. Belize is only two-and-half hours by air from Houston and the official language is English.
Although Belize has one of the world’s highest concentrations of jaguar, the officially “endangered” status of the big cat and its total protection ultimately dried up the market for big-game hunting in the country. For the better part of a quarter of a century, Belize has remained almost exclusively a top fishing destination for tarpon and bonefish and other flats and river species, along with reef fishing. But that may be about to change.....
