Red deer were introduced to the area from Europe in 1904 and now Argentina ranks along with New Zealand as one of the top destinations to pursue trophy stags. Estancia Cerro de Los Pinos is owned by Miguel de Larminat, whose grandfather pioneered Patagonia and first established the estancia in 1909. The estancia is a working cattle ranch comprising 60,000-plus acres of deep, undulating valleys covered in lush native grasses and steep draws sprinkled with small groves of trees. Elevations on the estancia run from 2,100 to 4,000 feet. Larminat also owns an adjoining 13,000-acre tract of highlands that I hunted one day on this trip, spotting over 100 red deer with two exceptional stags among them. There are no high fences anywhere on these properties.
Our trip was timed to coincide with the annual rut, and in six extraordinary days of hunting, we collectively took a total of 10 stags. I killed a stag that scored 191 CIC (approximately an SCI Bronze Medal) and my friend killed a 200 CIC stag, which would take a Silver Medal SCI. The other stags we killed were smaller and/or management stags that we were encouraged to take to help manage the herds. The trophy stag hunting season runs from March 1 to May 31. Non-trophy hunting is offered through August 31. During the trophy season, approximately 25 stags are taken on the properties each year, scoring over 175 CIC points.
Larminat has employed experienced........(continued)
