For those of us who also feel like we were born a hundred years too late, Rio Salado confirms you’re not wrong. The numbers of birds stuffed into what equates to a 115 square-mile roam unit will test the computational abilities of your brain. Here, among unspoiled wetlands and lush grasses, you truly have the chance to stop and picture the staggering bird densities North America once held. So many birds in this place, seemingly everywhere. Among them the famed Rosey-billed Pochard in stunning numbers. Black-Billed and Fulvous Whistling Duck. Two species of pintail. Four flavors of teal. Brazilian ducks and more, all relatively unpressured and playing nice the way you’d wish, call-responsive and a window of insight back into what we once had. 

A word of advice to those lucky enough to find themselves in a place this magical: Indulge your idealistic side. Sift through time’s back-catalog of your most memorable hunts. Inside those years, find the wide-eyed beauty and the picture of perfect that endeared you to waterfowling years ago. Remember the way those birds worked when fully committed, locked up and eating it. That’s the special sauce and always will be, and it’s why you come to places like Rio Salado: To see ducks act like ducks. Real Argentina duck hunting at Rio Salado.  As real as it gets.

Read incredible full-color story (PDF): The Boys of Rio Salado, The Good Ol’ Days Still Exist (Argentina duck hunting at Rio Salado)

Referenced GetDucks hunting experience: Argentina Duck Hunting at Rio Salado