Uruguay: Estancia San Cirilo, Rio Negro

South America’s mixed bag shooting at its finest

Whitefaced Duck

This beautiful lodge overlooks the Rio Negro...nestled between river and roost. Estancia San Cirilo was founded to create Uruguay’s ultimate mixed bag sporting lodge, offering guests a wide flexibility of quarry and shooting styles. This unrivalled destination provides the opportunity for guests to experience the best sport Uruguay has to offer within the confines of a private and exclusive lodge.

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The Shooting/Hunting

Uruguay Dove Hunting

Perdiz Shooting

The dove roosts are among one of San Cirilo’s greatest assets; all are located on private land and as such the doves are only shot by guests of the lodge. The dove hunting grounds provide superb high volume wing-shooting, with the dove flight lasting all day and providing guests with an unparalleled opportunity to experience great sport amongst secluded surroundings in convivial company.

Uruguay Duck Hunting

Duck hunting at Estancia San Cirilo provides a chance for our guests to experience one of Uruguay’s great sporting opportunities - high volume decoyed ducks. Sportsmen and women will experience duck hunting at a level previously only known only by the commercial hunters of the early 1900s. The hunts take place over the surrounding lagoons and potholes within close proximity of the lodge. The flocks of duck in Uruguay are amongst the most unpressured in South America and the shooting is consequently of a consistently high calibre.

Uruguay Decoyed Pigeon

Walked up Perdiz

The Pigeon shooting take place in close proximity to the Estancia with the flight beginning minutes after sunrise and the pigeons providing non-stop decoying action throughout the morning. The hunts are both sporting and challenging, highlighted by the speed and acrobatic flying patterns of the Picazuro and Spot Wing Pigeons. The Uruguayan pigeon hunts take place in dry, comfortable ground blinds hidden within the endless sunflower sorghum, and soybean fields that surround the Estancia. Guests can expect to shoot their limit of shells in a typical pigeon shoot, and additional dove opportunities are a common bonus.

Uruguay Perdiz Hunting – Over Pointing Dogs

The Perdiz hunting at San Cirilo will challenge even a veteran hunter. Masters of camouflage, these sporty birds hold well to point, hiding amidst the shortest shrub fields of western Uruguay. Throughout the day guests are accompanied by exceptional guides and their well trained English Setters or Brittany Spaniels. The shooting is over easy terrain and you can expect continuous points throughout a morning. Hunting over pointers provides a perfect break from the high volume shoots and is set amidst the beautiful rolling hills of Western Uruguay.

Uruguay Golden Dorado Fishing

The golden Dorado of the Rio Negro have become a favourite amongst the sportsmen and women of Estancia San Cirilo. The tranquillity of a day’s fishing on the Rio Negro provides guests with welcome variety during a week at the lodge and is highly recommended. The Dorado is coloured a magnificent iridescent yellow and green but its beauty masks its attributes as a fearsome predator. Uruguay’s golden Dorado are revered by the fishing community for there vicious strikes, line stripping runs, and acrobatic leaps and ranging in size from 3-50 lbs they are a formidable opponent. The guides are all dedicated and experienced and will look forward to sharing their knowledge with you.

San Cirilo Lodge

Accommodation

Bedroom at San Cirilo

There are wing-shooting getaways, and then there’s Estancia San Cirilo! Perched on a secluded hilltop overlooking Uruguay’s Rio Negro, sits the Estancia surrounded by thousands of acres of sunflower, sorghum, and soybeans. Refurbished for the 2009 season, and located in the delta of the Rio Negro, this visually striking lodge is situated atop 100,000 acres of wing-shooting paradise. The luxury accommodation is complemented by the peaceful flow of the nearby Rio Negro with picturesque views and is surrounded by one of the largest pigeon roosts in western Uruguay. While relaxing on the lower veranda, guests will enjoy a warm fire, an array of sumptuous food, fine wines and open bar, while watching flight after flight return to the evening roost.

The Location

The province of Rio Negro in Uruguay is home to the Portela brothers who own and manage the lodge. Estancia San Cirilo provides the perfect combination of luxury and mixed shooting opportunities for the travelling sportsman. Hidden on the banks of the Rio Negro, Estancia San Cirilo is located in western Uruguay, directly east of the famed Cordoba region of Argentina.

Duck Shooting

This unique location is close to Uruguay’s capital of agriculture allowing guests to pursue the sport of their choice without venturing far from the comforts of the lodge. Visible from the balcony, and within minutes of the Estancia, are the shooting locations for ducks, doves, pigeon and perdiz that stretch into the distance across the thousands of acres that make up San Cirilo Estancia.

Getting there

International travel is relatively easy with regular flights into either Montevideo from European countries or via Buenos Aires. You will be met on arrival and transferred to the Estancia, which takes between 3.5 and 4 hours.

Best times to go

• Mixed bag shooting - the best time of the year to travel is between May and September 15th
• Doves - September to April
• Golden Dorado can be fished for all year round.