In early December 2004, after all the duckin' here froze out, I was getting the hankering for another warm Mexico hunt down with The Big Gabino, Frank Ruiz, in Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico. Had hunted three times with Frank previously, twice in Obregon and once at his Gulf Coast Lodge, and had really hot barrel gunning at both locations. [If you want to read up on those three previous trips to get a real insight on Gabino's operation, pull up my web< www.sangresundance.net> and check out Mexico Ducks and Doves in 2004 and Mexico Whitewings and Mexico Hunt in 2003]

Anyhoo, it were time to go again, so I had to put Sundance Safaris to work. Ole baldheaded eldest adopted son, Will Hawthorne, had been with me on my first trip in 2003, and we had a ball. When I was in Richmond over Thanksgiving, Will had indicated a desire to go back. Talking with him, he indicated he wanted to buy a hunt for baby brother, Hugh Dee, as a Christmas present. So I got a hunt set up with Gabino for Jan 29-Feb 2.

Will and Hugh are two down home country boys from Hanover,Va., rough around all the edges, and quite a bit red around the necks. Will has had a bit of international travel, but I don't think Hugh had ever been much further from home than southwest Virginia. These boys have always operated in high gear, so this trip looked to be a doozy.

On January 29 I left out of Montrose for Denver and a connecting flight to Phoenix, where I was to meet up with los hermanos Hawthorne. Collecting my guns and gear, I caught the shuttle over to Aeromexico and got checked in. Pretty quiklike, Will and Hugh followed along, and they got checked in. During that process two Montana boys from Billings showed up headed for Gabino's too. Matt Costello and Tom Chamberlain had bought their hunt at the Billings DU chapter, and were looking forward to some hot and furious Mexico gunning, as were we. These boys had never met a stranger, so it looked like they would be fun to hunt with.

After gathering up a couple of beers and lunch, we loaded up on AM for the first leg to Hermosillo. I had a seat by some boys headed to Hermosillo for doves and it turned out they had grown up in Jacksonville with Lil Annee. Mid flight we all had to fill out customs forms for Mexico and just before landing, I discovered my passport missing. I went thru my carryon 15 times, looked under my seat, and in the seat back, but no passport could be found. By this time I was getting nervous. After all the passengers deplaned, all the boys and the stewardesses were crawling around the floor and pulling up seats, but no passport. We were sent to the terminal to report the loss at Passport Control, but after hearing my story, they said "So sorry Senor, no passport, no Mexico!" Damn if this weren't a pickle! One of the Mexican officials jokingly called me a "wetback", having no passport. While I was pondering my next move, Montana Tom walked up and low and behold, spied the errant passport sticking out of a hidden fold of my backpack! Damn! That was a relief! From then on, they all began to refer to me affectionately as "Passport Pop". No matter, now I was legal and no longer a "wetback". Now we could move on with our hunt.

During our layover in Hermosillo, we met up with retired lawyer, Pete Mulligan, from San Francisco, who was also headed to Gabino's. Finally they called our flight for the short hop to Ciudad Obregon and we were off on our final leg. It had been a long day traveling for us all, but we were ready for what came next!

Big Frank and German were waiting for us, so we collected up our gear, had our guns and permits checked by the federales, loaded up the van, and headed to the lodge. As usual, Jorge, the lodge manager was waiting by the street for our arrival and welcome to Gabino's. Right behind him stood "Margarita" Tony with a tray full of freshly made frozen margaritas to quench our thirst. When you hunt with Frank, you are treated like homefolk from the get go and service is top drawer!

While our bags were being taken to our rooms, we got sidetracked at the horsdouvres bar that was full of hot chicken wings, dove breasts, and quesadillas. Unpacked , we hit the open bar and met up with 10 Texas boys from Houston, who had flown in on a private jet earlier. In all there were 16 hunters in the lodge, all ready to pull some triggers at fast flying palomas and patos.

Before dinner, I slipped in the office to see Marisol Moriles, Frank's right hand gal, who handles all the detail paper work. Annee had made a couple of custom bracelets for her and Celina, Frank's wife, so i had to deliver the presents.

Jorge called dinner to order, so we all gathered 'round the giant table and sat to the first of many great meals we would have, compliments of Conchita and Carlitos, the great cooks that have been with Frank for years. Jorge gave the game plan for the morrow, which would entail an all day outing for palomas [ both mourning & whitewing doves]. Since we were bushed from traveling, Will , Hugh, and I called it a day and headed to our room. Hugh had cut his finger a few days before and was afraid it would interfere with his shooting, so I tried to get him to pack it with a tobacco poultice. He thought I was speaking Spanish to him and declined. Finally we drifted off to sleep anticipating an early wakeup.