If You Go: Hunting In Mexico

Here are some tips and sources of information for those who might consider hunting in Mexico:

-- Where to go: From the desert-like northern states to the jungles of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico is a hunters' paradise.

If you're after bigger game, you can hunt wild boar in the Yucatan, deer in Sonora, raccoon and badgers in the Acapulco area or rabbits and squirrels near Guadalajara.

All these areas also have dove and duck hunting, which opens in many states Nov. 1 and continues through mid-March.

Doves sought in the Mazatlan area include white-winged and mourning doves. Most types of ducks - teal, pintail, Mexican tree ducks - can be found except mallards.

For a listing of seasons and limits for different game, write for the calendario cinegetico: Subsecretaria de Ecologia, Direccion General de Conservacion Ecologica de los Recursos Naturales, 20 Rio Elba, 10th Floor, Mexico, DF 06500. They also have hunting-license applications and special permits for game that require them.

-- Guides: Mexican law requires that you have a registered guide to hunt anywhere in Mexico. The Mexican Hunting Association in Long Beach, Calif., has lists of guide services and sends out several newsletters a year. Write to Jim Cauley, 3302 Josie Ave., Long Beach, CA 90808, or call 1-213-421-1619.

Local tourist offices and hotels also have names of registered guides. The Aviles brothers are the only registered guides in Mazatlan, though there are several others in the state of Sinaloa.

-- Cost: For a full day of dove and duck hunting near Mazatlan, the Aviles Brothers charged us $139 each. Gun rentals and boxes of shells can push the total to more than $200. A non-hunter pays $40 to go along.

-- Guns: It's far easier to rent a gun in Mexico than to bring your own. Expect the rental to cost about $15 a day. Bringing your own gun is expensive and complicated since getting the necessary permits is a paperwork nightmare. If you must bring your own gun, the Aviles brothers will help with the paperwork for $170. The process takes at least a week to 10 days.

The Mexican Hunting Association offers the same service for between $235 and $350, depending on where you go and what you hunt.

If you want to arrange it yourself, you must get a permit from the Mexican consulate in Seattle. You'll need three photos, proof of citizenship, proof that you have no criminal record and $100. You also must write a letter stating what you're going to hunt, where, when, the caliber of gun you're bringing and the serial number.

The license allows you to bring the gun into Mexico. Then you must check in with the Secretary of Urban Development and Ecology (SEDUE) to get a hunting license, and you may be required to register with a local military commander. For more information, contact the Mexican Consulate, 2132 Third Ave., Seattle, WA 98121. Phone: 448-3526.

The hunting license also allows you to bring up to a three-day limit of birds back to the United States. Without a permit, you cannot bring game across the border.

-- What to bring: Winter in Mazatlan usually is sunny and slightly humid, but cooler in the early morning and late evening - a real treat if you're used to hunting in cold Northwest winters. Bring a hunting vest, neutral-colored pants and shirt, sunglasses, insect repellant, a hat with a brim, leather boots or tennis shoes.

-- Guidebooks: Most guidebooks mention hunting only briefly. One that offers more detail is Birnbaum's Mexico 1992 (HarperCollins Publishers).

-- Information: Contact the English-speaking Aviles brothers at P.O. Box 221, Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico. Phone 011-52-698-1-60-60. Or call their representative, Dick Nichols, in Kelso, Wash.: 1-206-636-1230. Professional Adventures Inc. in Seattle, also known as Klineburger Worldwide Travel, also works with the Aviles brothers: phone 343-9699.