doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com 1/2 OT - Did they hunt on Cuba before Fidel?

I recently purchased a 16ga Sterlingworth. I requested and received a factory letter for it. It was made in 1920 and shipped to a dealer in Havana. So, there was some form of hunting going on.

Our Canadian neighbors already have access.
http://www.gocuba.ca/en/hunting_fishing.asp
http://www.cubafun.com/english/caza.asp

Considering that Cuba was once a Spanish possession, I am sure that there must be a long history of hunting there.

Pete

He-he-he... I bet the next time my wife starts the "innocent" conversation about the merits of a holiday on the heavenly beaches of Cuba, she'll find me a little more co-operative

Thanks for the links

I would much rather fly to Havana than to Argentina to shoot quail and doves.

Pretty good nite life at those clubs, no overwhelming crowds and smoking domestic stogies too! I would not want for that place to become another overcrowded ....hole, long live FC!

PJ, now won't that be grand. A full day of waterfowl and upland. Finished with a great diner, a taste of rum and a fine cigar! I will never make the trip to Argentina, but if Cuba ever opens to us, I think I am obligated to take that Fox back for visit.

Pete

I lived in Cuba pre-Castro and most everyone had guns and one could get a permit to carry in Havanna. Small game was scarce because of excessive shooting but migratory birds were hunted as well as some birds on large estates where hunting was controled.
I'd be willing to bet that Castro rounded up the guns!!! It may have improved the game situation. I don't want to go back there untill it is a free country!!!!!!!! David

First post. For some reason I was not able to register before but this time it took. BTW, I love the forum.

EH hunted a good deal in Cuba. In addtition to waterfowl, he hunted quail around his "finca" with his beloved Springer, Black Dog. There was also apparently a pretty active shooting club in Havana where he shot live pigeons as well as targets.

I remember some years ago seeing teasers on CNN for a special on Ted Turner going to Cuba. One of the things showcased on the promo was Ted in a duckblind (shotgun in hand) with 'ol Fidel hisself. Couldn't bring myself to watch the thing.

I don't know if they still have a beer named Hatuey, after a native tribe, but it was real beer. Boxing in the small towns is superb. I never heard a bad word about Americans there. Same thing years later when I had another look at the revolution. Like ourselves, Cubans know how to parse the government line.

Hatuey & Cristal were the two brewers in Havanna and as King says, they were good. Hatuey also made ice cream and one of their offerings was Coco Glasse which was one great tasting ice cream sold in a half of a coconut shell. The Cuban people were bouyant and hopefull. Despite what Castro claimed, literacy was very high in pre Castro Cuba and Catholic run schools had high standards and were advanced in math. I am saddened to think what might have been. Cuba would probably be a prosperous and reasonably happy place today had Castro not been given the country on a plate by the US trade embargo. Go on, shoot ourselves in the foot! Ouch! David

Jack Hemingway's book "A Life Worth Living" has a section or two on hunting and fishing in Cuba with his father EH. It sounds like a wonderful to hunt, at least in that time.