Thanks, all! David and I grew up in a rural tight-knit community and everyone has come together to see his family through this tough time. The acts of kindness by others has been truly inspiring.
Question, couldn’t you have the bird mounted down there and shipped to you?
Bisch
Bisch, these birds are CITES animals which adds a whole lot of complexity to shipping their parts from one country to another. From the way I understand the procedure, on the last day of the hunt I booked, the concession owner formally surrenders all the tagged birds to the folks that killed them in the presence of some official. There was not time to do that on the day I killed my bird because we had to leave right then to get back to Merida. I do know that they ate my bird that evening so at least somebody got to enjoy something tangible from the whole deal.
For those of you still following this thread, there is an entire other story that took place after I killed my bird that I will share here. To me, it was actually the more important of the two.
One of the people in camp had luggage that did not make a connecting flight so he arrived without anything but the clothes he was wearing. His luggage arrived in Merida late Sunday night and Monday morning somebody drove the 3-hour trip to the village we were staying in to deliver it. That person's name is Jorge Guemez U Paco and it just so happened that he arrived to drop off the luggage at the same time David and I were packing our gear and needing a ride to Merida. Jorge said he would take us back for a small fee and we readily agreed.
Well, it turned out that Jorge was much more than just a delivery person, he was a kind, good-hearted human being who knew we were in way over our heads trying to negotiate a way back home in a foreign country where we did not speak the language. He basically offered to be at our beck and call for whatever we needed to make arrangements to get back home. He helped us find flights home, he drove us to the airport, he found us a hotel, he took us to get something to eat, and he spoke Spanish for us to the various people we needed to deal with. Jorge was a lifesaver and I mean that in a literal sense because I don't know what would have happened to two hillbillies from southern Missouri wandering around a Mexican city if it had not been for him. We owe him a debt we can probably never repay but to remember to act as he did if we are ever confronted with a stranger who needs our help.
Darren