May father-in-law, JC, had been looking for an Axis since last fall, but had the misfortune of always attracting Hogs and Axis in velvet to wherever he was. Well, we were going to change that on this hunt.
While I hunted for my Aoudad, he sat in a number of different blinds, but never saw any Axis bucks, just Hogs, Whitetails, Sika, and Mouflon. The weather was very erratic while we were there which caused the Axis to change their feeding times. Initially, they were feeding after dark.
While I hunted for my Aoudad, he sat in a number of different blinds, but never saw any Axis bucks, just Hogs, Whitetails, Sika, and Mouflon. The weather was very erratic while we were there which caused the Axis to change their feeding times. Initially, they were feeding after dark.
Mature 31", 145 pound Axis Buck
-C.jpg)
Monday
Around mid-day on Monday we were driving to the back on the ranch in J's truck to get some work done. As we drove past #3, heading to #4, I saw some Axis ahead of us about 200 yards in the middle of big field grazing. It was 12:26 PM. We immediately stopped and got ready to shoot. There was a very nice Axis buck with a group of about 10 does. Unfortunately, the does saw us and the herd scrambled up to the left. We were unsure whether they had gone up the hill or were working their way down to the stream bed by #4, so we got out and started a stalk. We slowly crept all the way to #4, but didn't see or hear them. Axis usually don't go very far when startled and make a lot of noise. They had gone up the hill, so we got back in the truck and continued on.
Tuesday
This was a full day. After getting my Aoudad in the morning, we drove into Kerrville to drop him off at Rhodes for a shoulder mount and to get the backstrap made into sausage - I just have to try it. We also have lunch at a local BBQ place and then came back to the ranch to do some work.
By the time we had finished working and taking a break, it was almost 7 PM. We decided to take a drive down the North road around 7:30 PM to see if we could find anything. We stopped at the Goat pens by #3 and walked down the road and up to #3 to have a look. We didn't see anything except for a lone Axis doe on the hillside behind the Goat pens. We watched her for a few minutes to see if she was alone, she was, so we moved on.
We started a quite walk towards #4. In the same field where we had seen the Axis the day before, we jumped two does that were in the stream bed to our right. We kept walking. As we got near the end of the field on the road (where it goes down into the stream bed and then up towards the field behind the #4 stand) we saw a small group of Axis on the low ridge to our right. Unfortunately, they had seen us first and took off at a moderate pace. There were two bucks and one doe. The bucks were the ones I had seen at #3 in February and stalked to within 10 yards of as they moved to eat by the Goat pens. At that time one was in velvet and was around 34-35" inches, the other was just starting to grow out. By this time the 34-35" inch Axis was polished and the his buddy was fully grown, but still in velvet. Both nice deer.
Around mid-day on Monday we were driving to the back on the ranch in J's truck to get some work done. As we drove past #3, heading to #4, I saw some Axis ahead of us about 200 yards in the middle of big field grazing. It was 12:26 PM. We immediately stopped and got ready to shoot. There was a very nice Axis buck with a group of about 10 does. Unfortunately, the does saw us and the herd scrambled up to the left. We were unsure whether they had gone up the hill or were working their way down to the stream bed by #4, so we got out and started a stalk. We slowly crept all the way to #4, but didn't see or hear them. Axis usually don't go very far when startled and make a lot of noise. They had gone up the hill, so we got back in the truck and continued on.
Tuesday
This was a full day. After getting my Aoudad in the morning, we drove into Kerrville to drop him off at Rhodes for a shoulder mount and to get the backstrap made into sausage - I just have to try it. We also have lunch at a local BBQ place and then came back to the ranch to do some work.
By the time we had finished working and taking a break, it was almost 7 PM. We decided to take a drive down the North road around 7:30 PM to see if we could find anything. We stopped at the Goat pens by #3 and walked down the road and up to #3 to have a look. We didn't see anything except for a lone Axis doe on the hillside behind the Goat pens. We watched her for a few minutes to see if she was alone, she was, so we moved on.
We started a quite walk towards #4. In the same field where we had seen the Axis the day before, we jumped two does that were in the stream bed to our right. We kept walking. As we got near the end of the field on the road (where it goes down into the stream bed and then up towards the field behind the #4 stand) we saw a small group of Axis on the low ridge to our right. Unfortunately, they had seen us first and took off at a moderate pace. There were two bucks and one doe. The bucks were the ones I had seen at #3 in February and stalked to within 10 yards of as they moved to eat by the Goat pens. At that time one was in velvet and was around 34-35" inches, the other was just starting to grow out. By this time the 34-35" inch Axis was polished and the his buddy was fully grown, but still in velvet. Both nice deer.
We were beaten, but not done. We slowly made our way towards the field behind the #4 stand, but instead of taking the road, we crept along a low area that lay between the field and stream bed. I had never been back here before, but it was an awesome area to stalk from. It kept us out of sight and eliminated any noise we would had made in the stream bed. We went about 200 yards and then I crawled up to the edge of the field. I looked out and about 100 yards to the right of the #4 stand (the stand, not the feeder) there was an Axis buck and a doe feeding along the fence that runs into the #4 stand. They were about 125 yards in front of us. I had J come up behind me and I put the shooting sticks in position. I waited until the Axis was positioned correctly and told him to shoot. Bang! The shot hit in front of his shoulder in the brisket/lung area. The deer took off running. We didn't have a clear idea of where the shot hit at this time, so we put 2 more into him right before he made it into the thick brush. He was down. J's first Buck - Axis or Whitetail - he was very excited. I called him 31" and 150 pounds on the ground; he proved to be 31" and 145 pounds after meauring and weighing, pretty good!
This was the third Axis buck I guided (Carla, Jay Pettersson, JC), all three being spot and stalk kills versus stand/feeder kills. If you want to take an Axis, get up and move around! This would have been #4 for spot and stalk, but Alek and I missed a chance last November at an Axis buck down South. He ran away when an Axis doe busted us! Make sure and keep an eye on the does!
1 comment:
nice axis and very nice hunt good luck on your next hunt. cameron
Post a Comment