Merry Christmas

But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord."

Luke 2:10-11

Landon's First Whitetail with a Bow!

Landon got the mini-slam at the Hackberry this past weekend: Whitetail, Hog, Turkey (the grand-slam is Whitetail, Axis, and Aoudad).

Lil' Bill's Backyard Deer!

Lil' Bill and Butta'Ball Bill finally bagged a nice 10 point that had been coming into their backyard. Lil' Bill got him with his bow!

Lil' Bill takes a nice 4x4 Sika

Bill's pics don't do it justice.... what a magnificent animal. They got him at #3. Way to go!

October White Tail

One of Lance's friend got a nice White Tail at #1!

Darryl Gets an Aoudad

Darryl, AKA Ms. Chloe, bagged an Aoudad Labor Day weekend. He was hunting the Death Star when a herd of Aoudad stepped out near the brush line on his left. He took a good bit of time, but the largest one finally gave Darryl a shot. The Aoudad ran off into the brush and was finished a few yards in. His 25 WSSM did the trick.

For some reason, Mario and I ended up carrying it back up the steep incline with Darryl admiring it's rear end the whole time. It weighed 247 pounds and measured 25".

Another fine Axis from Hackberry

Kevin Lyssy is no stranger to big bucks. His ranch in Encinal is a few miles from Los Cazadores, home of the big buck contest. But to bag an Axis buck, he had to hoof it west to Hackberry. On Saturday morning, Kevin met up with one of our specimens on the road to the #3 feeder. After corning the road the day before, the 31 inch Axis stood 165 yards from where Kevin took the shot with his .300 Mag.

Coffey Deer

Here's a picture of a nice Axis that Bill and Bill JR took together - look at those Brow Tines! 14"!

Of course, you will have to guess the following:

A. They left the cooler open with corn, waited for it, and shot it!

B. Bill is getting better at pics - he is at least taking them now and is getting lower, but forgot to take the picture before placing it in the cooler!

C. We should all be happy that Bill figured out how to actually use a digital camera, so does it really matter that the deer is in the cooler!

D. Forget the picture, at least Bill field dressed his animal before placing it in the cooler - unlike Landon and his Aoudad.

The Correct Answer is: D

Congrats on an awesome Axis!

Finally! South Africa 2006 Journal

10 Separate entries covering my trip to South Africa in 2006 including pictures.

Enjoy!

http://austinhunter.blogspot.com/

Monster Axis Buck!

Here's the new #4 SCI rifle Axis from the Hackberry! WOW! What a trophy! We've been seeing this deer for the past 12-14 months - and all of us trying to get him. Congrats to Leroy for finally bagging him!

Bwana Landon's Aoudad and Axis!!

Here are two of Landon's excellent trophies from the Hackberry. The Aoudad scored #74 Fair Chase in SCI. The Axis is excellent as well - especially with his daughter Ava in the picture - her first time to the ranch!

Alek Finally Gets His Axis Buck!!!

Alek finally got his Axis buck! Free range, spot and stalk, and no bait (not even corn thrown out on the ground!) - so it was worth it! This will make the fourth Axis that I successfully guided someone on without feeders or bait - so it can be done! Also, with regards to rifle hunting and the need for camo - I had a blue shirt on - the easiest color for deer to see.

We started Saturday with a two hour stalk on a herd of Axis bedded up in the bowl between the Wood Blind and Death Star. We came down from the Death Star feeder ridge and managed through some large cliffs and thick cover. We got to within 80 yards, but unfortunately spooked them as were sizing them up. We saw two really nice Bucks in the herd... darn!!

Saturday evening, all of us went into town to eat. We got back to the cabin at 8:26 PM and I told Alek we were heading South for a quick look. Once we arrived, we walked around glassing for any Axis. We spotted a herd on the Spring Blind ridge, but didn't see any large bucks. We started walking towards the gate to leave when we heard an Axis doe barking, but we knew we hadn't spooked anything.

We looked into a field and saw a single Axis Doe and then a single Axis buck. We slowly made our way to within about 200 yards. The Axis buck would never give Alek a clean shot - it kept facing away from him or lying down. Eventually he turned and Alek took a shot. The Axis took the shot low behind the shoulder and was dazed and stumbling. I told Alek to shoot again and he hit his right leg and brisket. He fell down on his front legs, but popped back up and ran off (not full speed) into the brush.

By the time we got to the brush line, it was completely dark. We looked around for a few minutes for blood, but couldn't find any. We decided not to pressure him and went back to get Darryl to help and some good flashlights.

We were back within 30 minutes and quickly found a heavy blood trail. We tracked him about 200 yards into the brush and found him alive, but lying down. He took a finishing shot. Had we waited an hour before we came back, he would have been expired for sure!

He weighed in at 200 lbs exactly (I actually weigh any animal over 100 lbs to avoid guessing - which most people do and typically overestimate by 30-50%). He had a huge neck! A rough measurement showed his left side to be 32-33" with a 14" brown tine, and his right side to be 30-31" with a 12-13" brown tine. The cottle tines were average length with the left being longer. His antlers were also extremely heavy - some parts you could barely get your hand around!!

And thanks to Darryl! He left a day before us and dropped the deer off at Rhodes since the cooler wasn't getting below 45-50 degrees!

Adrian Ground Checks a Nice Axis Buck!

Attached is the pic of Adrian's Axis buck from last weekend. He's writing up a story and I will post it here. Needless to say, a nice animal!