Got back from KJO last night and had a good time. That place is flat covered up with animals. Also, everyone tells it right when they say that Keith is a good guy and likes to talk. He will definitely keep you entertained. Now on to the hunt.
Let me begin by saying that it was just a bit....hmm, how do I say this.... WINDY!! I felt like I was in the panhandle with all the dust blowing around. My buddy and I were there on a meat hunt (chasing axis does) and those were hard to come by.
The first night (Thursday) wasn't really that exciting. Got into the stand at about 3:15 and before I could even get settled I had a group of rams hoovering the hand tossed corn. Once the dust was devoid of any niblets they moved off in search of their next meal. Which I thought "Cool, now when the feeder spins the axis won't have to compete with those rams". And I was correct that they wouldn't have to compete with the rams, but once the feeder went off here came 2 goats (little sawed of black billy pygmy and a white nanny boer?? with brown ears) that began sucking up all the corn. After a bit several blackbuck does along with a mule came in and tentatively kind of picked around the edges keeping their distance from the little pygmy. He seemed to have the attitude that all that corn was his and he wasn't going to share (proven when he butted the mule for getting too close).
Friday morning had us in the blind at about 6:30 which gave us about 30 minutes to get settled before the feeders went off. Again it was long before I had company munching on the hand tossed. This time in the form of 2 young whitetail bucks that had already dropped their antlers. These two fella's were pretty jittery and would frequently bolt into the brush only to return moments later. They were soon joined by a pair of does who seemed to calm the boys down a little and things kind of settled. Now the parade started! I had a variety of animals come in that morning (small sika buck, 12" blackbuck and several does, 2 axis bucks that had about 3" of velvet antler), but not one axis doe or piggie. Still had a good time watching.
Friday midday, we were sitting around formulating some plans and listening to the weather. According to the forecast the wind was supposed to switch to the Northeast which would make perfect conditions to hunt in the tree line adjacent to an open pasture where we had observed many axis deer in our travels around the ranch. So we grabbed our pop ups and Keith ran us down there to get them set up to hunt the following morning.
Friday evening proved to be a little difficult because that seemed to be when we had our strongest winds and not much was moving early. Nothing came in to the hand tossed as they did on the previous 2 sits and nothing moved once the dinner bell rang either. At this point even the cardinals and the dove had shut down who had been relentless in their pursuit of those nuggets until that evening. At approximately 6:05 things picked up briefly with the appearance of 3 audad ewes, but they were gone as quickly as they had came. The evening ended with having as many as 8 whitetails showing up to feast right at last light. It went a little better for my buddy who was able to stick a 60lb pig.
Saturday found us in our new set ups and I was covered up with 4 sika, a white fallow and a bunch of blackbuck before the sound of the diesel had faded in the distance. It wasn't too long before a couple of velvet axis bucks come in to join the party and I started to get a little excited. I just knew that a doe wouldn't be far behind so I nocked an arrow and began the wait. And I waited. Finally after what seemed to be an eternity here came a nice fat doe with my name written all over her. Unfortunately, where Keith had thrown out the corn that morning put some brush directly between my pop up and the corn. There were only a few shooting windows through the brush. These were not shooting lanes, but windows. So, between trying to make sure she was clear of all the other animals as well as in one of the windows it was a little challenging. Finally all of the stars lined up and she was standing in the clear and broadside. At this point things kind of get a little fuzzy! I am not quite sure what happened, but in the middle of my draw cycle they all spooked at something and scatter. All I can say is it must have been my lucky day because my doe had only moved out to about 30 yards and was standing there broadside. The only conscious thought I had just prior to releasing that arrow was making sure I had the right pin where it needed to be. Other than that, all else was on auto pilot. Next thing I knew the arrow was on it's way and THWAACK!!! This was the first animal I had shot with a bow in many years and I had forgotten that very distinct sound of sharp steel hitting flesh and bone. I watched her fall after about a 50yd run out into the pasture.
Sorry, no LDP's at this time. The batteries on the camera had died. I guess I had put bad batteries in the dang thing because I changed them just before I left for the trip to prevent this very thing from happening. Hopefully Keith will email me the ones he took.
Chris
Chris
Let me begin by saying that it was just a bit....hmm, how do I say this.... WINDY!! I felt like I was in the panhandle with all the dust blowing around. My buddy and I were there on a meat hunt (chasing axis does) and those were hard to come by.
The first night (Thursday) wasn't really that exciting. Got into the stand at about 3:15 and before I could even get settled I had a group of rams hoovering the hand tossed corn. Once the dust was devoid of any niblets they moved off in search of their next meal. Which I thought "Cool, now when the feeder spins the axis won't have to compete with those rams". And I was correct that they wouldn't have to compete with the rams, but once the feeder went off here came 2 goats (little sawed of black billy pygmy and a white nanny boer?? with brown ears) that began sucking up all the corn. After a bit several blackbuck does along with a mule came in and tentatively kind of picked around the edges keeping their distance from the little pygmy. He seemed to have the attitude that all that corn was his and he wasn't going to share (proven when he butted the mule for getting too close).
Friday morning had us in the blind at about 6:30 which gave us about 30 minutes to get settled before the feeders went off. Again it was long before I had company munching on the hand tossed. This time in the form of 2 young whitetail bucks that had already dropped their antlers. These two fella's were pretty jittery and would frequently bolt into the brush only to return moments later. They were soon joined by a pair of does who seemed to calm the boys down a little and things kind of settled. Now the parade started! I had a variety of animals come in that morning (small sika buck, 12" blackbuck and several does, 2 axis bucks that had about 3" of velvet antler), but not one axis doe or piggie. Still had a good time watching.
Friday midday, we were sitting around formulating some plans and listening to the weather. According to the forecast the wind was supposed to switch to the Northeast which would make perfect conditions to hunt in the tree line adjacent to an open pasture where we had observed many axis deer in our travels around the ranch. So we grabbed our pop ups and Keith ran us down there to get them set up to hunt the following morning.
Friday evening proved to be a little difficult because that seemed to be when we had our strongest winds and not much was moving early. Nothing came in to the hand tossed as they did on the previous 2 sits and nothing moved once the dinner bell rang either. At this point even the cardinals and the dove had shut down who had been relentless in their pursuit of those nuggets until that evening. At approximately 6:05 things picked up briefly with the appearance of 3 audad ewes, but they were gone as quickly as they had came. The evening ended with having as many as 8 whitetails showing up to feast right at last light. It went a little better for my buddy who was able to stick a 60lb pig.
Saturday found us in our new set ups and I was covered up with 4 sika, a white fallow and a bunch of blackbuck before the sound of the diesel had faded in the distance. It wasn't too long before a couple of velvet axis bucks come in to join the party and I started to get a little excited. I just knew that a doe wouldn't be far behind so I nocked an arrow and began the wait. And I waited. Finally after what seemed to be an eternity here came a nice fat doe with my name written all over her. Unfortunately, where Keith had thrown out the corn that morning put some brush directly between my pop up and the corn. There were only a few shooting windows through the brush. These were not shooting lanes, but windows. So, between trying to make sure she was clear of all the other animals as well as in one of the windows it was a little challenging. Finally all of the stars lined up and she was standing in the clear and broadside. At this point things kind of get a little fuzzy! I am not quite sure what happened, but in the middle of my draw cycle they all spooked at something and scatter. All I can say is it must have been my lucky day because my doe had only moved out to about 30 yards and was standing there broadside. The only conscious thought I had just prior to releasing that arrow was making sure I had the right pin where it needed to be. Other than that, all else was on auto pilot. Next thing I knew the arrow was on it's way and THWAACK!!! This was the first animal I had shot with a bow in many years and I had forgotten that very distinct sound of sharp steel hitting flesh and bone. I watched her fall after about a 50yd run out into the pasture.
Sorry, no LDP's at this time. The batteries on the camera had died. I guess I had put bad batteries in the dang thing because I changed them just before I left for the trip to prevent this very thing from happening. Hopefully Keith will email me the ones he took.
Chris
Chris
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