My younger son and I hunt Axis hard each year. Our ranch suffered a serious drought a few years ago and ANY axis is hard to find nowadays. 5 hunters out of 13 actually got one last year. We spend a lot of time there and walk miles and miles up and down ravines and glassing. We have gone 5-6 days without even seeing a doe. Even spooking one up! Don't get me wrong, they are out there...just tough to find. I like the challenge and our patience has paid off. Last year, we were lucky to harvest a buck that was Gold medal status with 14 inch brow tines and 8 points.
This year we were on our 2nd trip and Sunday through Thursday morning we had seen a total of 1 axis buck that was a yearling. We were going to head back to South Texas but because of the flooding we decided to stay one more day. The evening of Thursday we decided to sit in a pop up for a while and then stalk around some if nothing came out. We saw loads of whitetails and one huge blackbuck with 4 curls, but no axis of course. So we got out a little late and walked slowly and glassed. We overlooked a meadow as the sun was going down and nothing was there. I decided to stay on the hilltop and just glass because of time. Luckily, I saw movement a few minutes later a long way off. I could tell it was an axis because of body size, but couldn't tell if it was a buck or even see spots. We had to hurry and try to cut it off and move. We were losing light and hoped it would stay on the track it was grazing. We covered ground quickly and as quietly as possible. Luckily for us, he did stay on track and we did cut him off. Of course we forgot the sticks so I layed down and my son shot off my back. It was actually a buck we had one pic of walking by a feeder (but not eating at the feeder). I could tell it was him instantly. We have no 4 wheeler so it was a chore taking the roly poly down there and wheeling him out old school! It ended up being a late night but well worth it! Just another crazy fun hunt I got to share with my son. Not as big as last years but it still had decent brows and was 30 and 29 1/2 main beams. Most importantly, it was mature.
This year we were on our 2nd trip and Sunday through Thursday morning we had seen a total of 1 axis buck that was a yearling. We were going to head back to South Texas but because of the flooding we decided to stay one more day. The evening of Thursday we decided to sit in a pop up for a while and then stalk around some if nothing came out. We saw loads of whitetails and one huge blackbuck with 4 curls, but no axis of course. So we got out a little late and walked slowly and glassed. We overlooked a meadow as the sun was going down and nothing was there. I decided to stay on the hilltop and just glass because of time. Luckily, I saw movement a few minutes later a long way off. I could tell it was an axis because of body size, but couldn't tell if it was a buck or even see spots. We had to hurry and try to cut it off and move. We were losing light and hoped it would stay on the track it was grazing. We covered ground quickly and as quietly as possible. Luckily for us, he did stay on track and we did cut him off. Of course we forgot the sticks so I layed down and my son shot off my back. It was actually a buck we had one pic of walking by a feeder (but not eating at the feeder). I could tell it was him instantly. We have no 4 wheeler so it was a chore taking the roly poly down there and wheeling him out old school! It ended up being a late night but well worth it! Just another crazy fun hunt I got to share with my son. Not as big as last years but it still had decent brows and was 30 and 29 1/2 main beams. Most importantly, it was mature.
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