My first Axis hunt is in the book

Jeff in TX

My buddy John and I just finished our first Axis hunt. We’re hooked! John’s was a monster at almost 33” he took this morning. I missed a giant jogging at just over 300 yards last evening. We had this morning to finish up our hunt. At 11:30 I took this 27” buck. Couldn’t have been more happy with it. I shot mine just a whisker over 200 yards straight into his brisket. He jumped straight up and ran 50 or so yards before folding up. John took his at 130 yards as his dropped where he shot it. Great hunt down in the Rocksprings area. Both of our Axis were on low fence open range. 

Off to the processor and taxidermist in the morning!

Diver43

AWESOME Congratulations

RugerFan

Great hunt!!

Zee

Well done!  They taste awesome. 

I need to shoot one or two for the freezer this year.   

Zee

What rifle/cartridge/bullet combo did you guys use?

Zee

Where did you go and what was the cost?  Out of curiosity for the going rate. 

Jeff in TX

Both were shot with 143 gr Hornady ELD-X 6.5 CM's.  I shot mine with my custom LH Tikka and John's rifle was made by Short Action Custom's.  We were hunting in Rockspring's TX on an 11,000 acre low fence ranch.  Price sent on PM.

This was a tougher than normal hunt.  This was suppose to be a two day hunt in April during the rut, but COVID cancelled our plans. We spent Sunday looking for the perfect buck but lord it was mid 90's outside and we only saw mid 20's bucks.     Yesterday, we spent lots of driving and stalking as the weather was hurricane force winds most of the day.  The guide gave us this morning as an extra day as nothing was moving yesterday until the evening.  Having never hunted them I had no idea just how skittish and just how keen their eyesight is.  Once they saw us they'd turn and walk or trot off.  They would never stand there to see what we were.  Like the other days we stayed in the shadows during our stalks.  We were told the rut is really the time to hunt.  All in all it was just fantastic!

Zee

Problem is, there is no defined rut. 

They can have horns year round as they can breed year round. 

You will have slick skulled, velveted, and hard horned bucks all at the same time. Add to that, does can be in heat, pregnant, or fawned at any time of year. 

Just depends on when they are born.

So........there is no defined “rut”. 

I checked cameras yesterday and have hard horned rutting axis and a few that just started growing velvet. 

Jeff in TX

Zee said:

Problem is, there is no defined rut. 

They can have horns year round as they can breed year round. 

You will have slick skulled, velveted, and hard horned bucks all at the same time. Add to that, does can be in heat, pregnant, or fawned at any time of year. 

Just depends on when they are born.

So........there is no defined “rut”. 

I checked cameras yesterday and have hard horned rutting axis and a few that just started growing velvet. 

Well said! However, the land owner said his rut on his ranch is primarily through April and some small ones during other months.  We saw lots of bucks that already shed the antlers.  We did see a couple just starting to grow there's.  It's really screwy if you've never hunted them and very new to both of us.  Just going with what the guide and land owner told us.  

JerryBobCo

Nice hunt, and nice bucks!

knitepoet

Nicely done. My only Axis hunting was more of a cull from a friend's goat farm. I killed a spike and 2 does. I was also shooting out of his living room window

bellcat

Congratulations! Beautiful trophy!

GunNut

Color me jealous.  Those are pretty animals! 😍

Six-Gun

Great work, Jeff!  Those things are so danged pretty.

Uncle Fester

Jeff in TX said:

My buddy John and I just finished our first Axis hunt. We’re hooked! John’s was a monster at almost 33” he took this morning. I missed a giant jogging at just over 300 yards last evening. We had this morning to finish up our hunt. At 11:30 I took this 27” buck. Couldn’t have been more happy with it. I shot mine just a whisker over 200 yards straight into his brisket. He jumped straight up and ran 50 or so yards before folding up. John took his at 130 yards as his dropped where he shot it. Great hunt down in the Rocksprings area. Both of our Axis were on low fence open range. 

Off to the processor and taxidermist in the morning!

I love Texas, but I wish we had more public land to hunt.