Axis Deer Success

[depcon3]

Took this buck in June of last year on a place west of Junction, TX. That Axis meat is some fine eating!!

[curmudgeon]

Details ??

[zac0419]

May 14, 2013 12:09:29 GMT -5 curmudgeon said:

Details ??

+1

Is this a pretty expensive hunt? Stalk? Rifle details?

[maxcactus]

Gorgeous hide on that critter!

[depcon3]

This place is a traditional family ranch out west of Junction, TX. It's been in the same family since 1879 and I waited five years to get the invitation to accompany some good friends who hunt the place in January for Whitetail doe and spike season (along with Axis) and again in June or July for Axis deer.

It is about 7000 acres total, spread out between three separate parcels of land. Since it is so large and spread out, we usually will hunt from trucks. The shots tend to be around 100 yards or so, sometimes further, so rifles are usually used. There are box blinds and a few bow blinds but they are used heavily by the oil company people that have the season lease for deer. By the time we get out there, the deer are avoiding the blinds and feeders. In the summer months, the feeders are not running so sitting in the blinds wouldn't do much good. It also would be much too hot for sitting in the stands during most of the day.

Some of us do get out and hunt on foot, which is my favorite way to do it. There are a couple of high places where you can sit stationary and do a little glassing. I shot a young spike Axis deer this past January from one of those high spots. The view from there is amazing. When I get home tonight, I'll post a pic from that vantage point.

The picture above came from last year's summer hunt. My hunting partner, Shannon, had gone to the ranch on a Tuesday with his Dad. That evening he shot a nice big bodied Axis buck with a medium sized rack. I had to work that night and couldn't get to the ranch until Wednesday. Shannon sent me a picture of his buck while I was still working, and I responded with congratulations. He gloated about killing the first deer, and I told him it was okay because I was going to kill a bigger one when I got there on Wed.

I got to the ranch about lunch time, and we got going with the afternoon hunt pretty quickly after my arrival. We covered a lot of ground and didn't see much moving around in the afternoon heat. Right before dark, hot, tired, and hungry we were making our way past the ranch headquarters house angling back to the bunkhouse for some cold iced tea and supper.

A nice, large antlered Axis buck crossed the ranch road about 60 or so yards out in front of our truck. Shannon stopped the truck as I flung the passenger door open and leaned across the hood. I found the buck in my scope, he was standing about 100 yards away broadside under a large Live Oak. I tried not too study the rack on his head, but knew he was a shooter. They are big and tough, bigger than our small Hill Country Whitetail deer. I placed my crosshairs right on his shoulder, wanting to break him down quickly with the 150g Hornady SST bullet from my .270. I squeezed the trigger and lost sight of him under the recoil of the rifle. When I regained my sight picture through the scope, he was gone but I felt good about the shot. Shannon had been spotting for me through his binoculars and announced that it had been a good shot. He said the buck hunched up and hopped forward at the shot, going down into a dry creek bed. He still had a visual on the buck but I couldn't see him from where I was standing. Shannon was about to make a shot on him when the buck laid down and died.

I circled around and went to where he had been standing under the Live Oak and saw no evidence of a pass through shot. Going into the creek bed a short distance, I could see him laying down near a smaller Elm tree about 40 yards away. I, of course, did my little happy dance before Shannon got down to us. This deer was a magnificent creature, my best and largest big game animal.

Shannon immediately began saying something about how I just couldn't let him enjoy his moment in the sun, just had to show him up by killing a bigger antlered buck. I reminded him about the prophetic text message I had sent him the night before. I said that it was fair since he had killed first, mine had to be better!

We dragged the bruiser up to the truck and it took almost all we had to get him hoisted into the bed. Once back at camp, we took some photos and then got to work. By the time all of the skinning and quartering was done, it was close to 11 pm. After getting cleaned up and something to eat, close to midnight. We went to bed worn out but smiling. I slept hard that night!

Shannon's Dad measured the antlers to be right at 27" from base to tip. Not record book quality, but a trophy to me nonetheless.

I am thankful for the opportunity to hunt there, it may be a thing of the past now. The owners are elderly and one of their daughters has moved back home. She apparently feels like we are taking advantage of her folks, even though we have tried to pay for the hunts. The owners won't take our money, they are long time friends of Shannon's Dad. We do pay them for the utilities at the bunkhouse, and we always give them at least one full deer (fully processed and packaged), two if we have killed enough, before we leave. Hopefully it can continue but I suspect it may be over.

A hunt like this on a regular game ranch would probably be around $1500 for a trophy buck. A meat hunt for does would be around $200 to $500 depending on the package.

The only way this hunt could have been better was if I'd shot it with the Bisley-ized Blackhawk you can see some of in the photo. If there is a next time, I'm going for a pistol shot!

[depcon3]

Oh, the rifle details:

This one is my ugly duckling. Stevens Model 200. Found on clearance at Academy Sports and Outdoors. It's the Savage Stevens chambered in .270 with a Nikon Prostaff 3X9X40 BDC reticle. It's sporting a Harris bipod in the photo.

I worked up a load for it using the Hornady 150g SST bullet over a charge of H1000 powder, around 58 grains I think. The darn thing shoots about 5/8" group with this load, chronographing at about 2800 fps.

I plan on upgrading the stock at some point and adding a Rifle Basix trigger to help out the shootability but it is a force to be reckoned with on a hunt!

[depcon3]

Here's a couple of pics of the high spot I was referencing.


Closer to the edge looking down at the creek.

[depcon3]

Then one from the bottom looking back up at the rim.



Usually some fish in the creek. It's fed by springs and doesn't usually go completely dry.

[depcon3]

One more pic here. Sunset on from Stand #3. It looked like the sky was on fire!