Post by zeus on Mar 3, 2010 10:13:36 GMT -5
My wife has wanted one of the Axis deer hides for a while because she likes the pillows in the King Ranch catalog that is mailed to the house all the time. So when a buddy from work mentioned wanting to go out for one of them and it was basically in the same area as a conference that I had to attend, I was up for it of course. The main problem was exactly what I feared it would be. Once I got there, the axis that I located were in basically two groups. There were probably plenty more but the ranch is pretty large with the majority covered in trees and brush so I'm sure there were plenty that I didn't find. The main problem with stalking groups as you know is that there are LOTS of eyes searching the area out. The one shot I did have at an axis was about 50 yards and I was itching to try out a new sixgun but the angle of the shot was uphill with nothing behind him and angled back into the ranch in the direction of some bowhunters. I just don't like to rain lead down in the direction of people so I passed and eventually decided to just try for one of the fallow does instead. I finally located a small group of them not long before dark and was able to get about 150 yards from them. One of them spotted me and of course, they started heading through the woods in the opposite direction. However, one of them decided to go back and graze without the group. When I had closed the distance to about 130 yards, the only shot she would give was straight from the rear. Not my preferred shot, effective, yes but not what I like to aim for 
I decided to try my luck and ease in a little closer along the treeline and was able to get to 105 yards courtesy of the nifty little bushnell laser that I don't leave home without anymore when she presented basically a broadside shot. She was slightly uphill and facing to my left while grazing in the brush. Due to the distance, I eased the 454 casull from around my neck and put the crosshairs just low of center in the shoulder. At the shot, the deer hunched and bolted to the left, made a short little circle basically turning herself around facing the opposite direction looking for what bit her. I thumbed back the hammer and already had her lined up for a second shot when she flipped over backwards in the scope. I was using the 260 grain FA bullet loaded over 36 grains of 296 with the Rem 7.5 primer. I clocked the load today when I stopped at the farm on the way down to the ranch and it was traveling about 1890 at the muzzle from this gun. The bullet entered just low of middle in the shoulder completely destroying the shoulder, turning the insides of the front end to mush and jellied the heart, then busted the offside shoulder in the process. All in all, it was a fun way to spend the afternoon with some buddies and get some good meat for the freezer in the process.
I decided to try my luck and ease in a little closer along the treeline and was able to get to 105 yards courtesy of the nifty little bushnell laser that I don't leave home without anymore when she presented basically a broadside shot. She was slightly uphill and facing to my left while grazing in the brush. Due to the distance, I eased the 454 casull from around my neck and put the crosshairs just low of center in the shoulder. At the shot, the deer hunched and bolted to the left, made a short little circle basically turning herself around facing the opposite direction looking for what bit her. I thumbed back the hammer and already had her lined up for a second shot when she flipped over backwards in the scope. I was using the 260 grain FA bullet loaded over 36 grains of 296 with the Rem 7.5 primer. I clocked the load today when I stopped at the farm on the way down to the ranch and it was traveling about 1890 at the muzzle from this gun. The bullet entered just low of middle in the shoulder completely destroying the shoulder, turning the insides of the front end to mush and jellied the heart, then busted the offside shoulder in the process. All in all, it was a fun way to spend the afternoon with some buddies and get some good meat for the freezer in the process. 
