When is the Axis rut/best time to go in the summer?

[cb4128]

I have a chance to go axis deer hunting down in the hill country this summer and want to go after one with my bow. However, I will only get one chance to go and only for a long weekend. So, I'm trying to figure out the absolute best time to go. I have been looking at some old threads and it seems like the month of June is possibly when they start rutting? My question is, if I had the choice between next weekend, the end of June, or mid July...Which weekend should I go? Thanks for the input guys and I look forward to reading your responses.

[Skinny]

I have heard NOW is a great time!!! Good luck!!!

[Fightinaggies]

I would go now or the end of june. Axis breed all year long but june is when the majority of them are active and the rut is the most prominint. I would ask the landowner when they seem to have been most active in the past on the ranch and from that choose between those two weekends. Good luck!

[Bonesplitter]

Seen alot of good Axis deer this week. Go mid june if you can. But anytime is good for me!

[Huntindad]

they are rutting now. I've heard an axis buck barking pretty regularly, the last couple weeks.

[whiteoak]

I would try to pick a weekend it is not 95 degrees which is going to be hard. Those axis will smell you just as good as a whitetail. Sweating in full camo and hunting with a bow will be difficult.are axis rut thur september and we are in kerr county. Any cool weekend will work good luck

[Bow_Tech_Body_Man]

I hunt them all year, almost weekly, in my opinion the majority have been in rut for at least a couple of weeks now. So from second week of May through first part of July.
Most of the big boys have just come out of velvet and are ready for some action. They also have just changed patterns from evenings only to mornings or after dark. Plan ur hunt around the next full moon and hunt them in the moon lite.

[Stins]

late June early July is pretty active. Im heading out the 2nd weekend of July.

Last year I stalked up on 2 bucks fighting, it was quite a rush.

[Txnrog]

I'll be out this weekend. They have been rutting for a couple weeks though. Another thing to think about - rut has little to do with bowhunting success IMO. They are tougher to stalk when herded up, they are largely active at night due to the heat, and we've had alot of rain so far this spring.

Personally If I were you, I'd look for a weekend with no moon in mid to late august, and hope for some of the greenery to dry out. I've found axis most frequently on feed late in the summer, and around the february timeframe when range is at the poorest. If the place you are going has limited water, that's a good option too - They often hit water late in the morning or early in the afternoon. You'll still get to hear them call in August.

The bucks get a little dumber in the rut, but the challenge is that the does generally aren't ever dumb.

Anybody ever think to come up with an axis call? I think that would be fun if you could get it to work.

[DRow]

IMO go in mid June but there's nothing wrong with mid July either.

[Texastaxi]

IMO, there's not a bad time to hunt axis!

[Sinkey]

There are several good points here. Now thru the end of June is prime time. They do breed all year long and can drop and regrow horns 2 to 3 times a year.
The best bow method for them is catching their travel routes to and from food sources. Fields, etc. they are like cattle, they will just graze.
Set up on the there, and when aboiut 60 of them come walking by, shoot the biggest one! lol!

[Txnrog]

[QUOTE=Sinkey;2544169]and can drop and regrow horns 2 to 3 times a year.
QUOTE]

I hope you were being sarcastic - as that's completely false.

[Sinkey]

[quote=Txnrog;2544179]

and can drop and regrow horns 2 to 3 times a year.
QUOTE]

I hope you were being sarcastic - as that's completely false.

Ive been hunting in Bandera for years now, and have seen first hand Axis bucks drop and regrow at least 2 times in one year. They are on their own biological clocks. Thats why many of the heard are in different stages. The biggest Axis on my wall was watched contiously on camera before I shot him. He was shot in early October with full hard horns. In March, that same year, he was in full horn. July, he had nothing. Im no wildlife expert, but thats just my take.

[C.W.Ashby]

In Barksdale they were chasing does this past weekend.