Second chance Axis (long read)
The Axis Deer is a fascinating animal. Although they are not originally from the US, they have been introduced in parts of the US, and in central Texas they are free ranging. Makin for an awesome animal to hunt year round. I was blessed to have to opportunity to hunt in the part of Texas at a friends ranch. The property hadn't been hunted in a while and the place was chalk full of exotics. Blackbuck, axis, audad, Sitka, fallow, and of corse white tail deer. To say I was excited was an understatement. There was no telling what would pop out of the sea of mesquite trees to get a snack at our feeders. I had never had the opportunity to hunt exotics, so I was t quite sure what to expect.
Not ten minutes After getting settled in my tripod, I have whitetail and blackbuck does feeding under my stand! As I am admiring the ladies under the feeder I catch movement out of the corner of my eye. All I see is massive antlers jutting above the brush line, making a bee line to my feeder! My heart pounds as I get my bow ready. The massive buck steps out to reveal himself, and I am floored by the sheer length of his tines. I try not to focus on them and prepare for my shot. I take aim for what would be considered a chip shot in bowhuning. I release my arrow and to my surprise it sails high of my aiming point and hits the top of his shoulder, penetrating only and inch or two! He spins from the impact and darts off with my arrow dangling from his side. My stomach drops. I can't believe I didn't make that shot, and my worse nightmare is that I might have wounded this beautiful animal. After waiting a few minutes I climb down to find one drop of blood and my arrow laying at the brush line with only two inches of blood on the shaft. We track the deer as best we can in hopes of maybe finding him, but to no avail.
The proceeding night was a long one. I replayed the shot over and over again. All I could hope was that he was still alive and well and that someone else would get another chance at him.
I Hunt hard the rest of the weekend, but no other shooter bucks showed there face. We wrap up our final morning hunt and start the process of packing up and saying our goodbyes. As I am huggin my buddy I look over his shoulder down into a little ravine and catch movement a couple hundred yards away. I quickly grab a pair of binoculars and couldn't believe what I saw! It was him! The axis buck from the first evening. He was headed to a water trough below a windmill on the property. I think about grabbing my bow for the stalk, but fortunately my buddy said to forget the bow and grab my .308. I run to my truck, grab my gun and slowly start to make my way down the hillside while the rest of the guys stayed and kept an eye on the buck. I got to within a couple hundred yards but needed to be closer. To ensure I wasn't seen I had to army crawl. I picked out a rock pile a hundred yards in front of me as my final destination and began the slow process of belly crawling over rocks and cacti. I finally get to the rock pile, slither up over the top, and there he is. But a fence post is covering his vitals. I retreat down the rock pile, scooch left and pop up again. Shoot, he is now henind a shrub. I once again retreat and this time I pop up for a perfect 100 yards broadside shot. By now my heart rate is skyrocketing from all the crawling, I try to steady the cross hairs as best I can and slowly start to inch the trigger towards my chest. The gun kicks the buck out of view thru my scope, but I caught a glimpse of him buck his bAck legs and dart into the brush. I turn around to my buddies who had been watching the whole event take place. They are hollering and jumpin up and down. I run back to them and darn near break there hands with high fives. We drive down to find my animal. There he was, ten yards inside the thicket.
I can't believe I got a second chance at this monster axis. Upon inspection, it was confirmed he was the same buck from the first evening. He had a large gash in his upper left shoulder, right where I had hit him the first time. It just goes to show, you never know how things will turn out in hunting. Things can change in an instant. I was blessed and an extremely fortunate to get another opportunity as this magnificent buck.
The Axis Deer is a fascinating animal. Although they are not originally from the US, they have been introduced in parts of the US, and in central Texas they are free ranging. Makin for an awesome animal to hunt year round. I was blessed to have to opportunity to hunt in the part of Texas at a friends ranch. The property hadn't been hunted in a while and the place was chalk full of exotics. Blackbuck, axis, audad, Sitka, fallow, and of corse white tail deer. To say I was excited was an understatement. There was no telling what would pop out of the sea of mesquite trees to get a snack at our feeders. I had never had the opportunity to hunt exotics, so I was t quite sure what to expect.
Not ten minutes After getting settled in my tripod, I have whitetail and blackbuck does feeding under my stand! As I am admiring the ladies under the feeder I catch movement out of the corner of my eye. All I see is massive antlers jutting above the brush line, making a bee line to my feeder! My heart pounds as I get my bow ready. The massive buck steps out to reveal himself, and I am floored by the sheer length of his tines. I try not to focus on them and prepare for my shot. I take aim for what would be considered a chip shot in bowhuning. I release my arrow and to my surprise it sails high of my aiming point and hits the top of his shoulder, penetrating only and inch or two! He spins from the impact and darts off with my arrow dangling from his side. My stomach drops. I can't believe I didn't make that shot, and my worse nightmare is that I might have wounded this beautiful animal. After waiting a few minutes I climb down to find one drop of blood and my arrow laying at the brush line with only two inches of blood on the shaft. We track the deer as best we can in hopes of maybe finding him, but to no avail.
The proceeding night was a long one. I replayed the shot over and over again. All I could hope was that he was still alive and well and that someone else would get another chance at him.
I Hunt hard the rest of the weekend, but no other shooter bucks showed there face. We wrap up our final morning hunt and start the process of packing up and saying our goodbyes. As I am huggin my buddy I look over his shoulder down into a little ravine and catch movement a couple hundred yards away. I quickly grab a pair of binoculars and couldn't believe what I saw! It was him! The axis buck from the first evening. He was headed to a water trough below a windmill on the property. I think about grabbing my bow for the stalk, but fortunately my buddy said to forget the bow and grab my .308. I run to my truck, grab my gun and slowly start to make my way down the hillside while the rest of the guys stayed and kept an eye on the buck. I got to within a couple hundred yards but needed to be closer. To ensure I wasn't seen I had to army crawl. I picked out a rock pile a hundred yards in front of me as my final destination and began the slow process of belly crawling over rocks and cacti. I finally get to the rock pile, slither up over the top, and there he is. But a fence post is covering his vitals. I retreat down the rock pile, scooch left and pop up again. Shoot, he is now henind a shrub. I once again retreat and this time I pop up for a perfect 100 yards broadside shot. By now my heart rate is skyrocketing from all the crawling, I try to steady the cross hairs as best I can and slowly start to inch the trigger towards my chest. The gun kicks the buck out of view thru my scope, but I caught a glimpse of him buck his bAck legs and dart into the brush. I turn around to my buddies who had been watching the whole event take place. They are hollering and jumpin up and down. I run back to them and darn near break there hands with high fives. We drive down to find my animal. There he was, ten yards inside the thicket.
I can't believe I got a second chance at this monster axis. Upon inspection, it was confirmed he was the same buck from the first evening. He had a large gash in his upper left shoulder, right where I had hit him the first time. It just goes to show, you never know how things will turn out in hunting. Things can change in an instant. I was blessed and an extremely fortunate to get another opportunity as this magnificent buck.
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