I've had this lease for 3 seasons now. We have a ton of whitetail, plenty of hogs, we had a trailcam series with an elk in it...and we see axis. None of us have had an opportunity at a spotted deer but that changed tonight.
My son and I ventured out for a last shot at does or spikes. We decided to hunt the spot where we see axis the most hoping to improve our odds. Given Dane took a really nice buck in October on this place, we agreed ol' Dad would get a crack at the deer first.
The feeder went off at 4:34 and by 4:37 we had axis all around us. I was contemplating shooting a doe over the smaller buck that was there, when a bigger buck strolled into my shooting lane. I couldn't help myself. I've never shot an axis or any exotic and I decided to take the opportunity. With the buck at 14 yards, I settled the pin and tripped the release. Home run! There was little doubt as we watched the buck sprint, sputter, stumble and vanish from our sight. I was fairly confident that I heard him go down.
We decided to end the hunt early and see what we could find for a blood trail. Surprisingly, the trail was a bit sparse and hard to follow. What wasn't hard to follow were the tracks the buck left in the rain-softened dirt as he fled along a trail. After about 5 minutes of tracking/searching, Dane pointed to the dead buck beside a cedar.
We quickly loaded the buck and headed for a good spot to take LDPs.

The video is not a major production or anything, just a good ol' fashioned kill shot with slow-mo. I hope you enjoy.
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMaKJ1NWNIc"]Blanco Axis - YouTube[/ame]
My son and I ventured out for a last shot at does or spikes. We decided to hunt the spot where we see axis the most hoping to improve our odds. Given Dane took a really nice buck in October on this place, we agreed ol' Dad would get a crack at the deer first.
The feeder went off at 4:34 and by 4:37 we had axis all around us. I was contemplating shooting a doe over the smaller buck that was there, when a bigger buck strolled into my shooting lane. I couldn't help myself. I've never shot an axis or any exotic and I decided to take the opportunity. With the buck at 14 yards, I settled the pin and tripped the release. Home run! There was little doubt as we watched the buck sprint, sputter, stumble and vanish from our sight. I was fairly confident that I heard him go down.
We decided to end the hunt early and see what we could find for a blood trail. Surprisingly, the trail was a bit sparse and hard to follow. What wasn't hard to follow were the tracks the buck left in the rain-softened dirt as he fled along a trail. After about 5 minutes of tracking/searching, Dane pointed to the dead buck beside a cedar.
We quickly loaded the buck and headed for a good spot to take LDPs.
The video is not a major production or anything, just a good ol' fashioned kill shot with slow-mo. I hope you enjoy.
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMaKJ1NWNIc"]Blanco Axis - YouTube[/ame]
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