My father and I went to Big Oak Bowhunting to hunt axis deer 5/15-5/18/14. The accommodations at the ranch are great. The first evening I had a few axis come by, but did not see a shooter. I also saw several fallow, a sika buck, and some hogs. Unfortunately the hogs and the sika showed up at the same time and scared each other off. My dad saw numerous animals as well including several nice axis bucks that did not come in to the feeder. The next morning was pretty slow due to the full moon. That evening I hunted a feeder down in the pasture. The animals were grazing the pasture pretty well since the grass had greened up due to a rain the week before. A group of rams came by and picked up the feed that Marty had put out when he dropped me off. The rams drifted off toward the other end of the pasture just as a group of axis bucks came out of the trees. The fed on the grass on the far side of the pasture for a while, but then headed toward me when the feeder went off. All three of the bucks were nice, but two of them were excellent animals. As they got closer my heart started racing and when they stepped out at the feeder I had to take a few seconds to calm myself down. The two largest bucks started feeding right in front of each other so I couldn't get a clear shot at either animal. After a minute or so one of the bucks got his antlers stuck in a vine and all three of them spooked off into the woods. They stayed close and fed back into the pasture, but did not come back to the feeder. The next morning I hunted the same stand and saw numerous animals. The axis had evidently been out grazing the pasture all night and did not show up that morning. We had noticed that most of the animals out in the pasture wanted to graze on an area of grass near the fence away from the feeders. There was only one tree out there that had any amount of cover on the lower portion of the trunk. Marty decided that we could probably put a ladder stand on that tree for the evening hunt. We then went and took down a ladder stand and placed it on the tree. I tried to bend all the limbs out of the way to keep as much cover as possible. That evening Marty dropped me off and fed the area out in front of the stand. It didn't take long before some rams and fallow started feeding in the area. About an hour later a group of axis came out at the far end of the field. They fed for a few minutes and then started heading toward the group of animals feeding in front of me. It didn't take long for them to close the distance and I soon had two shooter bucks at 16 yards. There were about a dozen animals below me so I had to wait a while for all of them to put there head down before I was comfortable trying to draw. Just as I got to full draw the animals spooked just a bit. The axis I was wanting side stepped a few feet, but then turned broadside again. I settled my pin just behind his shoulder and touched off the shot. The shot was good and he only made it about 100 yards before piling up in the field. Overall, the hunt was a great experience and Lisa's food was awesome. Dad never got a shot, but he had a great time and we will be back so he can get an axis or fallow buck. Marty is a great guy and will do whatever he can to get you on the animal you're after. Marty and Lisa's hospitality is second to none. This was the first ranch I've been to where I thought I could bring my wife and she would have a really good time. I'm now planning on bringing her back in the winter to see if she can get her first animal with her bow. Thanks for everything Marty!
Kody
Kody
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