1st Axis Hunt of the Year

Last weekend,October 9-11, was my first chance this season to “get into the woods” and chase a few exotics.  Our good friends, the Fields family were gracious enough to let me join their son and my friend, Tanner, for a couple days of good bowhunting (and a little ranch work).  Their ranch is a  1,900 acre ranch located near Sonora, Texas in Sutton County.  With an ever-growing axis deer population and very little hunting pressure, anticipation was high for this year’s hunting opportunities and this weekend.

Day1
I have to admit to sneaking out of town a bit early from work in hopes of making the Friday evening hunt.  The 300 mile journey across the state from College Station to Sonora flew by despite pouring rains and a lack of satellite radio in “The Beast” (our beloved, but grizzled ’99 Dodge 4×4).  Arriving at just after 4:30, I greeted Mr. Fields, who was headed to call some Friday night football for the Sonora Broncos.  If you ever saw Friday Night Lights and said there’s no way high school football is THAT big in Texas, think again.

I, on the otherhand, was headed to check trail cams and scout/hunt the “big field” next to the highway that seems to hold deer virtually all day, rain or shine.  On my route to gather SD cards I passed 6 axis does and fawns and a blackbuck already feeding in another field nearby.  Enthusiasm rose.  With my trusted Mathews DXT in tow, I was headed to the stand and ready for my season to begin.

P.M. – After much deliberation, I decided to sit in a large, homeade box blind along the fenceline of the big field that also overlooks the large draw that runs the length of the ranch.  Deer movement was surprisingly slow.  I did see the “3-legged doe” milling around near the corner of the field (a deer seen regularly last year that walks very awkwardly but has no issues getting around).  Come to find out, the “doe” is now a 1.5 year old buck, sporting 2 long spikes.  Oops, sorry buddy.  Two whitetail does and 4 fawns kept me entertained, hanging around and feeding in the draw most of evening.  I watched as the oldest doe bedded down 40 yards from me and stay there for almost a half hour.  As the night wound down, she finally stood up and headed toward me and the field.  Knocking an arrow, I anticipated the small possibility of a shot through the blind’s smallest window (about 1 foot x 1 foot).  As luck would have it, she came into the shooting lane perfectly. With my eyes widened and in my haste to pull off the improbable shot, I watched as  my lumenok sailed straight over the doe’s back.  She ran 50 yards and went along with her day, feeding within a stone’s throw of the blind.  Hunting for day 1 was over.  I spent the waning light searching for more deer entering the field, catching a glimpse at last light of a group of axis bucks on the opposite side, some 600 yards away.

Tanner arrived later that night.  We went through trail cam pics and began planning for the next two days.  A few quick pop-up setups and sprinkled corn and we were done for the night with a couple hours to sleep before the first morning hunt.

Day 2
Saturday A.M. – As I got settled in to a pop-up that had only been in place for a few hours, I had no idea what to expect.  The blind was nestled into a small oak motte some 20 yds from a main ranch road and an inoperable open gate that many deer had been spotted using to travel from one field to another.  Corn was sprinkled on the road in hopes of buying a few more seconds should anything pass through the opening.  Fifteen minutes before shooting light I spotted a large body making it’s way from my right toward the road.  Through my binoculars I could make out the long main beam of a large axis buck.  He circled directly in front of my position and in the dim light I could see this was a shooter.  He fed briefly, but as quick as he had come he was gone.  The buck made his way straight away from me down toward the main draw.  Bummer.

As the sun lit up the fields activity was at a standstill.  I had a lone two year old blackbuck come down the fenceline behind me.  He stuck around long enough for me to get some good video before he turned and headed back from whence he came.

Tanner had planned to get out of our blinds at 9 o’clock and head to a facing hillside to attempt a light push.  This tactic had been successful numerous times last year in the same location.  A big axis buck with a broken main beam was calling the area home and walked within 15 yards of my waiting position on more than one occasion in the past.  We hoped his tendencies had remained the same, but when Tanner appeared walking my way, the disappointment was hard to keep off my face.  The drive had resulted in a few whitetails, some turkeys, and only 2 axis does.

Late morning and early afternoon were spent moving stands, trimming shooting lanes and replacing trail cam memory cards.  One spot that got me excited was a tripod we placed near a small field close to the house.  Friday night, in my truck’s headlights, I watched as a group of axis, with 3 really good bucks, jumped across the road and into the field closest to the ranch house.  We just needed to figure out how to catch them on their travel route there before sunset.  This newly placed stand location looked to be that place.

P.M. -  I was late getting into my stand that afternoon (good football games will do that to you).  My tardiness became ever apparent upon walking out the front door of the house to gather my gear.  We spotted deer already munching in the field and around my stand.  Not Good.  I slowly, hurried (anyone who spot & stalk hunts understands) to get in my tripod.  Goal — spook as few deer as possible doing so.  While creeping toward my perch for the night, I spotted a large axis bedded down on the hill across and above the field only a couple hundred yards away.  As I watched from a distance, planning my next move, he stood up.

“Great, he’s headed into the field already and I am definitely not there yet.”

Luck was on my side, however, as he quickly laid back down and began to grooming himself.  I finished my slow stalk and scurried into the stand, only spooking one doe with a couple of tag-along fawns.  Because the tree I was in was thick and only had a few carefully selected shooting lanes, the bedded axis buck was out of my sight no matter how hard I torqued my body and squinted my eyes from the tripod.

Action picked up immediately.  Whitetails and axis were streaming by me seemingly continuously from the word “go”.  I counted 14 whitetails and 8 axis pass within bow range in the first hour of my sit.  I had one 2 year old eight point whitetail buck pass only 5 yards from my stand!  As light began to fade, the large axis bucks had yet to show.

“Maybe I’m not far enough off the field”, I thought to myself.

Just as doubt began to set in, out of nowhere, two big axis stepped out, walking inside the fence to my left.  I was already standing, bow in hand, when the lead buck stopped to peek in a feed barrel.  Having bone-headedly left my rangefinder in the truck, I guessed the distance to be close to 50 yards – too far for a shot.  I watched as they made their way off the field through another open gate that we suspected deer may utilize.  Watching them walk away, I was startled by a third axis buck “groaning” abruptly and directly behind me.  He was a much smaller axis, probably 2 years old, and had me pegged.  I turned my attention to him and we did a little dance – him to try and make out what was in that tree and me to attempt to keep a tree limb between us at all times.  Eventually, he was content and moved right past me and along the path the larger bucks had taken toward the house field.  After dark, I climbed down thinking what might have been if my blind was 40 yards to the East.  Hunting on day 2 was over.

Day 3
Sunday A.M.- I couldn’t help but go back to the same stand from the evening before for the morning hunt. Could you blame me?  Would the morning activity come close to the action 12 hours before?  It didn’t take long to realize that it, in fact, would not.  A few whitetail does and fawns came into the field just after sunrise to feed, but no axis crossed my path.  I heard several axis bucks sparring in the clearing a couple hundred yards behind me, but never caught sight of any of the combatance.  My weekend hunt came to an end without an arrow flung at an axis.  However, we were very encouraged by all of the sightings and close calls.  The axis population seemed to be even bigger and healthier than the previous year.

Plans have already been made to make the trip again in a few weeks.  Another chance to prove that we can outsmart those elusive axis deer.  I don’t know why, but the drive home after a much anticipated hunting trips always seems twice as long as the trip there.  Most of the time was passed thinking of what might have been or how things could have been different.  The ‘what ifs’ will have to be answered in another hunt.

I would like to thank the Fields for allowing us to enjoy time at their beautiful ranch.  I can’t wait to try it once again come November.