Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Where to go for axis deer hunt in Texas?

Myself and my 15 year old son are looking for an axis deer hunt in the June or July time period.
I would prefer a free range hunt but a large high fence property would be ok.
Would prefer a spot and stalk hunt as opposed to sitting at a feeder.
Do not need fancy accommodations, clean and functional would be fine.
I am really just looking for a nice experience with my son and don't have to shoot a huge animal to have a good experience.
I know axis deer is delicious and would like to bring the meat home.
Thanks for any suggestions.
Seeker
Rob Hamilton

Pm Ingwe!

"Free range" Make me laugh every time.

It might be impossible to find someone who specializes in spot and stalk. That's not the way it is traditionally done. You will probably find someone to attempt it if you ask. If you find it let me know. Go to

http://texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php

Check it out. Captdavid

Everything vegetative in Texas bites or scratches. Find a nice vantage point and sit. When sighted, hammer it because one will not want to dig it out of the thorns.

They don't run like deer. Easy to drive up on. Shoot,load,clean,done right quick.

Those I hunted were spooky as hell and only moved very early or late in the day, shot both mine at dusk, popped a pig in a pond in the daylight though.

Axis are fun and great eating...

I once hunted a place that was high fenced. It was small, a little under 400 acres. It was about 2/3 dense juniper and the rest pretty open scrub oak. It was hilly. This was a cull meat hunt. There was a heard of approximately 50 axis on this property. I hunted, driving, walking and under feeders for a day and a half. About noon of the second day, we were eating sandwiches in the truck. Several walked across the road 50 yds away. One never knows!captdavid

This place was in Rocksprings, 5000 acres. Those SOB's were everywhere. Mouflon, Aoudads, Black buck. They weren't hunted hard. Nice lease. I got off, because I was getting in to Quail hunting and pointers. Quail hunted hard for 25yrs. Got tired taking care of 8 to 10 dogs. People would want to go, but hardly offered gas money, much less food or anything else.

Most places will be stand hunting or "Safari style" which is driving around in a pickup until you shoot something. Ask first and ask how big the place is esp. if high fenced. The YO ranch is good as it is large enough you rarely even see the high fences and many areas are low fenced. Spot and stalk will depend on the guide. You might even have the option of horseback hunting as the chicago wildman did until he was yanked off the horse when his hair got tangled in a tree. The cowboys were still talking about this when I was there.

Another place I meat/cull hunted 20yrs ago was over 3000 acres. They wanted to take 100 does off it. The guide took us to the stand. He threw out some corn and alfalfa and left. By the time he was out of sight deer were showing up. Within 15min probably 50 does and small bucks showed up. My buddy shot one. Most ran off, some stayed close. Within another 15min probably 30 were around the feed. Maybe some new ones I don't know. I shot mine and by the time we got to our deer the guide came to pick us up. He knew. We didn't, but they were cheap. $100 each and $30 total for guide to gut, skin, and quarter both. Captdavid

Try Pope Brothers Guide Service or Ryan Longer Outdoors. They both have free range properties and fenced. Desert Safaris has a really good reputation for free range but they are not cheap.

I think it's like most game. If they are pressured, they are spooky as hell. In my experience, they are harder to predict than whitetail.

One of the problems with axis is that they are not territorial as whitetail are. They roam. They may stick around, or not. To quote myself " one never knows!" captdavid

Axis prices can vary. I will try to compare whitetail trophies with axis. A 30" or better is considered a trophy. I would compare a 30" axis to a 130-140 class whitetail. A 35" would be a B&C. 98% of axis have 6 points. Any more are considered atypical and very rare. This is not to say that a 28" is not a decent trophy. Ask what your outfitter/guide considers a trophy and the price. Prices for a, pretty much guaranteed 30+ trophy, start around $2500. A place where you might get a 30+, but probably won't, expect 28 or so, expect to pay $1800-$2000. Remember these are trophy prices only. I will say this; a 28" axis makes a pretty decent trophy. Under that not so much. Most guides are honest and hard working and will try their best to put you on what you want. I might suggest that you spend the first half day just looking, if you hunt high fenced. That said, if the guide says "shoot it, it's a whopper!" Shoot it.
Prices also vary on lodging from you stay in hotel and the guide picks you up, to converted farm houses, to luxury lodging and meals with a pool and WiFi. Guide fees probably $250-$300 per day, for both of you. Sometimes these are included in lodging or trophy fees. Captdavid

You might consider some kind of sheep for your son. They are also relatively cheap and would be much easier to spot and stalk. They make a decent mount. If you have a way to get pine wood chips. You can boil the sheep with the chips until tender. Pour the sheep and broth out and serve the chips with a turpentine sauce. hehe, captdavid

If you're intent on taking the meat back with you, I suspect Texas is your best bet (never hunted there...so I could be wrong), but for a true free range spot and stalk axis hunt, I'd suggest Hawaii....specifically the big island.

I am in the process of getting a trip set up there for pigs and axis myself. Getting the meat back would be more of a headache, though the outfitters there have played this game so much they got it down. Flash freeze it and overnight it. It'll cost more to do so, but the hunt is probably more what you're looking for.

Thanks guys for all the suggestions.
I will follow up with outfitter suggestions for more research.

Rob Hamlton

Be careful sir, Axis hunting will get in your blood! Good Luck with your choice and hunt. Great tasting animals and they make a beautiful mount as well.

Great pics Elkhunter49. They are gorgeous animals.

Thank you sir, I was once a big Muley fan like yourself but when it got so danged expensive to hunt them I defalted to Axis deer. While not always cheap I can normally get in a couple hunts a summer. I’ve probably got several thousand Axis photos at home on my computer but these were just a few from my laptop. Take care, Baker

It's a little hard to tell, but I'd say those were probably 30"+ with the exception of the one in the center of the top picture. Again I could be wrong, but it would still make a very good first trophy. I haven't trophy hunted axis in quite a few years, but wouldn't you say my prices were on par with what you have found? Captdavid
BTW, the one in the middle photo is a whopper, if it has a brow tine on his left antler. Captdavid

Elkhunter49,
Do you have any background on that big axis? That's probably the most impressive axis I've ever seen. He's got it all, including age. I've never actually seen one that is a true 40" but he can't be far off. The wide ones always look bigger but he looks like a conservative 37-38".

Yes sir he is a beast for sure. I took the photo in 2013 off a state highway near Vanderpool, Texas. I was taking my wife to lunch that day in Kerrville but I always carried my camera with me so when I saw him I circled back and got about 20 fair to poor photos of him before the wind switched and he busted me. He was incredible to see in person and as long as I've been hunting Axis (20+) years I've never seen anything that has what he's got. I've had multiple very experienced Axis guides tell me he is likely 40" in length. His mass and width make him look almost like an elk.

I contacted the land owner of the place to see if he would sell me a hunt for him but he wasn't interested in hunting the place. The buck lived in a very thick 1200 acre pasture with multiple creek bottoms and the land owner had only seen him 3 or 4 times in in the last 5 years. He looked to be 10+ years old and was likely pushing 300lb live weight. After I offered the guy all I could afford to let me hunt him the old man just laughed and said "son if I let you hunt everyday for a month you still wouldn't see him again". I feel lucky to have got close to such an incredible animal at least with my camera! I'm sure father time has taken him out by now.

Here are couple more shots of him. Take care, Baker

That's an amazing axis! He looks like an elk!

I love that area from Bandera to Leakey. You never know what you'll see around all those creek bottoms.

Big son of a gun

Those are great pics! I am excited and I am just going after the does!

Never judge them from behind.

http://aguavidaranch.com
If you contact Diane Sodoro on this website she will go out of her way to hook you up. You'll see her name on the right side of the web page.

www.baker3ranch.com
Another good choice for more of a DIY hunt. Talk to Bonnie.

I agree but he still looks pretty damn good from the front!

That Axis will look good no matter what angle he's at. That's a freaking monster deer.

Yep. Horns that long are a lot closer to the camera than the animules body.

I've caught, and had my hands on A LOT of Axis deer... I'd have to agree with some others, that's a STUD no matter the angle.

No doubt!

Had one like him I was going to let my daughter whack in 2003. I knew where he would be so we set up on him at 0430. Sure enough when it came light he emerged. Turned out, he had but one antler beam. She decided to wait until the following season. We never saw him again, though we had seen him several times annually since our first encounter.

I called him Goal Post. He had to be 40" at least. Learned after the fact that if Axis experience a late freeze after antlers are shed they will either have stunted brow tines or only one antler beam for that year. The Axis she did whack that day had stunted brow tines and both beams were otherwise normal.