Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Are axis tougher than white tail

stxhunter,

According to friends, who are employed by ICE & the USBP (and the men/women of the TBV, who patrol the private ranches), they routinely see free range Axis deer while patrolling Jim Wells & surrounding counties for illegals/drug smugglers/common criminals. - So, YEP, I'm pretty sure of that.

yours, tex

wouldn't surprise me, i doubt they're as common as up in the hill country though.

Tons of Aoudad in this area. They can get obnoxious....

stx & All,

To "stx", SORRY. WRONG answer.

As I said elsewhere, I'm a TMN & we routinely see free ranging Axis deer all over the hill country when out doing small mammal, avian & reptile studies/surveys. - NO, I've NOT seen any of the "Ole Boys" so far there, as they are NOT hanging around when we are out counting, trapping & .chipping/releasing wildlife. = They EVAPORATE into the brush at the first human sound/scent.

During the OCT "Small Mammal Survey", my field-partner & I were "running traps" & walked up on a pair of Axis does, who didn't even seem to be much bothered by our presence, until Melissa sneezed. At that sneeze, it was "Adios, gringos!".
(Our chapter of the TMN do 3 surveys per year of small mammals, as well as avian counts & 2 reptile studies each year for TPWD & TAMU at several Texas Natural Areas.)

Note to ALL: I would encourage our forum members to trained/become a Master Naturalist in TX, your State or nation of residence. = Imo, what we volunteers do is valuable to the conservation of game & non-game species, as well as restoration/preservation of the natural environment. We also are "heavily involved in" youth outdoor education/training projects, with 4H, BSA, GSA, Campfire & numerous ISD.
(Our Chapter, ALAMO AREA MASTER NATURALISTS is the originating/ founding chapter of the Master Naturalist groups, Worldwide. Since our founding in 1997 by "6 just regular folks", who were interested in conservation/preservation/invasive species removal/restoration of the TX outdoors, the program has spread to over 25 States & 6 foreign nations. = Australia, Canada, Germany, Great Britain , Ireland & NZ - Two more nations are soon to be added to the "loose organization" of "crazy volunteers".)

A Personal Note: Before you decide to become what my classmate (Jim Baker) calls one of the "Whining Weed Wienies" OR join the Texas S.A.L.S.A. Team, be SURE that you are physically in good enough shape to do what they require their members to do. = Just ONE long weekend with the SALSA "lunatics" convinced me that I'm "just to damned old & beat up" to keep up with their members. = I "hurt for a week" thereafter.

yours, tex
Class 41, AACTMN

Lets see now: my first axis spike was with a 7.7x58 Japanese sporter with Norma ammo. The second spike was with a M1 DCM carbine and Win 110 gr. HSP ammo thru both lungs. The third was a buck with my Win 670 30-06 loaded down to 300 Sav ballistics. With the exception of the spike shot thru the lungs with the M1 Carbine, they all died quickly with a minimum of follow up. Axis deer meat is highly prized in Hawaii, there are no scent glands. We usually eat everything except the bark. Mel Chung in Hawaii.

I smashed my Hawaiian axis with a 243 dunno what ammo it was. “Guide” says you better use my 30-06 they’re big and tough, I said naw pass the 243. Killed him in his bed about 40 yards, 1 and done...

melchung,


Fwiw, my "go to rifle" for all game up to about 200 KG is my Model 760 in .300SAV & loaded with a GCCB to Spanish-American War .30-40 Krag ballistics. = 170 grain bullet at about 2,000FPS. = That "old school" load kills cleanly & with little loss of edible meat out to 250M.
(I haven't yet had to chase a deer/predator with that cheap CB load if I did my part.)

I’ve killed two nice Axis bucks - one with a 7mm Rem Mag & 150gr Scirocco and the other w/ a .243 & 80 gr. TTSX. Both did the 50 yard death dash after a lung shot. I doubt a whitetail would have acted any differently.

I've been hunting Axis in Texas for over 20 years and I hope to do so for 20 more. I've got 100's of Axis photos but I'm not going to resize them all just to be able to post them here. Great animal to hunt but they are hard on a WT herd as they just will out compete them. I've never killed an Axis that wasn't fat and slick no matter the terrain conditions. They will and can eat many things that WT deer simply won't or can't eat!

I killed five with a bow, they died just as fast as a whitetail.

Elkhunter49; hanco,

AGREED 100%. = Axis deer are & no more "bullet-proof" than any other similar sized deer. = In point of fact, out at Camp Bullis (a nearby military facility) several Axis have been killed (at close range) with loads of 7 1/2 birdshot. = Here in TX, exotic species may lawfully be taken by "any otherwise lawful means", 24/365.

One major difference in the 2 species: WT do not graze on grass/'weeds. - They mostly eat leaves/twigs as "browsers". Otoh, Axis, given the choice, will graze on grass, if available. If there is insufficient grass available, they WILL eat leaves/twigs & many other items.

yours, tex

WHere is Camp Bowie? I know Camp Bullis very well and the fact it has a lot of Axis but as much as we have shot in the SA area over the years I just don't know the Bowie name for some reason?

My brother uses a 60 partition in a .223 , and for his big gun a .243. You do not want to waste a lot of Axis meat............

rost485,

OOPS. = SHOULD have written CAMP BULLIS. (SORRY - I'm OLD, OLD) .=. = BRAIN CRAMP.

yours, tex

More like in reverse.

tronbender; Reloder28,

I received an email this PM from a rancher in far southeast TX, who said that Axis deer were brought into TX many years ago for both hunting & in the hope that they would eat noxious weeds, brush & mesquite.

Charles H___________ further said that the current "free range" Axis deer are often, "several generations away from the deer that had been penned up" & that many of the "free ranging Axis are now fully naturalized TX deer, are now truly wild animals, are now bigger/better nourished/bettered antlered than their cousins in India & will likely remain part of the TX environment for a very long time, despite hunting/netting/trapping."


yours, tex

There was a damn big axis carcass laying in the median of IH 10 sunday morning at the US 290 exit. And another smaller on down 290 toward Harper. And yet another between Stonewall and Johnson city! Free range axis are all over that country.

kaywoodie,

YEP.

yours, tex

I’ve shot a half dozen or so with a bow. When shot in the right place they are clearly no tougher than WT. The vitals are farther forward and than a WT, not unlike a feral hog. If you try to center punch the lungs like you do on a WT, you’d be catching the back of the lungs/liver in my experience. I find the does smaller and the bucks larger than the TX WT. I also find the oldest bucks to be as canny as any WT I’ve ever hunted. I’m sure either caliber will be fine if you do your part. Just my .02.

Hey Jeff, just in case you wanted to know, Camp Bowie is up by Brownwood.