I’ve spent a lot of of time with Axis deer over the past few years, and have learned a whole lot more by practically living with them than from any other source. There’s just not much real life information to be found on them anywhere else. I’m actually scouting & camped on one of the most heavily populated Axis properties in Texas as I type this. I easily saw a couple hundred in a 2 mile stretch of river bottom today. I’m in some highly populated whitetail country, but the Axis deer have taken over here. There’s truly too many of them here, but most of the landowners in the immediate vicinity don’t hunt.
I don’t pretend to be a expert, only a student, but here’s some things I’ve learned first hand by observing a few different places that are Axis strongholds:
During the spring & summer months, roughly 70% of bucks will be hard horned, with the remaining 30% having hard antlers during the typical fall hunting season.
Although often very hot weather, June & July is the time when you’ll find the most productive hunting, with many bucks rutting.
Hard horned bucks will travel from herd to herd, roaring and seeking receptive does.
Axis bucks roar to announce their state of rut. Mature bucks typically make 3 consecutive vocalizations in sequence. Younger bucks may often make less than 3, as they sound somewhat less confident.
Axis are grazing herd animals and travel much like cattle as they feed.
Does emit elk like sounds, that appear to be mainly contact vocalizations. When alarmed they make a very sharp & loud “bark”.
I have very often observed multiple hard antlered bucks in the midst of a herd of does that would all be roaring but never fighting, although I’ve seen videos of them having serious battles.
Bucks seem to take a very long time to grow their antlers to maturity, compared to our native antlered species. I can’t really put exact figures on it, but I’m guessing 2-3 times as long as a whitetail, for instance, maybe even longer.
Well, that’s just a few things that I have personally observed. Your mileage may vary.
Allot of good information here. I can definitely confirm that starting end of May through July is when you will have Axis bucks start showing up that you have never seen before. This is when a good 60 to 70 percent are hard horned and when the most active rutting activity takes place. Can be a miserable time to hunt due to the heat but in my opinion the best time to hunt a big one. June is normally the best month on the ranches I have been on.
