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I was finally able to get away from work for some long overdue social distancing and freezer filling. My stockpile of axis has been running dangerously low. I booked a guided axis hunt in June but we had talked about a particular deer for a few years Two years ago he busted up pretty early in the rut. He was a giant last year but was a ghost. I got a few texts about a month ago saying the buck had been hitting a couple protein feeders a few times a week. As he kept growing and growing, we pushed up the date hoping he would still be in the general area and knowing the brows wouldn’t make it through the rut. There were some other nice bucks around that were already hard horned as well. I left my house excited but with realistic expectations that even seeing this particular deer was going to be 50/50 at best. By this time, the buck was no longer showing up on camera . I asked for an extra day and hoped we would be lucky enough to get a glimpse of him. I planned on bringing home some meat and having a good time either way. On the second afternoon, we split up to cover more ground. About 7pm, I got a text that he’s here, he’s huge, and hurry. I ran about a mile, belly crawled a couple hundred yards and got set up. He was calmly feeding in a good size herd, which gave me a few minutes to catch my breath and settle down. A little while later, he and another buck happened to filter downhill in our direction. It was my first experience with 120 ballistic tips out of the 7mm-08 and performance couldn’t have been better. I’ll continue to hunt axis every chance I get but it’s unlikely I’ll ever come close to topping this one. An axis doe hunt the next morning turned into a stalk on a nice blackbuck. Every now and then, it just all works out ![[Linked Image from i.postimg.cc]](https://i.postimg.cc/k5Ky45Ts/9-AA71-B5-A-C998-40-AF-9-EC8-20-FF8-DFAC15-A.jpg) ![[Linked Image from i.postimg.cc]](https://i.postimg.cc/3RZCXc5D/A4-B3-E8-C6-E634-491-D-AA1-B-20-B6190534-D2.jpg) ![[Linked Image from i.postimg.cc]](https://i.postimg.cc/qRrxCdYT/A8-D9-F7-FA-E3-D7-4071-9-C1-B-A9529-E3-F2-DB7.jpg)
Last edited by TxHunter80; 05/18/20.
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- Greg
Success is found at the intersection of planning, hard work, and stubbornness.
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Campfire Tracker
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Beautiful buck - congrats to you!
"Rather hunt Mule deer than anything else"
"Team 7MM-08"
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Campfire Ranger
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If I ever get close to a good location, I want one of each.
Edited for a question: Anyone know much about the blackbucks? What kind of age is needed to acquire the pictured stature?
Last edited by 1minute; 05/18/20.
1Minute
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congrats you earned that one.enjoy eating him
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Campfire Ranger
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Holy smokes TX........awesome buck! congrats.
It is irrelevant what you think. What matters is the TRUTH.
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Awesome story and congrats on that giant!
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Nice...…..really nice!! Congrats! Thanks for sharing.
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Wow. Love seeing an animal like that taken. Doesn’t get any better. Thanks for sharing.
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Campfire Oracle
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I'm heading down there in 3 weeks. Your post doesn't make the wait any easier!
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Fantastic, thanks for sharing.
Arcus Venator
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He’s got some hellacious brow tines...! Really good inner tines, heavy horned, wide, great main beams and great shape to his antlers overall. And...the best venison there is.
Every day on this side of the ground is a win.
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Campfire Ranger
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Heard the meat of axis is delicious. Hav etc try it I was finally able to get away from work for some long overdue social distancing and freezer filling. My stockpile of axis has been running dangerously low. I booked a guided axis hunt in June but we had talked about a particular deer for a few years Two years ago he busted up pretty early in the rut. He was a giant last year but was a ghost. I got a few texts about a month ago saying the buck had been hitting a couple protein feeders a few times a week. As he kept growing and growing, we pushed up the date hoping he would still be in the general area and knowing the brows wouldn’t make it through the rut. There were some other nice bucks around that were already hard horned as well. I left my house excited but with realistic expectations that even seeing this particular deer was going to be 50/50 at best. By this time, the buck was no longer showing up on camera . I asked for an extra day and hoped we would be lucky enough to get a glimpse of him. I planned on bringing home some meat and having a good time either way. On the second afternoon, we split up to cover more ground. About 7pm, I got a text that he’s here, he’s huge, and hurry. I ran about a mile, belly crawled a couple hundred yards and got set up. He was calmly feeding in a good size herd, which gave me a few minutes to catch my breath and settle down. A little while later, he and another buck happened to filter downhill in our direction. It was my first experience with 120 ballistic tips out of the 7mm-08 and performance couldn’t have been better. I’ll continue to hunt axis every chance I get but it’s unlikely I’ll ever come close to topping this one. An axis doe hunt the next morning turned into a stalk on a nice blackbuck. Every now and then, it just all works out
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[quote=1minute]
Edited for a question: Anyone know much about the blackbucks? What kind of age is needed to acquire the pictured stature? [/quote
Very loose rule of thumb but one year for each full spiral. That one is 5+ judging by the dark face more than the number of curls.
"When you disarm the people, you commence to offend them and show that you distrust them either through cowardice or lack of confidence, and both of these opinions generate hatred." Niccolo Machiavelli
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Private land or did you hunt with an operation/guide?
And these zombies line up and eat from the media’s trough
Cowards CANNOT be free. Nor should they be.
~Molɔ̀ːn Labé Skýla~
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We didn’t age him but the blackbuck above was definitely mature. He was probably a little past his prime. For some reason, he was a ram that never turned black. He stayed that blonde color year round, which probably extended his life.
As much as I would like to own that ranch or any ranch, I don’t think it’s in the cards. It was a guided hunt
Last edited by TxHunter80; 05/19/20.
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