I just picked up the Axis in velvet.

WOW! They look beautiful! Where did you hunt them..? Argentina?

Beatiful trophies, VERY good taxidermy

Anders, you find axis deer in Texas, Hawai, Argentina, Australia and Uruguay. Obviously in India also but they are not huntable there.

L

These were both shot out in the Texas Hill Country, the small one on the right was on a cull hunt in 2003, owner just needed to have a bunch of deer taken off his ranch. The one in velvet was taken in January, I was limited in size because the comapny that paid for the hunt didn't want to pay for anything over 32", this one is 31". The lady that did the taxidermy really did great on the one in velvet. I shot him quartering away to the right at a pretty good trot, the bullet entered below and behind the heart, travelled up and exited just below the left eye. You can't even see the area that she had to repair.

Browningguy,
I think they are completely beatiful, as I said, the taxidermy is outstanding, your "small one" is beatiful. Does texans do a lot of axis hunting?

Here they are plenty but also they have a lot of hunting preassure so to have a chance in a good one is not easy.

I will be interested in hearing how locals there hunts them, season, prices, etc.

Again, congrats for your deers, axis are special trophies for uruguayans hunters.

Good hunting
L

Lorenzo, the hunting style depends on the ranch you hunt. The best news is there is no season on them in Texas, they are considered non-native game so you can hunt them year round with a standard hunting license. Most Texas hunts are from stands or Safari style (spot and stalk from a vehicle), I've got a couple of ranches I've hunted several times where the owners will let me stalk so that is what I try to do most of the time. The one on the right is really a small Axis here, about 28", the one on the left is medium size, 31". They are pretty common in the 28-32" range in Texas, a really good trophy is in the 34-37" range. Prices range from about $800-$1500 for a mature buck, although I'm sure you could spend more if you wanted, I just don't know anyone that charges more than that. Most of the places I hunt charge $100-150 per day fee, depending on the quality of the accomodation, guide fees are sometimes additional depending on where you hunt. Most will cape and 1/4 the beast for $25-$50.

My friend,
28 x 2.54 = 71 cm aprox. (not bad)
37 x 2.54 = 94 cm !!! (that's a monster!!
How are they breeding? I refer to their numbers, are they increasing?

Here you can find pregnat does year round, and despite the hunting preassure they manage to reproduce well, I don't want to imagine if they have a more controled enviorment...your state must be an axis paradise!!

Does Nilgai also reproduce well? do you find them roaming around or only in very few places?

Someday I must visit Texas !!!!!!!

L

Nilgai are still pretty much limited to the big ranches. There are fairly large herds of Axis and Japanese Sika (and quite a few Blackbuck Antelope)free roaming throughout the Hill Country. They do breed year round here and does can be found carrying just about all the time. We have two subspecies apparantly (I'm no expert on this part), some drop their antlers in the fall and some in the spring. So just about any time of the year you can find Axis in velvet or hard horn.

Texas is a pretty good place to hunt, most of the state is actually private land though. This means knowing someone, or paying to hunt. There is some state and federal land to hunt on but not as much as you would think as large as Texas is.

Great looking trophies!

quote:

Anders, you find axis deer in Texas, Hawai, Argentina, Australia and Uruguay. Obviously in India also but they are not huntable there.
L

Thank you Lorenzo! Where`s their origin actually? India (Asia?)? A good bunch of animals that`s hunted around the world seems to come from Asia, without being very easy to hunt there anymore.. Muntjac, chinese waterdeer, sika deer...

Anders,
Yes, they are originaly from India and Ceylan, I don't know if they can be find in any other place of Asia.
It's a magnificent animal and very challenging to hunt. Every time I see those programs about tigers in India I'm looking in the background to see if I manage to find some axis. I've seen FABULOUS trophies in these films.

Axis reproduce very well in most terrains, it's a pity they aren't released in more places. Very cold weather is a limitation for them but despite that....

From browningguy comments I noticed that behaviour is the same in Texas that in Uruguay. They are nearly always pregnat and you can find animals in velvet year round, I think they are not two subspecies, I think that when given the correct oportunities (climate and food), they reproduce year round.

L