I went to my lease in the Texas Hill Country this past weekend to do a little spring turkey hunting with some friends. I was able to shoot a nice old tom Friday evening after we arrived in camp....so I was free the rest of the weekend to just kick back and relax. On Saturday morning I decided to go across the road to the low fence side of the ranch and look for some sheds. As an after thought I grabbed my CAR-15 (.223/Winchester 64 Power Point)in case I saw any coyotes or other varmits. Well, I didn't see any coyotes but I did see this guy! He saw me also and ran into some brush. I put a little stalk on him and was able to get about 120 yd broadside shot.

Now before ya'll start flaming me for using an "inadequate round" I'm gonna tell you why I took the shot:
1) The CAR-15 was all I had with me (I would have preferred my 35 Whelen).
2) It was sighted in and loaded with a heavy soft point.
3) Everything 'Felt Right' before I pulled the trigger.
4) I was very confident in my ability to make an accurate shot.
5) I have killed deer and have seen many more deer killed with a 'little' .223....it works...you just gotta be particular about your shot.

At the shot I heard that 'WHOP' that comes from a solid hit and he did a big 'mule kick' before he ran. As I watched him run off with a broken shoulder I knew he was heart shot and dead on the run. He went about 200 or so yards into a canyon and piled up.



The look of surprise from the guys when they got back from the morning turkey hunt was classic!

Nice little axis there TXPO. No flames here.

Really nice Axis. I would have taken him, too. Wasn't the weather beautiful in the Hill Country this weekend!

Haven't seen a turkey on our place all year long until yesterday, and, shazzam, they're everywhere. Nothin' like hormones to create a little activity.

Whatever else is said about exotics on Texas ranches, isn't it neat to have such animals around, huntable year round, with such great venison. Not much is better than axis. Only meat that compares is eland. Let's see, in the last week, we've had eland lasagna, eland burgers, eland tenderloin. Nice surprise for a turkey hunt. Bob

Looks like you made the best of a great opportunity!!! No need for apologies....the best gun for anything is the one you have in your hand!!! Obviously, your AR was enough gun!

TXPO,

Congrats on a nice Axis!!! They are really great eating. I am envious!!

Bob

Some people just have all the fun

Thanks for the nice comments. He isn't a monster axis but I am really proud of him and the way that I was able to hunt him. The real challenge was actually the follow up/tracking after the shot. He went over 200 yds and never left a drop of blood! The area he was in was basically a rocky hill top with lots of cedar and any red spots on the white rocks would have jumped out at me. I found him by following the faint trail of kicked up dirt on the rocks. It was one of those situations that if you looked at the situation too hard and too close you would miss the signs completely. But if you stood back and took everything in you began to notice the little things that looked out of place. I learned a little bit that day about tracking animals in that country! But I knew he was hit hard and hit well so I was never discouraged. I figured that it may just take a little bit of time.

....and it wasn't 103 in the shade yet!!

Bob

Bob,

Actually, I damn near froze to death on the ATV ride that morning! The weather was absolutely awesome this weekend, wasn't it!

Neat animal and story... I understand the Texas Hill Country is simply fantastic. I've got to get down there to hunt some time! I'm particularly envious to see *actual* green spring foliage... we're supposed to get snow here tonight!

Just before I read your post I was talking bear hunting and the 223 with my hunting partner over the phone... he took his biggest black bear with a 223 a couple of years back. Big old boar. Shot Placement is 90% of this game, though your lack of a blood trail tells us all we need to know about the other 10%!

Best Regards,

BA

That's a terrific "unplanned" trophy. More often than not, those are the most memorable of all.

No flames here, either. You knew the limitations of the cartridge, you were aware of your own limitations -- and you were able to take a shot that "felt right" and wound up in the prescribed spot. Put more succinctly, you did everything right.

Congratulations...and enjoy that wonderful axis meat...

[ 04-15-2003, 09:31: Message edited by: Bobby Tomek ]

I just thought some of ya'll may find this interesting. This is the recovered bullet from the Axis after it broke the on-side shoulder, hit the heart and then came to rest under the skin on the other side. It is a factory Winchester 64 gr Power Point. I was somewhat impressed at how well the little bullet held up.

I think rain for the upcomming weekend in central Texas. I was also there last weekend sitting at camp talking turkey with some gobblers,when a heard of 20 free range Black Buck started towards our property line. They saw our truck and were semi spooked and never crossed the fence comming as close as 100yds. While this was going on the gobblers showed up about 60yds behind us.We ignored the birds focusing on the very nice mature Black Buck. He never came accross but teased us for an hour running up and down the fence. By the time they left the birds were gone as well but it was exciting anyway. Capmed

This is for any of the posters here.

What is the cost of a good hunting lease in your area these days?

I've never had to have a lease in Texas before, but when I retire in a few years I'm sure I will.

I've hunted east of Junction and shot Axis and Sitka. Nice area.

Kensco,

I shot this axis in Roosevelt which is about 15 miles due west down I-10 from Junction. As far as the price of a Texas deer lease??? It's basically 'you get what you pay for'. You can spend $400-$500 on a piney woods/East Texas lease and then up from there with it all depending on the location and property size. I know guys that spend over $5000 for a spot on South Texas places!

Hey TXPO, nice shooting and nice deer!

$1,000 to $1,500 might interest me. Beyond that I'd just as soon hunt somewhere else in the Rockies once a year.

Plan "A" is to buy my own place. (Maybe just a dream if the stock market doesn't get off its ass.)

Kensco:

You can get a spot on a decent Hill Country lease for $1000 to $1500, but you need to do your "due diligence" first.

Season, as opposed to "year round" leases will be a bit less expensive. Many people prefer the "year round" lease so they can use the property for off-season recreation (camping, maybe fishing, small game hunting), but you should rightfully expect to pay more. Some ranches will lease to a group by the week, or even weekend, but I wouldn't recommend these.

Some landowners will attempt to pack a lot of hunters onto their acreage. As a rule of thumb, most Hill Country ranches should allow at least 65 acres per hunter in the strongest of habitat, or 200 or more per hunter in the weaker areas. If you have 10 hunters crowded onto 500 acres (and a limit of 2 bucks and 3 does per hunter), you're going to severely over hunt that ranch. Some will allow more hunters, but limit the kill; they should charge accordingly.

Many areas have exotics. With some hunters, this is a bonus. Others who are whitetail "purists" don't like the competition from exotics and avoid such leases. A lot of Hill Country ranches are high fenced. If the high fenced acreage is less than a couple of thousand acres, in my opinion, then a high fence is inappropriate and makes for the equivalent shooting deer in a pen.

Watch out for some "brokers", both the formal and informal kind. One guy may lease a place, then "sublease" to others to try to get his own hunting for free, or even make a buck (the green kind) out of the deal. Avoid this kind of arrangement.

Most important is what kind of group you're hunting with. Knowing the other hunters on your lease, and whether they are ethical and compatible is crucial.

Congratulations TXPO!
Great story and Nice trophy!

Did you get your song dog that afternoon as well?

seems to be quite a few of us on here that hunt around junction, Im 11 miles south of I10 on highway 83... 1k high fenced my south fence is part of the YO's fence....

Thanks amosgreg. No song dog this trip but I think I got the better deal!

Thanks Stonecreek. Very interesting comments.

I loved the place I hunted east of Junction. I know one of the guys on that lease. I think I'll visit with him when I see myself returning to the States.

I've got two daughters in Austin right now, so my wife thinks Central Texas is a good place to retire. Five to ten years from now, who knows.