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Texas Hill Country Axis and Aoudad Plus More
03 May 2007, 08:00
Austin HunterTexas Hill Country Axis and Aoudad Plus More
hackberryranch.blogspot.com
To save time on hunt reports and photos with my friends I keep a blog up for our group. It covers mainly our 5,400 acre low fence hunting lease at the western edge of the Texas Hill Country. At some point I may put my last Africa trip here, but who knows.
This is updated frequently, so bookmark it and check it. I have most of the posts and I use the same handle on the blog: Austin Hunter
"Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid" -- Ronald Reagan
"Ignorance of The People gives strength to totalitarians."
Want to make just about anything work better? Keep the government as far away from it as possible, then step back and behold the wonderment and goodness.
04 May 2007, 03:15
Wendell ReichThat is a nice Aoudad and Axis Deer.
Here is a link for the rest to view it ...
Hackberry Ranch04 May 2007, 06:53
Austin HunterWendell,
Thanks for the nice comment. We are really fortunate and have some nice Axis deer, this is an average specimen for the ranch; the stalk is what made it exciting.
I've never seen an Axis recorded with 40"+ main beams in any record books, but I'm here to tell you we have one at our place that will easily go 40"+. We have been seeing him for almost a year, but he has either been to far away or in some stage other than polished (anterless, growing, or complete velvet). We hope to get him this summer. He's probably 350 lb on the hoof, he is literraly twice as big as other mature bucks that we have seen him with. If we get him, we'll post him on here.
We also have a 180" class white tail we saw for the first time last fall which is incredible for our location in the Hill Country. We hope to get him this fall. We had some amatuers after him last fall and they couldn't connect (the buck is in a "bow" only area on the ranch that is near the highway). We are going to put the pros on him this fall!
"Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid" -- Ronald Reagan
"Ignorance of The People gives strength to totalitarians."
Want to make just about anything work better? Keep the government as far away from it as possible, then step back and behold the wonderment and goodness.
04 May 2007, 09:29
Wendell ReichA 32" Axis or Aoudad is not average anywhere. You must have some real monsters to consider a 32" just average!
Good luck on getting that big Axis and that Whitetail.
If you need any help, I am sure I can clear my schedule.

I am sure you will have no shortage of help though.
05 May 2007, 01:31
HughiamWendell,
Thanks for the report. I did a search for the ranch and it came up a bowhunting ranch. Do the operate more than one concession?
Hugh
Pro Staff for:
In Natures Image Taxidermy
05 May 2007, 06:26
Austin HunterWe lease the western half of the ranch, its 5,400 acres flat and about 7,000 surface acres.
The ranch you found is the eastern half. The ranch foreman runs daily rate guided bow hunts on this half and the owner of the ranch uses it for his family as well.
We are basically "on our own" on our side with regards to game counts, quotas, maintaining the water system, etc.
"Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid" -- Ronald Reagan
"Ignorance of The People gives strength to totalitarians."
Want to make just about anything work better? Keep the government as far away from it as possible, then step back and behold the wonderment and goodness.
05 May 2007, 09:05
blaser93Wow some nice Aoudad , thats on my list here soon.
This is a hill country (low fence) Axis. I've never measured it, but I imaine that it's close to 40 inches if not over.
JudgeG ... just counting time 'til I am again finding balm in Gilead chilled out somewhere in the Selous.
06 May 2007, 22:07
Austin HunterNice trophy!
Great mass on the main beams. Looking at the picture I call his main beams at 32-33". Have an SCI measurer put a tape on him. I'll bet a lunch on it

Here's a 33" Axis I took last year:
"Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid" -- Ronald Reagan
"Ignorance of The People gives strength to totalitarians."
Want to make just about anything work better? Keep the government as far away from it as possible, then step back and behold the wonderment and goodness.
It's a bet. If it's closer to 40", then I win... closer to 33", you win? Actually, the mount is still in Texas so I'll have to get a measurement from a friend. But he can be trusted, especially if he gets free food.

Actually, this is the first and only axis that I've taken.
JudgeG ... just counting time 'til I am again finding balm in Gilead chilled out somewhere in the Selous.
Not to get in on somebodys else's bet but this one has a main beam of 36 inches. Shot last year by a client on my concession in Gonzales Texas.
14 May 2007, 05:43
L. David KeithThose are exceptional Axis Deer!
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Took the wife the Eastern Cape for her first hunt:
http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/6881000262Hunting in the Stormberg, Winterberg and Hankey Mountains of the Eastern Cape 2018
http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/4801073142Hunting the Eastern Cape, RSA May 22nd - June 15th 2007
http://forums.accuratereloadin...=810104007#810104007 16 Days in Zimbabwe: Leopard, plains game, fowl and more:
http://forums.accuratereloadin...=212108409#212108409Natal: Rhino, Croc, Nyala, Bushbuck and more
http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/6341092311 Recent hunt in the Eastern Cape, August 2010: Pics added
http://forums.accuratereloadin...261039941#926103994110 days in the Stormberg Mountains
http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/7781081322Back in the Stormberg Mountains with friends: May-June 2017
http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/6001078232"Peace is that brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading" - Thomas Jefferson
Every morning the Zebra wakes up knowing it must outrun the fastest Lion if it wants to stay alive. Every morning the Lion wakes up knowing it must outrun the slowest Zebra or it will starve. It makes no difference if you are a Zebra or a Lion; when the Sun comes up in Africa, you must wake up running......
"If you're being chased by a Lion, you don't have to be faster than the Lion, you just have to be faster than the person next to you."
15 May 2007, 03:34
Lorenzo32" average ?????? that´s is 81 cm !!!!

The biggest one I saw was 37" and was a monster.
My friends, sorry to sound rude, but or you live in an axis paradise or you are evaluating with a great dosis of enthusiasm.
Are you sure you are not fishermen.....

BTW, those are great trophies !!!
L
15 May 2007, 03:42
LorenzoErnest,
I will guess your's is around 37.5 and 38,5 inches.
Let me know the size once you have the info.
L
15 May 2007, 03:52
LorenzoI don't want to edit my previous answer because I like fair play but maybe Ernest is right, I have look once and again the picture and maybe that deer is in the 40" class.
Is difficult to evaluate it by only one picture, but if it really is a 40", that MASS convert him in a monster.
I have been watching sevaral pictures through internet and I have to recognize that there are very good axis in the States compared with the ones down here.
L
15 May 2007, 08:04
billinthewildLorenzo. As you can probably tell from this thread, Texas has some great exotics, as we call them. Axis, Sika, Aoudad, Blackbuck, Nilgai, several sheep varieties, Red Stag, and just about any animal you can think of from all over the world. It is said that one could do an almost complete African hunt in Texas.

or

or rifle.
We need a "rifle" character on the forum....
"When you play, play hard; when you work, don't play at all."
Theodore Roosevelt
Lorenzo:
I am somewhat of a fisherman when it comes to measuring animals, fish or my privates.
18 May 2007, 00:21
Lorenzo