Went down to my small property near the River this afternoon. Have been seen quite a few axis deer there this season. Today, had two stags (with 4" bases and antlers all of about 1" long - won't see hard antlers on these guys until June) and 4 does. Decided to go ahead and take one for the table with my 9,3x74R. Punched her through the shoulders (its only 8 acres, didn't want her running off the property). First animal I've taken with this barrel.



Will tan the hide for the couch.

The barrel is a 26" Shilen barrel, chambered, tapered, and blued by Bullberry, with a Bullberry Weaver Base and topped off with a Leupold VXIII 1.5x5 scope in QD Rings. I'm shooting 300 gr A-frames over 56 gr of IMR 4064.

Troy

Troy,
Gotta love those axis deer. Not only do they eat good, the hides make great throws for couches and chairs. Pillows are good too. They also make excellent background for photos
GWB

Very Nice. I have the wants for a 9.3X74R myself.

Nice. What kind of action is that?

Deer season in January? I'm a Michigander interested in hunting in Texas (pigs and deer). Nice to have a season this late!

No season on Axis, shoot'em year around. Best eating venison.
Butch

quote:

Originally posted by akalinin:
Nice. What kind of action is that?

Its a T/C Encore

quote:

Originally posted by akalinin:
Deer season in January? I'm a Michigander interested in hunting in Texas (pigs and deer). Nice to have a season this late!

As another poster said, since Axis are exotics, there is no season on them. Some of the best Axis hunting is actually in June and July (however hot it may be) when about half of our Axis bucks will be in hard antler (the other half are in hard antler in winter). My wife took a nice buck in velvet (with fully grown antlers) last May.



(btw - that's an Encore in .358 Winchester)

For Whitetails, General Season in N & Central zones ended Jan 4 and Special Doe/Spike Season ended yesterday, Jan 18. For south zone (the "classic South Texas Brush Country"), general season ended yesterday, 1/18 . . . they'll have 2 more weeks for the doe/spike season.

Hogs you can hunt year round, at night, etc. Most folks regard hogs as varmints around here.

Troy

Troy & Mrs. Troy.....

Waidmannsheil!

Enjoy the wonderful world of 9.3's!

Not a single shot but my Drilling is so chambered and the cartridge delivers outstanding results in the field; all outa proportion to the amount of perceived recoil IMO.

Don't forget the Speer 270's, for range sessions where the premium bullets get a little bit expensive just to punch holes in paper, too. Haven't found a bad bullet for this cartridge yet and I think I've just about tried 'em all, ('cept the ones you're using, the Forthforks), Speers, Noslers, Hornadys, Woodlieghs, RWS, Norma, etc.

Gotta love that T-shirt Deer season, beats the heck outa hunting in 10 layers of clothing.

Very nice looking rifle that Encore; from the photo it appears you scrimped a little bit on wood?

quote:

Originally posted by Gerry:
Very nice looking rifle that Encore; from the photo it appears you scrimped a little bit on wood?

Mine is "the darkest black walnut you've got" from Bullberry, with Mesquite endcaps. By Bullberry's standards, and "Exhibition 1" grade stock (whatever that really means) with nice figure and some "quilting" and "fiddle" in places.

Marla's was originally just the opposite - mesquite with black walnut end caps. The airlines broke her stock on the way back from Africa, and Bullberry replaced it free of charge. Unfortunately, they were out of regular mesquite, so her new stock is screwbean mesquite with black walnut endcaps.

Here's her old stock


It had a lot more of the "3D illusion" figuring to it, but on the other hand doesn't have the high contrast wood grain that the new one does.

Troy

Really nice deer. Who did your Encore stock? Is that a Bullberry product?

quote:

Originally posted by Cliff Lyle:
Really nice deer. Who did your Encore stock? Is that a Bullberry product?

Yes, those are Bullberry stocks and barrels. Fred was recommended to me by a TC dealer that I used to buy from in the Dallas area, and all of his stuff has proven to be of excellent quality.


Troy
Troy

Troy,

Marla's a cutie.....Ugh, nice Buck, too.....Ugh, send more photos of both Rifles.....do you have a Dog?



I'm a real sucker for wood with redish tones - in the photo & sunlight I can't determine which reflects more, the stock or the orange safety vest, the grain is fantastic - Nice.

Much to the chagrin of Mrs. Gerry I tend to go overboard and purchese, sets, groups & clusters of rifles & shotguns. It all started with the Winchester 101 12 gauge followed by matching 20 gauge, the Merkel 12 gauge SxS got a sister in 20 gauge, then the Blaser R93 with 5 barrels, the K95 in 7x57R and .22 Hornet, the 20 gauge Drilling is being turned into a Kugel Drilling with 9.3x74R, a 5.6x50R Magnum insert barrel and yet another insert barrel in 30/30 Winchester on order. Can't contain myself. With all the sets I've got another Gap attack coming on; real NEED for a SS Encore with wood similar to yours in the "Stubbies"; a .22 K-Hornet, .307 Winchester & .356 Winchester.....single shots deserve a rimmed cartridge, ya know?

Keep up the Texas T-shirt hunting - we look like overstuffed Couch Potoatoes on the way the the High Seats about now; last week spent every evening 6 hours at a clip sitting out in -16°C. Stuff that builds character.

Troy, you didn't tell me about the 9.3x74! Looks very nice.