Leaky
Skies and Leakey Axis
by
John Shelley
Pro Staff
Bowhunting North America, LLC
The
earth shaking thunder jolted me from my sleep only minutes before my alarm
clock was set to ring. It was almost time to get up anyway so the early
call didn’t bother me nearly as much as what was sure to follow the
thunder. Rain!
The
Bowhunting North America team had been planning this hunt for several
weeks and we were hoping for a weekend without rain but it didn’t look
like we would be getting our wish in that regard. We were traveling to
While
waiting for James Ferguson to arrive at my house, I made a quick check of
the weather report on the internet and was relieved to see that the radar
indicated we were on the back side of the storm cell. When
he arrived, we hastily transferred James’ gear to my truck and headed
out on our trip. As hard as
it is to believe, it seems the weather report was wrong! We had barely
left the driveway when the skies began to leak. In fact the bottom fell
out!
The
pounding rain remained steady for most of the morning, making the drive
treacherous and slow but we finally broke out of it near Llano. The skies
had cleared by the time we made it to
When
we arrived in Leakey we wasted no time checking into the motel, and
quickly prepped our gear before heading out to James’ ranch for the
hunt. The rocky cedar covered hills of the ranch looked like a perfect
place to find an Axis or two and our suspicions were confirmed when we
spotted a group of several including a very nice buck just inside the
gate. Things were looking good!
James Moore first led me to a prime looking creek crossing and gave me a few pointers on where to set up my ground blind, before taking James Ferguson further up the creek to his hunting spot. I found a thick cedar tree and carved a nice “cubby hole” into the brush with my pruning shears and popped the blind up and brushed it in. With a very steep mountain in front and a creek to my back, I felt I was in a great place. 20 foot rocky cliffs to my right and left, gave the game only one place to cross the creek and I was within bow range of that spot.
The
only downside of my set up was the unpredictability of the wind. The deep
canyon walls kept the winds constantly swirling and I knew I would have to
make a quick shot if given the opportunity before swirling winds gave me
away. Hopefully the thorough soaking of my clothes and gear with Wildlife
Research Center Scent Killer would give me the edge I needed. In the blind
I readied my bow and camera equipment and settled in for the wait.
Thunder
in the distance made me uneasy and I crossed my fingers in hopes the storm
would hold off until dark. The sun beating down on the blind combined with
the damp air from rains earlier in the day turned the blind into a sauna!
The Scent Killer was getting a real test.
My
view from the blind was restricted to the immediate area of the creek
crossing and I kept my eyes glued to the brush for signs of movement.
After a couple of hours in the blind I thought I saw something
moving in the thick brush. A quick look through the binoculars revealed a
group of Axis headed my way. The brush was too thick to determine if any
bucks were in the group but since this time of year is pretty much the
First
to step into the clearing was a mature doe and a younger doe but they
never stopped and were across the opening in short order. I knew my shot
would have to be quick if I was to have one so I lifted my bow and waited.
Another mature doe and another young doe stepped out next. These two
actually stopped in the clearing to feed. Seconds behind them a nice buck
followed and he too stopped to feed. What a stroke of luck!
The buck was facing me but I brought the Mathews Drenalin to full draw
knowing that if he turned to offer me a shot I would have only seconds to
pull the trigger. As I drew the bow I shifted my weight and my stool made
a slight creaking noise. This was all the buck needed to come to full
alert! He lifted his head and whirled to leave but made the biggest
mistake of his life when he stopped to look back one more time. I touched
the trigger on the Trufire release and sent the arrow. The Muzzy MX-4
first sliced through the shoot-thru netting on the blind and then into the
big Axis.
I
knew from the loud “crack” that the Muzzy had found solid bone but I
had no doubt it would do its job. There is good reason for their slogan
“Bad To The Bone”! Even though the shot angle was severe, I knew I had
enough penetration to get the job done.
In
two short bounds, the buck disappeared back into the thick brush from the
direction he came. The
cracking brush gave me a good idea of his general direction of flight
until he got out of hearing range. My heart was about to jump out of my
chest and it took several minutes to calm down enough to catch my breath.
What a rush! I wanted so badly to get out and look for my buck but knew I
had to give him some time to lie down. I waited a half hour and decided to
take up the trail while I still had good light.
I
picked up the blood trail just a few yards into the brush and followed it
for about 50 yards where I found the arrow lying in the grass. A quick
inspection revealed frothy blood several inches up on the shaft. It
appeared the broadhead had taken out one lung. I knew from the shot angle
that it could not have gotten both lungs but still felt confident that I
would find my buck. I
literally had to crawl on my hands and knees to follow the trail through
the thick cedar brush. The buck went through places I wouldn’t have
thought a rat could go!
About
100 yards into the brush I found where he crossed a deep rocky ditch. The
blood trail was easy to follow on the white chalky rocks. Just as I peeked
above the lip of the ditch, I heard the buck jump up and bolt through the
brush again. And then I heard the sickening sound of him crashing through
a fence! He had made it to adjoining property. I didn’t have permission
to cross onto the other ranch so I marked the spot on my GPS and headed
back to the truck to wait for James Moore to see if he knew who owned the
other property.
The
two James’ arrived shortly after dark and both had seen monster Axis
bucks but never had a chance for a shot. I told them what had happened on
my hunt and James Moore said he didn’t know the owner of the other ranch
but knew where he lived and would ask him for permission to go onto his
property to look for my buck. It
was getting late when we arrived at the rancher’s house and I’m sure
they were preparing for bed but the man was very kind and gave us
permission to enter his property. I thanked him the next day with a gift
certificate to a local restaurant.
Using
the GPS we worked our way toward where the buck crossed the fence but
luckily stumbled across the blood trail before we got to the crossing. The
buck was leaving a good blood trail but following it through the thick
brush was a beating! To intensify the situation, thunderstorms were
rapidly approaching. If we couldn’t find him soon, the rain might wash
out any chances of finding him.
We continued to break through the brush another 200 yards or so trying to outrun the rain and found him lying near the edge of a shallow creek. There he was - my first Axis. What a beautiful creature!
The
sheer weight of the buck made the rest of the recovery process difficult
and tiring but luckily he had died only 100 yards from the highway. We
loaded the buck into the truck and took it back to James’ ranch to field
dress it and then back to Leakey to a cold storage facility.
This
certainly was not the biggest Axis we saw this weekend but he most surely
is a real trophy to me and I want to thank my new friend James Moore for
inviting me to hunt such a beautiful animal on a beautiful ranch. Also
thanks to James Ferguson for his help in dragging the beast out of the
brush.
Shortly after getting the buck to the cooler the skies began to leak again, but we had beaten the odds and I had my Leakey Axis. What a great hunt!
This hunt was made possible in part by our sponsors:
Mathews,
Inc., The
Gean-Edwards Company, Lumenok, Tru Fire Corp.,
Limbsaver, Huntin'
Hoist, Sure Grip
Gun & Bow Racks, Advantage
Max-1 Camoflauge, Nikon Sport Optics,
Muzzy Products Corp., Wildlife Research Center, Whitetail Pro Log, The Armory, Display It Hardwood Cases and Gator Trax Boats
Copyright 2006, Bowhunting North America, LLC
All Rights Reserved
