Voodooracer
AH enthusiast
We arrived in the morning and went over the game plan. Kevin wanted to sit in stands in the morning and then do some stalks once the sun came up. Thank heavens I packed a thermacell, treated my clothing with permethrin, and brought enough picaridin to protect half the state. The morning in the stand went with no action, the sun came up and it started to get warm so it was time to put on some stalks. We hopped in the side by side and took a ride to see what we could see. I lost the coin toss for shooting first so it was my buddy’s turn. After an absolutely abysmal bear, deer, duck combo hunt with a terrible outfitter last November in North Carolina, we needed some redemption so our spirits were high but anxious. After a short drive we parked and decided to put a little stalk on in an area Kevin had seen some groups in the day before. At 7:30 Kevin spotted a nice axis in the brush and set up the sticks, my buddy got on the sticks and the shot broke. The hit looked good but the buck ran off in the thick palms and brush. We decided to take a walk further to see if we could spot any others, and to give the one we hit time to pass. We didn’t see anything and after 30 minutes we made our way to the spot where my buddy took the shot. I couldn’t believe how little axis bleed, and Kevin did a tremendous job tracking and after a 100 or so short yards we found axis #1 stone dead. It felt as if the curse had been lifted haha.
We got him loaded up and off to the skinning shed. We sat for a little bit in stands before breaking for lunch to see what was moving. The axis turned into ghosts. By now it was about time for lunch so we took a break and came up with a game plan for the afternoon for my axis.
The weather was in the mid to upper 90’s but there was a slight breeze that made it not too bad. Some weather was coming in and we waited a bit after lunch for the rain and storms to pass, the storms missed us but we got some decent rain. We glasses a group of axis coming out of a thick patch about 100 yards away not too far from the lodge. There was a cattle fence in between us and the axis, I got set up on 2 sets of shooting sticks as the gaps between the wires were quite substantial and we had a good angle for a shot. Normally I wouldn’t take a shot like this, but the conditions were good and there was one very large buck in the group that we were hoping for. He finally presented a shot and I squeezed the trigger. The shot broke and he ran off, I have no clue how but I missed. We checked the fence, no bullet strikes, I flat out whiffed the shot. Needless to say I wasn’t in the best humor, but on the bright side no wounded axis, therefore, more hunting in store for me. We hopped in the side by side to try to get some more stalks in but to no avail. My buddy that took the axis wanted to take some pigs, so he went off with another guide. We got on a couple decent bucks but couldn’t get a good shot. By now it’s getting dark and we head back to the skinning shed to check out the pigs and come up with a game plan for tomorrow. It was getting late and we had another very early morning ahead of us. We headed back to get some rest, which was challenging because I was definitely in my head about my bungled shot from earlier.
Morning two, we headed out in a swamp buggy around 5:30 to cover a lot of ground and have a good vantage point. We nearly were carried off by those saber toothed mosquitoes until the sun came up and gave us a reprieve. My buddy wanted to work on processing his pigs and axis so he hung back to get a head start on that. I think he had the right idea hahah. We got skunked for the morning and broke for lunch. More weather was coming through, luckily the big stuff missed us, but it rained enough to send the humidity through the stratosphere. Back to the side by side to start covering some ground. We put on a couple long stalks through some thick stuff but couldn’t get on the right group or buck. We were driving looking around again and I spotted a big group in the middle of a clearing around 100 yards away. We stop and get a quick setup, across the dash of the side by side was the only option. There was a large buck in the group and the others started moving off, it was now or never. I was waiting for a fawn to clear his shoulder, finally moving out of the way and my shot broke. He jumped and lurched forward hard. A solid hit. We give the buck some time, then head in for a recovery. Again, shocked at the lack of blood trail on a shot that was a complete pass through and heart shot. After 20 minutes of tracking, we found my buck in a grove of palms, which made for a great setting for pictures. It felt like a 1,000 pound weight off my shoulder, I was finally able to touch my buck.
With the pressure off, we wrapped up the day early and we had a celebratory dinner out on the town. We had one more day, but planned to quarter my axis as I planned on processing it at home, settle our bill, and head home a bit earlier than expected. Once we got there the next morning, much to my surprise, Kevin already had my axis quartered out. We got the trailer and cooler loaded up, meat and trophy’s secure and ready for the 23ish hour drive home.
Some parting thoughts, Kevin and his wife Taffy were wonderful hosts, gracious, salt of the earth people. Kevin knew his stuff and was a top notch guide. I was extremely pleased with the experience they provided.
Back to my reference about my scope choice. I was so thankful that I chose a trijicon for that rifle. The rattling and banging around on the side by side and swamp buggy….. I can’t think of many other scopes that would have held up as well. I know my buddy’s vortex didn’t.
To bring the story to its full conclusion, I got a call from my taxidermist yesterday, my Axis mount is done and ready for pickup. Santa came early for me.
I’m very happy with how it turned out. It was a long trip full of ups and downs but an experience I wouldn’t trade for anything. Thanks for reading my ramblings haha. Till the next adventure.
Voodoo
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