Had the opportunity to go hunt some low fence/free range Axis this summer, and of course I was all over it. Axis might be my favorite animal to hunt here in the States. I also had the experience of guiding my wife and a buddy of mine.
First buck - made a great stalk while hunting with another guy, and we tried to double up. He connected but I shot high - I was sitting down, elbow on knee, and never really got situated comfortably. I need to practice this for sure. Anyways, caught back up to the group and made a much better shot on this guy @ 160 yds. 143gr ELD-X out of my 6.5 Creedmoor. He was injured on the one side - he had a deep crack/fissure on the short side that had healed over. Not sure what happened but gave him a unique look.
A couple weeks later, I took the wife. We spent some time glassing the herd (there's several hundred animals on the place we hunt, it's not unusual to see groups of 50-100+). We picked out a nice one, and she planted him with a great shot (270 Win w/ 140gr A-Frames, like she used in Africa). We followed up once the herd slowed down and I managed to get a bead on one with pretty heavy bases.
Finally, I got to do some more guiding (which I really love doing). Got my buddy from work on a fantastic buck after a whole lot of stalking, and he made a nice quartering away shot at about 250 yds (we ran out of cover!) but the 300 WM did the trick. Right at 30" on both sides, a really nice symmetric deer which I love. Not going to lie, I was a little jealous of this guy.
First buck - made a great stalk while hunting with another guy, and we tried to double up. He connected but I shot high - I was sitting down, elbow on knee, and never really got situated comfortably. I need to practice this for sure. Anyways, caught back up to the group and made a much better shot on this guy @ 160 yds. 143gr ELD-X out of my 6.5 Creedmoor. He was injured on the one side - he had a deep crack/fissure on the short side that had healed over. Not sure what happened but gave him a unique look.
A couple weeks later, I took the wife. We spent some time glassing the herd (there's several hundred animals on the place we hunt, it's not unusual to see groups of 50-100+). We picked out a nice one, and she planted him with a great shot (270 Win w/ 140gr A-Frames, like she used in Africa). We followed up once the herd slowed down and I managed to get a bead on one with pretty heavy bases.
Finally, I got to do some more guiding (which I really love doing). Got my buddy from work on a fantastic buck after a whole lot of stalking, and he made a nice quartering away shot at about 250 yds (we ran out of cover!) but the 300 WM did the trick. Right at 30" on both sides, a really nice symmetric deer which I love. Not going to lie, I was a little jealous of this guy.
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