Thousands of hunters are losing sleep as the final plans for their long-awaited hunt come together. As exciting as the anticipation becomes, in a week or 10 days the hunt is over and only the memories remain. Fortunately, there’s no need to make fall the only time to hunt big game, as Hunter Worth learned on this axis deer hunt in Texas. These handsome, good-tasting animals are hunted in late spring, a time when few big-game animals are in season. This allows hunters to double-up on big game adventure. What’s it like to hunt axis? What gear do you need? Worth takes you staking step by step in this OutdoorHub post:
I am always dwelling on the memories of the good hunts throughout my life — the success we shared on the South Dakota prairie as pheasants cackled and fell to the gun’s report, the sunrise that seemed to last forever in the Sand Hills of Nebraska, and even the simple times we called turkeys in the hills of Tennessee with nothing more than our bare hands scratching the leaves. But it’s the solo melodies when nobody is around to hear my music that really make me proud to be a hunter. Those are the visceral moments when I’m able to pull back on the reins of life and just sit and listen.
We arrived at the Canyon Ranch, three-plus hours due west of San Antonio, on a warm May afternoon. Whitetail deer, axis deer, turkeys, and scimitar-horned oryx fled from the road as the gravel clicked and clacked underfoot, dust clouds turning to small tornadoes sweeping after the thundering herds.
