Keith and Joe made their way from east Texas to the ranch Thursday night. Keith was wanting to get a fallow buck or two or one of each color if possible and Joe wanted an Axis buck. No easy task for hunters with the stick and string. Well we planned to give it our best shot and after 2 full days of hunting I can say we did that for sure.
The first morning I sat Joe and Keith in stands hoping they might catch a trophy coming to a feeder. After dropping Keith off I took Joe back to a tripod in the brush knowing a big axis buck was traveling through the area on a regular basis. As we turned a corner we saw a big Axis buck pretty close to the stand so I felt good for Joe’s chances. Around 9 am I went and picked them up, neither hunter had seen the deer they where after. We decided to drive around and see if we could spot and stalk on one of their trophy bucks. After a lap through the pasture we were coming back toward the house and we spotted 4 Fallow Bucks standing along a cedar break. As we got close in the truck I knew they were going to stand still long enough to get a shot. I stopped Keith got a range on them at 45 yards I told him the Chocolate Fallow Buck in the middle standing broadside was the one he wanted as he stepped out of the truck. Keith brought his bow to full draw and I backed the truck up giving him a clear 45 yard shot on the Trophy Chocolate Fallow Buck. I was watching through the binoculars when he let the arrow fly and I could tell right away something went way wrong either mechanically with the bow or with the release. The arrow went way off course to the right and the 4 fallow bucks had seen enough and bolted for the brush. Now to figure out what went wrong? We quickly learned that there was something wrong between the setup of Keith’s arrow rest or the broadhead he was shooting. When he would draw the arrow was a hair short and the boadhead hit the rest. So we quickly made a change and hoped the equipment problem was fixed. After lunch we were back at it but we decided to head to the other ranch in search of Fallow bucks that where not informed of our intentions. After driving around for a while and walking and trying to find the big Fallow bucks we finally had them but they were in a bad spot. It was to open to advance on foot so I wanted to try to get down the hill and work back up through the brush to them. As we pulled away the Fallow Bucks must have ran and found a rock to crawl under because we were not able to locate them again in that pasture the rest of the hunt. I decided the best chance was probably to head into another pasture we hadn’t hunted yet and stand hunt till dark. At dark I picked up the two hunters and both saw a ton of game just not the right one presented them with a shot.
Saturday morning found the hunters back on stand and both saw multiple animals just could not close the deal. We hunted most of the day looking for a chance to put a stalk on one of their Trophies but never could make it happen with a bow. The hunt was winding down and I knew we had one sit left Saturday evening and then the guys needed to get on the road headed home. I wanted to put Joe in a stand watching a water hole and as we approached multiple shooter Axis Bucks were there already. They never spooked and ran off they just walked into the draw. After we dropped Joe off and fed a little corn we pulled away and I could still see the Axis Bucks in the draw. On the way to Keith’s stand we spotted a very nice white fallow buck and I knew he was in a good spot to put a stalk on him. Keith was ready and we made a plan and started in on the stalk. As Keith made the final approach the Fallow buck stood up at about 25 yards and presented Keith with a shot. Keith came to full draw and let it rip. I watched through the binoculars as blood pored from the massive hole the broadhead left as it passed through this Fallow buck. I knew he hadn’t gone far. So after a little celebration and a short tracking job we were headed to take pictures and hopefully get Keith on stand for the last hour or two of the day hoping he might get a crack at another Fallow Buck. As the sun set I went and picked the hunters back up and the big Axis bucks never came back to the water hole and Keith didn’t get to fire another arrow. With some skinning to do and everyone ready to eat we headed back to the lodge.
What a nice fallow buck for the first one of the season. Congrats Keith on a great hunt hope to have you guys back to finish out the fallow slam and get Joe an Axis buck later this fall.
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