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Jesse's Hunting > Hunting Articles > Hunting Articles Archives > JHOers Round Up Texas Exotics- JHO Hunt Pt 1 of a Two-Part Tale
JHOers Round Up Texas Exotics- JHO Hunt Pt 1 of a Two-Part Tale
Phillip Loughlin - JHO ProStaff Editor
- SF Bay Area, CA
March 29, 2007
I never thought I’d ever have much interest in doing a hunt for “exotics” in Texas, but when JHO ProStaffer, Chris Fullilove gave me a call about an opportunity to chase exotics and wild hogs at a great price, I decided to set my preconceived notions aside and try it out. It’s hard to hold an opinion about something without actually experiencing it first-hand. Besides, the hog hunt itself would be a great opportunity.
We would be hunting with Borderbandit Outfitting, in Uvalde, Texas. Shane Hearn, owner/operator, has access to several ranches in the area, including one that covers approximately 5000 acres where we’d be chasing axis deer and blackbuck antelope. The price we’d been quoted was for shooting some does of either species, but bucks would be available at a higher price. Hogs were to be a bonus species, and as long as we took one of the exotics, we could shoot hogs for free. We were also given access to a lodge on another ranch where we could stay for the two-and-a-half day hunt. Shane’s prices are available on the JHO Guide Review Section, or you can give him a call at: 830-591-0720.
Nice Axis
Good axis deer were plentiful, and made for a lot of excitement. Nobody on our hunt was ready to pay the trophy fee on this big buck, but he sure did make our day! |
Chris announced the hunt on the JHO Forum, and before long we had five hunters signed up for the trip, including my brother, Scott, from North Carolina. Scott and I would fly into Houston to meet Chris, then we’d ride together to the ranch in Uvalde, way off on the western side of the state. Manny Santos, from up near San Antonio, and Brad Swadley from the Dallas area would be driving down to meet us at the ranch.
The date arrived, and Scott and I came in a day early and spent the evening with Chris and his lovely wife, Emma at their home in Houston. In the wee hours of Friday morning, we loaded up the truck and headed west.
We made great time on the road, and were at the lodge and Chris, Scott, Manny, and I were unpacked and ready to hunt by around 2:00pm. Brad wouldn’t be arriving until later Friday night, so we packed the guns and cameras and hit the road to the ranch where we’d be hunting. The ranch itself is bordered on two sides by high-fenced properties, but the rest of the place has normal cattle fencing. The animals are as wild and free-ranging as the native deer. From what I was told, the Axis deer are spreading out in great numbers across that part of the state.
We were supposed to hunt “Texas Safari Style”, and I had a little trepidation about what that would be like. I soon found out. Jim Jackson, the ranch owner took us all in his ranch truck, a big diesel flatbed and we began to drive the ranch. The ranch is at the edge of the “Hill Country”, and terrain consists of big, open prairie mixed with canyons and wooded thickets. It was not like any part of Texas I’d ever seen before, and of all of the other parts of Texas I think I like it best. I was also kind of glad we weren’t hunting on foot, although the place would be perfect for spot and stalk.
Axis deer tend to hold in herds, but because the ranch is so big, it sometimes requires covering some ground to find them. Then, if you’re lucky, they’ll hang around long enough for a shot. Our first opportunity came early on, and Chris was the designated shooter. Unfortunately, before he could get a clean shot, the herd took off and jumped the fence onto a neighboring property. Well, at least it was clear that this wasn’t necessarily a slam-dunk hunt…although the odds of success are definitely stacked in the hunters’ favor here.
We drove on until we came up on a small herd feeding under an oak tree. This time it was my shot. The herd included a really nice buck, but I had not come prepared to pay the trophy fee (although the fee was reasonable compared to other hunts I’d researched, it was still significantly more than the fee for a doe). Besides, due to an agreement with my wife, I don’t hang any animal heads in my house. This guy was way too good of a trophy just to cut his horns off and hang them in the garage.
I opted instead for a large doe, and at around 60 yards took the easy neck shot. She dropped clean as the rest of the animals scattered. First blood was on the ground!
There was another herd in the distance, so Jim dropped me and Shane off to field dress my animal while he took the other hunters off in pursuit. As they drove off, I realized my camera was still laying on the seat of the truck. That was a shame, because I was about to get treated to an awesome photo opportunity.
As we approached my doe, I spotted movement behind some brush up the hill. The big buck had come back, and was watching us from the cover. It turns out he was rutting, and I had just shot one of his dates for the evening. He hung fairly close throughout the entire field dressing process. I had my rifle in hand, but just couldn’t convince myself to take the shot.
As we were working on my doe, I heard a shot from the distance. It turns out my brother had lined up a 200 yard shot opportunity on a good doe, but even from his shooting sticks he managed to miss the animal. This is pretty rare for him, but I guess it happens to everyone (later, we noticed that the airlines had been particularly hard on his bags and had actually slammed the ammo down so hard that the tips of all of his bullets were completely deformed…so he got an excuse). The herd scattered at the shot, so Jim brought the group back around to load up my deer and continue in search of more animals.
Jim pulled us up onto a high bluff where we could get a commanding view of a large part of the ranch. We glassed around, and Jim mentioned that there were a couple of good blackbuck antelope that frequented this area. I had been talking about whether or not to take a male blackbuck, but the cost was a concern. I could shoot a doe for the same price as an axis doe, but the bucks were priced higher. In addition to their long horns, male blackbucks also have very distinctive coloration and I really wanted one of those skins.
There was a stock tank on the hill, and as Shane went to wash the blood off of his hands, I answered nature’s call behind the truck. While I stood there, taking care of business I noticed a dark spot on the next ridge over. After a moment or two, I realized I was looking at a blackbuck, bedded on the ridgetop. It was decision time.
As I finished up, I pointed the animal out to the group. Chris and Shane both spotted it through binos, and unanimously proclaimed it to be a good, mature animal. I don’t know anything about scoring exotics, but someone had told me that if the buck has more than three twists in his horns, he’s a shooter. This one was well past three and started on a fourth. I made up my mind and fetched the rifle.
Jim drove us over onto the next ridge where I could get a better shot. The blackbuck was still bedded when we got into range, and as he stretched his neck out I took quick aim and sent the 180gr bullet behind his ear. He never even kicked.
First Blackbuck
My first exotic "trophy", this blackbuck measured just under 18" in length and about 17" wide. I was sold on the coloration of the hide, the horns were a bonus! |
Jim and Shane broke out the tape to measure the horns. They went 17 ¾” long with a spread of a bit over 17”. They were both very congratulatory, so I guess that means it’s a good one. Shane jumped into guide mode and almost before I could get my knife out he had my antelope field dressed and ready to toss into the truck. We drove back over to the stock tank so he could wash his hands again, then set off to get animals for the rest of the group. Unless we came across some hogs, I was done for the day.
We rounded a bend and spotted another small group of axis deer trotting down a trail. Jim moved us up to head them off. After watching them for a few moments, we realized that this was the same group I’d taken my doe from. The big buck was now chasing another doe around, sticking very close as she dodged and ducked his advances. It was Manny’s turn now.
After a little snafu on his first shot, Manny settled down and got his second round into the doe he’d selected. She was on the move, and the bullet went a little far back, but after about 50 yards or so she slowed, then laid down. The buck, not to be cheated out of a second date, began to nose her and try to get her back up. Even after we approached to within 20 yards or so, he stood his ground and almost seemed to challenge us. At one point he began to walk toward us, until Jim threw a rock at him to make him back off.
Scott had considered shooting a trophy axis, and we all urged him. Heck, it was beginning to look like it would be a case of self-defense. However, he hadn’t agreed with his wife to spend the extra money, so he held off…one of the most impressive displays of self-control I think I have ever witnessed. We had that buck in stone throwing distance for the entire time it took to field dress that doe, and he didn’t leave until we picked her up to take her to the truck.
Chris and Scott still needed to get animals, so we headed deeper into the ranch to see if we could kick some more animals up. They had been everywhere it seems, until the gunfire started. Now they were getting a lot more skittish. We would spot a herd in the brush, but as soon as they spotted us they would take off.
Finally, we found a herd bedded in a thicket. We got Chris to about 120 yards, and waited for a clear shot. The animals mingled around, and it seemed that there was always one behind the one he wanted to shoot. Finally, they got nervous about our presence and started to slip out of the thicket. As soon as a good doe came into the open, Chris touched off his old .270 pump and put a bullet cleanly through her shoulder. She plowed ground for about 15 yards and went down in a heap.
Chris's Axis Doe
ProStaffer Chris Fullilove made a textbook shot on this doe at about 110 yards. |
It took the rest of the afternoon before we finally got another good opportunity for Scott. We saw axis and blackbuck does all over the place, as well as a ton of whitetails (off limits on this hunt, of course), but nothing would stay put once it spotted us. We covered the entire ranch, and saw several really nice axis bucks, but just couldn’t seem to get a good shot on a doe.
Finally, as light was fading, a small doe stepped out from behind a tree at around 60 yards. From the angle, it looked like a good, mature doe. Scott settled the Ruger 30-06 and made a good shot in the doe’s neck. The animal dropped straight out. As we walked up, we realized that the doe was only a youngster. Scott would have some tender meat, but not much of it.
With five animals for four hunters in the truck, we decided that was good enough for the first day and headed back to the lodge.
I had killed all of the exotics I wanted, so opted to hunt hogs for the rest of the weekend. Shane had some blinds and stands set up on the property where the lodge was, so I spent the next day and a half hunting there. Saturday morning, however, Shane took Brad over to Jim’s ranch to get Brad’s axis. Manny said he might want to shoot another as well, and Chris wanted to take photos, so they both rode along, leaving me and Scott to hog hunt. Chris Fullilove will offer his own write-up of that encounter in Part 2 of this report.
The morning hog hunt was absolutely uneventful for both of us. Neither of us even saw a hog or a deer, despite the number of feeders Shane has set up around the property. I was a little surprised not to have seen something, as there was a fair amount of hog sign and a ton of deer sign. However, I wanted to come out of the woods fairly early, in order to get my axis and blackbuck butchered and wrapped before it got too warm. If I’d stayed in the blind, I feel pretty confident that something would have come along.
Whitetail
Just a teaser. Borderbandit does whitetail hunts during the season as well. The little eight-pointer here would probably get a pass. It was strange to see an antlered deer this late in the spring, though. |
For the evening, Scott decided he wanted to be sure and bring home more meat, so he had Shane take him back to the ranch for the afternoon hunt. Chris, Brad, and I stayed close by to hog hunt. Manny said he was done, and stayed back at the lodge to work on dinner.
For the most part, the evening hunt was fruitless as far as hogs. With everyone out in the field, Manny is the only one to see hogs that evening, as five of the sneaky rascals trotted across the road just down from the lodge! However, I had the opportunity to watch a nice, young eight-point buck as he came out to feed right in front of the blind. I was surprised to see him still carrying antlers, but he was a beautiful animal.
With an outstanding second effort, Scott was able to collect a much larger axis doe that evening so once again the skinning tree was busy into the night.
Sunday morning found Manny and Brad ready to head for home. Scott and I decided to give it one more go for hogs, but besides seeing several more deer, I didn’t so much as see a fresh hog track. Scott spotted five swimming across the Neuces River, but they were way too far to shoot at.
So what about my opinion of exotic hunting “Texas Safari style”?
I honestly had to search myself, but when it was all said and done I thought it was a blast. It wasn’t as challenging as most of the hunts I’ve done in my life, and was more akin to shooting planted pheasants than “big game” hunting. On the other hand, it was really a lot of fun and not so easy as to be disappointing.
I am planning to go back and hunt with Borderbandit again, although I’d really like to do the exotic hunting in more of a spot-and-stalk mode next time, or possibly even go with archery tackle, just to up the physical ante a little bit. From what I saw, that would be a truly challenging hunt since these animals are absolutely wild and wary.
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