Stalking Axis in the Hill Country

Join Dude Perfect Outdoors as they stalk elusive axis deer in Texas Hill Country, sight bows, and hunt while exploring arrowhead finds.

Key Takeaways

Axis deer are highly intelligent and skittish, making them difficult to hunt.
Proper bow sighting and preparation are crucial for successful hunting.
The Texas Hill Country offers unique terrain and history for hunting and artifact discovery.
Hunting requires patience, stealth, and adapting to weather and environmental conditions.
Exploring for arrowheads adds an educational and historical dimension to the outdoor experience.

What the video covers

The team stalks axis deer about 300 yards away in the Texas Hill Country, aiming to get within bow range.
They discuss sighting in new bows and the importance of accurate zeroing at different distances.
Axis deer are described as very smart and challenging to hunt due to their keen senses.
The group also explores the area for arrowheads, finding various ancient artifacts including spearheads and knives.
They explain the history of axis deer, originally from South Asia, now established in Texas and even Hawaii.
The hunting conditions include thick brush, changing weather, and the need to be patient and stealthy.
The video features moments of excitement spotting deer and sharing knowledge about bow hunting techniques.
The team emphasizes safety and preparation, including checking bow sights and handling equipment carefully.
There is a cultural and historical appreciation for the artifacts found, linking to Paleoindians and early tribes.
The video captures the outdoor experience with a mix of hunting, exploration, and camaraderie.

Chapters

Why is it important to sight in a bow before hunting?

Sighting in a bow ensures accuracy by zeroing the sights at specific distances, which is crucial for making ethical and effective shots during hunting.

What makes axis deer challenging to hunt?

Axis deer are very smart and skittish, with excellent senses of smell and hearing, making them difficult to approach and requiring patience and stealth.

Where did axis deer originally come from and where are they found now?

Axis deer are originally from South Asia but have been introduced to the United States, particularly in Texas Hill Country, South Texas, and even Hawaii.

Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown

Speaker A

We've got a really nice axis 300 yards away. I think the game plan is to try to get close, and if he's still there, there's a bunch of brush ahead of him. So, I think we can maybe get into bow range potentially if the wind is good once we get up there.

Speaker A

potentially if the wind is good once we get up there. Whoop! There's a part of Texas that tells the story of hunting unlike anywhere else.

Speaker A

Whoop! There's a part of Texas that tells the story of hunting unlike anywhere else.

Speaker A

There's our axis, dude. Are you kidding me? The axis. Welcome to the Hill Country.

Speaker A

It's been buried in the dirt for thousands of years.

Speaker A

We made it to the corner. No, don't. It's fine. It's fine. We are way south again. What What is this? Are we technically Hill Country now?

Speaker A

[screaming] We aim to uncover it and go after an extremely elusive deer.

Speaker A

Plan for today. It's already almost 5:00. Uh so we are going to unload. We're going to obviously we do that every trip.

Speaker A

There's our axis, dude. Are you kidding me? The axis. Welcome to the Hill Country.

Speaker A

Oh, why didn't you sight it at home? Well, cuz we got new ones. Me and Josh sight [music] it in though.

Speaker A

All right, Mr. Guitar Man. Yeah, sing it. Uh, what did we do? Sing it.

Speaker A

send me my brand new bow with my custom strings and [music] I think to myself, hey, let's just see if my peep height is correct cuz we kind of had to guess.

Speaker A

We made it to the corner. No, don't. It's fine. It's fine. We are way south again. What? What is this? Are we technically Hill Country now?

Speaker A

Yeah. No, it absolutely exploded. That just happened. Yeah, something went flying out there. Be locked in now that we're here.

Speaker A

This is Hill Country. Hill Country hills, dude. There's hills and we're in the country. Yeah.

Speaker A

There is a chance that you see me act like a seven-year-old girl. If we find some sweet arrowheads, I mean, not as nice as the log cabin, but it'll do. Ty sighting his bow in right now. Me and Jared are just making

Speaker A

Plan for today. It's already almost 5:00. Uh, so we are going to unload. We're going to obviously do that every trip.

Speaker A

Your sights didn't get pushed around a little bit. Just come out, make sure to [music] check and you're going to catch an arrow to the hammy if you don't move.

Speaker A

First, first we [music] need to sight your bow. Why? Why? Why do we have to sight your bow in?

Speaker A

The idea is you shoot at 20, get a really solid zero, go out to 60, get a really solid zero, and then match it up with the tape that corresponds. We're about to try a shot at 60 and see what

Speaker A

Oh, why didn't you sight it at home? Well, 'cause we got new ones. Me and Josh sight [music] it in though.

Speaker A

Can you say it again? Louder for the people in back. Yours was bull. Thanks, dude.

Speaker A

Yeah. Why didn't you sight it in? You know, you do this long enough and you're bound to make mistakes. I have never [music] once dry-fired a bow in my life until about a week after we signed our first deal with Matthews and they

Speaker A

Both of them. How do you feel about that? Boom. I mean, axes are they're they're smart.

Speaker A

sent me my brand new bow with my custom strings and [music] I think to myself, hey, let's just see if my peep height is correct 'cause we kind of had to guess.

Speaker A

Axes like to hang out down here in this thick stuff. I mean, the actual spotting and stalking through this thick brush, it's tough.

Speaker A

Slips off my fingers. Bow explodes. [music] Is strong, but that's probably the right word.

Speaker A

Spotted deer, very challenging deer to hunt. Um, they're smart. [music] Things smell really good, hear really good.

Speaker A

Yeah. No, it absolutely exploded. That just happened. Yeah, something went flying out there. Be locked in now that we're here.

Speaker A

All right. Well, it seems like Tai's just looking for arrowheads. That's what we're going for. [music] I mean, and just in a different shape, but here's a big piece of flint.

Speaker A

Yeah, I'm locked in. I'm locked in. [music] Chasing axis. Chasing axis deer. Arrowhead dig.

Speaker A

You can You can [music] tell by the way that it is everywhere around here.

Speaker A

There is a chance that you see me act like a seven-year-old girl if we find some sweet arrowheads. I mean, not as nice as the log cabin, but it'll do. Ty sighting his bow in right now. Me and Jared are just making

Speaker A

Necessity is like the mother of invention because you didn't have a choice. You had to figure it out.

Speaker A

sure after a long five and a half hour drive, make sure nothing got bumped.

Speaker A

Wow. I'm pumped, dude. I don't know what it is about arrowheads, but they just do something for [music] me.

Speaker A

Your sights didn't get pushed around a little bit. Just come out, make sure to [music] check and you're going to catch an arrow to the hammy if you don't move.

Speaker A

Like an Indian was holding this and using it. Like that's insane, dude. Like, you know, when [music] they lost that, they were like, "Shoot, dude.

Speaker A

Let's try and conduct our interviews not downrange standing next to the target. He said before you go anywhere, before you go anywhere, tell me what's going on.

Speaker A

But I want you to feel how thin Dumbber is. Go. Just be real careful with this one. But [laughter] feel it. I don't want to touch it.

Speaker A

The idea is you shoot at 20, get a really solid zero, go out to 60, get a really solid zero, and then match it up with the tape that corresponds. We're about to try a shot at 60 and see what

Speaker A

Yeah. Or a purse. Look at that. That pushes. That one's sick. That was TJ.

Speaker A

happens. Pretty good. Bullseye. Close to it. [crying] If not, if not, it was that feels good. You know what feels even better is when you do it twice in a row 'cause then it's [music] just like yours was bull.

Speaker A

So, they'll just throw it away from the fire. They're like, "Dang it, I broke that one." And that's that's why you find so many of these pieces cuz an Indian back then maybe carried around four, but he made airheads every day,

Speaker A

Can you say it again? Louder for the people in back. Yours was bull. Thanks, dude.

Speaker A

And I might not even hunt. I just want to find arrowheads the whole time.

Speaker A

Wow. Yeah. Two in the bullseye. Well, I guess I do know a thing or two about shooting and dry-firing bows.

Speaker A

Feels good out here. It's not hot. Thank the Lord. You ready, Cambo? Let's do it.

Speaker A

Both of them. How do you feel about that? Boom. I mean, axes are, they're, they're smart.

Speaker A

Just bang your bow up against the Ranger. [music] It's perfect. Little lightning chill. Paris was just telling me it looks like there's a band of rain that's supposed to come across the block. Captain, you hear that?

Speaker A

Um, they're probably the most skittish out here. One of the most. Yeah, they really are.

Speaker A

All right, we got this pig out here. He's literally about 7 yards away. So, it's still pretty early, but it's shooting lights now.

Speaker A

Axes like to hang out down here in this thick stuff. I mean, the actual spotting and stalking through this thick brush, it's tough.

Speaker A

in this thick timber over here. So, once this wind and rain and thunder dies down, those axes are going to get on their feet and they're going to want to move. So, we'll see what happens for another couple hours and then kind of go

Speaker A

Yeah, it's super tough. Unless you just get lucky. Axis deer from South Asia. They came to the States. I mean, they're all over the Hill Country of Texas. They've [music] even moved into South Texas and there's even axis deer in Hawaii.

Speaker A

Not sure how much protection the ground blind gives us. This is insane. Let me We've been bamboozled.

Speaker A

Spotted deer, very challenging deer to hunt. Um, they're smart. [music] Things smell really good, hear really good.

Speaker A

that I might miss her birthday, she was like, "It's okay, Dad. Just come back with something." So, the goal this week is to not go home empty-handed. That we got food for us and we've got a nice a

Speaker A

Probably one of the hardest game animals to hunt on a corner ranch. All right, that big tom's at about 2,000 yards. [laughter] Hold on. We got something running out there. Two animals running out there.

Speaker A

afternoon. Starting to light up a little bit. See if stuff starts moving around. and a little slow.

Speaker A

All right. Well, it seems like Ty's just looking for arrowheads. That's what we're going for. [music] I mean, and just in a different shape, but here's a big piece of flint.

Speaker A

It's too loud. It's too loud. Well, I think the rain washed away all the blood. There's a little bit still on there but look at that.

Speaker A

That's, that's what they made the arrowheads out of. And then they somehow banged [music] some rocks together and turned them into something really useful. There's a bunch of it up here.

Speaker A

Look at that. Eight or nine point in the mass on this thing, dude. Are you kidding me, [laughter] dude? This is sick.

Speaker A

You can, you can [music] tell by the way that it is everywhere around here.

Speaker A

Yes. Okay. Okay. Well, I love you. Love you. Just wanted to call and say hi.

Speaker A

I, I don't get it. I don't know how they do it, but they somehow break this stuff off and made... It's insane. The, what's the quote?

Speaker A

Okay. I love you. Love you. She's silly. [music] With the rain washing away our hopes of digging for arrowheads, we've resorted to practicing our aim in other ways.

Speaker A

Necessity is like the mother of invention because you didn't have a choice. You had to figure it out.

Speaker A

Go ahead. Yeah. Right in between them. Thank you. I'll take your 100. You have my Venmo.

Speaker A

Did a little scouting, little glassing. Didn't see any axes. We're going to get some dinner and then get ready to go after him in the morning.

Speaker A

All right, first one to catch a fish. Who's the greatest fisherman of all time? All right, I'm hooked up. Good looking fish, though.

Speaker A

Wow. I'm pumped, dude. I don't know what it is about arrowheads, but they just do something for [music] me.

Speaker A

Don't worry about me. I'm not I'm not reeling in if you're over here. Is he seeing him jump over there?

Speaker A

Harris owns the Nakona Ranch with that right there. He named it after a famous Comanche war chief, honoring those who have come and gone long ago.

Speaker A

I got I got the biggest fish right now. That of the day. Ty, this one's bigger than all yours combined, brother.

Speaker A

Like an Indian was holding this and using it. Like that's insane, dude. Like, you know, when [music] they lost that, they were like, "Shoot, dude.

Speaker A

Lot number two. got about 30 minutes of daylight left. We've seen turkeys, which are now 5 days out of season. We've seen white tail, which are six months out of season.

Speaker A

[laughter] Dad's going to kill me. That took 15 years to make." And this is the top of the food chain.

Speaker A

I think we may have missed my hog. We've got like eight buzzards flying like 50, 60 yards to our right where that hog went.

Speaker A

But I want you to feel how thin Dumbar is. Go. Just be real careful with this one. But [laughter] feel it. I don't want to touch it.

Speaker A

Dude, there's our axis. Dude, are you kidding me? That's two sheds in one day.

Speaker A

What was this for? A spear, dude. A spear. Spear. Like they would try and spear a buffalo with that.

Speaker A

They [snorts] got his eyes, but he didn't die too far. We probably walked 60 yards through the brush. So, dang. I wish we would have found him this morning. But we got him. You can always count on the buzzards to find

Speaker A

Yeah. Or a purse. Look at that. That pushes. That one's sick. That was TJ.

Speaker A

What we got? What we got taking off? That is an axis. Those are all axes right ahead.

Speaker A

You bought this one from TJ? Yeah. So, they have an arrowhead that they're working on and a piece, um, a piece of it will break off and then what they'll do is they'll be angry about it.

Speaker A

Did you see them? Yeah, the axes. Yeah, you didn't see them. Yeah, there's four giants.

Speaker A

So, they'll just throw it away from the fire. They're like, "Dang it, I broke that one." And that's, that's why you find so many of these pieces 'cause an Indian back then maybe carried around four, but he made arrowheads every day,

Speaker A

Yeah. No. No. Monsters, bro. No. What? Yeah. No monsters. They look like They look like elk.

Speaker A

all night, every night, his whole life. I'm like crazy. I'm so stoked. That one's crazy.

Speaker A

Right in the front row. Or not the pond. Sorry. That you know how it got it's got that little that hill.

Speaker A

And I might not even hunt. I just want to find arrowheads the whole time.

Speaker A

I found the pig. No. You found your pig? Yeah. Let's go. That's all I could think about. We got in the blind and there was like 40 buzzers flying. I was like, "Dude, it's got to be the pig." [laughter]

Speaker A

I went to bed way too late last night. Yeah, me too. I was just like scrolling like... Yeah, Jared was just cracking up laughing. I was just like watching [laughter] shorts.

Speaker A

Yeah. Yeah. Found two more sheds. Dude, those codles are huge. They were bigger than that.

Speaker A

Feels good out here. It's not hot. Thank the Lord. You ready, Cambo? Let's do it.

Speaker A

They're jumbos. I thought they were elk. I'm like, I didn't know there was elk on this place.

Speaker A

All right, we won later. Buggy up. Let's go. That's a good way to start the morning.

Speaker A

in velvet. They look bigger. No way. Oh, yeah. They're all in velvet. I've always wanted to [laughter] shoot a velvet axis.

Speaker A

Just bang your bow up against the Ranger. [music] It's perfect. Little lightning chill. Paris was just telling me it looks like there's a band of rain that's supposed to come across the block. Captain, you hear that?

Speaker A

Tomorrow we hope to find more luck. It's all about arrowheads today. Meet TJ. He's the guy for [music] digging up prehistoric and Native American artifacts in the Hill Country.

Speaker A

Right here about 40 yards away, we got turkeys. We got big toms gobbling. That fires me up.

Speaker A

That's what I like is we're walking where they walked and we're hunting where they hunted.

Speaker A

All right, we got this pig out here. He's literally about 7 yards away. So, it's still pretty early, but it's shooting lights now.

Speaker A

year round as they hunted here at this camp. Can we go see what you already found?

Speaker A

Take a shot. [music] Holy smokes right now. It's thundering, it's windy, it's rainy. It's just a lot of elements that these skittish animals do not like. So, I bet you for the most part, most of these axes around in this area are bedded down

Speaker A

So, this is burnt rock. Yep. This is That is certainly burnt. Yep. Even some of it has colors. See, from being in the fire. And then I was working this area down to get [music] you all prepped. This is actually where

Speaker A

in this thick timber over here. So, once this wind and rain and thunder dies down, those axes are going to get on their feet and they're going to want to move. So, we'll see what happens for another couple hours and then kind of go

Speaker A

Oh, no way. That's wonder. Check it out. Dude, you can see the notch. Grab it.

Speaker A

from there. He's hitting the ground blind this morning. That one's going to be loud.

Speaker A

Insane. Oh, it's broke right there in the tips. Look at that. Right out of the mound.

Speaker A

Not sure how much protection the ground blind gives us. This is insane. Let me... We've been bamboozled.

Speaker A

Right here in that layer. So, this is like the 10,000. We'll find older arrowheads, but right here is the 3 to 5,000. This is the sickest thing ever.

Speaker A

Good training. Missing my daughter's 8th birthday to be out here, but it's okay 'cause she loves hunting just as much as I do. And she was begging me to come out here and go chase them, Maxis. Um, when I told her

Speaker A

Look what I'm holding right [laughter] now, dude. It's missing the ear and the tip.

Speaker A

that I might miss her birthday, she was like, "It's okay, Dad. Just come back with something." So, the goal this week is to not go home empty-handed. That we got food for us and we've got a nice, a

Speaker A

I'd say this is probably 5 to 6,000. As as young as 30,000. And and these are would all be the so Paleoindians or like before like we really had names for all the tribes.

Speaker A

really cool mount and a cool r

Speaker A

And what would this have been used for? That's probably a big spearhead or possibly even a knife. I would think it was a big spearhead.

Speaker A

Went to for a buffalo went to a nice point. Yeah. Yeah. See, for some reason I always And these squared eared ones like this are really That's first stage. So I think he broke it when he made it.

Speaker A

Really? Really? Yeah. Cuz it hasn't been resharpened. I think he probably broke the ear and even I was like, man, we'll find more once we get started.

Speaker A

Let's do it. Said I already found one. That is insane. He couldn't help himself that.

Speaker A

He's Him and Tyler are the same person. [laughter] I don't really know what I'm doing, but he's just out there educating.

Speaker A

Yeah, he is. He's eating us up. Yeah. Mhm. Well, that's a nomadic area where they're following herds and we're hoping to find a hunting, you know, where they killed. They didn't actually live down there too much.

Speaker A

They were always moving. So, in this area, they would come back to it almost every year or whatever. They would come back to it. So they would leave artifacts to come back to to whereas down THERE [screaming] dude it's a curveill knife bro.

Speaker A

[screaming] Oh man. He just pulled out a CURVEILL KNIFE. A CURVEILL KNIFE. I DON'T EVEN know what it is but it's sick.

Speaker A

Dude buffalo. OH MY GOSH, DUDE. Are you kidding me? That's it. Oh my god.

Speaker A

That's it. That's what it's all about. Dude, [laughter] the Indians like you. Oh my gosh.

Speaker A

That's a buffalo skin and knife, man. I got to clean it off. Get some water.

Speaker A

That's killer, man. Congratulations. Thank you, dude. Oh my gosh. That's real history, buddy. That is so sick.

Speaker A

What do you find? I think I found one of those necklaces. Broken. No way.

Speaker A

Yeah, broken one. Got the notches. Got the holes, dude. [laughter] Well, it's broke like completely.

Speaker A

Is that what that is? Oh, dude. IT'S A GORGETTE. GORGETTE. [screaming] GORGETTE. GORGETTE. IT'S A GORGET. WE'RE ON FIRE. [laughter] LET'S GO.

Speaker A

OH, DUDE, look at those holes. I recommend we get started screening. Let's do it. Let's screen.

Speaker A

Dude, I still can't believe you found that knife. So, now the difference between this and hand digging is also now all the ages arrowheads are are on this table. So, we can find anything from paleo to a bird

Speaker A

point because we got an entire piece of the mound and set it on here.

Speaker A

Wow, look at that flake, Josh. Oh, that is a dang. Look at that root beer. Put it up to the sun.

Speaker A

See how it's translucent? That's what they like. They like them arrowheads to look like that, too.

Speaker A

That is so cool. And if you feel it, it's real smooth. Oh, it's so sharp, too.

Speaker A

And the smoother the flint, the easier it was to nap. It is super smooth.

Speaker A

Pretty cool. We got one Indian. Oh, boy. Oh boy. Of course it's TJ's [music] son.

Speaker A

[laughter] Oh, what can I say? You learn from the best. Oh wow. Wow. Oh boy.

Speaker A

It up. Do it, Jared. It looks like it's got the notches. Look at that.

Speaker A

How gentle [music] do I have to be with this? Just don't snap the ears off. But you're good. Wipe that one off. What is it, Tony?

Speaker A

YEAH. [laughter] THAT JUST rejuvenates you. That is sweet. That is a We got to wash it off.

Speaker A

Beautiful. That is sick. I want to wash it off. I mean, look how it going. Wow, that is sick.

Speaker A

It's just crazy to think [music] how long people have been hunting since the dawn of time. It's like absolutely insane. The fact that they were doing it with something like this, killing [music] buffalo with these is absolutely wild.

Speaker A

What what we're experiencing right now is the the hunting part. We're We're hunting through the dirt.

Speaker A

Oh, we got one, boys. Looks like maybe one corner is broke off. Oh, man.

Speaker A

Wow. It's in pretty good shape. Wow. That one little notched corner broke [music] off.

Speaker A

Good job. It's a sick arrow head. What's he doing? Finding arrowheads right every time you come across one. It's just a new appreciation for how they did things compared [music] to all the modern technology we have. When you think about

Speaker A

hunting on that scale, like those guys were hunters. Let's go. First one. This is the first one I found.

Speaker A

Hey. Hey, dude. Hey, [laughter] back up. We've only been digging for two hours. Oh, I see it. Oh, it's got three notches.

Speaker A

Beautiful Montana. Complete spearhead right there. It's So, after it penetrated the buffalo, these barbs would keep it in the And it was tafted right here like that.

Speaker A

Wow. Oh [laughter] look at that tip. Look at that needle tip. Oh my gosh. Dang, dude. That is perfect.

Speaker A

That's a stinger. That's That you could absolutely kill with that thing. Yeah. Look at the craftsmanship on that.

Speaker A

That [music and singing] is insane. That is insane. Absolutely insane. Yeah, I found it.

Speaker A

That is a good one. What a beauty. Beautiful Marshall. A Marshall. Oh, man. That's a dandy.

Speaker A

Good one. That's a framer. We got to get us a little frame. And it's right there. This is my favorite one.

Speaker A

That one is so sick. Boy, you could tie that on right now and go kill whatever you needed to. pretty sick.

Speaker A

So, we're wrapping up today's dig. Uh we we screened several loads today and got to hand dig some. Had a lot of great vines. Just beautiful curveville knife, the buffalo skinning knife. [laughter] Pulled it right out of the mound with

Speaker A

his hands. Uh just a great accomplishment. And then we have a variety of great spearheads over the last couple thousand years. We have quite a bit of Montels. Uh, we have a nice Freo point, super nice Montels's, the rare Casterville almost all there,

Speaker A

and a really pretty pendant, a gorgette that came out as well. We have a nice leather punch here for button holes. So, a really nice variety of artifacts for the dirt we went through today.

Speaker A

What a day. And a lot of great examples and very successful dig. That was awesome, TJ. Thank you, dude.

Speaker A

That was a ton of fun. So fun. Definitely didn't think we would find a full case of our own to take back, but I'm pumped. That is so sick. A good day of hunting.

Speaker A

Look forward to the next time. That was awesome man. Finding those arrowheads lit a fire under [music] us.

Speaker A

Tomorrow, we're carrying that same energy into the hills and turning it towards [music] the axis.

Speaker A

We got a beautiful sunrise. [snorts] Um, we're going to try our hand at doing a little something different. We're going to adapt and go have some fun this morning. We're going to be on our feet.

Speaker A

Um, I think we're going to drive to the other side of the property, get up on a little ridge. Um, see if we can't do some glassing, get our eyes on some animals, see if they can catch an access

Speaker A

walking around, and then make a move on them. So, little more active hunting than the last couple sits. Um, so it's exciting. So, let's go have a good morning.

Speaker A

Hopefully, there's more than one, but we'll take one, right? Okay. So, just don't slam [music] your door when you get out. Just let it click and then push it shut.

Speaker A

So, for now, as long as we're easy going up the road, once we get to the top of the hill, we kind of need to get in a single file line. Ken, you'll be in the back. Okay. So, if I sit, we can pull

Speaker A

Josh up, get a shot on him. Big axes, dude. Big boy. a big beautiful.

Speaker A

Yeah. Let's say wait and see if he comes in a little closer. How often do you get 50 yards from something on foot?

Speaker A

Okay, about 35. I just if I would have stood up and tried to bull back, I see him start on jogging off that nice buck worked his way down over this little ridge and our wind is horrible right now. If we stay right

Speaker A

here, there's no way we're going to get him. He'll circle back. He'll smell us.

Speaker A

They'll smell us out. So, we're going to work our way up around and see and pop our heads over. There's a little video right here with a meadow. We're going to see if he get down into that.

Speaker A

We're start kind of walking back and we'll kind of hunt as we walk back and maybe we can stumble upon a couple.

Speaker A

This is where that other group went in. We're going to try and go above them.

Speaker A

It's really, really thick in here. So, try and go up above. See if we can get any kind of vantage point or see down any of this thick stuff.

Speaker A

He's back through here. And that's kind of where those deer cross the road, isn't there? Yeah.

Speaker A

And then we'll go back down to where we parked. Okay. Something down here up there.

Speaker A

Yeah. Piglets there, too. Yep. Yeah, I've shot plenty of fish. This is some of the prettiest country in Texas I've ever seen.

Speaker A

It's important that you move slow through this stuff. We don't want to disturb anything too much.

Speaker A

What is that? I don't know. It's just two big old barrels of something. Oh, it was just a tree deer. Your eyes start to play tricks on you when you really want to see a deer and you think you see one.

Speaker A

You put your you put your bind nose up and it's just a tree that looks like a deer.

Speaker A

Just spotted a big axis. He's about 577 yards away right now. We're running out of daylight.

Speaker A

Trying to come up with a game plan to see if there's a way to make a move on them. Let's go. We're going to make a move on him. That's a big That's a big buck. Let's go. [music] Let's go. So,

Speaker A

there's a road that takes us all the way around and we're going to try to come right on top of them. We'll probably when we see him, we might be three [music] 300 400 yards away. I haven't decided if we're going to try to

Speaker A

depending on how much daylight we have. I'll make I might make one last ditch effort with the old string and arrow and make game time decision.

Speaker A

About 100 yards zigzagging right there. Big boy. He's big. The one a little further back on the left. He's real dark at the bottom, but his tops are hard. But that looks like that big dude from this morning.

Speaker A

Take a breath. I don't know if I want to shoot my boat or not. I feel like a shot with this [snorts] safety.

Speaker A

I'm going to come right behind you. He's huge. The one Oh, this one right here.

Speaker A

The one in Yeah, dude. The one in the back though is absolutely a giant, too.

Speaker A

I'm going to try to get right in there and rest it on the tree. Okay.

Speaker A

Just like that. Load another one. Load another one. Load another one. Yeah, I didn't know if I wanted to go with my bow [music] or gun. There was just going to be no way I could get a bow shot there. And look, my freezer is

Speaker A

getting low. This is the best eating meat um in my opinion. I absolutely love axis. So, to be able to get an opportunity at one, especially in velvet, is just an opportunity I couldn't pass up. My first axis buck.

Speaker A

Oh my gosh. What an animal, man. Oh my gosh. I mean, this is one of the coolest here, man. Look how pretty, Dude. Oh, man.

Speaker A

Golly, man. I got me [music] an axis buck, man. This is unbelievable, dude. We did good. And what were we talking about? A plan came together.

Speaker A

Love it when a plan comes together. Dude, that was so good. Oh, you know who's going to be pumped?

Speaker A

[music] My 8-year-old Presley Blake. Cannot wait to send her pictures and get him home to her.

Speaker A

[laughter] You ready? One, two, three. Hey. Hey, be careful driving, okay? These are delicate.

Speaker A

You're going to ride up here with them. Can you see him yet? [laughter] Oh, dude.

Speaker A

Let's go. Dude, that was cool. Thank you. That was Bro, that was unbelievable, dude. This is sick.

Speaker A

How cool are these things? Let's go, dude. [laughter] Oh my gosh, dude. That is so cool, right?

Speaker A

So sick. [laughter] Oh, dude. I'm pumped for you. I know. I Dude, I didn't want to put the bow down, but it's hunting and we know how this goes. We know how this goes, dude.

Speaker A

He said, he literally goes, "Josh Josh just wants to leave the spot. He wants to whip out the rifle." That did not take very long at [laughter] all.

Speaker A

Man, the evening's been good to me so far. Yeah, [laughter] let's go, dude. I get I get access to me now. Thanks, bro.

Speaker A

I got you, dude. I got you, dude. Oh, yeah. I'm Things are warming up in the hill country.

Speaker A

Going into the last day, the pressure is on. So Jared and I decided to climb for a higher vantage point to glass for [music] access.

Speaker A

I honestly I legit feel like Oh, wow. That's insane. I feel like I'm back in Colorado on the Elkine. Honestly, this is crazy. This does not feel like Texas.

Speaker A

See any axes beded [music] down? Those are bushes. What? You sure? [music] Yeah. This guy's getting He's dizzy. He's woozy. He's seeing bush animals.

Speaker A

No, dude. I've got old 2005 Zino. Let me see them things. Can't breathe though.

Speaker A

Cool to see him again, especially in the daylight. God, like it's been like so pretty.

Speaker A

Presley Blake, you have a good day? Yes. Hey, um, did mom show you the pictures or no?

Speaker A

No. No, not yet. You ready? Look. That's so beautiful. Isn't that cool? Yeah, we need to put him on the top of the TV.

Speaker A

You put him on top of the TV? Yes. How cool was he? Really cool.

Speaker A

We're going to Thanks, babe. We're going to take his backstraps and we're going to cook him and eat them tonight.

Speaker A

Oh, yummy. Ain't that cool? Yes. Yeah. It's a good looking cedar. You want to see one of my uh my pooping methods? I'm headed to you, the squirrel.

Speaker A

This tree is kind of big. It's going to be tough. Right here. Are you showing him poo techniques?

Speaker A

Yeah, I just gave him a couple. You can come down here and give some if you got any.

Speaker A

Did you show him the downhill skier? Yeah, but for me it's more of like a I feel like it's more riding the bull, right? The ride in the bull to me is I don't really prefer this method because

Speaker A

it can get a little messy. But this is the ride in the bowl. Oh goodness. You just go straight on the wall.

Speaker A

Well, that's what I'm [laughter] saying. I don't prefer this method. It can get messy.

Speaker A

This is the downhill skier right here. Yeah, cuz you can really get back there. I mean, you can [laughter] if you're worried about, you know, heel residual, you can really lean back. Or if you just keep want to keep it more

Speaker A

traditional right here. Yeah, downhill skier. That is great. It's kind of a sidehill skier right here.

Speaker A

That one. That one. Hats off to you if you can do the flag pole.

Speaker A

This is the old airdrop. Oh, airrop. Yes. One of my favorites. The airrop's a good one. Just right here. Just spread it out and hang on.

Speaker A

Yeah. It's all about finding the right tree. All right. Can we go hunt? Let's go hunt. Dude, I'm tired of doing poo positions.

Speaker A

Yeah. Can we just go? That seems pretty easy down there. All right. As much as I'd love to get an axis with the bow, I would much rather go home with an axis. [music] So, the old wind mags coming with us

Speaker A

tonight. [music] Last evening hunt. We're going to go set up on the meadow where we were at this morning. Thinking these axes are going to come off this hill, come into [music] that meadow down here to bed tonight. So, hopefully we

Speaker A

can catch them on their way back before dark. That's the plan. [music] I see his horn. He's [music] about to walk out.

Speaker A

Oh, yeah. Right that little gap. Yeah. Right past that big Yoka. He's right behind it.

Speaker A

All right, we've got we've got a really nice axis 300 yards away. I could shoot it with the gun, but I have to shoot off this shooting stick.

Speaker A

And I don't I don't want to just shoot just to shoot 300 yards off a shooting stick is a good ways away. Um he's just eating right now, grazing in the high stuff. So, I think the game plan try to

Speaker A

get close and if he's still there, there's a bunch of brush ahead of him.

Speaker A

So, I think we can maybe get into bow range potentially if the wind is good once we get up there. So, let's work our way down and then we'll just get a game plan from there once we get down there with them.

Speaker A

All right, let's do this thing. If we get there and it's like there's no chance with the bow, then I'll I'll shoot him with a rifle.

Speaker A

I just want to see what it looks like up there. We might need to take our shoes off.

Speaker A

It's just so rocky. Almost there. down there. He was feeding towards that thick brush already once we once we came down off that hill. And I think probably when we drove off, he probably just worked his way into that thick stuff. So that's

Speaker A

what's so hard about spotting and stalking just cuz they can they can literally move like that. I could have shot him with the rifle, but just didn't feel comfortable with the shot. So, um, [snorts] but that was fun. That was fun.

Speaker A

So, we still got a lot of daylight left. So, maybe we can go try on another one.

Speaker A

We might just only do rifle for the rest of the night, though. We don't have too much time left, so we'll see.

Speaker A

The sunset's tough to see tonight. It's It's behind the mountains, so it's beautiful. Beautiful country. I'm going to put it number four behind low the low uh dove hunt. There we go.

Speaker A

Oh, there he is. Right in front of us. 12:00. Can you see him? You ready, Matt?

Speaker A

He went down. Yep. He's down. He's down. [sighs] [panting] Wow. Talk about last minute live reaction. I think Ty just shot.

Speaker A

Wow. The last minute of shooting light. That's unreal. I don't know that I had another two minutes to shoot.

Speaker A

Shaking, I dude. I could barely see him. I could see him just enough to get a shot off.

Speaker A

Oh yes, he is in great shape. Look how thick he is. Oh my god.

Speaker A

[laughter] Thanks, dude. Oh my gosh, dude. insane, dude. I mean, that is crazy. Beautiful fronts, too. Nice codles. I mean, dude, look at the thickness out on the beams even.

Speaker A

Wow. I mean, he's not the longest axis ever, but he is he's got everything, dude. That's a beautiful axis.

Speaker A

I know you're getting old, Kyle. I wanted to help you so blow her back out.

Speaker A

Thank you, buddy. [laughter] Those bases are thick. Heck yeah, brother. After three days of chasing, it all came together in the last minute.

Speaker A

Now it's time for fire, good friends, and my all-time favorite wild game meat in the world.

Speaker A

Looks like tuna tartar. What's really good? So tender. I can't wait to sleep in in the morning.

Topics:axis deerTexas Hill Countrybow huntingDude Perfect Outdoorsarrowheadsarcheryhunting tipswildlife stalkingoutdoor adventureancient artifacts

Get More with the SozAI App

Transcribe recordings, audio files, and YouTube videos — with AI summaries, speaker detection, and unlimited transcriptions.

App Store Google Play

Or transcribe another YouTube video here →

Free tools: TXT to SRT · SRT Validator · Merge SRT · Subtitle to Text · All tools