Chasing the Chital: Part 1

My heart lept into my throat when we turned off the road and into the side road that would take us to the gate to meet one of our guides for the weekend. All of my hunting experience, my outdoors career, it was all coming down to this one weekend; my first exotic hunt.

This would be the first hunt without my husband and mentor, Court. We were both targeting different species, so we would both go with different guides for the weekend. I had many doubts in my mind about proving myself to my guide as a hunter. Even though I’ve been hunting for almost nine seasons now, I still feel like I have so much to learn and master before I would consider myself a “good” hunter. And I didn’t want to embarrass myself or Court, so there was already a little bit of uncertainty before we even arrived.

The only good thing going for me was that this was a high fence, and I (mistakenly!) knew exactly how all of these hunts go; you go sit in a blind where they know the animals have been going, and then you wait for it come out to the feeder. Not a hard hunt, but still an exciting opportunity to hunt species that you aren’t able to hunt in their home habitats or countries. In fact, as we talked about the hunt on the way up to the ranch, there was a small part of me that hoped it wouldn’t be too easy.

Oh, was I wrong! But we’ll get to that later.

We pulled up and my guide, Kate, was already waiting for us at the gate to let us in. She had taken Court on his fallow deer hunt with Double S Adventures and he had been telling me about her ever since his hunt at this ranch back in December. She was also an adult onset hunter that had built a brand online and was guiding both waterfowl and big game hunts throughout Texas. I was so excited to meet someone who didn’t grow up in hunting and fishing, yet had turned it into such a huge part of their life, someone kind of like me! But way cooler, obviously.

Kate didn’t hesitate when we hopped out of the truck to meet her and gave me a big hug, telling me how excited she was to hunt with me that weekend! It immediately put me at ease and I was excited to learn more from and about her as the weekend progressed. We hopped back in the truck and followed her up to the road to the cabins.

Now, Court had told me that the cabins were “nice” when he was there in December. I think of nice kind of like the cabin at the family ranch; it has great ammenities, it’s rustic, clean, and comfortable. To me, that’s pretty “nice”. This was fancy. The main cabin had a nicer kitchen that one we have at home with professional-grade appliances, a huge granite countertop, and comfortable furniture. There was a giant tv on the wall that I could only imagine became the hub of activity on fall weekends during football and deer season, and it was surrounded by huge whitetail deer mounts on the high ceilings. The entire cabin was probably about the size of the main living of area of our house, and it opened up onto this gorgeous porch with an outdoor kitchen, fireplace, and seating area. From there, the sidewalk extended out to a little firepit that overlooked the entire property down the hillside and into the valley.

I didn’t even get a picture of the kitchen! But here’s the rest of the cabin, it was beautiful!

Not unlike Mufasa in Lion King, Kate told me that “everything the light touches” was part of the property, and the enormous valley surrounded by towering hills was even bigger than I imagined. But what really caught my eye were the three white animals crowding casually around a feeder within view of the cabin. They each sported rust-red markings and gracefully arching horns that trailed backwards and over their necks. Scimitar oryx. That’s not something you see everyday, not even in Texas.

We got settled in and met up with Court’s guide, Shaun, the owner of Double S Adventures. It would just be the four of us this weekend, and we were ready for some rest, relaxation, and a little hunting for two animals that he and I had dreamed about.

Here is the inside of our cabin, complete with matching oryx mounts! It was super comfortable and fancy!

As long as I can remember, Court had talked about hunting a blackbuck. Before we moved to Texas, I remember him telling me about all of the exotic species that you can hunt here and how he had always wanted a blackbuck. They’re small, extremely fast, and sharp sighted animals that are surprisingly tough and smart.

For me, though, it was all about an axis deer. I remember around that same time, he showed me some of the other animals that are common on Texas high fence exotic ranches: scimitar oryx with their enormous horns and bright white coloring; majestic red stags with their tree-like antlers and elk-like dimeanor; fallow deer with their wild range of colors and paddled antlers; and then the axis deer, with it’s graceful antlers, chestnut coat, and those glorious spots. It was the axis deer that captured my imagination. My google search of axis deer turned into a deep dive of creatures with antlers still clad in velvet, deep cottles that looked almost tree-like, and brow guards that rivaled an elk. The deep brown stripe down their back with perfectly paired spots that trickled down their sides even through to adulthood was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen on an animal. I knew that someday, I wanted a chance to get my own axis deer.

The time had finally come.

We settled down onto the back porch for a little bit while Shaun and Kate gave us the rundown of what it would be like to hunt an axis deer and a blackbuck. Both of them immediately had a target blackbuck in mind for Court; he was a dark, mature buck with long horns that had been running with a good-sized herd of does for awhile now. They said he typically hung out in a specific area and that they would probably have an easier time of finding him. In fact, blackbuck are usually so territorial that Court and Shaun decided to wait to hunt until the morning.

There would be no waiting for Kate and me, though, because of all of the exotics on the ranch, the axis deer were the most difficult. Hearing this, I immediately mentally backpeddaled. This axis deer, one of the most hunted non-natives in Texas, was the hardest one to get? What had I signed myself up for?! Kate assured me that she was 6/6 on getting her hunters on an axis deer, and I prayed to God that I wouldn’t be the one to break her streak! (Which would be a very me thing to do, honestly.)

But she and Shaun had plans, backup plans, and backup plans for those backup plans. Axis deer are typically very scootchy and will vanish if they even think there might be trouble. They loved to hide in the thick trees and would remain there until night had almost completely fallen. In fact, Kate had a client just weeks before get one just moments before it would be too dark to see because that was when they came out. Early light and last light were the axis hours, so we would have to take advantage of every hunt in order to make it happen.

But as we prepared to go out, my stomach sank a little more at the weather forecast; rain and storms throughout the weekend certainly won’t going to help our axis hunt. It was with this uncertainty and trepidation that I grabbed my .270 and bino’s before we hopped into the buggie to go to our stand. It seemed that after finally taking this big opportunity to hunt my dream animal, the odds would be even more heavily stacked against us.

Friday Evening

With Court and Shaun choosing to wait until tomorrow, all four of us decided to head out a little early for a little safari and tour of the upper pasture. This is where the red deer, oryx, aodad, and fallow deer were located, while the blackbuck, axis deer, whitetail, gimsbok, and kudu were in the lower, larger pasture.

We set out in the direction that they had seen the oryx trot away and sure enough, they were waiting for us when we turned the corner. I never felt strongly one way or the other about oryx until I saw them in-person, watching us with their almost alien-looking horns sweeping over their backs. They trotted ahead of us and into the brush like odd-looking horses and I couldn’t help my smile.

We came around another corner and came upon a small group of fallow deer and an aodad hanging out with some red deer at a feeder. Talk about a wild sight! I had no idea that aodad were so big, especially next to animal just a bit smaller than an elk! The fallow deer scattered, but the rest didn’t really bother going anywhere, merely moving back into the trees until we passed.

After our little walkabout, we turned towards a specific stand that had been the hot axis spot. Kate and I hopped out of the buggie and the guys headed back.

Once we got into the Creek Stand, we settled in and Kate walked me through some reminders in case we got a shot at an axis deer. First, we loaded my rifle and made sure that there was a round in the chamber and the safety was on. Next, she had me get my rest settled and take a look through my scope around both the feeders (corn and protein) to make sure that I had a steady rest and open view of each. Instead of dropping my rifle back down, we left it on the rest and I balanced it on my lap. This would become our routine any time we hunted in a blind for the weekend, and it’s one I hope to keep in my back pocket for deer season.

Once we were settled, we took our binoculars and started to study the valley. From our vantage point, we see up the hill in a specific section and down into a clearing just behind the feeders. The rest was closed in by thick trees, the ideal point of entry for the herds of axis deer. She told me that we would probably see whitetail and then the axis deer if they came out that night.

But there would be many hours before the “axis hour”, so we spent our time talking about anything and everything while we waited. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; you have some interesting conversations in the deer stand while you’re waiting for something to show up. And to be able to spend time with someone so experienced and knowledgeable about hunting, it was so cool to ask questions and learn.

She taught me how to look through one side of the binoculars so you could brace your arm against your body for a steadier hand. She demonstrated how she could call turkeys without using a call, and she told me all about the different species on the ranch. I got to listen to harrowing tales of axis deer hunts and gained a new appreciation for how truly elusive they could be. Honestly, the hours passed pretty quickly.

All the while, we watched the skies. Rain was in the forecast, but it seemed to change drastically with each hour, keeping us all on edge at the prospects of rain being the ultimate end to our axis chase. Though the clouds grew heavy with moisture and lightning flashed in the distance, it never seemed to crawl any closer to the ranch.

Despite the lucky break in the weather, nothing seemed interested in the feeder. Off in the distance, we watched great gimsbok and snow white addax meander across the hill. It was odd creatures that you think about gracing the plains of Africa suddenly wandering around in the hill country. I asked Kate if she ever got used to seeing exotics out here, and she simply said no, and that the day it didn’t excite her was the day she needed to stop.

For the rest of the evening, we only saw a handful of whitetail does that evening, sneaking in through the trees and laying low as they finally meandered to the feeder. And all too quickly, the sun sank low behind the hills. Kate had me check my scope for visibility until the last possible second of light, hoping that I could still see if an axis deer just happened to wander out.

Shaun and Court came to get us when it was truly dark, and we headed back to the cabin for some dinner and downtime. I wasn’t worried yet, appreciating that it didn’t happen so easily and quickly. But deep down, I wondered about this fabled axis deer and the encroaching storms that were set to descend upon us tomorrow, and the seeds of doubt were sewn.

I pushed them away as we settled down to dinner of steaks and potatoes followed up by some Cards Against Humanity. Talk about an icebreaker! And though I hadn’t met them before, I already felt a little cameraderie with these guides and they had immediately made me feel so welcome and comfortable. Even though the familiar pressure of bringing home an animal weighed on the back of my mind, I found myself feeling even more excited. Somehow, things would happen tomorrow.

Saturday Morning

5:30am came too quickly after a late night of hanging out and chatting. But if there’s one thing I make sure to wake up for, it’s hunting. We all piled into the buggie, and this time, Court would finally be going after his blackbuck. I was excited knowing that we’d be coming back from the hunt this morning with an animal! This would be the first exotic hunt that I’d been able to experience with him and I couldn’t wait to celebrate his long awaited blackbuck with him!

Kate and I settled into the Creek Blind again, hoping for some early-rising axis deer while Court and Shaun made their plan to put the stalk on the blackbuck herd. We walked through the same routine as before as we settled in; load the rifle, set up the rest, adjust the site picture, then wait. Then it was just a waiting game.

The sun rose slowly, unable to push out from behind the thick cloud cover. Our eyes jumped from the silent darkness at the feeders to weather forecast as we waited with baited breath for the rain that would surely come at any moment.

As the sun slowly climbed out from behind the hills, we watched a lone blackbuck doe carefully pick her way through the clearing and under the stand. Around this same time, Shaun and Court texted that they had found the blackbuck herd and that they had eyes on the buck. Adrenaline jolted through my veins, and we braced for the gunshot that would surely come any moment.

Any moment now…

Any time now…

Surely…

Nearly twenty minutes later, Kate and I had fallen back into watching for more animals silently. The little blackbuck doe lingered under the feeder, and we thought she might be a yearling doe. We wondered why she was wandering around on her own…

BANG!

I don’t know who jumped more; me, Kate, or the little blackbuck doe at the feeder! The shot was fired much closer than we expected and we were sure that the blackbuck was down. Animals: 0 Hunters: 1

We waited for confirmation, buzzing with excitement. With one animal down, we could have two more helpers on our search for the axis deer and we could finish up our hunts without too much trouble after all!

But it wasn’t the happy confirmation text that we expected; Court texted me back that he thought he had missed. Now, I might sound biased because he’s my husband, but Court is a fantastic shot. He’s confident without being overconfident, and he’s able to make quick and accurate shots at close range. He’s made super accurate long shots, too, and I knew that he would be able to make a shot at any distance on this ranch.

But that’s the thing about hunting; sometimes, you’re put in a position between deciding to take a quicker, less stable shot than a comfortable, slow shot. And in this case, the blackbuck was moving, they saw him with only seconds, and Court decided to take the shot.

Before we could ask if it was a clean miss or not, a small herd of blackbuck does wandered into the clearing across from the stand. I asked Kate if she thought this could be that blackbuck’s herd and sure enough, that buck came trotting through the clearing with them. The little herd meandered through the trees and settled right under the feeder.

A quick look through the binoculars confirmed what we suspected; he was alive and well, his white hide spotless.

Animals: 1 Hunters: 0

Once the little herd wandered away from the feeder, we decided to call it a morning and regroup at the cabin.

Over a plate of breakfast tacos and monster energy drinks, we talked strategy to get back on the blackbuck and find the axis deer that had so far evaded us. The seed of doubt was growing bigger, but our guides were still positive that we would find the axis deer and make it happen before our time was up on Sunday.

This time, we would get out there around noon and start carefully trekking across the property to see if we could find them. Shaun and Kate knew some of their haunts during the day, so we had a couple of ideas of where they might be hiding. All hope was not lost!

At least that’s what I tried to tell myself as we all went back to the cabins for a little nap before the afternoon hunts. I pushed the little bit of worry to the side and tried to ignore the darkening skies outside as I closed my eyes.