# sniped an axis buck @ 68 yards with the SABO Sight



## travissalinas (Aug 27, 2010)

my first axis buck


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## travissalinas (Aug 27, 2010)

he measure 27", not a bad place to start


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## travissalinas (Aug 27, 2010)




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## travissalinas (Aug 27, 2010)




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## travissalinas (Aug 27, 2010)

i took the doe the day before @ 55 yards, not me best shot in the world but it was effective. i'll get the story of the buck out after lunch


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## rhammock (Aug 11, 2005)

Very nice! Look forward to the story of the buck.


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## willeye (Mar 2, 2007)

awesome. i want an axis baaad.


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## travissalinas (Aug 27, 2010)

on the last hour of my exotic hunt I made a quick stalking session through an area that had been an axis haven the day before. about 3 minutes from the truck i spotted a herd that was feeding across a clear cut and I made my move. 

the wind the day before was the most fickle wind i have ever experienced, perhaps due to the near by range fire, but today this wind was favorable for stalking and I kept a small clump of cedars on the edge of the clear cut between me and my quarry.


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## travissalinas (Aug 27, 2010)

this was my second hunt at the Baker 3 ranch and after multiple stalks, i've noticed that axis rarely travel alone, so i was prepared to move slow and pick up the outriders of the herd before they busted me. this slow moving method finally worked, i could see velvety antlers working above the bushes that divided us. after my thigh master workout of squating and stalking, i was to my final place to hide and i searched for a victim


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## travissalinas (Aug 27, 2010)

there was a whopper buck out there but he was at 68 yards, there was another nice buck at 50 but i wanted the whopper. a minute later the whopper had crossed the clear cut and was gone so i focused on my remaining target. there were about 5 does and 4 lesser bucks remaining, a fawn was in easy range at 30 yards. in the moments of contemplation my remaining buck was moving out of range and would exit the clear cut soon leaving me with only a doe as an option. he too was now at 68 yards, i drew back my new bowtech destroyer. it had put a new SABO sight onto this destroyer and had my last two pins @ 40 and 50 yards. i guessed my drop for 68 and accordingly and made a minor adjustment for the wind. the buck was broadside with his head in a sage bush. i made sure my top dot was in perfect alignment with the triangle and that my anchor was solid and touched off.


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## travissalinas (Aug 27, 2010)

the weather was overcast and the green Nocturnal on the arrow looked as if it had been aimed way too high. as the arrow began its parabolic return to earth i could literally see the small adjustment of about 5 inches for wind correct and the arrow drop the final few foot and peg that axis buck right on the money. at 68 yards, i guess he couldn't even hear the bow fire down wind, the buck never moved till he'd take a direct hit at midships and stumbled. the alarmed herd broke and began barking as my buck hobbled and staggered out of sight from the clear cut.


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## travissalinas (Aug 27, 2010)

meanwhile, i had trouble keeping my grin from over lapping my ears, surely i couldn't have just made a 68 yard bulls eye. i listened quietly and heard a small rock slide, it could have been the other deer fleeing, but somehow it sound like a heavy bottom coming down hard in the hill country. i waited a few more minutes and tried to circle the area. some of the does were still standing the area, perhaps waiting for their BF to join them. i decided i'd back out of the area and pick up my 4 legged tracking machine.


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## travissalinas (Aug 27, 2010)

Slice was on one of her usual hot streaks, we had already trailed 4 axis deer that weekend, finding three of them still alive. one was close to death and Slice really gained some self esteem by thrashing that doe, the second was on a gut shot buck that put up a dandy fight before i applied a finisher, and the third was an unwounded but suck axis buck that Slice, found and bayed. The ample blood only went about 70 yards to my first axis buck, and not i had no chance of restraining that grin. thanks to my two hunting buddies Jay and John, I had help with photos and loading. Slice on the other hand looked a bit uninterested and mildly disappointed that there was no live chew toy at the end of the trail.


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## jan1 (Apr 5, 2009)

*Broadhead?*

Excellent Axis and excellent shooting. 
What broadhead did you shoot?


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## travissalinas (Aug 27, 2010)

on that buck i used a 100 gr shuttle t. i'd already taken a few other animals with that same broad head and it did the trick again


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## THE JAMMER (Aug 1, 2005)

I hate to rain on your parade, but personally I'm sad that you were successful with that shot, because it will only encourage you to do it again. You will eventually wound and waste animals if you continue taking shots that long. I don't care what sight you have or if your bow shoots 400 fps-- all that animal has to do is decide to eat a different blade of grass just after you release your arrow, and you have a bad situation- the worst of which will be a gut shot animal which will die in agony, without you finding it. The time of flight of your arrow was probably close to a full second.

Hate to sound like I'm preaching here, but the whole purpose of shooting a bow instead of a gun, is to experience being close to the animals, learning how to stalk, learning how to play the wind, learning how to interpret an animal's movements, etc. At that range you might as well take your rifle.

Unfortunately some of the "TV gurus" are starting to take these shots, and it only encourages the rest of us to do so. I have just recently gotten back into archery after a 2-3 year layoff (shoulder probs)- started in archery 50 years ago, and I have been watching lots of archery TV shows lately. The two common denominators that I am seeing are: the long shots as said above, but more so than that I am seeing lots of guys (some pretty famous ones) taking bad shots- quartering away as much as 68-70 degrees, quartering to 45 degrees plus. Now the tv guys always have that little tool called *editing *that we "normal guys" don't. In other words we never know how far they might have had to have tracked that deer that they shot almost head on. As far as we are concerned we see the shot, and then magically they are standing over the animal. They might have had to wait over night, thus losing the meat. Or you never know how many that they never found after taking one of those bad shots, and they simply eliminated that shot/animal from their program. I once talked to a guy who hunted with Larry Fitzgerald and Bob Folkrod on a caribou hunt that they made a video out of back during the 80's. His comment was, "you can't believe how many caribou they killed making that video." What a shame.

I'm not preaching or judging, although it probably sounds like it, but this is an opinion board, and that's my opinion, and I felt like expressing it. Agree or disagree.

I do really like that dog though. I have 3 of them.


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## bountyhunter (Jul 6, 2005)

Jammer you keep right on preaching!!!!! I have to agree 110% with you on every thing you have said!!!!!


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## Josh5 (Jun 27, 2007)

Jammer, I think when it comes to archery, that people mix up the ideas of outwitting a big buck and getting within '20 yards' of it, vs working to become proficient with my equipment to shoot farther at a target. Some of us archers are all about getting in close, while some of us are about pushing the target distance. Those that push the target distance tend to get beat down by the getting close crowd, and that is ok, everyone has their opinion.

To me, some guys on the archery forums almost make it sound like if you can't jump out of your stand onto its back while it is walking to the feeder, then it's too far away. Again, everyone has their opinion.

My opinion is that if a person has practiced and is proficient and is confident with their equipment to x- range, they should feel free to take the shot. For some it is only 20 yards, for others that is farther.

I don't know TS or his shooting skills, but have read several of his posts. My only concern with this post/kill story is 'the last pin was set at 50 yards' and the shot was 68.

I agree that the TV guys can be good for us or bad for us, and now with so many folks getting TV shows, I am afraid we will see more and more of the bad/questionable shots.

Travis, congrats on the nice Axis. Sorry to divert the thread.


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## bountyhunter (Jul 6, 2005)

Josh5 said:


> My opinion is that if a person has practiced and is proficient and is confident with their equipment to x- range, they should feel free to take the shot. For some it is only 20 yards, for others that is farther.


I don't think that Jammer was questioning his ability to hit a still target at 50+ yards. In fact back in my compound days I too could hit a tennis ball at 50 yards 5 out of 6 shots and that the 6th would be really close. That didn't mean I felt comfortable shooting at a target that had time to move after my release. Like Jammer pointed out it takes a long time for a arrow to travel that distance, enough time for an animal to move and move far enough for the shot to go from good to very bad. This is not jumping the string, but just taking a step to get that next bite of corn or grass or what ever. These are all thing that should be factored into a shot before it is taken. This time it worked out alright, but that may not be the case the next time an almost 70 yard shot is taken. All Jammer and I are says is please think about this before you take that next shot that pushes envelop.


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## travissalinas (Aug 27, 2010)

I appreciate the comments above. There is no doubt that the risk with the shot was larger than normal for any archer. But there were enough factors that were favorable leading up to the decision to shoot. I'm not saying that people should go wing arrows. I have kept a bow hunting log since 2003 of game, distance of shot, distnace to recover, broad head used, etc and I am well aware that distance to recovery and chance of recovery drop significantly past 35 yards for my experience. That being said, the factors of animal behavior, practice, confidence, terrain, and jack russell, and the fact that I would pay a kill fee whether I recovered my prize or not all combined to me to feel that the calculated risk was high but I had a good chance or making the shot happen, which it did. I value your opinions and thanks for sharing them.


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## Blast-n-cast (May 7, 2010)

Congrats


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