Axis Deer Hunt.

When I was very young my dad taught me how to shoot an old 22 pump rifle. We lived out on the farm and always had lots of opportunities to have fun shooting that old Winchester rifle. Since I grew up shooting guns and doing outdoor stuff, deer hunting fit me like a hand in a glove. I was a pretty good shot and I figured it would not be a challenge to shoot the deer with a rifle so I bought a Thompson Contender pistol with a scope to hunt with. The Lord led me, thru a mutual friend, to meet a man who lived in Medina Texas named Don Bailey. Meeting Don was also like another hand in the glove experience for me. We shared mutual interest as he loved to hunt and played the guitar, and likewise I loved to hunt and played the fiddle. Don and I still play music together when we have reunions.

Axis Deer Hunt Delayed

Don had lots of places around Medina to hunt that he shared with me, so every year during Deer Hunting season we would go to Don’s house to play music and hunt deer. In the Medina area there were at one time several game preserves with exotic game animals. There is a river that got out of its banks during a bad flood many years back and knocked down several of the exotic game preserve fences. This allowed Axis deer, black buck antelope and many other exotic deer to escape. These deer have become plentiful in the Medina area in Bandera County and there is no season on them, since they are not native to that area. I greatly desired to shoot an Axis buck and I prayed to the Lord to bring one to the area where I was hunting. The afternoon I was to go hunting, some of Don Bailey’s friends came over and wanted to hear me play my fiddle. I agreed and Don and I played together for them for hours. After they left Don said to me: “Brother I am sorry about this messing up your hunt, since they stayed so late, it is almost dark. Do you still want to go hunting?” I said: “Yes, take me hunting, I am believing God to get me an Axis deer.”

Axis Deer Hunt Miracle

He took me to the place I was to hunt and I walked a ways to a ceder bush where I had a chair to sit on. I had just sat down and about 150 yards away an Axis Buck stepped out of the trees. My heart began to race, I had my pistol but never had tried a shot that far. I had made several shots at 50 to 75 yards, which was usually normal distance, but this was a long shot. I eased out of the chair and placed my pistol on a branch of the bush where I was sitting. The deer began walking fast and he walked behind a pond dam and I was not able to make the shot. I could see an opening where he might possibly come into view again at about 200 yards away, so I settled into a very steady position and aimed my pistol at that spot. The deer walked thru that spot too quickly and I was not able to shoot. There was only one spot left, with an opening thru the trees where the deer was walking, and it was even further. I aimed for that area and the deer appeared there and I had time to squeeze off the shot and the Lord blessed me with that Axis Buck. It had to be the Lord God who blessed me with that buck and who helped me make that miracle shot. I later went back with a range finder and the shot for that Axis Deer was 220 yards, praise the Lord for His Blessings!