Well guys, I was blessed to be able to take the Axis buck of a lifetime yesterday. I was hunting with my good friend Curtis Schramm at his ranch near Gonzales, TX.

I started the hunt Thursday afternoon, and got to look at a number of great Axis bucks....but one buck in particular caught my eye. I got a glimpse of an especially tall buck from about 300 yards away on the first evening, and thought he had 8 points (which I was excited about). I spent the next several days trying to kill him, and came up empty handed....until the VERY LAST MINUTE!!

Saturday evening and Sunday morning were uneventful, with no Axis being spotted....and not much activity out of the other animals either. Sunday evening, Curtis and I set up to watch over his front field and a sendero. No bucks worthy of shooting came out, and I had pretty much accepted the fact that I was going home empty handed on this trip. With about 5-10 minutes of shooting light left, I suggested we take a quick spin around the ranch....hoping for a miracle....and that is exactly what happened.

We came out of a thick wooded area, and crossed a wide sendero.....I thought I saw an Axis rack sticking out of the grass around 80 yards off the road. I told Curtis to stop!! One look through the binoculars and I verified it was a good Axis buck. At this point, I was willing to take any decent buck over 30"....so I didn't need to look at him long. I jumped out, chambered a round, threw down the legs of my bipod....and took aim. The buck stood up and was quartering to me, but the grass was very tall, and I couldn't make out the buck's shoulder. Curtis gave me the "OK" to shoot, and I put the cross hairs on the bottom of the white patch on the buck's throat. I squeezed the trigger and the buck dropped like a sack of potatoes.

When Curtis and I walked up to this buck, neither of us had any idea what exactly we were dealing with....until we got closer. We were literally awe struck. With the poor lighting, I thought I had shot a buck in the 30"-32" range....but this buck was MUCH bigger than that. And he had a little something "extra"....as in 5 EXTRA POINTS!! I've nicknamed this buck the "Crown of Thorns" buck, due to the very unique configuration of points around his brow tines and lower beams. This 11 point monster is the largest Axis buck ever taken on Curtis ranch, with beams measuring 36.5" x 35" and excellent tine length all-around. I realized this was the same buck I had seen the first evening....he is easily recognizable due to the unique shape of his brow tines, which stick out horizontally. Even more amazing, is the fact that no one had ever seen this buck before....not even Curtis!!

To say I am pleased with this buck would be the understatement of the century.....I may hunt Axis for the rest of my life and never top this deer. He is truly a monster, and the trophy of a lifetime!! Thank you Curtis for the opportunity to take numerous animals at your ranch, but especially this Axis. I will always be grateful!!

Here are the photos....I hope you all enjoy them.

Worth the wait, a hearty congrats to you!

Great looking buck...congrats.

WOW!!! Great job on an awesome animal!!

Congrats Wade, unique deer for sure.

Well let me think about it and get back to you

Good read and nice Axis!

Haha, touche sir.....touche

Outstanding buck... thanks for sharing.

My good friend Nathan was also along for part of the hunt....and took this beautiful 34" buck with his bow Friday evening.

Great axis,

Awesome buck congrats!!!!

Nice buck Nathan still thinking on the other one

Wow! Nice buck!

Very nice!!! Both are great trophies!

Tomorrow fellows tomorrow

Beautiful buck your a lucky man!!

Tomorrow see that stuff does mess up your head!

It was a pleasure, Wade. I'm still in shock over it. I have only seen pics and dreamed of bucks this big, but never came close to this on our place. Nearly ten years to get to this point to have something like this happen and a great year of rains finally made it all happen. UNBELIEVABLE! I am just glad I got to share the hunt with you and look forward many more. Crown of Thorns is a buck of a lifetime and I was glad to have a part in that experience.

Very unique and worth the wait for pics. Congrats and good luck finding a better buck!!!!

But you will elaborate tomorrow