Too many animal units period is bad for a habitat. Be it livestock, exotics or native game.

I can see the same thing happening between WT and Axis that has happened here between Morning Dove and White wing. Years ago WW were protected to the point that now you see very few MD. Axis may not be protected thank goodness but in some areas like around here you are already seeing more Axis than WT. The genie is already out of the bottle on a lot of stuff and only those that are more aggressive or adaptable to a certain area will survive. Food and climate are going to be in control of where a certain species thrives.

They’re a problem if you 1)own land or 2)care the least bit about exotics taking over everything. Not every landowner wants a bunch of other people on their land or to turn hunting into a “business”.

Money ta be made, bout only state that introduced exotics.

As far as hogs go, there’s way more money lost than made on them. That’s why there’s all the research into how to eradicate them.
Other exotics depends on who you talk to I reckon. I’m glad I’m in east TX and don’t have to worry about them.

Depends on who ya talk too.

No Hogs in East, Texas? Hmmn... maybe I misunderstood the post? This image is from mid-may in Cass County, TX.

Axis taste better, provide more meat, and can be hunted year-round. Help me understand the problem?

I wasn’t talking about hogs in that sentence, but exotics other than hogs (thus, the word “other”).

Never shot an axis but seen several on old leases and eaten some of them, they don't seem that different to me as far as table fare, if anything in my experience I prefer WT but I haven't prepared any of the axis I have eaten so I don't really know.

We don't care for exotics and will shoot any that happen to stumble our way.

It’s not a problem if all you care about is turning the state into an open-air zoo so people can shoot stuff year-round. That’s the way many roll these days. Texas is certainly becoming the model for it.

I'm with redchevy in regards to table fare. Killed my first axis a few weeks back. Everybody brags about how much better they taste than whitetail. I was excited to try it. It was good, but to me not much different than whitetail. In fact, I believe I prefer whitetail. Less gamey.

Y’all must have gotten a bad axis.

similarly killed and handled, axis is much better.

Whitetail is pretty far down the list when it comes to exotics. Only thing I’ve had that is worse is fallow and aoudad.

I don't know. It was a buck in velvet. A tad over 32"'s. I shot him, gutted him right away, and had him in the vault within an hour. Like I said, it's good, but the whitetail seem better to me. Wife agreed.

I think everyone shoots the next new thing and that's the best new thing. I have read and been told many times how great fallow is yet you say they are way down the list. Exotics are something new and exciting, I think once the new wears off people realize they really don't live up to all the hype. Ive had axis in sausage, jerky, chicken fried and grilled steaks my take is I would prefer wt. I do notice a slight taste difference maybe some would prefer it, to me it is just different I would love to see someone qualify the "better" comments.

This. Axis vs WT...No comparison. I would emphasize how it was handled.

Inncorrect.

NM-oryx, ibex, auadad
Maryland- sika
Cali-hogs(have to have license and tag)
HI- pigs, Axis, goats, cattle.
Any state with Pheasants or chuker
And a hand full of states that now have wild turkeys
And a hand full of states with Mountain goats

Not to mention places here in North America that have deer and elk that didn’t originally have them such as afognak island, anticosti island, Santa Clara island (though now been eradicated ) and numerous counties all over the continental U.S

As I said, I took care of it quickly. Handled just as I do my whitetail. Couldn't tell much difference. Neither could my wife. Still good, and given the opportunity I'd take another one.

Removing other factors including our individual taste buds, the animal's diet makes a huge difference in taste.

I've hunted Axis deer and wild boar in both Texas and Hawaii. In all cases, the animals from Hawaii tasted much better than the same species I've harvested in Texas. The Axis deer from Hawaii is the best wild game that I have ever eaten. The animals from Texas were good but paled in comparison. The main difference was the quality and variety of browse: wild basil, variety of nuts, lush tropical grass, etc.

I've harvested whitetails in Alberta, Arizona, and Mexico. The meat from the deer in Arizona and Mexico were good. The meat from the whitetail in Alberta blew them away. Once again there was a significant difference in browse available to the animals.

I've harvested mule deer in Alberta and Arizona. Just like the whitetail, Alberta's was better than Arizona. The available browse made the difference.

Makes sense in regards to their diet.

Tip me hat BOBO & txtrophy85, stand corrected.

Yet stand my ground with.



Edit: agree, diet does make differance in the taste.

We've had family places with axis and whitetail for decades.

The axis are a resource that need to be managed. Beautiful, great to eat, fun to hunt, year round hunting, etc. But you do need to make sure you don't let them overrun the whitetail (assuming you care about the whitetail, which we do).

Goats and sheep also compete with deer. You just have to manage the carrying capacity and the land and do so responsibly.

I disagree. if a person wants to hunt its still relatively cheap to hunt public land, although you may still have to make a drive. Like most things, better quality will cost you.


People havent had to hunt to survive for quite some time. This isn't the 1960's anymore and there are much, much more deer in Texas now than then. Places that never had deer during that time are now overrun with them.


Property taxes have steadily gone up, it costs money to run and operate a property, landowners cannot be blamed for selling/leasing hunting rights for money.

Every free range exotic in the state needs to die IMO. To many of them are getting into all areas of the state nowdays. Hunting is not and has never been a sport to me. It is as inexpensive or expensive as one want it to be, what/how you spend it on is your choice just the same as it is mine. What you choose is up to you so don't hate or troll on anyone who does it differently.