For Dr. Mike Arnold, the sight of an Axis deer brings back memories of India's forests, where he first encountered the species decades ago. In this personal account, he reflects on those early experiences before following a long-held ambition to hunt an Axis stag in Oklahoma. Along the way, he explores the remarkable qualities of this beautiful deer, the performance of Hornady Precision Hunter ammunition in the field and why some hunts stay with you long after the trigger is pulled.

The appearance of the beautifully-spotted coat brought back the sights and smells of the Indian subcontinent. The aroma of a masala cooked over a wood fire, the sounds of peacocks challenging each other for the attention of nearby peafowls and the alarm calls of Vanellus indicus, a.k.a. the Red-wattled Lapwing, supposedly sounding like a human calling out, “did-you-do-it?” The species of deer standing in front of me near Blanco, Oklahoma, Axis axis are native to India, Nepal, Bhutan and nearby countries. I first experienced these biological wonders decades earlier while Frances and I participated in a biological survey in the Indian State of Tamil Nadu, within the Mudumalai Tiger Preserve.

Though no tigers made an appearance during our stay, several elephants and a leopard did, as well as a herd of the exotic-looking Axis deer. Why were the deer strange to our eyes? For someone raised around whitetails, the presence of a beautifully spotted hide was always associated with tiny fawns. Here in the Mudumalai environs, the mature Axis stags and hinds browsing their way through the vegetation all carried a fawn-like color pattern. It took my breath away, and made me wish, not for the first time, that the Indian government would once again allow regulated hunting. However, the absence of such wise [conservation] use of biological treasures by the Indian government does not limit hunters who wish for an opportunity for harvesting a trophy Axis stag. Thanks to game ranching, particularly in the Southwestern United States, there are myriad settings available for the hopeful hunter. But, as I found out, it is still hunting, and this game animal is no pushover in its introduced range.

The Axis deer is a truly magnificent species, both in appearance, and as I would learn later, toughness. To quote from the International Union for Conservation of Nature: “Axis axis is a moderately large deer standing 88-97 centimeters [around three feet] at the shoulders. Weights can reach 66-113 kilograms [up to ~250 pounds] in males. It has a rufous brown coat covered with white spots on the abdomen, rump, throat, insides of legs and ears and underside of tail that persist throughout the life of the animal. A dark stripe runs down the back from the nape to the tip of the tail.” For trophy hunters like me, we focus often on secondary sexual traits, like antlers. In Axis deer only the stags carry these ornaments, with mature males always possessing antlers with three tines per side. Again, quoting from the IUCN, “the brow tine forms at near right angle with the beam and the front (or outer) tine of the terminal fork is much longer than the hind (or inner) tine.” You might think a simple 3x3 arrangement would be less striking than antlers in other species carrying more tines; I did not find that to be the case.

The rifle + ammunition combination chosen for my attempt at taking an Axis stag, standing three feet at the shoulder and weighing in the vicinity of 250-lbs was the Synthetic, Thumbhole-stocked, J.P. Sauer & Sohn 505 chambered in .308 Winchester. The rifle sent to me by Blaser USA was nicely compact, carrying a 20” barrel (OAL of 40”), a saddle-mounted Blaser B2 3-18x50iC riflescope, and tipping the scales at only 10.2 lbs. In a range test, I found that Hornady’s Precision Hunter ammunition tipped with 178-grain ELD-X bullets performed the best, out to 400-yards and more. This set-up would do well on my Axis hunt, but even though designed for game up to elk-sized animals, I still did not find myself over-gunned on the Axis. I’ll explain in a bit.

My long-dreamt-of hunt for an Axis stag, took place on one of Frances and my favorite properties, the Choctaw Hunting Lodge near Blanco, Oklahoma. Owned by the Choctaw Nation, the property is under the management of Dusty and Nacolh Vickrey. The Lodge’s land is a picturesque 21,000 acres of Cross Timbers ecosystems consisting of mixed oak-hickory forest, savannah and prairie. After unloading my rental car, I rolled my bags into the spacious room and quickly dressed in my winter camouflage coverings. Checking the sights on the Sauer 505 rifle detected the Hornady ELD-X bullets still marking the 100-yard target, where expected. Completing the sight-check, Dusty and I loaded into one of the long-suffering, 4WD buggies and headed into the depths of the properties acreage, and to the first of many stands I would occupy during my four-day hunt. That first night reminded me why Frances and I love this property. Breathing in the aromas, listening to the western wind, watching a herd of bison grazing in the distance, and finally staring in amazement as a blood red moon rose from behind the nearby trees, I felt like I was home again. The only off-key note was the lack of Axis sightings, but then I knew I had several more days, and many more stands in which to sit if necessary.

Though enjoying every one of my sessions in the Lodge’s stands overlooking ponds, planted fields, savannahs and woodlands, I came to the final afternoon still sans-Axis stag. Though I’d seen the spotted deer on previous days, they’d either been fleeting glimpses with no opportunity for trophy judgement, or groups of animals within easy range, but consisting of only young stags and hinds. As I settled into that final afternoon’s aerie, a stand some 15-feet off the ground, I realized the likely outcome of going back to my home in Georgia as an unaccompanied (by a trophy Axis) passenger. I knew I would be disappointed, but I also knew that, like the southern Indian forests and glades where I first watched this species, even without a stag, I would return home with many new, and rich, memories.

As the afternoon sun hit the top of the distant treeline, I spotted movement about 200-yards away at the edge of an oak-hickory woodland. Whitetail deer visited throughout the afternoon, leading me to assume their reappearance. My heartrate elevated when a rufus colored form covered in white spots came into focus through my binocular-rangefinder. Quickly glancing at the animal’s head, I saw that it was a hind. Though momentarily discouraged, I saw movement behind the female. The trailing animals (there were several) also carried spotted hides. I studied the animal following closely in the lead hind’s wake. I gulped when I spotted the arching antlers of a mature stag. In fact, because of his positioning right on the hinds tail, the six-pointed rack seemed to protrude from the female's head.

Once out of the forest, my rangefinder indicated that the animals stood at 190-yards. I knew the rifle and ammunition were capable of such a distance, but there was no clear shot with the stag still snuggled up to the hind’s rear end. His hormone swollen neck, the diameter of a five-gallon paint drum, indicated why he preferred to follow in the hind’s footsteps. Fortunately, the animals did not turn back into the forest but fed out further, and in my general direction. I placed the sights on the hind but kept my finger away from the trigger. As the animals maintained their slow meanderings the afternoon’s lengthening shadows reminded me that less than 30-minutes of shooting light remained.

Finally, when my rangefinder’s red numbers indicated a distance of 125-yards, the hind took a step to her left, leaving the trailing stag quartering slightly. With crosshairs settled on the point of the stag’s on-side shoulder I squeezed the 505’s trigger. At the roar of the .308, the Axis male rocked back and lifted his leg from the ground. I expected him to drop at the shot, so I was shocked when he made a three-legged dash disappearing into the nearby forest. I quickly climbed from the stand, trotting toward where I’d seen the stag enter the oak-hickory woodland. I found no blood there, or along the trail inside the treeline. I could feel the panic rising, thinking that I might lose my long-awaited trophy. My decision was to go back to where the stag stood when I fired and try and pick up a blood trail for tracking. I cut through a glade to reach the spot, nearly tripping over the fallen animal.

Before texting Dusty with the wonderful news, I knelt down, laid my hand on the stag's lovely coat and said a prayer of thanksgiving. I was a long way, in both time and space, from my first encounter with the Axis deer in the Mudumalai Tiger Preserve. But a person’s dreams of a hunt for such a trophy don’t tarnish even across such distances. Later I walked back along the trail taken by the stag in his final run. The distance was over 100-yards. He accomplished that with a wrecked shoulder, heart and lungs. This is what I meant earlier in not being over-gunned, with a rifle/ammunition combination designed for elk. Not only was the magnificent stag a worthy pursuit in terms of beauty, but also because of his incredible toughness and tenacity for life.

Mike Arnold is a professor in the Department of Genetics at the University of Georgia and author of the 2022 book, BRINGING BACK THE LIONS: International Hunters, Local Tribespeople, and the Miraculous Rescue of a Doomed Ecosystem in Mozambique. Mike’s newest book, BRINGING BACK THE WILD – Stories from Revitalized Ecosystems Around the World and How Sport Hunting Supports Them, appeared in June 2025. He is also the host of a podcast also titled, Bringing Back the Wild. You can find a description of Mike’s travels, talks, articles, podcasts, and books at mikearnoldoutdoors.com.