So my wife and I have been stationed in Hawaii for over two years now. We went hunting last year on Lana'i for Axis Deer in which I shot a few but my wife was not as lucky....she missed a few. So fast forward to this year; we got drawn again. My wife was out for redemption this year. The day before we spent a little extra time shooting the .243 but we had her practice having to shoot fast. At a 100 yards she was hitting within 2 inches of a golf ball while rushing the shot so I knew she was ready. This past Saturday, April 6th we set out on the morning hunt. We got to our spot at 3:45 a.m. to beat all the other early birds to claim our spot and let things calm before starting the hunt. We knew the spot would be great as the morning winds played into our favor. We jumped about 10 deer immediately after walking 50 yards from the truck. It was still a little dark to shoot so we followed in the direction they ran. Then my wife caught a herd of Axis moving away from us at about 200 yards. I am a pretty aggressive hunter and so we ran after them with her right on my heels. We came over the ridge and there they were at about 70 yards. I had her hurry to get settled to shoot the big buck but she was taking a while so I got the buck in my sights. I pulled the trigger and for some reason my rifle did not fire; it put a dent in the primer when just the day before it was firing like a champ. I was puzzled but I think it happened for a reason. The Axis then walked over the next ridge; they had seen us but didn't smell us thankfully. After they disappeared out of sight we ran up to that ridge and once we came over the top they were just grazing. I could not be more proud of her as she had to hurry; shoot through a small lane at 130 yards and then a tough quartering away shot to boot and she made it look easy. She has her redemption. Now we will have to work on the Mouflon Sheep this year for her if we can get drawn two years in a row... here are her pictures....
