I’ll follow up with a write up over the coming days, but I had an amazing experience hunting axis deer with my bow on a recent trip to Maui.
My family and I started planning a trip to Maui late last year. Flights and accommodations were booked and family plans were made. Separately, ahead of all this, I had spent a considerable amount of time and energy researching the logistics of hunting in Hawaii/USA as a non-resident and was planning on doing a DIY hunt on public land for feral goat and pig.
I slept on the plans, time slipped away, and soon it seemed unlikely or maybe even impossible. With two weeks to go, I looked at the plans with a renewed interest and assessed that there was one main hurdle - Hawaii requires non-residents to prove completion of a hunter safety course - simple enough, but I completed my CORE 20 years ago and have since lost my original certificate. Feeling resigned that this hunt wasn't meant to be, I explained the situation to my wife. Without skipping a beat, she grabbed her phone and quickly found how to get a replacement from BCWF. I was still skeptical that I would be able to pull plans together, but BCWF was quick to respond and had my replacement certificate emailed to me within hours of contacting them - the first sign that stars were aligning. The Hawaiian Division of Forests and Wildlife accepted my proof of hunter education within 12 hours of submission - the second sign that stars were aligning.
Finally, I got the notion to reach out to the few outfitters on the island to see if any had last minute availability for an axis doe hunt. Two of three responded immediately, one with a positive response and dates that worked perfectly for my schedule - I brought the idea of a guided hunt up to my wife and, she agreed that it was a great idea - the final sign.
Fast forward to our departure date, our carry-on bags were packed (binos and rangefinder were packed in our carry-on - I strongly recommend this to anyone flying for a hunt), my bow case was checked (cams secured to the limbs with zip-ties and clothing packed in the case as padding), and our flight to Maui -with a 16 month old in tow- went off without a hitch.
There were two full days of family time before my hunt dates, we spent our time at the beach and visited the aquarium. Meanwhile the anticipation of my hunt was building for me (my first guided hunt, mind you), and even my wife was admitted that she was getting stoked for me too. The guide phoned me the morning before the hunt and explained the area that we'd be hunting and advised that he would be at our hotel at 04h50 to pick me up.
I slept on the couch that night so that I could slip away without waking up the rest of the family.
Pick-up time rolled around quickly, I met the guide in the parking lot and we were to the hunting area in very short order. He explained that we'd be hunting 4000 acres, that the deer were very abundant, and that we'd be riding in a side-by-side over the roughest parts of the road and stalking in on foot from there.
Under cover of dawn, we slowly made our way up the road and it wasn't long until we spotted our first group of deer - two does and a buck. We'd only traveled 400m from the truck and I'll admit, I was a bit disappointed at the idea that the hunt could be over so quickly. Thankfully, the doe gave a bark and the group spooked off. The guide explained that there was a junction ahead that the deer would likely be crossing at, so we set off on foot to try and set up for a shot opportunity - I left my pack in the side-by-side, which would turn out to be dumb. The deer where in fact crossing right where the guide said they would be, but many more than the three we had seen. We stalked up the side of the road and got to within 60m, but had no good shot opportunities and soon the deer spooked. This time, the forest erupted and no less than 50 deer scattered all around us - a surreal experience for someone who's used to seeing a few deer here and there.
We continued on foot, gaining elevation slowly, and stalked in on several more groups. Eventually, the guide led us off the road and into the woods, we began gaining elevation much more quickly. The forest was relatively open, with no deadfall, a welcome change from my usual haunts. After some time, the guide picked up another group of deer that were feeding up the opposite side of the ridge that we were on - we got set up for an ambush and waited for the deer to make their way to us. There was one doe in the group that was worth taking, unfortunately, she fed wide of us and offered no shot opportunity. We bumped her out as we made our way father up and over to another ridge, all the while keeping the wind at our face. Soon, we set eyes on a massive group of deer, at least 100 animals, all feeding their way uphill on the face of the ridge opposite to us. The closest deer was 60m away and the wind was blowing, hard. Looking up ridge, we came up with a plan to climb and get ahead of the deer.
When we re-emerged, there were some deer milling about, and some bedded, none seemed motivated to go anywhere else having made their way into a thick cover of hale koa trees. Again, though, the closest was 60m away - beyond my comfort zone, even under good conditions. The deer seemed unaware of, or at least, unbothered by our presence. I suggested to my guide that I could drop back down the ridge, down and out of view from the deer, and re-emerge at a spot with a bushy tree between the deer and I. He agreed that the plan could work and sent me on my way, seemingly confident in my ability to select an appropriate target. So, I snuck down, out of sight from the deer, sidehilled my way along, and popped my head over the ridge. Somehow, I'd managed to come out right where I needed to be. I covered the distance to the brushy tree quickly and began working my way closer to the deer, slowly, and conscious of just how many eyes there were peeking out from the opposite hillside. Progress would have been slow, regardless, but it was even more so because I had worked my way smack dab into the a thicket of prickle bushes that seemed to grab at my shirt and pants. Thank goodness for the constant wind covering my approach or I for sure would have been busted. I fixated on a pair of does that were bedded with an opening that I figured would be big enough to sneak an arrow through and began to close the distance - eventually getting to 45m. Suddenly, I became aware of another doe, one that I had somehow missed seeing before, she was bedded at 35m and staring. right. at. me. I was busted. My guide's words about standing still rang in my head and I froze. After a short time, it seemed to have worked. The doe went back to doing her thing. Miraculously, for her, she had a thick tree trunk between me and her vitals, so I needed to move slightly either left, or right to get a shot. I slowly shifted my feet to the right, followed by my hips, and then my upper body. I slowly settled my lower cam on my thigh preparing to draw back and... the deer all simultaneously took off. Ironically, the doe that I was intending to shoot hadn't been the one to lead the charge, but that didn't matter, they were all gone, or so it seemed.
Shaking my head over the blown stalk and feeling a bit deflated, I stopped, looked around, and spotted a small group of deer still bedded farther up the hill. Another plan formed in my head, and I began a renewed stalk along the edge of the prickle thicket and the hale koa trees. Soon though, I found myself 'cliffed out' with a 20ft drop into the gulch that lay between me and the deer and, in trying to pick my way along the edge, I dislodged some rocks and, once again, sent the deer off their beds and into the next drainage.
The guide and I re-convened on his side of the prickle thicket and he expressed surprise at how close I had gotten and at how willing I was to push things physically. The majority of his clientele being used to hunting axis in Texas would bemoan straying far from the side-by-side, let alone solo stalking through dense prickles, all for an opportunity at a doe. I was all to happy to do it - it was barely 8am and I'd already had more stalks in to bow range in one day than I typically get in a year at home in B.C.!
The sun was beating down on us and I voiced my lack of water to the guide, he smiled and said "I wondered when you'd bring that up" - he offered that I could have some of his, but I declined knowing that we weren't really all that far from the side-by-side. We picked our way back down the hill and along the way we came up with a plan to hunt another valley close to where we'd started our first stalk of the morning. When I got back to my pack, I downed 500mL of water like it was a shot of tequila at a frat party - it's funny how, even though we'd only covered 2.5km round trip with 300m of elevation gain, the combination of being out of shape and the beating sun had me feeling very humbled.
We set out to a nearby vantage with a view of the adjacent valley and soon we were looking at two new groups of deer, all were bedded in some trees on the flats at the mouth of a valley. We marked their location on OnX and made our way down-wind of them. We hoped that we'd be able to stalk in on either of the two groups without spooking the other off. Picking our way up a dry creek bed, we made it close to where we thought one of the groups was...
Last edited by Livewire322; 05-27-2025 at 01:40 PM.
.... and peeked over the edge of the drainage - the deer were right there. Thankfully, the terrain allowed us to emerge from the creek bed and set up for a shot there was one doe at a mere 10m, but she had two bucks on the other side of her and I was not about to risk over-penetrating or missing and hitting something else. Sadly, no shot opportunity would come of this sit, but we did get to watch the two bucks duke it out - the commotion eventually startled some does at the fringe of the group and they all took off.
Once again, we set off in search of deer. This time, they had moved off of their beds and go the drop on us at 100m. The valley was blown out, so we made our way out to the side-by-side, then to the truck, and then to a well deserved lunch.
The guide explained that we'd be spending the time after lunch hunting the opposite end of the property. We visited a local food spot - busy with workers from a nearby construction site, I knew it would be good, cheap, or both. I was not disappointed - a half order of "Hamburger steak, with corn" was more than enough for me - I'm always amazed at the portion sizes those Americans eat.
After lunch, we piled back into the truck, returned to the guide's home base, and set out for some nearby fields and thickets. A quick rip on the side-by-side and we were back to the hunt. Again, within minutes, we were onto more deer, but we bypassed them in hopes of finding a more approachable group. We worked our way into the timber and slowly started gaining elevation - there was a large 600m quarry to our right that was, evidentially, long abandoned as it was overgrown with trees. Again, there were two groups of deer bedded in the centre, and again, we made a plan for a stalk - this one was over even more quickly than the last. There was little cover for a stalk in the quarry bottom and the deer spotted us and took off. Making for the side-by-side, we spooked some more deer.
About then, doubt started to creep in. I was beginning to get worried - I only had two days to bag a deer and the first day was, thus far, proving to be very challenging. I wondered if I had flown my bow half way across the pacific and burned a good bit of money just to wind up tired, thirsty, and missing my family. I resolved to stay patient and persevere, but the nagging doubt was never far from mind.
The rest of the day was very similar to the start. Stalk in on deer, get hung up at 60m with very little to no shot openings, get busted by the deer. Rinse. Repeat. At one point, my guide noticed a raghorn with bad genetics, and said I could shoot it instead of a doe if I wanted to. Happy for the opportunity, I tried to stalk in on it, but again, was rebuffed.
With 3 hours of daylight left, it began to rain - it was as if the gods themselves were laughing at me. We tried switching to sitting, rather than spot and stalk, but the deer always seemed to come out just out of range. It seemed as though no matter what we did, we were just never in the right spot at the right time and soon it was dark.
We made out way out of the woods, back to the side-by-side, back to the truck, and back to my hotel. With a plan to meet back in the parking lot at the same time the next morning. As I was getting out of the truck, I mentioned to the guide that, if it was still on offer, I'd like him to bring a rifle tomorrow, and that if I couldn't make it happen with a bow by 10am, I'd take up the rifle and try to kill a deer with it instead. He smiled, nodded in confirmation, and we parted ways.
All told, we covered 14.8km that day. To say I was exhausted would be an gross understatement. I had gotten home just in time to put my son to bed. I slammed back some grub, regaled my wife and in-laws with tales of the day, and was soon asleep myself.
My brain didn't let me sleep long - I was wide awake at 03h30, but, unfortunately, I was stuck on the couch for fear of making too much noise and disturbing the others. Thoughts of the previous day crept in and I was visited by the same doubts that had plagued me the afternoon prior, this time, though, there was no distraction of stalking deer to keep me occupied. I lay there, stewing in my thoughts until the time to rise came around. I gathered my gear, laced up my boots, and went out to meet the guide - again, determined to make the best of the opportunity that I had worked so hard to get, determined to perservear and complete the hunt with my bow, even if it meant not taking home a deer.
We set out from the same spot, and bumped deer in the sample place we had the day prior. This time, there were deer on both sides of the road. I waited for an opportunity to advance and did so, quietly picking my way along in a low crawl. I got to 70m, then 60m, then, at 50m, while I was trying to cross to more cover, I was pinned by the gaze of a wary doe. I froze. She did her show of trying to trick me into moving, but I stayed put in the middle of that dirt road. After what seemed like an eternity, she fed off and I was able to move again. Now, I was within 40m of the doe that had just concluded it's staring contest with me. I positioned myself, kneeling, drew back my bow, and rose to my feet. I settled my pin on its shoulder, and she moved. Another doe had crossed the road close to her, evidently too close for her comfort. There I stood, with my bow at full draw, concious, once again, of the number of eyeballs on me and I heard that dreaded bark. There was a flurry of movement at my periphory - a nice doe at 35m. I brought my bow about, settled my pin, leveled my sight, noticed the three strand barbed wire fence between me and her, figured that it would be fine, and slowly squeezed my relese. The arrow took flight and that barbed wire fence made a noise - evidentally, it wasn't fine.
The doe lurched forward at the sound, be it the sound of my shot, or the sound of the arrow hitting the barbed wire strand between me and her - which it was I will never know. But the arrow hit her, back, farther back than I ever want to send an arrow, and dust flew up behind her. I waved to the guide and he joined me. Deflated at the very real prospects of having wounded a deer and feeling that my ego had clouded my judgement, we made our way to where the doe had been. My arrow was resting against some rocks nearby, covered in stomach matter and dark red liver blood. I was so busy feeling sorry for the doe, I didn't notice that she was folded up, deader than a doornail less than 20m from where she'd been shot. The guide pointed her out to me and deflation turned to elation - I had managed to kill a beautiful axis doe, with my bow.
Any illusions I had about being skilled at skinning and quartering were quickly dispelled while I watched the guide make quick work of the doe. She was loaded into the side by side by 06h30, less than an hour from when she fell.
Being the awesome chap that he is, the guide pointed out that he needed some meat for his own freezer and asked how I would feel about getting my doe on ice and heading back out... "does the pope wear a funny hat?"
We spent the rest of the morning out stalking in on deer, a mix of rifle and bow, as the approached allowed. At one point, I was lined up on another mature doe, but she had a group of deer feeding around her and, again, I wasn't comfortable risking shooting something unintended, so she walked off. We retuned to base, transfered my doe from the cooler to the walk-in fridge, and once again, the guide asked if I wanted to keep hunting - this time for pigs. So, once again, we set off. A few failed stalks on deer led us back to the side-by-side. We traveled down one last dead-end road and, just before the end, he nudged me and said "get out and shoot that pig"
and so I did! The arrow found it's mark, entering at the last rib and exiting through the offside shoulder. A few staggered steps later, and the pig dropped dead.
All that and the guide still had me returned home in time for a round of mini-golf with the family!
Last edited by Livewire322; 05-27-2025 at 03:49 PM.
The next day, I went to Safeway to pick up a cooler for our flight home and some veggies and shrimp - I'd taken the tenderloins and heart from the doe and the backstraps and tenderloins from the pig and was determined to make a surf and turf meal for my family.
The resort we were staying at had a BBQ area. Unfortunately, it would turn out to be the cook out from hell - the wind howled constantly, blowing the grill out whenever I lifted the lid, and stripping away any heat that built up. I was bound and determined to make it work. Not the recipe for success. The veggies ended up undercooked, and the pig, which would have benefitted from a low and slow approach, was tougher than boot leather. The only redeeming aspect was that the shrimp and deer tenderloins were cooked to perfection and the heart, although lacking in seasoning, was great.
I picked up the meat and hide from the guide the day of our flight home. It and the two ice-packs I bought barely fit into the 30quart cooler. I had to sit on the lid and duct tape it shut.
The flight home also went off without a hitch, thankfully. CBSA had a few questions for me about the meat and hide, but were relatively unfazed by it and let me go on my way without much fuss.
I'm not sure what the logistics of brining home antlers/skull would have been, which is one factor that played into my choice to do a doe hunt.
All in all, I am very glad for the opportunity and would highly recommend hunting on Maui to anyone. A rifle hunt would all but ensure you're return home with meat, and would likely make for an exceptionally short hunt - to say it is a target rich environment would be the understatement of the year. The deer are invasive, and prolific, so there are no qualms about shooting does there. I had more opportunities on bucks than I did on does and some were exceptional!
With a bow, it's a surefire way to get a year's worth of stalking experience packed in to two days!
My confidence in Sevr broadheads has been greatly boosted coming out of this trip. Any doubts I had about running mechanical broadheads have been cast aside - anything that can deal death as efficiently as they did for me has a place in my quiver.
Last edited by Livewire322; 05-27-2025 at 03:51 PM.
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Originally Posted by srupp
Re: Axis Deer - Maui 2025
