Show Notes
Beau Martonik sits down with Collin Heaps of MTN OPS to recap a bowhunt for axis deer in Hawaii. Collin has hunted this ground before; Beau hadn't, and figured his whitetail and mule deer experience would carry over. It did, but mostly didn't.
They cover what makes axis deer so much harder to approach than anything either of them hunts back home, a doe Beau recovered after e-scouting a saddle and getting busted the first try, a missed shot on a mature buck that looked different on the drone footage than it did in the moment, and Collin's own gut punch: a doe he was sure he'd killed that actually walked off, and the call he had to make to his three-year-old son to admit it.
Also covers: camp life with no AC and a wild dog running through camp at night, gear that held up in red clay and thorn brush, and Collin's line that stuck with Beau the most: don't chase butterflies.
Topics:
00:00:00 - Intro
00:02:23 — Collin's Background and How the Trip Came Together
00:06:22 — Camp Life in Hawaii
00:10:25 — What Makes Axis Deer So Hard to Hunt
00:23:36 — Stalking Axis vs. Mule Deer
00:30:41 — The East vs. West Competition
00:33:14 — Beau's Doe Stalk and Recovery
00:47:52 — The Buck Stalk and Missed Shot
00:53:25 — Collin's Humbling Loss
01:08:02 — Gear, Broadheads, and MTN OPS Picks
01:23:06 — Don't Chase Butterflies
01:28:39 — Closing and MTN OPS Discount Code - use code BEAU to save 20%
Resources:
Collin's IG: https://www.instagram.com/collinheaps/
MTN OPS Affiliate link - https://rstr.co/mtnops/10619
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