Judith Peebles has enjoyed hunting all her life, so when she had the opportunity to go on a Texas trophy whitetail hunt, it was an easy decision. In a column last year, I recounted Judith’s success hunting boar in the Tennessee mountains. Well, she’s been at it again, only this time it turned out to be the hunt of a lifetime.
Judith answered an ad in an NRA magazine and sent in her deposit. She was selected for a Women on Target hunt. This organization, sponsored by the NRA, organizes hunting clinics, shooting tournaments, and women only hunts. They host a dozen or so hunts for pheasant, goose, deer, or bear at sights all over North America. A limited number of hunters are permitted on each trip and the group size varies depending on the quarry.
Judith headed for the K3 Ranch in Hunt, Texas, near San Antonio. She left behind her husband and favorite hunting partner, her son Ryan, with their blessings and full support. She flew into San Antonio the first weekend of last December.
“I had always hunted with my family, so this was something new. I had never hunted with other women before, so I was really looking forward to the experience.”
After arriving in San Antonio, she took the 2-hour drive to the 1500-acre hunting ranch. From the onset she felt a little out of her element with temperatures in the 80s and a Texas desert landscape far different than Indiana.
“There were nine women at the ranch from all different places. There was a writer from Buckmasters, a 69-year-old from Oregon, two ladies from Tennessee, and the rest were from Texas. They all varied in ability as well. There was even one who had learned to shoot a rifle for the first time two weeks before.”
Upon arrival at the ranch, Judith was greeted with some unfortunate news. Wildlife biologists closely monitor each hunting ranch, and as Judith put it, the biologists have the authority of a sheriff and the run of the entire place. Her ranch site had promised a trophy whitetail hunt, but after the local biologists had inspected the area, the ladies were informed that they were restricted to shooting one spike buck and a doe. The guides informed the ladies that they could still pursue a trophy animal, but it would have to be an exotic animal. Several exotic species of deer run wild throughout the Southwest. Escaping from ranches and quickly adapting to the dry temperate environment, these species flourish. “There were three of us that decided to hunt for an exotic trophy: Marla (the woman from Oregon), Dawn Samson (the writer from Buckmasters), and me. I could shoot a spike buck or a doe in Indiana, so why choose that?”
The Clay County native decided to try for an Axis deer because the meat is delicious, and the guides said that they are as wary and challenging as the whitetail. The Axis deer had been imported to Texas from India in the 1930s and flourished since. The Axis deer, also known as chital deer, are beautiful animals. Their coats are reddish with spots, and the antlers are tall. Unlike whitetail deer, they don’t have set travel routes which makes them impossible to pattern. Furthermore, the Texas whitetails come to feeders and can be hunted over them while the Axis shy away from the feeders. Judith had her work cut out for her.
“It didn’t really matter. I wasn’t there to hunt for trophy deer, I was there to hunt with other women and enjoy the experience. It was great. Each night we had a campfire and it was neat talking to these other ladies from all over the United States.”
Judith’s guide, Jay, took her out the first morning to an elevated box stand from where they could scan the area.
“I had a great guide; it was just like hunting with my son since Jay was about the same age.”
Armed with the same Winchester .243 she used when she hunted mule deer in Colorado as a girl with her father, Judith patiently watched as Jay told her to pass the first morning on an Axis deer that came within range. The second morning, the same thing happened. A nice stag came within range, but Jay shook his head.
“I knew to trust Jay. Marla had shot a very nice one, but he said there were bigger ones. I had no idea what was considered big and what wasn’t, so I just trusted my guide.”
The third day was cooler and more deer were moving than the previous two days. That afternoon, Jay and Judith picked a new elevated stand and watched trophy whitetail, sika deer, and a nice Axis in velvet pass by, but again, Jay said no. Around 5 p.m., he saw some movement in the brush with his binoculars and told Judith it may be a shooter. Tense moments passed as the deer got closer and closer. “As the buck got closer and closer, Jay’s face got brighter and brighter. All he would say was, ‘Oh my, oh my, oh my’.”
Judith readied her .243 when Jay told her that this one definitely was a shooter. The buck was at eighty yards when Judith brought up the rifle and sighted the deer in her scope. “Jay said, ‘Any time you’re ready,’ but I shot before he could finish the sentence.”
The buck took off running right toward them and went down twenty yards from her stand. “It was a beautiful deer, just beautiful, but Jay was more excited than I was. I didn’t realize what I’d done.”
Judith is having the trophy mounted and the beautiful hide tanned. The rack of the Axis deer is enormous stretching 32” from tip to skull. There is a 31” spread between the main beams, and the dressed weight was 180 pounds. Judith was told the rack would be in the top 3 percent of its class. The local taxidermist asked her, “So, are you coming back?”
Judith replied, “I don’t think I can do any better.”
“Nope … you couldn’t,” the taxidermist responded.
Judith summed up the experience best in her e-mail to me: “I was very fortunate to take such a nice animal. He will have a wonderful spot on my wall, overlooking the Indiana record buck I took in November 2000 when I was hunting with my dad. Each and every time I enter my family room I will be reminded of all the wonderful times I had hunting with my father and the absolute awesome experiences that he allowed me to have with him and still to this day by introducing me to the wonderful world of the outdoors.”
To learn more about the NRA’s Women on Target program, go to www.nrahq.org/women/wot.asp.
Jeff Gambill can be reached by email at sgambill@aol.com.
Sports
Valley Hunting: Peebles thrilled with hunt in Southwest
- Sports
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On the scoreboard: Terre Haute South's Justin Jenkins (6) celebrates the Braves' first run with teammate Jacob Johnson during the Braves' sectional game against North on Wednesday at South.
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North baseball pulls away from South in sectional opener
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Indiana State baseball now one win from MVC Championship
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West Vigo baseball advances with 10-0 win behind Stewart's two-hitter
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METRO ROUNDUP: Rose-Hulman's Evans honored as Great Lakes' top athlete
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Terre Haute's Mascari running 10,000 meters for chance to get to Hayward Field
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Big group of Wabash Valley boys head to Evansville looking for state berths
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West Vigo comes up short against 19-9 Brown County softball
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Valley baseball teams have been keeping busy heading into sectionals
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North baseball pulls away from South in sectional opener
- Local Interest
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METRO ROUNDUP: Rose-Hulman's Evans honored as Great Lakes' top athlete
Rose-Hulman senior Liz Evans earned her fifth career NCAA Division III Great Lakes Region Field Athlete of the Year honor, according to results released Wednesday by the U.S. Cross Country and Track and Field Coaches Association.
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Terry enjoys strong year with Wildcats, and still enjoying suiting up to play
South Vermillion’s Tim Terry is the longest tenured coach in Wabash Valley high school baseball as his Wildcats are set to begin sectional play Thursday against Owen Valley.
But on the Yankees, a 35-and-over team in the Terre Haute Men’s Senior Baseball League, Terry is “just a youngster” if you ask Larry Roesch, his 68-year-old teammate on the Volkers Group Yankees. -
Softball sectionals up for grabs
All three Vigo County high schools and Northview appear to have a realistic chance of winning sectional championships in softball this week.
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Indiana State baseball series canceled
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METRO ROUNDUP: Rose-Hulman baseball to play DePauw on Thursday after Tuesday's rain
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The start time remains 7 p.m. for the single nine-inning game that was originally scheduled for today. Tuesday’s scheduled Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference game at Anderson was moved to Sunday because of rain.
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METRO ROUNDUP: Rose-Hulman's Evans honored as Great Lakes' top athlete
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North baseball pulls away from South in sectional opener
In high school baseball little things mean a lot, and the crack in the door doesn’t have to be open very wide.
Terre Haute North burst through that crack in the bottom of the second inning Wednesday evening at Terre Haute South, scoring seven two-out runs — all unearned — and going on to a surprisingly easy 12-2 victory over the host Braves in Class 4A sectional action. - Blank, Mundy named McMillan Award winners
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- College
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Indiana State baseball now one win from MVC Championship
Indiana State’s Wednesday morning wish list probably read something like this: a dominant complete game effort from starting pitcher Devin Moore, near-immaculate defense to support him, and a steady diet of clutch situational hitting from lineup spots one to nine.
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Terre Haute's Mascari running 10,000 meters for chance to get to Hayward Field
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Manaea's shoulder causing him latest pain
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ISU's Negele answers call in big way in wake of Manaea injury
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ISU baseball hoping Manaea can get its MVC Tournament moving in right direction
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Indiana State baseball now one win from MVC Championship
- Sports Columns
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TRACKSIDE: Local drivers, owners looking to have strong night at Tony Hulman Classic
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TRACKSIDE: Local drivers, owners looking to have strong night at Tony Hulman Classic
- Pro Sports
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Colts hoping for more high marks on draft picks
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Colts hoping for more high marks on draft picks
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Consultation: Rex manager Brian Dorsett talks with his pitcher and players during a time-out Sunday, July 15, at Sycamore Field. (Tribune-Star file/Bob Poynter)
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2012 an up, down season for Rex
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2012 an up, down season for Rex
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Colts' coordinators enjoying getting rookies acclimated
While the Indianapolis Colts put their rookies and a handful of second-year players through workouts this weekend at the team’s Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center, a pair of first-year coordinators are getting a chance to do some valuable on-field work as well.
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Colts' coordinators enjoying getting rookies acclimated
- Auto Racing
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TRACKSIDE: Local drivers, owners looking to have strong night at Tony Hulman Classic
In its rich 43-year history, the Tony Hulman Sprint Car Classic has long carried on a strong local racing tradition.
From its early beginnings starting in 1971, the U.S. Auto Club-sanctioned event has been the annual centerpiece of the racing calendar at the Terre Haute Action Track as well as a key stop on the USAC sprint schedule and one of the most sought after wins in big league sprint-car racing. - Carpenter arrives as Indy 500 threat
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TRACKSIDE: Local drivers, owners looking to have strong night at Tony Hulman Classic
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