Maui Axis Deer Hunt - Trip report and guide rec

[StinkyPete]

Just got back from my Maui axis deer hunt and wanted to share a trip report and recommend the outfitter I used, Conservative Game Management (CGM). Before my first trip, I struggled to find many options on the forum, so I hope this helps someone else planning a trip. I ended up going with them because I know a few people who have hunted with him for pigs in CA and they were positive on the outfit.


I got back in last night from a weekend hunt in Maui for axis deer with a friend. The trip was sold to us as an eradication hunt with trophy potential, which meant we could bag multiple animals for one price, which was a major draw for us. Don’t get me wrong, we were hopeful for a trophy, but would have been happy with a bunch of meat to bring back. Big horns would be a bonus.


We landed around noon on Friday, grabbed supplies from Safeway, and settled into an Airbnb condo in Kihei until it was time to hunt that afternoon. That evening, we hunted on unused farmland, and within about 15 minutes, had bumped a few axis deer. An hour into the hunt, we found another group of about 30 deer, and my buddy took a doe at 150 yards. We saw more deer, but did not have any shots we thought we could make (seems like you get A LOT of chances at moving targets. If you can make that shot, you could probably clean up...I suck at those shots, so I didn't bother).


The next morning, we hiked through dense forest and I took a doe in a clearing. We saw a few more deer, but with the amount of cover there was, we couldn’t get any other rounds off.


The afternoon session on Saturday got nuts. Around 4pm, we spotted a group of eight deer about 400 yards away and used rock piles to get within 120 yards. My buddy and I unknowingly targeted the same doe, and dropped her with a headshot and double lung shot. As the herd fled, it kicked up more deer, and the group swelled to about 30 deer. We repeated our tactic, dropped two more deer, and the herd bailed again, kicking up more axis deer, which joined the herd.


Finally, this expanded herd settled around 1,500-2,000 yards away, now about 100 strong. We got within 350 yards to another rock pile and took down two nice bucks. The herd bailed again, and my buddy dropped a nice mid-sized buck with a parting shot. That afternoon, we ended up with 3 bucks and 3 does, with the biggest bucks measuring 30.5” and 29.75”. That evening portion of the hunt was absolutely nuts and I will never forget it.


Sunday morning, we hunted a new spot and bumped a monster buck, but he booked it out of there and we never had a decent shot. We didn't see anything else we had a real shot at, so we called it early and split to go spend the afternoon at the beach and pack.


The guide processed our animals into deboned cuts, vacuum-sealed and froze the meat for us. We wanted the hides tanned and skulls prepped for euro mounts, which they prepped and dropped off at the taxidermist for us. Early Monday morning, the guide brought us our frozen harvest and we transferred what turned out to be over 280 pounds of frozen meat into our coolers/insulated carry-ons and hit the airport. It was a process to get it all home through the airport, but totally worth it after trying the steaks last night.


Overall, it was a trip for the books. If possible, I may try to head back before the bucks shed their antlers. The location and quick duration of the hunt makes it super easy to plan so it is a tempting repeat trip.

 

[LIWolverine]

Outstanding!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[TxLite]

What’s the ballpark cost on a hunt like this? And are you borrowing a rifle from the guide or is this a BYOR type hunt?

 

[MuleyFever]

Did you pay $9k for this?

 

[StinkyPete]

@TxLite - We paid $5k each for the trip. It was supposed to be $6,500 per person, but we ended up getting a break on pricing because we had our own airbnb and paid for our own meals. As for the guns, we brought our own (my buddy brought a 6.5cm and I brought a 300wm. The 300wm was definitely overkill), but my guess is that he has rifles you can borrow. Not sure there.

@MuleyFever I just looked back at their site and saw the same pricing you took a screenshot of. I then got more confused since the description of the pricing is somewhat non-sensical (What's the difference between Axis Deer and First Hunter?), so I clicked on the "Learn More" button for the hunt and the pricing we were initially offered matches the description of the hunt near the bottom of that page.

 

[TxLite]

@TxLite - We paid $5k each for the trip. It was supposed to be $6,500 per person, but we ended up getting a break on pricing because we had our own airbnb and paid for our own meals. As for the guns, we brought our own (my buddy brought a 6.5cm and I brought a 300wm. The 300wm was definitely overkill), but my guess is that he has rifles you can borrow. Not sure there.

I would prefer to bring my own, I just know Hawaii is pretty goofy on some stuff.

 

[huntinfanatic]

Thanks for posting a write up/review of your hunt.
Ive been looking into doing axis hunt. Looks like a fun adventure.

 

[StinkyPete]

I would prefer to bring my own, I just know Hawaii is pretty goofy on some stuff.

Agree 100%

 

[MeatInTheFreezer]

Just got back from my Maui axis deer hunt and wanted to share a trip report and recommend the outfitter I used, Conservative Game Management (CGM). Before my first trip, I struggled to find many options on the forum, so I hope this helps someone else planning a trip. I ended up going with them because I know a few people who have hunted with him for pigs in CA and they were positive on the outfit.


I got back in last night from a weekend hunt in Maui for axis deer with a friend. The trip was sold to us as an eradication hunt with trophy potential, which meant we could bag multiple animals for one price, which was a major draw for us. Don’t get me wrong, we were hopeful for a trophy, but would have been happy with a bunch of meat to bring back. Big horns would be a bonus.


We landed around noon on Friday, grabbed supplies from Safeway, and settled into an Airbnb condo in Kihei until it was time to hunt that afternoon. That evening, we hunted on unused farmland, and within about 15 minutes, had bumped a few axis deer. An hour into the hunt, we found another group of about 30 deer, and my buddy took a doe at 150 yards. We saw more deer, but did not have any shots we thought we could make (seems like you get A LOT of chances at moving targets. If you can make that shot, you could probably clean up...I suck at those shots, so I didn't bother).


The next morning, we hiked through dense forest and I took a doe in a clearing. We saw a few more deer, but with the amount of cover there was, we couldn’t get any other rounds off.


The afternoon session on Saturday got nuts. Around 4pm, we spotted a group of eight deer about 400 yards away and used rock piles to get within 120 yards. My buddy and I unknowingly targeted the same doe, and dropped her with a headshot and double lung shot. As the herd fled, it kicked up more deer, and the group swelled to about 30 deer. We repeated our tactic, dropped two more deer, and the herd bailed again, kicking up more axis deer, which joined the herd.


Finally, this expanded herd settled around 1,500-2,000 yards away, now about 100 strong. We got within 350 yards to another rock pile and took down two nice bucks. The herd bailed again, and my buddy dropped a nice mid-sized buck with a parting shot. That afternoon, we ended up with 3 bucks and 3 does, with the biggest bucks measuring 30.5” and 29.75”. That evening portion of the hunt was absolutely nuts and I will never forget it.


Sunday morning, we hunted a new spot and bumped a monster buck, but he booked it out of there and we never had a decent shot. We didn't see anything else we had a real shot at, so we called it early and split to go spend the afternoon at the beach and pack.


The guide processed our animals into deboned cuts, vacuum-sealed and froze the meat for us. We wanted the hides tanned and skulls prepped for euro mounts, which they prepped and dropped off at the taxidermist for us. Early Monday morning, the guide brought us our frozen harvest and we transferred what turned out to be over 280 pounds of frozen meat into our coolers/insulated carry-ons and hit the airport. It was a process to get it all home through the airport, but totally worth it after trying the steaks last night.


Overall, it was a trip for the books. If possible, I may try to head back before the bucks shed their antlers. The location and quick duration of the hunt makes it super easy to plan so it is a tempting repeat trip.

Thanks for posting this. Axis deer meat is simply amazing.

A few questions;
1) Was the guide with you the whole time or could you do your own thing on the property allocated?
2) Was the guide telling you what to do the whole time or could you make your own decisions?

 

[StinkyPete]

Thanks for posting this. Axis deer meat is simply amazing.

A few questions;
1) Was the guide with you the whole time or could you do your own thing on the property allocated?
2) Was the guide telling you what to do the whole time or could you make your own decisions?

Hey -

1) Was more of a guide with you the whole time. I did do a few routes where they hung back and let me lead the way, but it definitely was not a “drop you off here and pick you up later” deal.

2) My guide was flexible. I was there to drop as many as I could, so I made that clear early, and he worked around that. I think a lot of that is probably just communicating your goals early on? As far as shooting/leading/stalking, they were definitely in the picture, but not pushy. More just gave some pointers and helped as needed.

 

[MeatInTheFreezer]

Hey -

1) Was more of a guide with you the whole time. I did do a few routes where they hung back and let me lead the way, but it definitely was not a “drop you off here and pick you up later” deal.

2) My guide was flexible. I was there to drop as many as I could, so I made that clear early, and he worked around that. I think a lot of that is probably just communicating your goals early on? As far as shooting/leading/stalking, they were definitely in the picture, but not pushy. More just gave some pointers and helped as needed.

Cool. Thanks

 

[Rotnguns]

Just got back from my Maui axis deer hunt and wanted to share a trip report and recommend the outfitter I used, Conservative Game Management (CGM). Before my first trip, I struggled to find many options on the forum, so I hope this helps someone else planning a trip. I ended up going with them because I know a few people who have hunted with him for pigs in CA and they were positive on the outfit.


I got back in last night from a weekend hunt in Maui for axis deer with a friend. The trip was sold to us as an eradication hunt with trophy potential, which meant we could bag multiple animals for one price, which was a major draw for us. Don’t get me wrong, we were hopeful for a trophy, but would have been happy with a bunch of meat to bring back. Big horns would be a bonus.


We landed around noon on Friday, grabbed supplies from Safeway, and settled into an Airbnb condo in Kihei until it was time to hunt that afternoon. That evening, we hunted on unused farmland, and within about 15 minutes, had bumped a few axis deer. An hour into the hunt, we found another group of about 30 deer, and my buddy took a doe at 150 yards. We saw more deer, but did not have any shots we thought we could make (seems like you get A LOT of chances at moving targets. If you can make that shot, you could probably clean up...I suck at those shots, so I didn't bother).


The next morning, we hiked through dense forest and I took a doe in a clearing. We saw a few more deer, but with the amount of cover there was, we couldn’t get any other rounds off.


The afternoon session on Saturday got nuts. Around 4pm, we spotted a group of eight deer about 400 yards away and used rock piles to get within 120 yards. My buddy and I unknowingly targeted the same doe, and dropped her with a headshot and double lung shot. As the herd fled, it kicked up more deer, and the group swelled to about 30 deer. We repeated our tactic, dropped two more deer, and the herd bailed again, kicking up more axis deer, which joined the herd.


Finally, this expanded herd settled around 1,500-2,000 yards away, now about 100 strong. We got within 350 yards to another rock pile and took down two nice bucks. The herd bailed again, and my buddy dropped a nice mid-sized buck with a parting shot. That afternoon, we ended up with 3 bucks and 3 does, with the biggest bucks measuring 30.5” and 29.75”. That evening portion of the hunt was absolutely nuts and I will never forget it.


Sunday morning, we hunted a new spot and bumped a monster buck, but he booked it out of there and we never had a decent shot. We didn't see anything else we had a real shot at, so we called it early and split to go spend the afternoon at the beach and pack.


The guide processed our animals into deboned cuts, vacuum-sealed and froze the meat for us. We wanted the hides tanned and skulls prepped for euro mounts, which they prepped and dropped off at the taxidermist for us. Early Monday morning, the guide brought us our frozen harvest and we transferred what turned out to be over 280 pounds of frozen meat into our coolers/insulated carry-ons and hit the airport. It was a process to get it all home through the airport, but totally worth it after trying the steaks last night.


Overall, it was a trip for the books. If possible, I may try to head back before the bucks shed their antlers. The location and quick duration of the hunt makes it super easy to plan so it is a tempting repeat trip.

Great adventure! Thanks for posting your experience and the pictures.

 

[Rotnguns]

@TxLite - We paid $5k each for the trip. It was supposed to be $6,500 per person, but we ended up getting a break on pricing because we had our own airbnb and paid for our own meals. As for the guns, we brought our own (my buddy brought a 6.5cm and I brought a 300wm. The 300wm was definitely overkill), but my guess is that he has rifles you can borrow. Not sure there.

@MuleyFever I just looked back at their site and saw the same pricing you took a screenshot of. I then got more confused since the description of the pricing is somewhat non-sensical (What's the difference between Axis Deer and First Hunter?), so I clicked on the "Learn More" button for the hunt and the pricing we were initially offered matches the description of the hunt near the bottom of that page.

I think the pricing on Muley's screenshot is consistent with what you paid. From my interpretation: Axis deer, $6500; first hunter, $2500, second hunter, $1000; split between two, $5000 each? Sounds like a great and unique experience, well worth the price.

 

[StinkyPete]

I think the pricing on Muley's screenshot is consistent with what you paid. From my interpretation: Axis deer, $6500; first hunter, $2500, second hunter, $1000; split between two, $5000 each? Sounds like a great and unique experience, well worth the price.

I think that’s right. Almost 6 months later and I’m still working through what I brought back, so I would say it’s worth it, haha.

 

[Jaegerr]

Do you think hunting these on public land is at all possible around there? I've heard most of them stick to private land.

 

[StinkyPete]

Do you think hunting these on public land is at all possible around there? I've heard most of them stick to private land.

Not sure, but FWIW I've heard some of the islands are much better for others in terms of success rates on public land, but have heard that Maui in particular is possible but really tough.

 

[Jaegerr]

Not sure, but FWIW I've heard some of the islands are much better for others in terms of success rates on public land, but have heard that Maui in particular is possible but really tough.

10-4, like you had mentioned not a terrible amount of info on axis deer hunts in Hawaii. I wanted to swing it as a combo vacation/hunt trip to kill two birds with one stone next year.

 

[hoyt-guy]

Congrats on a great hunt! Beautiful animals! Thanks for sharing.

 

[KHNC]

I had a hunt booked during coofid on Maui. Of course the outfitter just kept my money when the guvnah wouldnt let anyone into the country for almost 2 years. After that i just said forget it.