I ease down the steps of my Airstream trailer, trying not to make a peep. It's 5:50 a.m., and my wife and two hound dogs are sound asleep. It's early March, but the chill of February lingers in the dark morning. Rusty Workman, my father-in-law, is getting ready in the old rock house next to my trailer. He secures his fleece earmuffs as he closes the cabin's door. The 70-year-old structure is quaint and rustic with original shiplap walls that are peppered with photos of hunt camp pranks and harvests from decades past. There's no running water, except for the sink on a screened porch fed by a tank over the outhouse. I meet Rusty at my pickup and hand him the keys.

We are on a property outside of Menard, situated along the San Saba River. Rusty has shared this lease with his closest friends for decades. We are on the hunt for axis deer. Indigenous to India, the exotic cervids were brought to Texas in 1932 and kept on high-fence ranches for year-round hunting. There's an old saying about fences. If you can take a bucket of water and pour it through the wire, then a goat can likely get through it. Deer are just as cagey as goats. Axis and other exotics have escaped their high-fence compounds and currently roam unencumbered across the Hill Country.

The ranch we're on is not high-fenced, and Rusty shot the first axis on this place in 2012. When he invited me to harvest one for myself, I was game. I ride in the passenger seat as Rusty drives. Our headlights flicker across the leaves of a large live oak as two spotted creatures dart across the double-track road. “Grab your gun,” Rusty whispers with urgency. We jump out of the truck as the two large bucks disappear into the brush. Rusty drives me deeper into the property, stops and lets me out. “The rancher has seen them along that east/west fence line,” Rusty tells me. “Walk straight from the road until you hit that fence and follow it back and forth until you see one.” I jump out, shoulder my rifle and hurry towards the twilight.

Axis don't always eat from feeders; instead, you can hoof it into their habitat. I walk across the pasture through tall grass, weaving my way past groves of oaks and clumps of cedars. This is my second time to hunt on Rusty's lease, so I feel a little lost. I like it. A series of staccato chirps permeate the morning haze. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up. It sounds like a monkey barking. I knew axis had this unique vocalization, but hearing it as you blindly wander among them is unnerving. I keep walking until I find the barbed wire fence.

I've been chasing axis for nearly 20 years, but only in restaurants. I had my first taste at a fancy eatery in Dallas, and it changed my perception of venison. I prefer it to beef, and I've had the exotic protein at restaurants from Fredericksburg to Carmel, California. Most of the axis venison consumed in the United States is farm-raised and imported from New Zealand. The largest domestic producer is Broken Arrow Ranch in Ingram. The company harvests wild axis from ranches in the Hill Country and sells the meat in all 50 states.

I walk the fence line back and forth for an hour, as I methodically work my way toward the interior of the ranch. I hear more faint barks and spot that telltale spotted fur in the brush ahead. An axis buck looks like something out of a Dr. Seuss book. Their antlers are thick, and their beams grow long until they branch out. You would never mistake an axis for native deer. They are liberally covered in white spots. You do not need a tag to shoot an axis, but the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department does require a hunting license to hunt the exotics.

I know I'm close, so I take a seated position against the trunk of a live oak. I position my left leg in front of me to brace my rifle like a shooting stick. I settle in, and two large bucks emerge from a grove of trees. My heart is pounding. They look right at me, sensing something is amiss. I take aim, breathe deep and wait… One of the bucks ventures into my crosshairs, and I take the shot. He darts forward for a few feet and then collapses. I sit for a few seconds and center myself. It always takes me a moment to process the emotions.

I am nowhere near a ranch road, so I get a bearing of my location, take note of some landmarks and drop a pin on my phone's map. I do my best to walk a straight line to the double-track road where Rusty dropped me off. As I start down the road, Rusty drives up. “I heard your shot,” he says with anticipation. “You get one?” I nod. We follow the pin drop and, after some searching, locate my deer. We each grab an antler and begin the arduous, uphill journey to the pickup. Back at the rock house, we skin it, cut out the backstraps and tenderloins and then quarter it.

My first weekend home, I plan a meal with steaks cut from the backstrap. I pan-fry potatoes and make an arugula salad with peppers, onions and pistachios. I coat the steaks with peppercorns and a little salt and sear them to medium-rare. I'm excited as I cut my first piece. I take a bite and… The flavor is great, but it is tough. Over the span of the next year, every piece we ate from that animal was tough. I was surprised because all the axis I've consumed, both from restaurants and the one Rusty harvested, were very tender. I reached out to a chef friend, and he said that's just how it goes sometimes. It's a wild animal. You can do everything right, and it still turns out tough.

The memory of the pursuit and being immersed in that Hill Country pasture listening to their odd monkey barks made every chewy piece of that exotic deer worth it. I'll be back.

Herb-Crusted Axis Venison Filets with Horseradish Sauce

Recipe by Broken Arrow Ranch

This is a variation of the classic beef tenderloin recipe using axis venison instead.

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

• 3 to 5 pounds axis filets, loin or sirloin
• 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt, kosher, to taste
• 3 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 3 Tbsp cracked black peppercorns
• 2 Tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 2 Tbsp fresh thyme, finely chopped

Sauce

• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup prepared horseradish
• 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

Rub filets with olive oil and sprinkle a generous amount of salt. Rub filets with mustard, then mix pepper, rosemary and thyme and season meat with the herb mixture.

Cover or wrap the meat with plastic and allow to sit at room temperature for one hour. (Meat can be seasoned in advance and placed in the refrigerator - just pull meat from refrigerator one hour before cooking.)

Heat oven to 425 degrees or prepare a medium-hot grill. Roast/grill venison filets to rare or medium-rare. For rare, pull meat when internal temperature is 115-120 degrees, about 15-20 minutes total cooking time. For medium-rare, pull meat when internal temperature is 120-125 degrees, about 20-25 minutes total cooking time. Slice filets across the grain into quarter-inch medallions and serve with the horseradish sauce.

Sauce
Mix sour cream, mayonnaise, horseradish and mustard to create the sauce. Chill until ready to serve.

Broken Arrow Ranch in Ingram is one of the industry leaders in providing wild game meat to restaurants and the public.

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