The Post on Accuracy Myths had me thinking on Buck Fever.

I think many folks have a different definitions of it. We are all right, there's no set definition on what Buck Fever is but, I just like to hear what you fellas define it to be.

I personally define it to be any nervousness while out hunting that has shook you up over a game animal whether it be before or after a shot or when no shot was taken at all.

I've got to confess, I get nervous and excited when I just hear the animals walking or even when I just see an old doe or small buck. It's not lack of experience heck I've killed many more than I care to count, just last year I probably took 15+ big game animals and I got plum nervous on every one of em'.

When I'm out Archery Hunting and I hear a deer walking in or I have to watch a Buck approach from a distance, I get plum shook up. My heart starts beating so hard I can literally hear it! Thats what I call Buck Fever! I Love it!!

Even when I'm out rifle hunting and a buck pops out at 200 yards or a doe pops out really close, I get excited. Hearing a Buck chase a doe or hearing two bucks fight really gets me stirred up.

I know that experience has taught me how to shoot while under this imense feeling but, when I quit getting it, It's going to be time for me to look for another hobby and it AINT happening anytime soon.


Do you fellas still get shook up and excited even though you've taken piles of game?

I know I can't be one of the only ones, Heck I've known some elderly gentlemen That have taken many many animals and they still got just as tickled as me when one showed up.

Reloader

I get that excited feeling everytime I spot game in the field! That's one of the things I enjoy about hunting so much.

I think getting excited about seeing game is an essential feature of loving to hunt.

I've seen some guuys really come unglued though, so there is evidently quite a range for the definition of "excited"...

I have a good friend who went on a cow elk hunt in Colorado last November. For a year we have been going out shooting at different ranges in different positions. He could hit a 6" gong 10 time in a row from a seated rest at 200 yards and was hitting the same gone 75% of the time at 400 yards. Since he would be hunting from a blind he had a self imposed limit of 250 yards.

During the hunt he missed 4 cow elk from a seated rest and the furthest one was 220 yards way.

Fjold,

I know a couple of fellas like that myself.

I guess it's just too hard for some folks to learn how to turn it off at the moment of truth.

I can pretty much shut it down when I commit to an opportunity but, after the shot the fever comes back bigger than ever. I love it.

Have a Good One,

Reloader

The day I stop getting "that feeling" is the day I quit hunting.

Luckily, I don't think I've gotten 'Buck Fever" that bad yet. So far I've always been able to focus on the shot at crunch time. But I sure do get the shakes of excitement after the shot.

I agree with youe description of the fever, except that I would add ... to the extent that it effects the ability to accurately place the crosshairs for several seconds and squeeze the trigger. I get excited all the time when hunting, just once that gave me the shakes so badly I couldn't shoot.

My first experience of buck fever was when I was about 13 and tried to shoot a ruffed grouse sitting in a tree about 20 feet away...took about 9 or 10 shots and then he flew away. I was totally unglued. I'm very much better now but the first of the season I still get jittery. After bow hunting a couple years I've learned to keep it cool and letting them walk away seems to make the biggest difference.

the chef

I'd pay big bucks for a video of my very first encounter with a couple of running whitetail does. My uncle and my grandfather said it sounded like I'd somehow found a machinegun between the truck and the engagement. Then my uncle whispered to me "If you only have an buck tag you should probably try not to shoot at the does." Oh, how I miss that man! Sadly I've grown a little cooler since then, but as others have said the day I stop getting excited when a nice whitetail comes into view is the day I give up the game. Good hunting!

So far we have only heard from hunters who know. They know how to control buck fever so it does not effect their aiming but they know of others who miss.

The discussion has not got to what to do to avoid it. It seems to be a secret?

I put "buck fever" as being way above just getting excited over seeing game. I have been shooting 25 years or so, but didn't do any real big game hunting until 6 years or so ago. I was a "knowledgable" reader of all manner of shooting/hunting fodder...a fine example of a book/internet learner that liked firearms and had shot quite a bit (range and gravel pit) but had never been tested in the field.

My first mule deer hunt has become legend On opening day morning my bud put me onto a nice buck. He says, hey John, there's a nice one, only about 100 yards, get ready, BREATHE, and shoot! 5 25-06 rounds later I couldn't believe my trophy was running away un touched. Mike was trying to be nice, but couldn't help remark on the display he had seen. Never had he seen bigger eyeballs (mine!) or a more distinctive muzzle "wavering" performance. I was humbled but determined to improve. The next day we were riding along and Mike called out "John, buck, get off your horse!". I dismounted smartly and ran to where Mike was standing, ready for action. He takes one look at me and kindly informs me I might want to bring my rifle along as well. Okay. I retrieve my rifle, go back to my bud, get into a shooting position and bear down on the quarry. Don't shoot! I hear. WTF?? Mike points out I was sighting onto a doe and not the buck far forward from my aim point. Holy crap, I can't tell the does from the bucks, and can't steady up on a buck anyway That first year I went home empty handed, and with good reason. But it was a good learning experience, and I learned book knowledge is not field experience. "Buck fever" overwhelmed me and I was not just a little nervous, I was a shaking fool.

The next year I got my first buck, but not without screwups and not without BF showing it's ugly head. But my first deer was a big step for me in becoming a hunter and becoming a better game shot.

I don't mind getting nervous and a little excited, hell, as most would say if you don't feel that you might as well take up knitting. But to me "buck fever" is the over the top nervousness that hampers/prevents you from getting the job done.

I believe that experience and confidence are the cures for "buck fever." As I have taken more animals my "BF" score goes down and I have a better time in the field. This past year I had a great time...a nice mulie amd a cow elk. Both good kills I am proud of and have become more confident in my field skills-much different than many years ago and no BF this year.

I love the challenge and rush of the hunt, and when that ends so will my hunting. The "buck fever" all encompassing nervousness can't quit shaking I can do without.

John

quote:

Originally posted by Reloader:
Partial quote:
Do you fellas still get shook up and excited even though you've taken piles of game?

I know I can't be one of the only ones, Heck I've known some elderly gentlemen That have taken many many animals and they still got just as tickled as me when one showed up.

Reloader

At the age of 64, I still get the adrenalin rush from seeing game. Usually, I am quite in control while shooting, and get the shakes, etc., after the shooting is over. A trophy whitetail or mule deer can reduce me to a blubbering idiot.
When this no longer happens, I will hang up my hunting clothes for the last time and sell my guns because hunting will no longer be what I want it to be.

I get buck fever when I look at Fjolts signature

I’ve never gotten buck fever, but my rifle has got a might excited on occasion…

On my first deer I thought I was going to have to put a saddle on my rifle as it was jumping around like a horse at a firecracker factory. After the thrid shot I finaly hit it.

Thought I’d grown out of it. But then last spring I had a bear come into a bait I was watching. I ended up passing on him but it wasn’t before putting lots of thought into it. After he left my legs started doing a little jig that I had no say in.

I hope I never loose all of it.

-Steve