When does the fever hit you? (Buck fever)

[Nuts]

Different folks have different levels of excitement. For me it has evolved. As a youngster I lost my mind but managed to hold things together enough to take a good shot with (1) major flaw. I constantly rushed it. As I got older I got past that to some extent. I feel that shot rushing is a form of fever so to speak. The flip side is I was quite accurate in that rushed shot but it was still rushed. As time evolved and deer management progressed the initial excitement slowed as antler restrictions made you look longer. Eventually this lead to where I am now. Ice cold veins until after. Then my back throbs, heart pumps and I feel like I shake just a bit. But its after. I often have had to take deep breaths and make sure I am not getting tunnel vision. With a bow you can lose sight of twigs and other things.
I have sat with kids the last couple years and watched gun barrels shake. Its awesome. I was with a 10yr old when he shot his 1st deer last year. It took 4 tries to make a shot. He was losing it. I kept making him step away from the gun which was on a death grip. Deep breath. Take your time. Settle in. There is time. You want the deer on the far left. At the shot the smaller one next to the one on the left dropped. lol. We will work on left, center and right later. Good job. After the shot he was worse. Shaking uncontrollably. Something I will never forget.

So what has your fever experience and development been?
How did you deal with it? For me the biggest thing is once I determine I am going to shoot the animal I am no longer looking at horns and size. Completely block it out and focus on placement

 

[Sask hunter]

For rifle it’s after bow it’s before hand unfortunately

 

[Salmonchaser]

I’ve been packing a rifle with tags in my pocket for at least 58 years. Hunted from Alaska to Mexico, to the east as far as the Dakotas and even South Africa. Guided for quite a while as well. Had a lot of fun and have filled most of those tags. The day I don’t get all jacked up I’ll quit hunting. Shooting doesn’t seem to suffer but I’ll still occasionally miss a shot. Not sure it was fever related, but it happened.
PH last time in Africa was impressed with how excited I would get after the shot. Catherine just laughed “you should have seen him when he was young”

 

[Moserkr]

Haha so far Im the only one prior to the shot. But its not every buck bull or animal. Its only when I accidentally let it get into my head. Usually when its a big buck from a distance I will get the fever. But when stalking in close, which I prefer when still hunting, Im as calm as can be. Its never the same after the shot, Im excited, but no buck fever.

 

[gouch]

The first bear I ever shot, the bear came into view and my whole body started shaking uncontrollably. I shot anyway and the bear just stood there wondering what that sound was. Immediately after the shot the shaking stopped and I was steady as a rock and shot the bear.

That is the only time in my life that I have had anything like buck fever. I am normally a quiet person and don't talk much but after I shoot something, if there is someone around, I tend to start jabbering like a schoolgirl at a slumber party. That's about the extent of it.

 

[BobT1105]

Back when I was a pup I was a trigger yanking machine. Now I’m usually pretty composed. I shoot quickly but am much more accurate than I used to be. I get excited after the shot usually. I was on a managed hunt this past December, there was a 3 deer limit but only one buck, you had to kill 2 does and check them in before taking a buck. I had a group of 3 does come in and shot the first 2 within a few seconds of each other and then I videoed the third one for a few minutes before running it off. I never saw the buck

 

[brymoore]

My first deer hunt at 12 I had a big herd of deer move past me after being bumped in a field. Migration type fast walk.

I shook so much I couldn’t move the gun. I finally shook up the gun but couldn’t push the safety. It felt like forever but I’m sure it was only seconds. In a moment, everything came together and I got a shot off, then another, then a great level of grazing fire. My dad hadn’t showed me how to shoot slugs from a shotgun. They were getting a pheasant aim.

I’m not bad anymore. I obviously still get the adrenaline rush but I’ve learned to control it. Any deer fever is beforehand. Afterwards, it celebration or figure out a miss. Mostly celebrating.

 

[np307]

With deer its before because there's usually a period of waiting for the shot to present itself. With turkeys its after because there's so much going through my head trying to make the right decision on calling and waiting and so often the bird appears suddenly. But once he starts flopping and I go pick him up, I get the shakes way worse than any deer I've ever killed.

 

[Bulldog0156]

I'm stone cold unless hunting from a blind or tree stand. Then I get excited just to see a squirrel.

I'm not good at sitting still.

 

[Dsnow9]

I get amped every time. Doe, forky, biggest I’ve seen. Reaction is usually pretty similar. I have missed a FEW shots, complete whiffs, other than that all kill shots. I don’t know what it is, possibly the fact that the first deer I ever shot was an armpit shot, that deer ran for miles and I never could catch him or turn him up again. It’s taken a lot of shooting the last couple years to really hone it in. My biggest problem was I wouldn’t focus on the cross hairs when I really got excited. I still get amped and feel the blood rushing through my body when I see an animal, even if I’m not going to shoot it or don’t have a tag for it. I’ve just had to teach myself to focus on the crosshairs and accept the movement and excitement. And pull the trigger when I’m in the spot.

Listened to a podcast a while back with a sniper explaining the shot process and working with the movement not against it. I have become a much better shooter because of it.

Well that’s a lot of rambling to say I always get the fever, just focus on the foundation and work with it.

 

[BobT1105]

With deer its before because there's usually a period of waiting for the shot to present itself. With turkeys its after because there's so much going through my head trying to make the right decision on calling and waiting and so often the bird appears suddenly. But once he starts flopping and I go pick him up, I get the shakes way worse than any deer I've ever killed.

Them dang turkeys do me the same way, my hunting buddy has said several times that he didn’t know how I managed to kill a particular bird because my gun barrel was shaking so bad

 

[Wolfshead]

I love hunting.
I get excited to go hunting, and love, love, the season.
This year went by so quickly, and I really wanted at least a couple more weeks.
With that said, I’ve NEVER been “out of control”, before or after the shot.
When I got my deer this season, I was a little shaky afterwards, especially when I actually saw it, but to say I was “out of control”, no way.

 

[Rack Daniels]

With a rifle and elk, as soon as I realize they’re on public and this might really go down…. With a bow I don’t freak out til after pulling the release… too much focus on other things I think… stealth, breathing, ranging, drawing, stability. Too sequential and necessary. I’ve long told myself if I rifle hunted elk the same way I bowhunted them, I’d kill a lot more elk. Funny how that mental shift can take place when the weapon changes.

 

[Salmonchaser]

I still don’t sleep much the night before season opens, have never set an alarm clock through out the season and every one in camp is always pissed because I’m up early than needed. Coffee is ready and the tents are warm because I got everything going but they still bitch a little. Love hunting season.

 

[F250]

For me it’s after the shot. I have shot a LOT of big game animals. I’m 68. This past season I tagged three 8 point bucks and four does. I still get the shakes so bad even after a shooting a doe that I have wait a bit to fill out the tag !! If that feeling ever stops, I’ll quit hunting.

 

[stevejfarms]

Only bowhunting for me. Every time I’ve killed with a bow, I get a massive shot of adrenaline after the shot. Never with a rifle.