Lets be honest.

[Don Stenseth]

Have you ever gotten, or do you still get  "Buck Fever" I remember the first shot I had at a Doe I was scared to death and missed it clean. When I told the vetran hunters that I hunted with that I had missed they just shook their heads in disgust. I swear these guys could shoot the wings off of flys at 100yds. The next day I shot a Doe useing the same trail and redeemed myself in their eyes. This was back in the late 60's and you did not get many second chances.

[BigDog]

This isn't exactly a hunting story but when I was about 7 or 8 years old my Grandpa would take me spearing in the winter.  Well he figured i was finally old enough to start throwing the tines myself and I was doing a great job.  I think I started out 8 for 8 or something like that all on fish that were 2 to 3 pounds.  Well in comes this fish about 8 pounds or so and i take the spear and  throw it straight against the wall.  Not a word is said.  Finally i say to my grandpa "I think I just got buckshot."  Well that is the story of the first time that i got buck fever.  When I am out hunting and i see a deer any deer my heart starts pumping and i get butterflies.  When that stops happening I will stop hunting.

[Faceman]

My first deer was shot at 3 times because of buck fever. I heard him in the brush for about 2 hours and he finally came out it was the most beautiful 8 pointer I had ever seen. My heart was racing and my hands were trembling while I put the scope on him. I fired and hit the ground at his feet. He stood there looking at me like what was that. I fired again and took a little tuft of hair off his neck. He then jumped about 6 feet and still stood there. I lowered my rifle, took a deep breath, raised the rifle again, fired and got him square in the heart. It was a perfectly simmetrical 8 point and dressed out at 190 pounds. That was my first deer and it was 10 years after I started hunting deer. Most years never even seen any. Go several since then. Every once in awhile if I have to watch one slowly come into range or give me the perfect shot my heart starts racing big time. If it is a quick shot then I dont have a problem.

[Crazy4Outdoors]

I definitely still get buck fever!  I get all sweaty and shaky and I swear the deer can hear my heart pounding from a mile away.  I think I've posted this story before, but a few years ago my husband and buddies were making a drive; I was posted in a ground blind at the top of a hill but could see just about to the bottom of the hill.  I wasn't there but 15 minutes and I could see this huge buck with beautiful white tines moseying along at the bottom, but heading right up in my direction.  I swear to God he knew how badly I was shaking and he knew I had "buck fever" 'cuz he walked...slowly...up toward me and walked right in front of my ground blind, no more than 25 feet away!!!  I shot twice...and missed!  There's no way in he!! a person should miss one that close, but I did. Besides having "buck fever", I had another problem -- in my mind, I already had him hanging on the wall, right next to my husband's ... only mine was bigger!  Guess I better make the shot first; THEN hang him on the wall!     Same thing one year I was 8 mos. pregnant so my husband built a nice little blind just about 50 feet away from our back door; right against the wood line - we had been seeing a nice 8-pt. pass through every day.  Sure enough, opening morning out came the buck, stood there and looked down at me; I shot; he stood there; I shot again; he stood there.  I stood there and watched him as he walked away; I didn't deserve to get him!  I really just need to settle the heck down when I see those bucks comin' through!  I can shoot a doe from a pretty good distance - no problem.  Not the big bucks; biggest I've actually shot and killed is a 7-pt -- woo hoo.  But it's always fun!!!  And Yes, I do get a lot of crap about these little "incidents" at deer camp!!

[tripnchip]

LOL Don, I have things under good control before the shot after 50 years of hunting but what comes after the shot and know good hit has not changed. My dad was a one shot man but when us kids would miss and just smile and say, well there is a lot more room around a deer then there is with in the front shoulder. Yup even with dads strick training to make the first shot count the fever would get us kids and make us miss at at times. Just this year my grandson missed at 30-40 yards standing in the power line. The next day he droped a doe that he watched on the power line for a while waiting for the rite shot. It was a drope where it stood shot at around 250 yards. He said being able to watch the deer for a while waiting for the shot calmed him down. The first deer had run to the center of the powerline and stoped, he got the fever and rushed his shot in fear of the deer taking off again. Yup well bow hunting I still get a degree of the fever.

[Roosterslayer]

Oh yeah, I still shake like a leaf on a tree anytime i have a deer within close range. But now i have also learned to control my breathing and my nerves when its time to shoot.

[Super Star!]

GG,, where are you????




I would not say i get buck fever but the heart rate rises. Best feeling in the world... well maybe not.................

[GirlGuide]

Do I still get buck fever?      The honest answer to this is, YES, I get it and I get it BAD!!  I think it's starts about a week before opener~I get it in my sleep even!  Not only does my heart start pumping a hundred miles an hour...my leg's turn into noodles and my feet start thumping up and down just like a bunny rabbit.  It is insane!!  If I hear a deer a for a while before it makes it's presence, I am absolutely terrible.  It's even worse if I see the antlers first, I have a hard time calming myself down.  When this happened to me my very first year, I could NOT believe it.  I had heard a lot about it, but had never experienced it yet.  I try really hard to calm myself down, and I am getting better, a little, but I still do get it every year.

Now, if it's a quick shot, I have absolutely no problem.  I'm always dead on, and I have never missed with a quick shot and never had to take more than one shot. 

I never ever take shots that are far away, I'm just not comfortable with that yet.  So I think what my problem is, is that I wait too long, I wait until they are practically in my stand with me!  So I'm watching and waiting before actually shooting, so the buck fever just builds and builds until my heart is racing, my legs are noodles, and my feet are thumping....!

Great question Don! ....Bring on the BUCK FEVER!!

   GG

[Cody Gruchow]

YES, i do get buck fever even if its a doe, i start to shake a little, makes it terrible to shoot but ive learned to control my breathing, my first deer i shot was a small doe and i kept sayin in my head dont miss dont miss o please god dont miss, i took a deep breath let it out and BAM lol she only ran 10 yards before piling up i was the happyest person around, word of caution though dont move for awhile after you shoot lol i almost fell out of the stand my legs were shaking to badly

[HD]

I would have to say........nope, not really.....I do get an adrenlin (not sure of spelling) rush when a buck does not offer me the shot I would want.......But, that's not really buck fever. Maybe more of frustration than anything.



Hunter

[schwinger]

Without question I get buck fever big time and it doesn't have to be a buck.

Even if a deer comes through that I am certain I will not take a shot at I shake, heart gets pumping, can hardly stay in my stand. I honestly have a hard time taking a shot. Now that I have taken a few deer I am able to "control" it somewhat but it still is hard. I completely missed my first deer twice, and with the third shot (and by far the most difficult shot) hit him perfect. first was 50 yrds broadside, second maybe 75 yrds broadside, third was 100 or more with only the right shoulder area showing. I was so disgusted with myself that I finally calmed down by that 3rd shot.

I really have to wait now before shooting or shoot right away (if the shot is right). I either need time to calm down or shoot before I have time to think too much.