Who gets Buck fever? How often? How intense?

[Kevin2]

Just wondering what your buck fever experience is! Mine is definitely as intense as ever. Even with Does most of the time!

Might actually be more intense now with a bow versus a rifle. Get it both times, but perhaps the closeness and intensity with the bow makes it more extreme.

 

[MattMan81]

Hard to say. Last few bucks came in so fast I didn't have time to get worked up. I think the longer you watch the more anticipation gets in your head and makes it harder. Does take longer to come in, so they can get my blood flowing pretty good. If it's a little colder out it's worse. My buck fever is directional proportional to the size of the buck.

 

[Loopwing]

Every time my target is covered with crosshairs I get it. I was just following a doe through the woods for a shooting lane. Heart was pumping, had to control my breathing. Then I saw the spikes and he got a pass. If you don't get worked pulling the trigger, get a new hobby!

 

[DroptineKrazy]

I think buck fever is kinda like how some people pass out getting a simple shot in the arm. My son is like that, can't even watch someone get stuck. I laugh it off and tell him he's thinking about it too much lol. I've trained myself to think "it's just a friggin deer" and that has worked well for me. Also, I hate it when people say that when they stop getting all drove up they'll quit hunting. I absolutely live to hunt deer with my bow so much I use my bow 99% of the time even during firearm and ml season. I will never give it up until I'm pushing up daisies! That ain't saying I won't fall apart completely the next time a deer steps in front of me though. Buck fever is a strange curse lol.

 

[BuckTown]

I went for the “I get it,it’s no big deal.” I definitely experience it with doe or buck. Some shakes before the shot, but then calm down just before pull the trigger/release. Funny part is, I definitely blank out at the time of the shot (on bucks), can’t really recall the shot itself but usually pick up on the deer’s reaction from just after the shot. The reason I went with it’s no big deal, it’s never effected my shot placement or decision making on any of the deer. All the deer that I have missed have been from my error long before the deer show up (not noticing stray branches, not ranging where deer end up, gear failure or misuse, trying to make a shot in a tight spot, etc)

 

[bigmike23]

Used to horribly. The more I shot, the more it went away. Now I'm pretty rock solid

 

[rhagenw]

I get pretty pumped up regardless doe or buck. Rifle or bow. I've learned to channel that energy and become consumed with focus on making the kill. IMO hunting for me would lose the sporting aspect if I did not get excited.

 

[Tr33_n1nj@]

I plead the 5th. But I’ll say I’ve managed to not kill my fair share of deer due to extremely localized earthquakes.

 

[DelaWhere_Arrow]

I get the rush right after the shot or after letting my bow down. I have ice in my veins until I get my finger pad on the release then shoot or not, it’s curtains on my nervous system. Coytins, I tell ya!
Doe I shot last week was pretty chill until I released, then I nearabout fainted from adrenaline. I was drawn on a buck today, didn’t phase me until he walked away. Then the fall of my breakfast into my saddle happened.

 

[GCTerpfan]

I get the rush right after the shot or after letting my bow down. I have ice in my veins until I get my finger pad on the release then shoot or not, it’s curtains on my nervous system. Coytins, I tell ya!
Doe I shot last week was pretty chill until I released, then I nearabout fainted from adrenaline. I was drawn on a buck today, didn’t phase me until he walked away. Then the fall of my breakfast into my saddle happened.

Similar. I never get worked up until the deer leaves. Whether an arrow was released or not doesn’t matter. As soon as the encounter is over my legs start shaking.

 

[DelaWhere_Arrow]

Similar. I never get worked up until the deer leaves. With an arrow in it or not doesn’t matter. As soon as the encounter is over my legs start shaking.

I think I get it worse with does.

 

[philsanchez76]

I had just tallied up my total kills for the other thread and I’m at 45 kills in 5.5 hunting seasons (liberal doe limits here). I’d say for my first 3 seasons or 20 of the kills, the fever was nearly uncontrollable. And I definitely biffed some shots because of it (one on a REALLY big deer ouch). But almost accidentally I began to notice that if that deer didn’t present me a shot immediately and I had to sit there and patiently wait for it, I calmed down. So still as soon as I see brown or antlers my heart races, but I tell myself to “breath, aim, aim, aim, squeeze.” This has worked great for 2 seasons now. Still get the rush so to say, but I can actually execute steady shots consistently.

 

[woodsdog2]

When I decide to kill something, it’s like a switch goes off and my hesrt rate always increases no matter what but it’s controlled anymore. I think if I ever lose that, hunting won’t mean as much to me.

 

[Skunkworkx]

When you lose the fever, may be time to hang it up ?

Heart races, the shakes, but like someone else above said... calms down after a minute-ish. (feels like a lot longer)

 

[Crawdaddy4]

I get excited when bucks get close, more so than does. But I really get the increased heartrate / shakes after I shoot at one. That's when the fun begins and seconds turn into minutes, minutes into hours. Sitting in my stand waiting to go trail a deer feels like an eternity. I really have to reign in the intrusive thoughts to go chase after it immediately.

 

[tailgunner]

Not yet with deer ..i have a Vendetta...and the encounters happen so fast...with bull elk ...holly crap.
...i feel like they can hear my bolts rattling loose.

 

[Jagger0502]

I have this conversation with my buddy a lot. He gets it bad, like black out bad, I don’t get it at all until after I shoot. Time actually slows down for me, things get real calm and everything seems more fluent… but after…

Quick story, I climbed up in an old ladder stand, had a big buck come in, biggest I have ever shot. Calm as can be, I drew back, picked my spot and made a great shot. Buck ran off and crashed into the woods. Then, I heard what I thought was the farmer coming back on his side by side with chains in the back rattling as he drove thru the field. I looked around and didn’t see him coming and then looked down and saw the stand shaking so bad I thought it was going to come out from under me my legs were shaking so bad. Had to sit down and collect myself before I climbed down.

 

[Black Titan]

I'm 1 out of 2 so far with buck fever. First ever encounter with a deer while hunting, a small spike come in and I couldn't even draw. Didn't even try. I was frozen solid. I made a post about it. It was kinda scary how hard and fast my heart was going. Kinda worries me honestly with already having high BP and fast heart rate to begin with.

Second encounter with a deer while hunting, it was the buck of a lifetime. 10-12 point huge mature buck. He come in looking for a fight after I hit my grunt call. All puffed up, stomping through with authority. You could tell he is king of these woods. And like nothing, I suddenly found myself at full draw holding my anchor perfectly, riding my pin along his sweet spot the whole way. When I got him to stop, I missed him, not due to buck fever, but a misjudgement of range and aiming too high. I guessed 25ish yards and after he was gone and I ranged the tree he was behind, it was 18.8. I was aiming at the top of his back.

I suppose we will see what happens next time. Got another draw hunt next weekend thats a good producer of deer every year.

BT

 

[Kevin2]

I'm 1 out of 2 so far with buck fever. First ever encounter with a deer while hunting, a small spike come in and I couldn't even draw. Didn't even try. I was frozen solid. I made a post about it. It was kinda scary how hard and fast my heart was going. Kinda worries me honestly with already having high BP and fast heart rate to begin with.

Second encounter with a deer while hunting, it was the buck of a lifetime. 10-12 point huge mature buck. He come in looking for a fight after I hit my grunt call. All puffed up, stomping through with authority. You could tell he is king of these woods. And like nothing, I suddenly found myself at full draw holding my anchor perfectly, riding my pin along his sweet spot the whole way. When I got him to stop, I missed him, not due to buck fever, but a misjudgement of range and aiming too high. I guessed 25ish yards and after he was gone and I ranged the tree he was behind, it was 18.8. I was aiming at the top of his back.

I suppose we will see what happens next time. Got another draw hunt next weekend thats a good producer of deer every year.

BT

Awesome. Perhaps consider aiming center mass line, or even favoring aiming between that center mass line of the deer and the third mass line low to the bottom of the belly. That way, you hit the heart and/or bottom of the lungs, and if the deer drops, from the reaction to the arrow and/or shot, you still hit the top of the lungs. All of that hinges on if you have the proper yardage, of course! Good luck getting that deer down.

 

[DelaWhere_Arrow]

I'm 1 out of 2 so far with buck fever. First ever encounter with a deer while hunting, a small spike come in and I couldn't even draw. Didn't even try. I was frozen solid. I made a post about it. It was kinda scary how hard and fast my heart was going. Kinda worries me honestly with already having high BP and fast heart rate to begin with.

Second encounter with a deer while hunting, it was the buck of a lifetime. 10-12 point huge mature buck. He come in looking for a fight after I hit my grunt call. All puffed up, stomping through with authority. You could tell he is king of these woods. And like nothing, I suddenly found myself at full draw holding my anchor perfectly, riding my pin along his sweet spot the whole way. When I got him to stop, I missed him, not due to buck fever, but a misjudgement of range and aiming too high. I guessed 25ish yards and after he was gone and I ranged the tree he was behind, it was 18.8. I was aiming at the top of his back.

I suppose we will see what happens next time. Got another draw hunt next weekend thats a good producer of deer every year.

BT

Awesome. Perhaps consider aiming center mass line, or even favoring aiming between that center mass line of the deer and the third mass line low to the bottom of the belly. That way, you hit the heart and/or bottom of the lungs, and if the deer drops, from the reaction to the arrow and/or shot, you still hit the top of the lungs. All of that hinges on if you have the proper yardage, of course! Good luck getting that deer down.

dude I was trying to word the exact same reply. Good on you for doing a better job than I was. @Black Titan this is massively underrated advice. Lower third and slightly forward of the crease. Especially if you’re hunting from a tree, elevation raises your point of impact in my experience (meaning I shoot over at least one deer every year). GrowingDeerTV on YouTube has great videos on this, and always show the POI vs POA differences. Bowhunt or Die has also been incorporating this into their kill shots lately. It’s incredibly fascinating and can be incredibly frustrating but @Kevin2 is spot on and it’ll shorten your learning curve a whole bunch.