soundwaves
Well-Known Member
Whats you guys explanation of Buck fever ? explane it in your own ways 
Buck fever ??
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dmj
Well-Known Member
Get excited. Don't focus. Don't do the basics, focus on a specific spot on your intended target, breath correct, squeeze trigger, etc. To me it's just plain a colaspse of your basic shooting skills do to excitement. As a matter of fact I've seen a couple situations where they just cycled the ammo threw the rifle and never even fired, but they were convienced they fired.
soundwaves
Well-Known Member
dmj
Well-Known Member
Guess we are thinking of diferent things when we speak of buck fever. Sorry, I posted without knowing what you were after. Have a nice day.
ShtrRdy
Well-Known Member
The worst buck fever story I ever heard was a guy who cycled the rounds through his Winchester model 94 never firing a shot. Now that's getting excited.
CWD? If not how about this past November helping a friend on a once in a lifetime Az Strip mule deer hunt and watching him fight nerves and the shakes while missing three different 195"+ bucks. We spotted another two 195ish and a couple over 200. He finally connected on a 170 buck at 5PM the last day. Ya, buck fever!
This is what he missed. Same Unit in 2015.
This is what he missed. Same Unit in 2015.
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I took a new hunter with me this year for deer. After I filled my tag I spent the last day with him, putting him on 3 different bucks. He had decided that morning on the walk in that he wanted to fill his tag, even if it was a meat deer.
Opertunity 1: Saw a small forky just at daybreak, and he second guessed his decision to fill his tag. He never even shouldered his gun, but I can understand this one. A minute late he decided he wanted the deer, but he had moved on and we never saw him again.
Opertunity 2: After looking for the first deer, we stepped into a clearing and spotted 4 deer stepping out of the brush on the opposite side of the clearing. The last deer was a good mature 4x4. I dropped down so he could shoot off my shoulder while I called out the yardage. 200 yards, just had to wait for a doe to clear. The deer had spotted us and were nervous, but didn't spook. As they turned to move off he had a perfect window to take the buck broadside but never pulled the trigger. We tried to make a move on them but didn't get another shot.
Opertunity 3: Now he was really down. We only had a little time left before we had to go break camp, but we moved back up on a ridge where we could glass for a few minutes. After about 10 minutes I spotted a nice larger forky about 600 yards out. Obviously too far out for him, but he was moving in a direction that we could cut him off. We moved across the top of the ridge watching him move in the same direction. We found a spot where he would cross a small clearing about 225 yards out and my buddy got down on a log for a solid rest. The deer stopped broadside and I called out 230 yards. He fired and missed, no visible impact and the deer didn't move. He cycled a second round and fired again with the same result. The deer calmly walked off.
Man I don't know how to describe how down he was, and especially being the last morning. We had waited 3 years for tags, and he blew 3 chances... Needless to say he now knows he needs to work on his skills and hopefully he'll be more confident next time!
Opertunity 1: Saw a small forky just at daybreak, and he second guessed his decision to fill his tag. He never even shouldered his gun, but I can understand this one. A minute late he decided he wanted the deer, but he had moved on and we never saw him again.
Opertunity 2: After looking for the first deer, we stepped into a clearing and spotted 4 deer stepping out of the brush on the opposite side of the clearing. The last deer was a good mature 4x4. I dropped down so he could shoot off my shoulder while I called out the yardage. 200 yards, just had to wait for a doe to clear. The deer had spotted us and were nervous, but didn't spook. As they turned to move off he had a perfect window to take the buck broadside but never pulled the trigger. We tried to make a move on them but didn't get another shot.
Opertunity 3: Now he was really down. We only had a little time left before we had to go break camp, but we moved back up on a ridge where we could glass for a few minutes. After about 10 minutes I spotted a nice larger forky about 600 yards out. Obviously too far out for him, but he was moving in a direction that we could cut him off. We moved across the top of the ridge watching him move in the same direction. We found a spot where he would cross a small clearing about 225 yards out and my buddy got down on a log for a solid rest. The deer stopped broadside and I called out 230 yards. He fired and missed, no visible impact and the deer didn't move. He cycled a second round and fired again with the same result. The deer calmly walked off.
Man I don't know how to describe how down he was, and especially being the last morning. We had waited 3 years for tags, and he blew 3 chances... Needless to say he now knows he needs to work on his skills and hopefully he'll be more confident next time!
I ran an outfitting business, pretty sure if a I wrote much on this it would crash the server.
My personal story is I shot a really big whitey with a bow at 60 yds. I almost never hunted out of tree stands because we have no trees. Well I was in a treestand and just walked smooth off the platform to watch where he was going. Luckily I had on a harness lol.
My personal story is I shot a really big whitey with a bow at 60 yds. I almost never hunted out of tree stands because we have no trees. Well I was in a treestand and just walked smooth off the platform to watch where he was going. Luckily I had on a harness lol.
Rick Richard
Well-Known Member
I've had buck fever too, but I won't attempt to share my experience since I can't top yours. Funny, but glad you were wearing fall protection.
[ame]https://youtu.be/RMUZJOrLHwY[/ame]
WildRose
Well-Known Member
It's just the result of an adrenaline rush. Heart rate, breathing accelerated, jittery hands, fingers, momentary inability to think clearly and focus on the tasks at hand.Whats you guys explanation of Buck fever ? explane it in your own ways
Experience and practice give you the skills to deal with it but it never really goes away.
If I ever lose that rush, I'll probably give up hunting.
I have a mental checklist that I run down to help calm myself when I feel it getting out of hand something taught to me by others many moons ago.
It starts with trying to focus solely on the point of impact, calculating corrections getting a sense of the wind etc and applying them and then reminding myself to breathe, calm down, and squeeze it off when the time comes.
Try hard to avoid looking at the head, tusks, horns, antlers etc after you decide it's a shooter and that helps dramatically.
Do not think I ever had it. This year biggest buck I have shot at end of season. Was able to balance an Xlarge D&D coffee between my knees without spilling any and took his younger brother about 10 secs later while still holding it there. LOL
Canadian Bushman
Well-Known Member
86alaskan
Well-Known Member
+1 WildRose.... the "buck fever" is a pass down from your ancestors. It's the intense adrenaline rush you get when hunting to prepare you for the kill. Remember, they didn't have long guns when this reflex was developed. they were trying to stick a mammoth with a sharp stick and avoid being crushed. It gets you all amped up and ready to fight, literally. That's why you get the same rush with extreme sports, skydiving, cliff jumping or the sort. I can agree that if I ever lose it, it's time to take up gardening.
