Buck Fever. Who still gets it?

A buddy of mine finally shot his first deer yesterday. It was just a 90 pound button head. He said it gave him the shakes bad when he was drawing down on it. This is my eleventh year hunting and I got it about a month ago trying to scope what would have been my first buck that I would have mounted but he just wouldn't come out of the thick stuff. Do you guys who've been hunting a long time still get it?

not gun hunting, some bow hunting, some turkey hunting.

If i ever see one in person this year I’ll let ya know!
I did go to mostly bow hunting just to up the challenge and reward and get the rush that had faded a little

A little gun hunting still do bow hunting.

I've hunted for 47 years now.Still get an elevated heartbeat and love every minute of it.If I didn't, I'd probably quit

i do.

Hell my heart starts to beat fast about 30 minutes before sunset.

Lol X2.

I do.

Depends on how long Im watching the deer. If it is a real quick decision and shot then i get heart pumping after. If im watching them get closer and closer over a long time then it gets bad close to pulling trigger or drawing. Most i gets the leg shakes.

I guess I’m lucky, I get it BAD but always after the shot. Never once have I had to deal with it while aiming. As soon as I shoot I get a good 10-20 secs of the shakes

I still get it with does and bucks both. I almost couldn’t draw my bow back when I had my mule deer this year at 35 yards. I tried and was shaking too bad. Had to stop and take a few deep breaths and go again. Once I was drawn back, it was like target practice.

X2 what PawPaw said.

Gun - not a bit; if I can get a shot, it's dead
Turkey - after the shot for me
Bowhunting - yes

When I see a big rack I lose all ability to function...so yea I get it real bad and always have.Really gets bad when I look through the scope and touch the trigger.I honestly don't know how I've ever even hit a deer.

Things will change over time.I can remember involuntary shakes,heartbeats pounding in my ears,and even blurred vision.Good times!

Been hunting since 1992, still get it.

If he doesn't give me the knee knocks when I first see him then he isn't a shooter.

Y'all seem to have a different definition of buck fever than what I was taught growing up. Buck fever is the total inability to fire your gun when a buck appears. I've known of people who had it, but never experienced it myself. I could always get a shot off; hitting him was a different story as I used to get as excited as anyone.

I still get excited at seeing a big gobbler, but not to the point that it affects my ability to shoot. When I was a kid, it definitely affected my shooting ability and I recorded the misses to prove it.

A deer doesn't have much effect on me in my old age. The exception might be if I spot a shooter chasing a doe in the woods and can't get a good shot. That can be nerve wracking.

Yep

Here's what often happens to me...

I'll shoot a big buck, then in the seconds once it's over my lower back will get to cramping!!!
I don't know if it's the adrenaline dump or what.

Buck fever hell. I still get deer fever. If an ole slick head comes slipping by my heart starts beating fast and I've been hunting for 35 years. I'm sure it's because my kids do all the shooting now and I start getting excited for them.

Yes. My heart beats so fast I have a hard time breathing.

Bunch of folks on here that need to practice breathing and sight focus. Once you know it's a shooter focus on your vitals not the head anymore. Deer I'm calm. Let a big ole gobbler slip in where I can't see him but he's in killing range then my heart will let me know it's still there.

If I'm about to pull the trigger, you bet. Even on a doe I get it. If I'm just watching, not really.

Turkey hunting, from the first gobble. I calm down usually by the ride home.

Dr. B

I always get the shakes after the shot

Lot of folks are like this and I've always wanted to talk with a biologist, doctor, endocrinologist or someone in the medical field about this.

How do some folks suppress the rush of adrenaline so greatly before the shot that they're laser-focused and calm as can be, but then fall apart (shaking, trouble breathing) after the shot? And other folks are the opposite?

For you guys who are like this - calm and then you get excited - what are you doing? Not looking at the antlers? Breathing differently? Saying some kind of mantra-chakra-Ommmm Zen chanting internally?

Also, as you're watching-drawing-releasing - what's in your mind? Anything at all other than "hit that tiny spot" or is it clear as a bell? Some folks have snakes in their heads and others are like an empty bucket.

Good question, If I could ever see one I will let you know.

I have gotten the shakes after killing a big deer, very seldom before the shot.

Before I am calm and cool, focused on making the shot count. I KNOW I can kill it.

My wife got the shakes and hyper breathing one time when I bad arse bird we had hunted for two weeks finally got in a killing spot. I told her to breathe, I knew she was going to miss. I finally punched her shoulder to get her attention, she took a breath and killed the bird. Worst case of Turkey fever I ever saw.

While admiring his many deer mounts, a wise hunter (Claims Rep) once told me, "You can get excited after the deer is dead". I still haven't had a shot at a buck (other than some small ones that I decided to pass on), but I learned with bow hunting to just take a deep breath and pick a spot. For me, I have a checklist in my head to go through. That being said, I still get really excited, and who knows how it will actually go down when I get chance at a big buck.

I am absolutely laser focused before the shot. Then shaking in my boots after the shot on a monster.

Sometimes if he is taking a while to give me a shot I can get worked up but can generally calm back down when it comes time to let the arrow go.

I get it every time and when it stops i'll stop hunting.

I'm just focused, running through my checklist, and usually praying "God make me accurate and make this quick". After the shot I can afford to let my hair down a little and enjoy the thrill. My checklist includes my breathing, my grip, my posture, my aim ... not really anything else.

I'm thinking that is the key ...

I am so glad to hear that this happens to someone else. It doesn't happen so much with my gun. But with my bow, I am cold blooded leading up to the shot. Afterwards, I don't get the shakes but I have to sit down. My lower back locks up to the point of hard pain. It has to be the adrenaline.

I am one of those "laser focused before the shot guys." Honestly, I think that I focus on the act of shooting so much that I lose focus on what is really about to go down. I can't tell you much of anything else that happens between when my brain says "kill this" until the shot. I can, however, vividly describe the sight picture and my thoughts behind why I chose the particular spot to kill that animal (placement on shoulder based off of angle and etc).

Heck yea I still do! That's why I go. Watching a wild animal as majestic as a whitetail deer in the wild is something special. If it doesn't get you excited you need to get a check up.

I do.
Not in the same way as younger days, but still have that hunger and desire to kill the big one and get totally excited when seeing any deer, especially racked bucks.

no but i love hunting , any kind of hunting !!!

You're dead on boss, the EXACT same thing happens to me

Watching a deer approach from the stand is one of the most heart racing experiences ever. My heart beats through my chest, I just know they can hear it. Outwardly I am calm, but inside I am tore the heck up.

But for some reason, once I put rifle to my shoulder and look through the scope I get in a different mode. I am looking for shoulder, looking for vital area, and looking for a clean shot between me and the deer. I am the killer and what is in my scope is the prey, and it needs to be put down cleanly with one shot. That's my only focus. Not rack size, not "wow this might be my best ever", just focused on being steady and killing.

Once I squeeze one off what happens next depends on what happens next. If it's a hit and I see them down, I will get the adrenaline dump and shakes. If I don't see the deer go down, then I immediately go back to focus and try to get them in my scope again.

Bow hunting is a totally different animal where I am pretty much shook up the whole time. It's a wonder I've killed the one deer with a bow that I have. It has taught me how to hold my cookies a lot better now while gun hunting.

Not in a long time and likewise it has been a long time since I have missed a buck too. I am calm cool and collected.......I guess the military did that for me because that’s when I quit experiencing buck fever.

When I was younger (young teenager) I would get all shook up and blew 5-6 opportunities on some really nice deer. But now (21) I don't. I made it a point to make it like business before the shot. Now I see the deer staying as cool and collected as if there was no deer there. I do get excited after the shot. Since I've done that I have drastically increased my killings.

Once I decide to shoot I focus only on the shot just like when I practice. After the shot I'm all shook up.

When I see deer I usually perk up a bit. If it's something I'm going to shoot I calm down and focus on everything that is happening and what I'm doing. After the shot I generally become a trembly mass of jello. With turkeys once I'm actually working a bird I get a little keyed up. The closer he gets the more I get worked up. But I calm down when I lay eyes on him.

For me, I get weak in the knees AFTER I’ve shot a buck. Sometimes to the point that I need to sit down, other times not so much. I do get an elevated heart rate before the shot, but not to the point that it affects my ability to make a good shot on a buck.

The turning point for me was around eight years ago when I blew a chance at a good buck due to buck fever. I told myself then that I’d put too much into this to screw it up due to nerves, and also told myself that I’d never let myself get that worked up again and blow it like that. And I haven’t. Like others have said, I am also laser-focused on getting a good shot off. And as Jon already mentioned, there will be plenty of time to get excited after the buck is down for the count.

I get a little amped up when I see a deer. I just tell myself to relax. When I`m shooting a deer I`m focused on picking a spot on the deer and shooting that spot. After the shot I get amped up again. When I quit getting that amped up feeling I`ll quit hunting.

My heart always picks up quite a few beats. But once it is go time and I decide I'm going to shoot, it's like I switch gears. It hasn't always been that way and I used to get tore up. But I always had to remind myself, that there was no reason to be excited until I had made a good shot. I still get tore up, but now it is once I start replaying everything in my mind. Especially if he runs after the shot or doesn't react like he should.

I just killed my first good buck Saturday, and it was the first time I’ve been calm and collected BEFORE the shot. I had shot and lost 2 nice bucks in years past (one bow and one rifle), and cleanly missed another. In all those cases I let nerves get the best of me and rushed my shot.

This season I was determined to go through a mental checklist every time I get into a deer stand, to stay calm, focus, “you can get excited after the shot” as CR put it so well.

It paid off for me Saturday - I saw the buck, knew he was a good one, got my scope on his vitals, breathe slowly and squeeze off the trigger. After the shot I melted into the seat and about passed out lol.

No doubt, as soon as I see a deer pop into my view I get stirred up.
When I know I’m about to pull the trigger or release an arrow it’s ramped up 10x

I got a really bad case of lingering fever right now. Saw the biggest buck I’ve ever laid eyes on while going to the stand Saturday morning.

Gobblers coming in rattle me worse than deer, but the day I don't get excited watching a rack or swaying beard approach, I will be done.

Guilty. Missed a good one a few weeks ago in the Mississippi delta because I had to watch and wait for eternity to take a shot.

It depends on how it happens. I can and still do get rattled if I get to watch one for a while. Particularly when bow hunting.

Now this is the first year my son has gotten to shoot and I have been super rattled both times he has shot. Like as rattled as I can ever remember.

A gobbler drumming has a similar effect, but somewhat different. What is awesome is watching it have the same effect on my son. He gets super pumped when he hears one drumming too.

I almost die if a deer surprises me when I'm looking at a spot lol. I calm down when starting to pick my spot to shoot. I repeat in my head "watch the bullet hit the deer" over and over as I start to apply pressure to the trigger. Really calms me down. Or like this past saturday I had the big one I killed in my scope but he was facing straight away from me, I was almost whispering "turn turn turn" over and over again until he finally did. I coulda hit a fly at 500 yards by the time he turned I was so solid. Now after I shoot? I better be holding on to something lol.

absolutely! the rush is why I still get up and get out there!!

I only look at the antlers long enough to determine it is a shooter. Once that is done, yes, calm deep breathing, only worrying about range and gaps for shot opportunities.

^^^ exactly. i call it "controlled excitement"; initially i get excited/anxious when i determine i'm going to shoot the deer, but then i fall into my shot routine & focus on making a calm, steady shot on exactly the spot i'm wanting to put the bullet ... deer or turkey, i'm a big believer in a "positive thinking" shot routine & following it religiously ... i still miss, but it's usually when i do not follow this routine ...

can I get a definition of 'buck fever'

as far as an elevated heartbeat, of course.

but to the point where I can't function? no.

when it gives you a hard on

before, during or after? what if it lasts more than 3 hours?

I still get turkey fever.

first buck I shot at with a bow I damn near fell out of the tree. I had climbed a blackjack oak and stood on a limb maybe 10 feet off the ground. A small 6 point fed towards me and was within 30 yards for at least 30 minutes before I got a clear shot at 15 yards. I "think" the arrow went 6 feet over it's back, but I'm not sure.