Buck Fever

I am 56 and the day I quit getting excited will be when I stop hunting!

I get shook up when I'm shooting squirrels. I about fall out of the tree when I see a deer.

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I get shook up when I'm shooting squirrels. I about fall out of the tree when I see a deer.

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Glad I’m not the only one. My heart starts beating out of my chest and I start shaking when I see one. I have a very hard time getting still enough to pull the trigger. Even with does.

I was in a double ladder stand with my boy when he shot a good buck…he laid the gun across the rail right in front of me (shooting to my right, he was on my left). I was looking at him while he shot and he never started shaking until after he shot. I am jealous.

I actually don’t get nervous until after I shoot a deer. Or I see deer that I know I’m not going to shoot, I may get nervous. 90% of my deer kills were slam dunk. There’s a deer I want to shoot, pick up my gun (a few with a bow) and shoot.

I had one encounter 2 years ago where I had to stand in the wide open on the ground, waiting for a small buck to get the hell out of there so I could make my move on a nicer buck. It worked. The encounter totally wrecked me. But it paid off.

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Have you hunted that stand since?

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Not to hijack but it was a 4 wheeler accident. No one in my family hunted the property since even though we had the lease for the remainder of the season.

46yrs old killed my first one when I was 11. I don’t get buck fever on bucks but it’s because I hunt thick shite and it happens so fast that I don’t even think about it. After the shot I then get weak and almost hyperventilate though.
But man let me have to watch a nanny for 15mins waiting to draw my bow and my hands get sweaty and I have to talk myself into calming down before I shoot. I usually have to talk myself through the shot, “calm down, draw easy, pick a spot squeeze it follow through”
I started doing it after getting so excited that I would just yank the shot from being a bundle of nerves.
I hope the feeling never goes away, people have said it would with age but man I still love it.

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Anyone else get buck fever after 30 years of deer hunting. I’m not talking about monster bucks, just everyday basket racks.

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I still do, but the level of excitement watching one of my kids shoot one is unmatched

Yea, I even get it with does for some reason. The question is, “if it is before or after the shot?” Mine is before the shot. I have to try and calm myself down. I usually make up my mind that I’m going to shoot, then I start thinking of something else. If it is a quick shot, I usually don’t get too worked up.

Adrenaline dump

Its the best when you make a good shot. Torture when you arent sure

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I’m the same way. Buck or doe doesn’t matter.

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Not so much with my .308, but with my bow I always convince myself I made a bad shot, especially right up until I find blood.