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BUCK FEVER??

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Is it just me, or do all of you hunters out their go through the same thing? I cant stand it when i get buck fever i cant aim right or nothing:::: does anyone have any tips on how to get rid of buck fever??? or how to keep it to a minumum? if you do, please post thanks IOWABOWHUTNER
 
No offense but I think buck fever is the best thing in the world. When I am in the treestand and I get that familiar tight feeling in the pit of my stomach as a deer approaches me I love it. I get that way evenwhen a doe gets really close and I've been hunting for 15 years. As far as getting it to go away, I just take deep breaths and concentrate on where I want to hit and tell myself "Keep on coming buddy, 25 yards and you're going to be in trouble."

Enjoy the buck fever, it reminds you that you're deer hunting and not just deer shooting. As you spend more time in the woods you'll learn to control your emotions better. When I was 9 years old my first buck walked up to my dad and I's stand, my arrow rattling scared him off. I was so mad then but now I look back on it and laugh, it's all part of hunting dude.
 
i get that way too when it was my first time to ever go hunting i was pumped, never thought about buck fever, and wouldn't ya know it the first thing we say was a couple does, then a lil dinky 4 pointer still in velvet, THE COOLEST THING I'VE EVER SEEN. i was so nervous, i couldn't hold the gun still. Their he was 52 yards, BOOM . the deer takes off and i missed. I was frustrated, and i'm still waiting to get my first deer. Been hunting for 3 years. Hopfully next year will be the year. LETS JUST HOPE! HAHA
 
You will get that first buck, and I hope you share the experience with us when you do. If I ever get to the point that my heart doesn't beat a little faster when a deer comes down the trail, I guess it will be time to take up a different sport.

You have more thresholds to cross too. I think the first time I made the committment to hold out for a big buck, I let a nice 8-pointer walk by. There were days I would have been overjoyed to shoot that buck, but the feeling I got from letting it go was just as exhilerating as shooting a buck like that had been ten years before.

Take the steps one at a time, and when you've been deer hunting for 30 years, like me you'll still get an adrenaline rush when you spot a nice rack back in the bush.
 
Hell I get buck fever when any deer is within my sight range when im in my stand. I've been bow hunting for seven years now and have only taken one shot, that buck field dressed around 200# and I only looked at his rack once when he came up the trail to my stand. The rest of the time I committed myself to make sure every angle that he could take I had a clean shot,within 1 minute he stood broadside 7 yards away and the rest is history.
Alot of my hunting partners think that I am to picky when it comes to shooting but I think if I dont feel comfortable about the shot then I dont shoot. Hell I've even been shotgun hunting the last three years and never taken a shot just always in the wrong place at the wrong time.
 
If the heart doesn't get to pumping,I think thats a good sign that your dead.The deer at 10yrds.is a awesome exsperiance,almost mistic like.Its wierd for me,some of the deer I almost lose my head aren't worth it and some of the nice bucks I'm at my best.The fever is not as bad since I started to let some pass.Now,what I do is,make the decision on if I want the deer the coming.If yes,I make the decision to shoot only if he gives me the shot that I know and feel very confident with.Believe me I have taken some bad shots and was sorry for that in the early days.I also do the slow deep breaths,and tell myself that I don't have to kill this deer.And most of all,consentrate on the SHOT and not on what comes after the shot.I sound like an old pro and theres nothing to it.But,the first doe of the year and sometimes I throw my own advice right out the window.
 
The previous posts are right on target. The fever, when controlled, is a wonderful thing. Still get it and been bowhunting since 1980. A check of my tags shows 1 filled, 12 unfilled in that time. I could blame some of the unfilled on the fever, but more than likely poor shot selection has been the biggest factor over the years.

You've heard from the experts in the posts above, but here's an article I came across at ESPN Outdoors a while back from an "expert" with a Ph.D. in psychology (he's a hunter too, and I think that's why some of his tips are the same as those mentioned above)

Shooting in "The Zone"
 
AH BUCKFEVER know it well. The best piece of advise I can give you is enjoy it. That is what make the sport fun. What fun is it when you can go out there and just wack a buck and not get excited over it? If that ever happens to me, I hope I am 6 ft under the ground. To control it, I have found once you decide it is a buck you want then QUIT LOOKING AT THE RACK. Scoring the buck in the stand is only going to make you that more ecited and then it is even harder to get calmed down for the shot. After deciding pick a spot on the shoulder and concentrate on it.

I have scored a few racks from my stand and you know, not one of them is on my wall. They should be but, their not, the fever made me miss or place the shot poorly.

My golden rule now is...ONCE YOU KNOW, DON'T LOOK TILL YOU SHOOT! Find that open spot and wait.

Good Luck!

OLETOM
 
This year was my first year bowhunting. I never thought about that feeling when a buck is coming in. Sure enough the first night a decent buck (10pt) was about 20 yds. but i had decided i wasnt going to shoot anything that i wasnt going to put on the wall. It feels great to have a deer out there in front of u knowing it just might come close enough for a shot.
Travis Becker
 
I think when I no longer get the rush, I'll hang up the ole recurve, and buy a set of golf clubs.
 
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