When I was younger I used to get the shakes so bad I couldn't hold steady enough to shoot a deer. To make matters worse, my family hunted public land in PA and most deer were moving at Mach 1, all I could do was put lead in the air and hope. I was afraid if I didn'tgetthe deer there would be no second chance because the guy over the hill would. It was very frustrating to say the least and I lost interest in deer hunting. I still hunted deer, but enjoyed duck and pheasant hunting much more.

Now I'm 27, been hunting for 15 years and have access to private property with verylittle pressure. I used to think my buck fever was more of a fear of missing, I was wrong.I still get buck fever, worse now than ever before.However, I've learned to control my breathing and rarely ever take an offhand shot anymore or a shot that I'm unsure of. In the last two seasons, nine shots have accounted for seven deer. One was shot twice (I didn't know at the time, but I didn't need the second shot) and one was missed, but hit on the second shot.

Last night while glassing a field on a farm I hunt, I couldn't hold the binos steady. I realized my breathing was so heavy I was nearly panting watching a 1.5 year old four point feed on a hillside. Archery is the worst though, I have to sit and wait while watching deer come close. I may have to calm down 2-3 times waiting for a deer to come into range.

Buck fever, addrenalin, call it what you will, my brother and I were tracking a doe he hit when we jumped it and several others out of a thicket. In some of the slickest shooting I've seen he dropped the injured one and two others with a remmy 760 in 30-06. Thing is, he only remembers shooting the first shot. I was tagged out and didn't have a gun with me, so he knows it was him, but can't remember.