Buck Fever
 

First off lets be honest here people... Do any of you still get a case of BUCK FEVER no matter how slight? :D You know, the increased pulse, the shortness of breath, all of it, maybe even the shakes? Nothing to be ashamed of, as long as you control it. Actually it is fun to watch.

Also what is the worst case of buck fever you ever had, or witnessed? Lets hear them stories. Some of them are pretty funny I bet. And I do not mean to make fun or belittle anyone with this question.

I personally get the quick breathing when I see deer approaching. It don't matter if they have horns or not. But through the years, I have learned to control it, and mentally and physically calm myself down. When I was younger, I was terrible for getting BUCK FEVER. I used to even shake a little. Although it never cost me a deer. I've said before I would much rather have a deer suddenly come walking past me, so I have no time to think about it, and just do the shot. Or to come into a stand and stand around long enough that I can just relax and make the shot when I want.

Maybe that's why I am so picky about shot placement. And why I went to muzzleloaders. Also when I was young, I used to hunt with (and still own the little beauty) a Remington 742 Woodsmaster Carbine with a 4x Bushnell (now a Tasco 3-9x40) in 30-06. I'd hate to guess how many deer I shot with that rifle. With a 180 grain Remington Corelock, I do not think a person could have missed. But I always found that I took two shots. Normally I hit both, but I would fire twice. Why? No idea. Maybe it was the dreaded BUCK FEVER...

My best friend has the worst case of the dreaded BUCK FEVER that I have ever saw. Now this fellow has been hunting deer for twenty years. But he is a lot of fun to watch when a deer comes in. And he freely admits he has the dreaded BUCK FEVER... He will see a deer and his entire body starts to shake like a scared dog. And this is a large man so watching him shake is a joy in itself. Then he starts his constant adjustment of the rifle in his shoulder, like he can not get comfortable. And all the time he is shaking and trying to get a sight picture. Is it bad.. well the last deer he shot with is muzzleloader with open sights, he dropped it flat. The deer was 20 yards away, a nice eight pointer, and he spined it. He was aiming for the heart mind you, but he spined it. The one before he did a beautiful neck shot on. Again, was aiming for the heart. We will not even get into the broadside shots he's missed. Still he loves to deer hunt and now uses a muzzleloader all the time. A T/C Hawkins .54 caliber shooting a 300 grain REAL conical.

When he gets his deer the joy that man has from his accomplishment is something. I have sat with him in a stand one afternoon after I had filled up. I watched him shoot at a doe. I tried to talk him down, but the tunnel vision he gets is amazing. He suffers from the dreaded BUCK FEVER...

RE: Buck Fever
 

Good story, yeah I still get it but like you am old enough to control it somewhat. I have a habit of talkingdeer into my scope (c'mon baby another step, you keep a comin') I nowget theshakes afterwards.I have to sit before I gut... I stood beside a fellow I was taking on a hunt and watched him unload a lever action gun at a deer and never fire a shot. I was so amazed I could not even get a shot and then started laughing so hard could'nt shoot at it period! He looked at me and said he had missed!! He still gets goofy when a deer goes by...........
Had a first year hunter with me who raised his arms in position but forgot the gun, second deer of the day he was squeezing w/ the safety on!!
Night before brings guys to their knees as well, throwing up, no sleep going into the woods w/out bullets , forgetting lunches.......... That is what makes hunting and camp life so much fun. If you don't get thrilled and all wrapped up at the site of your quarry anymore , QUIT! because the fun has gone out of it!! Good thread here Cayugad, should be funny!

RE: Buck Fever
 

Yes, I still get the quickening pulse whenever I see a shootable deer approaching. But hunting for almost 45 years, I've learned to control it the same as you guys. That is until after the shot. Then I start to shake a bit. Especially for close in shots with the ML or worse with the bow. But I think that is all part of the hunt. I think if I ever stopped 'loosing it' I would call it quits.

RE: Buck Fever
 

:D:D:DDon't even want to talk about it!

Yeah, I get a little excited some times, but usually I'm able to control it pretty well - EXCEPT LAST YEAR WITH "GRANNY NANNY".

Our club harvest rules are that you can shoot two does and up to three bucks. No bucks under five points and only onefive or sixpointer - the rest must be sevenpoints or better. We also have a "bad luck rule"- anyone who hasn't taken a buck by the last ten days of the season can take a third doe for the meat.

Nowlast season I didn't see a shooter buck. Saw a couple of year-and-a-half old six pointers but decided to let them grow. So, the last week-end of the season I decided to take a third doe.

I have a box stand over a food plot that has a timed feeder on it throwing two pounds of corn every morning and afternoon.Well,during ourthree-month long season I would sit in that box at least one morning or evening every week-end. Every time I did the samegroupwould come to the feeder - three adult does, two yearling does, and one button buck. The young ones belonged to two of the adult does. The other adult didn't have any yearlings running with her. She was one of the biggest does I've ever seen in our neck of the woods - probably 130to 135 pounds in an area where a three year old doe will usually run 115 - 120 lbs. Early on I had gotten to calling her Granny Nanny.

Anyway, the last week-end of the season, having not shot a buck I told the gang in camp that I was going to shoot Granny Nanny. Headed to the box stand at oh-dark-hundredwith my dead reliable Browning B-78 25-06 mounted with a 3x8 Leupold.I handload 100 grain Barnes Triple Shocks for this gun and can shoot a nickleat100 yards with it four times out of five. The plan was to shoot Granny just below the ear, call one of my buds with a four-wheeler to haul her back to camp, and be finished with the butchering by lunch time.

So I'm sitting in a real comfortable swivel desk chair in that boxstand when the corn feeder goes off at 0700. Sure enough, a few minutes later the first doe comes in with the button buck. Two minutes later the second doe with two yearling does come in and start munching corn. Now I know Granny Nanny will be no more than a minute behind those three. I ease the gun out of the window and wait. Yep, there she is.

Now guys, I must have seen that deer fifteen or twenty times before, and watched her feed with that group for hours and hours. But for some reason I started to get the shakes. It's funny now, but it sure wasn't funny then. I tried to get a sight picture and just could not do it. The harder I tried the worse it got. By now I had shifted my butt up to the front edge of the chair and was creeping up on the scope like I've never done before. Just when I thought I had the cross hairs where I wanted them and started the trigger squeeze my unbalanced weight on the front edge of the seat caused the chair to swivel and the muzzle to rise about six inches. As I completed the trigger squeeze my brain was shouting OH NO! STOP! STOP! - but, of course, my finger - having a mind of its own - did not stop.

Old Granny looked back at me as though I has passed gas in church, and trotted off with the rest of the gang.By the time I stopped shakingmy cell phone is ringing and one of the guys back at camp wants to know if I want him to bring the four-wheeler. I say "Naw - I just took a shot at a running coyote, and missed." NO WAY am I ever going to tell the guys that I missed Granny Nanny at 75 yards from a solid rest in a box stand.

RE: Buck Fever
 

This is getting good!!!


I still get the shakes AFTER THE DEER IS DOWN. And normally just sit or stand there watching it for five minutes or more before my knees calm down. I agree, if I ever loose that feeling, I am staying home.

Semisane.. that was too funny!! Thanks for being honest..

RE: Buck Fever
 

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.

RE: Buck Fever
 

The first year I hunted deer (I was 13 years oldI think), I was shooting a semi automatic 12 gauge shotgun (a High Standard Supermatic Deluxe that I still own). We were in a shotgun only part of the state. I was loaded with slugs of course since buckshot is illegal. I heard my Dad shoot his shotgun once, on top of the hill. He had set me on a stump to freeze to death and watch a small opening in the hardwoods. It was freezing cold out, and sitting in the snow on that stump was not my favorite thing to do.

Well down the hill comes this six pointer. It stops about 35 yards out from me. I know I shot, but the Old Man said it sounded like a machine gun down there. I emptied that semi auto of all five shots. I never even felt the recoil and could not have told you how many times I shot. The deer tipped over dead. There was one hit through the front of the brisket (that could not have been mine as I was shooting broadside shots) and his front legs were both shot off (wonder who did that). I must have shot low, and it was because that shotgun was real heavy, I was kind of small,and loaded with lots of bullets.

After my Dad walked down the hill, he congratulated me on my first deer, I gutted it, and he then told me to drag it out. I was never cold after that. I dragged that deer up a hill, down a steep hill (which was easy) and then across a 300 acre picked corn field. When I got to the truck, I was about dead tired, but so proud of my first deer.

RE: Buck Fever
 

My very first deer season to be able to shot my own gun a Ivers Johnson 410 with slugs.
Very first day of the season sitting at the junction of two logging roads in the family wood lot two does come running thru the brush cross the first road then the second road. Just seconds a 8 point buck comes running thru the brush crosses the first road and half of the second road and stops about 40 yards away. I jeark that old 410 up and let one rip. That buck just shook his head and stood there. I break the action and insert another slug and let that one rip. The buck just stood there while I shot in his direction 5 times total, then he just walked off. I went and told my dad I had shot a buck and he said ya I heard you shooting the woods up time to go up for lunch. After lunch with more shells and my brother we went back there and found blood. we tracked him for about 150 yards and found him a nice 8 point and one shot in the neck and another one in the brisket.
Dad said latter He figured I was just shooting to burn powder.

Then the last time. I was 57 years old then. Setting in my favorite blind over looking the bay. It is just minutes till the end of legal hunting time so I am gathering all my gear up for the treck to camp. I'm about ready to step out the door when a doe with a big buck in chase flies by not 10 yars out. They get to the cedar island out at the 90 yard mark and the does stops as does the buck.
I got my 300 winny mag laying on the window sill aimed right at the heart lung area and squeeze off the shot. Bot deer dissapper. Mind you that deer blind is seven feet from the floor in the air. To this day I do not know how I got out of that blind. I can relive the whole thing in my mind and remember every bit of it except getting on the ground.
I go out where they were standing and find blood going one way in the 18 inches of snow and tracks with out blood going another way. I tracked that buck for 200 yards when he got up from where he was laying. I shot him this time right at the base of his skull and neck. I walk up to him and saw that both front legs were shot nearly off. When we buchered him the base of the skull showed one shot and the only other damage was the front legs. Unbeliveable I been hunting for over 40 years and do sme thing like that. Forget the years hunting think of all the years I have lived in deer country and they are as common as dogs in the neighbour hood shoot even more common.
I shoot them nearly every day with the camera out the living room window.

RE: Buck Fever
 

Great story Cayugad! You can play those kind of memories like a movie in your head every time you see that old Supermatic Delux. That's one reason it's so hard to give up and old gun.

I have a real ugly 40 caliber 32" barrel full stockcaplockthat was my first build. The only critter other than rabbits I ever shot with it was many, many years ago -a 90 lb. hog that was running full bore through a palmetto swamp making a tremendous racketafter having been shot at by someone else. I was sitting in a tree stand and could only glimpse it every now and then through the palmetto fans. So, all of a sudden there's a big cloud of smoke in front of me and that pig is kicking on the ground about 30 yards out. I'm thinking "what the heck happened?" That little 40 caliber ball went in the top of the neck about four inches behind the head and I don't remember shooting. I sure would like to be able to replay that running shot in my head,but it never registered on my brain.

Dang!Wish we could allsit around a fire with some cold ones. :D

RE: Buck Fever
 

Great story Alleyyooper! I'm always amazed at what damage a deer can sustain and still make tracks.

As for not remembering leaving the stand, I have a buddywho was a ground standbowhunter. The very first time he hunted from a tree stand he shot a little fork horn that almost dropped in it's tracks. The guy was so excited he forgot he was seven feet in the air and took that first step toward the downed deer. Survived with nothing more than a few scratches.

RE: Buck Fever
 

Semi

there must be some laws/rules about Buck Fever isn't there?????

RE: Buck Fever
 

You just had to go and challenge him and get him started ... didn't you.

RE: Buck Fever
 

:D:DSomebody throw another log on the fire. HEY! Who moved the ice chest?

RE: Buck Fever
 

OH YES I GET IT

I was 13 years old.We hunt with dogs at the family camp,the old men there do not beat the bush anymore.
I was sitting on the dog box in the back of dad's truck in the warm morning sun during a slow time and I fell asleep.
Dad walked down the dirt raod looking for sign as he always does and he walked a good ways out of sight.

I guess the rustleing in the woods woke me,I raised my head and low and behold standing a 20 yards was the biggest buck I had ever seen.
I was stupified,Started shaking,I pulled up gandpa's old Winchester model 12 shotgun and shot the trees 40 yards behind the deer (Picture the gun sitting on my lap being slowly raised and me pulling the trigger WAY before it got to my shoulder.
The next shots were a little better but were no threat to the buck and I guess he knew it as he stood there looking at me.
I emptied the gun having never hit the deer and watched him wave his flag at me and bid me goodmorning.
Dad came running up the raod and it took me several minutes to blurt out the word BUCK, he said I looked like I had seen a ghost.I guess in some ways I had.I showed him the tracks and the land clearing that I had done with the 12 guage and he had a great time with me after that.
Never saw that buck again but I can still see him in my mind.

RE: Buck Fever
 

Semisane's Observations on Buck Fever:

1. If you've never had buck fever one of the following three apply. (1)you have never seen a deer when you had a gun in
your hand, (2) you probablyhave a tendency to lie, or (3) you should give up hunting as not exciting enough for you - take up skydiving.
2. Buck fever is curable. The cure is to stop hunting.
3. Buck fever is funny (in other people).
4. It is possible to have buck fever and still lead a successful and fulfilling life.
5.It is not advisable to tell your wife that buck fever is like having sex for the first time.
6. ????

RE: Buck Fever
 

Another goodstory Saxman.

Maybe you need to write a new song."A Whole Lot of Shakin Going On" is already taken, but"White Flags In The Sunset" might work,or "Bang, Bang, He's Gone". :D

Come on all of you guys reading this stuff and not kicking in. I just know there are more good stories out there to give us some entertainment.Sitting around the fire and drinking the beer without kicking in a story is not fair.;)

RE: Buck Fever
 

6. If your in the middle of a bathroom break, squatted over a logwith your pants around your ankles and miss a monster buck who sneaks up on you.. that's not buck fever. You were only chasing it off so you could finish your first project..

RE: Buck Fever
 

Yes sir, I get nervous when I first see a deer coming into range.
I'm actually better off if the deer just pops up in ML range so instinct can take over & as you said--I do the tunnel vision thang where all I focus on is behind the shoulder.
When I'm in the woods, all my senses are on point (until no critters are movin) birds,squirrels-pesty,possum,coons even mice are the entertainment.
Non-hunters don't get it!!
Anyway, after sitting in a stand for ?????? then appears the only big game animal we have in So. Illinois--Mr. or Mrs. deer (yes I shoot mature does).
Your damn right I get excited & have been for 27 years now. You just got to learn how to control it your best.
You gotta love the game or you shouldn't be playin!!

;) Mark

RE: Buck Fever
 

Right on zakjak. The first nice doe I see in November when I'm carrying my .54 flintlock is in for a world of hurt (I hope).

RE: Buck Fever
 

Many moons ago in a Central Ontario hunt camp, all of the old guys decided to stay in camp in the late afternoon. Me being the young pup loaded up my 30-30 with 3, yes three shells. My motto then was, 1 shot 1 deer, 2 shots maybe a deer and 3 shots no deer. This theory has since been revised. lol

Well anyways, off I go by my lonesome. Back to place we called the old farm. It was distinguishable by a pile of rocks, nothing more, just a pile of rocks. Well I git to sitting and here comes this buck with a really nice rack. I eyeballed that rack as I let three shots fly. That danged deer kept on runnin and I was empty!!! I went to where I was shooting and saw no hair, no blood, nothin but tracks. I went back to camp for more bullets[:@]and some help in tracking as I was pretty green in that department. Well the fella's come out and I show them where I was and where the deer was when I shot. They found 3 very nicely trimmed branches about five feet up (about the height of the top end of antlers) and a set of 4 hoof tracks in a space of a teacup. So it was deduced that I shot high and slightly in front of the buck. Got some ribbing that night.

Lessons learned..... Don't look at horns while shootin and if it will take 7 shells, load 'em up.

The second deer I see a couple of day's later. It was a yearling doe. Same rifle (with a lot more bullets;):D) at about 70 yds broadside. I shoot and the deer does an end for end and buggers off. I'm thinking nothing good is going to come of this. I try to track and find nothing. The dogger comes through and I tell him and we both look around and still nothing. Well I'm sure I hit that deer and I start looking some more and lo and behold I find her!!!!! Wooooo hoooo my first deer. Now I've never dressed a deer before so I fire off a couple of shot's in hope that the dogger will come back and help me out. No luck there. So I did the best I could gutting andwalked out and got some help to drag her out.

I can remember every deer I've shot. We don't get to shoot a deer a day here or 10 a year. We see 1 while hunting you best have the hammer back and ready to rock and roll cause you may not see another. Make sure it's legal and get down to buisiness.

I still get a quick breath and a fast heartbeat, but I save the shakes for after. Mostly;):D

RE: Buck Fever
 

I can control myself better nowadays, except when I bow hunt. When I get a deer that close with only a bow and arrow I just about lose it; heart speeds up, breathing increases etc, all the classic symptoms. I just can't get over it.

I am pretty calm if I see a deer quite a ways out and can take my time (with rifle or ML). But, give me a shot where I see a deer moving quickly through the woods and I'm OK making the shot but afterwards is when the adrenaline hits me. This sport is AWESOME. Really, is there anything better?

RE: Buck Fever
 

Almost forgot. 2 years ago I shot my first ML'ing buck. I could tell by the way the deer moved he was in a world of trouble and wasn't long for this world. I decided to be prudent and reload. Well I'm sure glad I didn't require that second shot because I think I spilled at least 1/2 the powder on the ground.:D

RE: Buck Fever
 

Its funny how something as innocent as a deer coming into a stand can cause that much of a reaction. You want real reaction, be in a ground blind and have a black bear sow and cub walking around about 10 yards from your tent blind.. that tends to also make you pucker a little..

RE: Buck Fever
 

Why would you pucker, Cayugad? Were you going to kiss that sow??? OH WAIT! Other end, huh? :D


Hey HuntAway, I have a three-cartridge story too. But no one knows about it and I've sworn to myself I'll never tell it. ;)

.

RE: Buck Fever
 

The best experience I have had with buck fever, is with a friend of mine. He is asthmatic and not the best shot around. On this particular day, we had been hunting in the Northern Forest area looking for whitetails. Cold overcast morning so we were not seeing much move. We headed south and arrived at our hunting area around noon. Had our lunch and it was time to get back at it. Because of him asthma, my friend does not handle the cold (can't breathe cold air well )so typically we drive him to where he is to post, then we head back to the other side of the bush to do the push. This day with just the two of us, we decided to check out the smaller bluffs in the area. We circled around the bluffs looking for tracks in the fresh snow. Circled one bluffabout 75 yards in diameter, only saw one set of tracks going in. So I headed to the opposite side of the bush from where the tracks went in to drop of my partner. Asmy partnerwas loading up his rifle, I did a quick look into the bush and noticed "antlers" swaying. I yelled at him that there was a buck in the bush and to get ready. No sooner said that and out comes the buck. A good one. Runs right past us no further than 50 yards away. Well my partner got so excited looking at the rack that he proceeded to pump all four rounds from his 270 into the ground. At least the rounds were in the general area of the deer. So off goes this great buck. Story's not over yet though. Next bush was 100 yards away andthe buckheaded into it. This bush was maybe 150 yards long and 50 yards wide, too big for one poster to cover but we decided to see if that buck was still in there anyway. Again, I drove my partner to where he was going to post and I headed back to where the buck entered the second bush. I walked half way through the bush when I could hear the 270 making noises. I rushed to the end of the bush following the buck's tracks and there lay the buck. It ran out in front of my partner instead of the opposite side where no one would have seen it. Hole the size of your fist on the exit side of his chest.
Now did I mention that this friend of mine was not only asthmatic but he is allergic to all kinds of animal hair and fur. And we were hunting in my 78 Jimmy(this is a few years back). So as not to have too much loose hair flying around in the vehicle, we decide to leave the animal full and run him over to one of the farmers we knew in the area and hang him there. Deers too big forme to load on the roof by myself, so loaded it up in the back. There we are in twenty below weather, driving down the road with all of our windows down and the heater on full (heater really doesn't do much when you have your windows down).
Everything ended well. That buck scored 176 typical. Great deer, great time.

RE: Buck Fever
 

Good story benamen. A successful hunt is a thing of joy. Twenty below/windows down - I'd bet you had tears in your eyes, and they weren't tears of joy.

RE: Buck Fever
 

Well, interesting topic to be sure.
When I was young, I would get awful buck fever. Turkey fever too! You would think that I was about to come unglued. Bowhunting was worse, I was sure the deer could hear my heart beat at 20 yards, if they couldn't hear it they could sure see the tree shaking because I was going at it so bad. I always calmed down enough to make a good shot though.

Then, one day, I was able to control it fairly well. I didn't get the shakes bad until after I made the shot. Even with that I would shake until I found the deer. It was great.

Then my buck fever changed after I came back from Iraq. Weird things I didn't expect, and even made me quit hunting for over a year. It was a long time before I overcame that one, but I did overcome it. I won't go into detail about it,that's a whole other thread.

Now I'm glad when I feel that level of excitement and feel those shakes coming on. It lets me know that I'm doing everything right and loving what I do. Heck, squirrel season opened here a few weeks ago, and the first one I aimed at, my pulse started racing and I found out there is such thing as "squirrel fever" lol. I loved every minute of it, and it was the best hunt I've had in years.

Adrenaline pumping is a natural response to something we're excited by, and every animal is a gift from God and something to be remembered and cherished for a lifetime. Why not get full experience and get that pulse racing for a little while? [&:]

RE: Buck Fever
 

The day that i stop being symptomatic with buck fever thats when i will quit hunting. But i can control the symptoms better these days. Several years ago I was in Ohio hunting with a muzzleloader and it was pouring down rain. It was raining like pouringpiss outof a boot. I was walking a different way to my climber and when i crossed this old logging road I came across this huge set of fresh tracks. I could see good down the holler into the creek bottom so i thought i would lean up against this big white oak and watch for a little while. I hadnt been there over 20 minutes when i heard the deepest blow that i have ever heard in my life and it came from directly behind me. Very slowly i started to turn my head around, (by the way i had on a camo face mask), and out of the corner of my eye i saw this huge huge buck standing behindme on the other side of the logging road, steam coming fromhisnostrils. Man what a sight that was, well needless to say my heart was in over drive, but i couldnt reach my gun with out him seeing me. My gun was leaning up against the tree that i was leaning on. The monster started stomping hishoove on theground and blew once more. I wasdown wind from the deer so he couldntsmell, that buck knew something just wasnt right. Well he done a 180 and started running up the hill, I grabbed my white rifle and thought i had him in the scope, but somehow this 6 inch elm kinda got in my way. After the shot he stops for a couple of seconds and looks back toward me. Thats the only time i wished i would have been carrying a shotgun that day. But thats how it goes some of the times. You gotta love that deer hunting.

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Wow, honesty from hunters.....I can see none of these guys fish.Since we seem to be letting the old guards down I confess to a bad case.My first ML buck, I was breathing so hard I fogged the scope the buck just kept looking at me and i was able to wipe up the scope (which is no longer alive) then I shot the deer, but didn't have the hammer back, he just stood there so I pull back the hammer and bang all I see is smoke!!!!!!!!!! I drop to my knees underneath that smoke to see him runnig over the hill. Using powerbelts (not going there) and had hit a good broadside shot no blood but the buck kept falling and i got it a bout hour later tracking it limpinmg and falling in different spots. In Ohio you can get your deer checked in and get another tag doe only so I do this, the whole time just shaking and beaming about my 1st ML Buck.. I go hunting, at the end of the day we go to unload into a target///////you guessed it T7, thebullet not real tamped down and a Phizzzzz puff of smoke out the barrel and all my friends laughjing about the skill and eagle eye of the great hunter Booby Crocket!! Man, bow season starts in a couple weeks, I have a log splitting work weekend at my camp coming up and it's starting to get cold, and were starting to tell hunting stories...........where is the campfire and i am getting pumped!!

RE: Buck Fever
 

:DSo you want to hear the 3 shell story. I had gotten a Winny 94 30-30 for my birthday 1964, so the 65 season was the first year I could hunt with it. My dad also had a 30-30, he though I had taken the whole box of shells out to the pickup with me for the mile tripo to the wood lot so he hadn't gotten any.
We were running late that morning due to a sick cow.
Any way we get to the woods and dad asked where the shells were. I said I had only brought 7. So I gave him 4 and take off for my stand. I almost get to the stand and 4 does and a buck cross the logging road. I can't get a shot they were across so fast so I start still hunting them. About an hour latter I am sneeking around a small hill where the cedar swamp ends. The tracks kept going in a strait line past the swamp, I hear a shot not to far ahead. Well I guess I must have chased the deer to another hunter and stood there decideing what to do when that buck comes tearing right to me. Sees me spins to his right to charge over the hill. I shoot once and chop a popple tree down and see the buck stumble. I rack a second shell in and run up the hill and shoot that buck again like it is supposed to be done.
I know not much excitement there, best part to come.
:) I dress this deer out My first one all alone. :DMade a awful mess of the area.
Then the best part I start dragging this deer and went about a 1/4 mile the wrong way before I relized it. Ended up running across a neighbour who was going up to his farm for lunch. He took me and my buck home, where mom couldn't figure out why the neghbour was coming in the yard.

:)Al

RE: Buck Fever
 

All great stories
great thread Dave

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I call buck fever an adrenalin dump. I have learned to control it but it comesonstronger when I am bowhunting. This is likely because my confidence level is lower with a bow and the deer are much closer.

RE: Buck Fever
 

That's exactly what it is, and it's an entirely different kind of dump from the one Cayugad was referring to earlier in the thread.

RE: Buck Fever
 

I have to admit, reading the different stories posted here is excellent reading... And I can relate to a lot of them.

Today I was walking the woods and at the top of a little hill, there at the bottom on the edge of the marsh was seven turkeys browsing in the foliage. So I sat down and just watched them for ten minutes. And I was kind of surprised that I got such a thrill out of sitting there watching them.

They are pretty close to where my deer stand is, so at least if the deer are not around, I can have something to watch... I wish I had remembered my camera.

RE: Buck Fever
 

Know just how you feel. Once in a tree stand next to a small stream I got to watch a mink working the banks for food for about a half hour. It went upstream along one bank poking its head into every nook and cranny. Then crossed over and did the same thing on the other bankgoing downstream.

RE: Buck Fever
 

I almost go sane when I see a buck while hunting. :D

RE: Buck Fever
 

I think the key word with Underclocked is almost.. hope you see lots of bucks this year. May the monster of the woods walk up and cause you to shake like leaves on the trees.. :D

RE: Buck Fever
 

My goodness...I have a bunch of them...but the funniest may have been just last year bowhunting.

I get off work and rush to the woods with the stand to hunt an hour or two before dark on a Friday eve. Well I hadnt even got my bow pulled up yet and here comes this doe trotting in like no big deal and behind her comes a huge 8 point. Well to make a long story short...I ended up missing this guy 3 times....lost all 3 arrows and the quiver only holds 3. Low and behold the buck is still there! By this time I have went from shakey to just downright disgusted and mad so seeing that I was out of business for the eve I threw my grunt call at him. It came closer than the arrows to making a hit. When I first seen this buck I was shaking so bad the arrow was rattling in the rest..lol. Most days that would be the end of the story...

However after a quick trip to the other end of the county for another pack of broadheads that night (lost all 3 arrows)and 2 uneventful days of hunting out of the same tree I once again returned Monday eve. Sure enough here comes the same doe....guess whos right behind her? LOL This times theres no buck fever..just a lot of wind and cold. They spotted me about 75 yards out at around 300pm. The doe finally decided she wasnt really impressed by me and started to work on by at a range of prob 40 yards the buck follows and does a circle around me or prob 50 yards so no chance of a shot. Keep in mind I had taken off my shooting hand glove and was standing at red alert ready to draw in the stand.

Well an hour and 15 minutes later Im still standing there afraid to hardly even breathe and by this time my release finger was numb as a brick..lol. The whole time the doe had been feeding around like nothing was wrong and the buck had been keeping a good distance of me. Finally he comes into decent shot range and just as I draw back heres a button buck charging in and scares both deer off....so by now Im fuming..lol. As fate would have it though the doe came back in about 30 minutes an the buck followed as usual and this time at 520 pm with me so cold I am seriously shivering and numb he steps into shot range....this time everything went perfect..I squeezed off the release with my numb finger and watched the arrow go behind the front should and then watched him crash 20 yards later.


That8 pointturned out to be 4.5 years old and scored 133. I always tell people to never get discouraged or give up and this story is just more proof. Deer always show up when you least expect it or when you are least prepared. The absolute best part of hunting though is just knowing that the worst trip ever can turn into the best trip ever on the last second of the last day.


I did manage to shoot a doe a few years back that interrupted the call of nature..lol. Thankfully reaching the gun didnt require much movement..lmao.


When I quit getting the shakes is when I quit. I never had anyone to hunt with so I had to learn all this deer stuff through trial and error so I could tell a few funny ones.

Id give anything to tape record some of the conversations Ive had with myself while hunting....:D

RE: Buck Fever
 

:)

RE: Buck Fever
 

When I was younger (read teens), I had issues with buck fever during shots, I don't think I ever missed one because of it but it was a problem. I remember particularly, I was bowhunting once when I was about 13-14. I'd been sitting for about 20min after school, the whole time hearding what I thought was squirrels down in the woods from me (I was sitting on the ground on a field edge). Finally, I see movement and turn in and ready my bow. All I see is antlers, spread way out, coming right toward me up the trail. The adrenaline surged and I drew the 70 lb compound back like it was 5 lb. I'm holding as the deer closes to within 30 yds. It's the huge local buck people have been talking about -- about 16 typical points and 250lb, unheard of in that area. The whole neighborhood had been after him for at least 5 years, and here I am the only person to ever lay eyes on him in season during legal hunting hours. The nice 8-pt behind him looks like a baby. He turns sideways, and I search frantically for a place to thread my arrow through. However a 2-3 inch diameter branch cuts right across his vitals. No clean shot! I know he's about to turn off the trail and leave, and thoughts of taking a marginal shot and hoping to track him cross my mind but reason prevails and I hope against hope that he turns back and walks around that branch. He doesn't, leaves, and eventually dies of old age as he was never seen by anyone again after the following season.

By my 20s I no longer had issues with buck fever. I see a nice deer and I go into a sort of Caveman Killer mode, focusing cooly on executing a good shot and putting the animal down. Ruthless focus to the point where I often don't remember half of what I did during that time. Of course, as soon as the shot is made there's the old adrenaline rush and shakes if it was something big.