Buck Fever how to fix and 09 Bow Buck
 

Hey guys and Girls! My name is Ben and I was wondering how all of you get over "Buck Fever". I practice all summer and spring. I have no problem with hitting my target. I tune my own bow. I always keep it in check. So to say the least I do do all of the right things up until I see a deer or animal I want to take. Now when I'm in my stand I decide I want to take the shot, I get the right yardage, I take a deep breath, I concentrate at where on the animal I want to hit, Settle the pin, Then I release. Sounds good right? But on EVERY release I get to excited to see how my shot was and where the animal is going to go that I drop my bow arm. It forces my shot to be off of the mark. It almost caused me to miss my biggest buck with a bow. I have noticed I have ALWAYS done it. I have just gotten lucky and still got a mortal shot. I was wondering if any of you have any ideas on how to fix this problem. Right now the only way that I can think to fix it is have the confort of having someonelse there in the stand to watch the shot so in my head I have the security of knowing that they will see it. I won't have to pay attention to that. Thanks for the help! Ok I was trying to upload pics of my buck but it says it is to big. Any help with that would be great too. Thanks!

Perhaps getting some of the lighted nocks will help you track the arrow without moving the bow out of the way. The best way to fix your problem is to use a surprise release. Without the anticipation of the shot going off, you wont have the reaction time to be able to throw the arrow off nearly as much. Also, shoot lots of does if possible, then when a big buck steps out, you'll know in your head you have made the shot many times before.

I always thought practice makes perfect, It might be a benifit for you to practice shooting a few more deer.. If you have doe tags practice with that.. Talk to yourself, take a deep breath, and let the arrow fly... It almost sounds like your not only getting a little of the fever but you are questioning your ability to to shoot at the deer.. Try to forget about all that and just let the arrow fly!! Have a little fun with it and maybe it get you over the hump.

I have always thought that shooting targets and shooting deer were two very different skills. I have a good friend of mine that is on Hoyt's national shoot staff, he is an amazing 3D guy, but is horrible at shooting deer. I think the best way to get "good" at shooting deer is to get kills under your belt. Take a bunch of does and over time you will start to settle down. I don't know how many kills you have in your life, but I know I was the same way for a while and then one day, it just all clicked and came together.

How about a picture of this buck?

Buck fever is all mental. By practicing all summer long, you should be building self confidence and the shot should become second nature, automatic. You should get to the point that every shot, practice target or live target, should be automatic. Get your mind wrapped around the idea of "IF I get a shot, I WILL make the shot", as I've done hundreds of times in the back yard.

Could try what Chuck Adams does, when you see your intended target, tell yourself that you probably won't get a shot, that things probably won't work out, that way your mind does get all worked up before the shot presents itself.

Let's see some pics.

IMO, buck fever never goes away. If it does, then you don't enjoy hunting anymore. You will settle down some, over time, but there will always be that monster that will mess you up all over again, lol.

Amen, brother.

The only way you're going to get over this problem is to work on your mental discipline. Talk to yourself (mentally of course) when the deer is coming in. Work on a mental checklist, and in your case, remember to tell yourself each time just before you shoot to "keep aiming until you see the arrow hit."

Another thing - I shoot white wraps and white blazers. If I keep aiming until the hit, I have no problem seeing where that arrow hits even with my imperfect vision. This is made easier by the fact that I shoot with both eyes open.

I tried the lighted nocks (Lumenoks), but my 70 pound draw punching against a 500 grain arrow kept breaking them.

I'm with dyb3and88. Buck fever is what hunting is all about. Now overcoming it and not letting it make your shot bad comes with time.

how i "try" beat buck fever is when i see the deer walking into the set up i try and get a path to where the deer will possibly travel down get the distance then im ready for the shot.. but i also before i take the shot take a deep breath then glance away for a moment... get myself settled in again and then im ready for the shot.. i understand that sometimes it happens a little fast and personally i would rather have it happen fast because then you can sometimes shot before buck fever hits you to hard.. this is what i do may not work for you but it works pretty good for me.

Ben what you are experiencing is totally normal and I think everybody has that at first, I certainly did. And don't worry, even after hunting for over 20 years and shooting 3 deer every year, when that big boy shows up with a rack that will fit a case of beer inside it, you will feel that buck fever all over again!!! It's all part of hunting, mostly it's a matter of just realizing that you are going to feel that way, and getting used to it. Also I have found that sometimes you just don't have time to get nervous, things happen too fast. My blood pressure still kicks up for the most part, but I expect it.

Some tricks that I have done to help:

1) When you practice, that first practice shot is the one that counts. Make sure that you pretend that you see that buck out there, imagine him walking by, you get your shot and take it! During the season, I try and practice every day - just 1 shot only. (and more practicing from time to time)

2) This will sound silly, but you can get your gear on, run around to get your blood pressure up high, and then take your practice shot. This will get you used to shooting well when your adrenalin is going full bore.

3) Maybe in your case concentrate on a 2 second count after you release your arrow. "Still as a statue" or something like that. Do that enough and you will have muscle memory like the athletes use, everything will happen all by itself then.

4) When you are up in your stand, plan out how exactly you will shoot a deer depending on the angle of his path. You know, at this tree I will pull back, at that shooting lane is my shot. Then when the real thing happens, you follow that plan. This also gives you something to do while waiting. When shooting at the deer, concentrate on a specific hair that you want to hit.

Mostly, you need to concentrate on the mechanics of the shot, you will have plenty of time to worry, get excited after the shot is made. Easier said than done!

Just some thoughts. It will get easier to deal with the more experience you get. But it is also what makes bowhunting exciting!

A back tension style release could also help you to acheive a surprise shot execution.

I think practicing is the only way to get over it. I still get buck fever and if that ever stops I'm going to quit hunting. When I pull back my practice routine takes over. I center my bubble and float my pin over the kill zone. Practice, Practice, Practice. Get a Buck decoy practice target.

Yes i agree a deer target will help too!
Even get up in a stand and practice shooting at it. You want to familiarize yourself so boringly much that when the real deal is about to happen, everything is on autopilot.

Do what the olympic athletes do - go over and over in your mind what you want to happen before hand.

have you practiced from your stand??? alot of hunters seem to leave that out of their practice routine and cant shoot from a stand...

if you shoot alot pre-season, shooting should be 2nd nature...shooting builds muscle memory and everything SHOULD happen without you realizing you did it...

"buck fever" can be terrible for some people...i have a buddy like that...he can shoot his bow and rifle pretty decent..but ive seen most of his kills and NONE were good hits..all killed and/or dropped the deer on the spot...but all were TERRIBLE as far as placement goes...

just slow down...calm yourself...draw back...PICK A SPOT...release and hit your spot...

i consider myself lucky...when its "go time" and i need to make the shot, "buck fever" is gone. i go into predator mode...im focused on making that shot...nothing else..i dont look at anything but the spot i want to hit before the shot...

sure i get excited when i first see a shooter...heck, this year, my leg was twitching like a dogs when you scratch that special spot...but once he started heading towards my lane, i went into predator mode and my head was clear..i was focused on making that shot...everything happened naturally..i hit full draw and hit my anchors and knew everything was right...picked my spot and floated my pin and sent it...after the shot, thats when my emotions flood...i'll never forget when i shot my first deer..rifle kill...the guy i was with complimented how calm i stayed before the shot..said my rifle barrel was still as could be and it looked like i did that 100 times before...but after the shot he thought i was gunna pass out lol...

just gotta learn to control it and focus on the matter at hand....quit looking at that rack...quit thinking about anything other than making that shot...talk yourself through it if you have to...it helps get you through it...

Get a small stuffed animal. Get in your stand and have someone throw it out there 20 yards. Stuffy is now the deer and you have one arrow, practice making that one shot on that stuffed animal.

I do this 3-4 weeks before the season but only once per day (although if I'm lazy I'll do it from the shop roof, wife loves that!), that way I know if I can hit a small stuffed animal, I can drill the boiler room every time.

When it's time to let the arrow fly, I know I don't need to take my eyes off my spot because I'm confident I know I will hit it. I try to watch my arrow hit the deer and try to pick it up in the ground immediately after the hit without moving the bow, then I pick the deer up.

IMO there is no real way to get rid of Buck Fever.. Hunting is not as fun and interesting without it.

i use to be the say way when any deer came within sight i would shake like crazy but after like other people have said shooting some does every year now i dont shake at all whether it be a buck or a doe

Totally agree with everyone else. It is something that never totally goes away. But the more you are out there the better it will get. Congrats on the deer and want to see a pic.

You can help yourself by practicing under preasure. 3D tournements are great for that, only get one shot and you have people watching you. Also practice making every shot count during practice only shoot 3 arrow then pull. Pick a spot every time you shoot and concentrate on it hard until your arrow ends up there kind of feels like the arrow just appears there don't attempt to follow the arrow from your bow to the target you'll start peaking. And #1 shoot more deer, only real way to get better

Thanks guys! I'm sure that your right I just need to shoot more deer. Most of all the suggestions that you gave me I thought I was doing. But the confidence thing rings true. If I was that confident in my shot then I wouldn't have to peek. I would KNOw it was going to strike where I aimed. I need to get the confidence in the field that I have in the range. I will get that by murdering a bunch of does! I have killed two does this year and this buck so I'm sure it will get better. The Apha Max is blood thirsty so I better feed it. Thanks agian. I would also love to show the deer but I have no idea how to upload it to here. Like I said it says that its to big of a file to upload it. How do I make it smaller?

I don't know what program your using on your computer. The way I re-size mine is, I open the picture, then right click on it and there should be an option that says, edit. Click on that. When the picture opens in that, then look up top, there will be options up there, it will either be in tools,picture or view. One of them options will say re-size. You should be able to adjust it by pixels or dimensions. Do one re-sizing at a time. If you don't like it, you can go back up to the tool bar up top and selected undo. Then try another size until you get the size you like. Depending on what you camera is set at when your taking the picture, you may have to re-size somewhere around half the size it is now. there should also be box up top that says what size your looking at the pic now, 50%, 70%, ect.... When you can see the whole picture on your screen and that says 100% then you should be good to go. Just don't go to small. When you get the size you want, them just close out that picture and it will ask you, do you want to save it. Just hit yes, and you should be all set.. Hope this helps..

What I do is just think of the little things. You will still have buck fever but If you think about the little things in your shot it helps. When I pull back i make sure my hand holding the bow itself is where it should always be. I then make sure the kisser button is in the same spot as always. I make sure my release hand is nessled where I want it. I make sure my arrow is setting good. I then look through my peep see the pins find the pin I want and put it on the deer. I know that sounds like alot to thing about in such a short time but you can and it helps me.