Buck Fever

I have never had chronic buck fever, but I can point to at least a couple of times where I got a dose of it. Maybe this qualifies me to give advice. Maybe it doesn’t. However, I do know what has worked for me.

First off, let me be clear. There are a bunch of different forms of buck fever. You got the shakes. You’ve got the freeze-ups, and you got the stupids. Maybe there’s other versions, but those are the ones I’ve seen.

The Shakes: A deer comes in and you start shaking so bad you can’t hold the gun still.

The Freeze-ups: A deer shows up and you lock up. Nothing moves.
The Stupids: You get to acting weird and counter productive. Instead of being quiet, you start making a lot of noise. Instead of getting your gun, you pick up your coffee thermos.

I had the shakes a couple of times early on in my hunting career. I’d see a deer or hear one coming in and it was like electricity flowing through me. I’d shake like a wet terrier. Over time, I figured out that it was my adrenal glands dumping a big load into my system, and the best way to deal with it was to try and keep myself oriented to the task. The worst time I had was one of the first times I got a buck in my sights. That buck watched me for well over 5 minutes, and I had to hold my bow and the rest of my body still the entire time. When it finally came time to draw on him, I was shaking so bad the arrow rattled off the rest and fell to the ground.

Freeze-up? Mind you, I’m no expert on this, but back in 2003 I had the biggest buck I had ever had in my sights come in. Here’s the story:

The Savage Spoke and the Monarch of the Forest Fell

My Whole body froze up on me for a few minutes. I was glued to the trunk of that tree, and I just could not move. How did I get unstuck and make the shot? I talked to myself. I told myself what to do. I told myself to calm down. I was whispering as low as I could, but it was enough. I got my self to relax. I got the gun down off its peg, and I made the shot.

The Stupids. I don’t hear many others talk about it, but its happened to me and happened to people I know. I’ve grabbed for my coffee thermos when I should have been reaching for my rifle. Once, when a big buck came in, I went rattling round in my bag looking for my grunt call, and got so involved with getting the call, I almost missed the shot. At my in-law’s deer camp, they still tell a story of an uncle that saw a big buck and reached into his pocket, grabbed his breath mints and chambered them in his shotgun.

A version of The Stupids I know from experience is the blast-away stupids. It happened to my son, Moose, on his first trip out. All of nine, and he spied a herd of deer 250 yards away on a far hillside. Before I could stop him he threw up his 30-30 and emptied the magazine. Luckily the deer were running and his rounds were probably dropping a good 10 feet by the time they reached the opposing ridge. However, it kind of jarred me and I realized the boy needed some extra guidance. He only had 3 in the magazine and was walking out with a cold chamber. About a year later, I was out visiting one of my stands at mid-day and got ambushed by a herd of 5 deer. I don’t know what happened to me, but the next thing I knew, I was blasting away with my Remington 742– didn’t hit a darn thing. I immediately recognized the syndrome and vowed from then on that I’d stick to no more than 3 rounds in any of my deer rifles. I figure after 3 rounds, it’s probably time to rethink my strategy anyway.

General advice:
1) Focus on the task at hand. Don’t stare at the rack. Keep your eyes fixed on the kill zone and focus on making the shot.
2) Keep a dialog going in your head. Tell yourself what to do. Tell yourself to remain calm. If necessary, talk out loud to yourself.
3) Remove things from the equation that could get you in trouble. I limit myself to 3 rounds and I keep my coffee thermos stowed these days
4) Keep your gun or bow well supported. Don’t get yourself in the fix of having to hold it for long periods while the deer makes up his mind.
5) Ditto for your body. You’re inviting the shakes if you try to remain standing for a long period of time completely motionless. Don’t commit too early. Get your weapon up, acquire your target and make the shot.

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