My article, "How to beat 'buck fever' at your hunt"

[Trebor]

Here's my latest article at my Michigan Firearms Examiner page. I interviewed a couple psychologists on what to do if you experience "buck fever."

How to beat 'Buck fever' at your hunt

"It’s the day of the hunt and you’ve sighted your quarry. As you get ready to take the shot your heat beats faster, you start to sweat, and your hands shake. You want to shoot, but are afraid to miss, and the longer you wait, the worse it gets. You realize you’re suffering from buck fever, but what can you do about it?

“What hunters call ‘buck fever’ can be made up of different psychological reactions,” said sports psychologist Dr. Eddie O’Connor. “One of the things about anxiety is that physiologically it is exactly the same as excitement. When you talk about not being able to be physically calm and to hold a steady shot there’s no way to tell whether it’s from excitement or nervousness or performance anxiety.”

The good news is that O’Connor said there are effective techniques to help that should work no matter the underlying cause..."

 

[Doc7]

Thank you!

 

[777funk]

My 9 y/o son almost had a shot at a wall hanger last night in the stand and when I asked him if he was nervous, he looked at me and said... for what? That gun doesn't kick...

He had no idea what buck fever is. Must be nice. I was nervous for him. lol.

 

[entropy]

Nice article. It should have had some explanation of the physiological phenomenon of adrenaline dump and the attendant symptoms. I found on shooting my first deer that confidence in my shooting ability is the surest way to combat 'buck fever', but I'd be a liar if I said I still don't have to deal with the physical aspects of it each time. Concentrating on the process of shooting accurately works very well for me, to the point where I don't feel any recoil and barely register the sound of the shot.

 

[Hookeye]

No problems until I've made the shot and have to get down out of my treestand.
Get a little shaky then LOL.

 

[Nature Boy]

For me, it's the transition from the calm and serene state you're in from being in the woods, enjoying the cool weather, appreciating the beauty of nature, sipping on a hot cup of coffee from your thermos, watching a doe or three frolicking in front of you...... to that BANG, instantaneously HOLY CRAP moment when the monster appears out of nowhere and you can't catch your breath.

Never been able to control that.

 

[ASCTLC]

I'm like Hookeye and Nature Boy. Dead calm until after the shot.

A few weeks ago, this year's cow was a hell of an example - actually the most dramatic example of this. Saw a couple sets of legs walking from my right to left through the trees about 50 yards away (green dashed line). It was a cow followed by a young 5x5 bull. I saw an opening I expected they'd pass through (red circle) so I aimed right at that opening waiting for her to enter it. And sure enough she did....BOOM....sending a 180 gr Partition from the 30-06. I recall seeing the perfect sight picture of good shot placement.

No time to get excited though because she ran about 5 yards forward, then made nearly a 180 running. right. At. ME (yellow line) I stared in amazement as I prepared for hoof prints on my forehead because I was in the opening she wanted to get back to that bull that did a 180 at the shot and ran around behind me to get in to a small meadow. Just 6' before she ran me over she made a 90 degree turn through a very small split in the trees

The camera makes that stick where she turned looks further than 6' but look at the leaves to see how shot of distance it was. When she turned just 6 feet away, I clearly saw the red spot when I hit her. I knew I had a good hit.

During the shot I sat just 3' left of where I took the picture from - what can I say, I was excited when I finally calmed down enough later to go back and take the picture to document the event

Her turn was to run down in to the small meadow to my left where the bull ran to behind me. When she got about 50 yards down in to the meadow she stopped next to a small aspen tree. Facing away but still on her feet I put the cross hairs very quickly and very calmly on the back of her head and ended it for her.

When she dropped stone still it hit me. Holy Smokes did I get an adrenalin dump I don't ever recall having before. LOL....the shakes hit me like a ton of bricks! Heck, you'd think I've never shot an elk before. I still laugh at that transition from dead calm to nearly unfunctional. What a memory!!

Andy

 

[Hookeye]

For me it's all calculations and focus.
Then the shot is made, reaction factored, add another shot if needed.
Take in the information, come to a conclusion.

Then I go to heck, a wicked case of Jimmy Leg when 25 up in a stand aint all that much fun.

I have to stop and work to get settled down.
Then as I climb down it usually kicks in again....halfway down the tree.

Have had it hit when ground hunting.

I'll sit by my downed animal and let it just ebb.... while I admire the beast and give thanks for my good fortune. Don't fight the flood of adrenaline and emotion.......just let the waves splash a while.

Laugh, it's kind of like an old friend.

 

[buck460XVR]

The majority of us here hunt for sport. We seek that adrenaline rush as the trophy buck of a lifetime steps out of the brush or that boss Tom rattles our backside with a gobble right behind us. If it weren't for "buck fever" we'd stay home and watch football.

 

[Clark]

I filled 3 deer tags in 4 days this year after many blown chances.
When I mistakenly pulled the trigger with the safety on [happened a lot], the other hunters were yelling at me that I was flinching.

I hit one at 629 yards, but I blew a lot of 50 yard shots at animals standing still and I was just too anxious.

I can concentrate on long shots while prone.

 

[jrdolall]

I have been shooting whitetails since the 1970's. Western game animals since the 1990's. I have never once gotten any kind of "buck fever" when I saw an animal or during the actual shot.

After the shot...now that's a different story. I don't really shake but my breathing changes and quite often my back will start hurting. It makes no difference if it's a small doe or a 5x5 Mulie. Normally I am fine once I begin the tracking job but the two minutes or so after the shot I am a mess.