Conquering Buck Fever - The Hard To Cure Hunting Disease

Alot of bow hunters find that buck fever is very hard to cure and it is joked about as being a hunting disease but conquering buck fever is not impossible with a little work. You have to admit when you see a buck like this coming in your direction its very easy for Buck fever to set in. Once it sets in everything seems to fall apart. Believe me I have had more than my fair share of buck fever experiences over the years and it is very hard to conquer. The first bad experience was a huge buck in a power line that stood quartering toward me at 15 yards for what seemed like an eternity. When I first saw this buck turning in my direction the excitement was overpowering. I knew I was going to kill this monster and in my mind I already had him hanging on the wall. But when he stopped, not giving me a shot at 15 yards, in my mind I was telling myself that I may not get a shot. That's when my left leg started shaking. It got so severe that I just new he was going to notice me and be gone forever. That magnified the shaking and I tried pushing me leg against the seat on my hang on stand. When I did that my foot started tapping the floor of my tree stand uncontrollably and that's when it went completely to pieces. Needless to say that deer lived to see another day.

Fear of failure is the root to Buck Fever and can be fatal to your hunting season and every hunting season if you don't cure it.

Shooting practice will build your confidence. When you can sit in your tree stand or blind, looking around at your effective shooting range with all the confidence in the world, knowing that if anything steps into that circle you can centershoot it with ease. That is the first step to conquering Buck Fever. If you ever have any doubts on your shooting ability, you need to shorten your effective range and practice until your confidence is there. Any doubts will start the onset of buck fever.

Buy a range finder. It doesn't have to be anything fancy or expensive, your not trying to shoot ranges at a 1000 yds. There are range finders on the market for under $150 dollars that work just fine and will give you years of usage. When that trophy buck is heading your direction,having to guess the yardage is another thing that can start the onset of buck fever. When you are not 100% sure of your yardage it brings your confidence level down a little and when your confidence level starts to slip, the fear of failure starts creeping in and opens the door for buck fever. It can happen fast and can be on top of you before you realize whats happening.
Several years ago I had a shoot through rest that my arrow would fall off of during practice every once in a while. Even though it never happened while drawing on a deer it was always in the back of my mind and started the onset of buck fever one cold November morning when a large mature buck came cruising by my stand at 25 yards. Needless to say, Buck Fever got the best of me and the deer lived.

Doubting yourself. When that moment of truth comes and you have any doubts what so ever  that you can pull that shot off, it will probably never happen. If you can just say "There he is, thats what I've been looking for", knowing that what ever happens you can handle it, there is an excellent chance buck fever won't set in. There is absolutely nothing wrong with shaking after the shot, its shaking before the shot that gets you. I usually shake like a leaf and can hardley call my wife to tell her I killed a big one after the shot. It usually takes me 15 minutes or so to get down out of my tree stand after I just shot a big buck.

Quit looking at the antlers. You know a shooter when you see one. One glance will tell you whether or not you want to shoot this buck. Whether its an 80'' or 170'' buck, you know at first glance if its a buck you will be happy with or not. Just watch the body and look for a good shot opportunity, forget about the antlers. All the Glory is after the shot anyway. DON'T TRY TO COUNT THE POINTS! If you are so seasoned to killing monster bucks that you need to count the points and look at the mass to tell if this is a buck you want to take, then you already have the Buck Fever problem mastered and this article isn't helping you anyway.



 Good Luck and Happy Hunting
Dan Whited