Buck Fever: How To Beat It

Buck fever, if you’ve been deer hunting long, chances are you’ve experienced it. Your heart rate skyrockets, your breath quickens, and your brain starts going haywire. This adrenaline rush is one of the main reasons many of us hit the woods each year. However, buck fever can have a negative impact on your shooting ability and success in the field. Tyler Meats of Neosho River Outfitters in Kansas has been guiding hunters to big bucks since 2012 and has seen (and experienced) plenty of cases of buck fever. Here’s what he had to say.

What is Buck Fever?

Meats said that hunters suffering from buck fever often “get the shakes and not from being cold.” Tyler also said that “not being able to breath steady” was a common symptom of buck fever. Meats said, “It takes some experience to get along fine with [buck fever] and tolerate it.”

Negative Affects of Buck Fever

Buck fever can make hunters temporarily forget everything they know about how to kill a whitetail. Meats said that his worst case of buck fever came on the first whitetail he ever shot with a bow. When the buck came in, Tyler could barely draw his bow, even though it was set at a low draw weight. Meats said, “Even though the bow was lightweight and I had practiced with it and I was prepared and ready to go, it took me three tries to even draw the bow back. I just lost all my strength in all the excitement.” The bow hunt ended with a poor shot and a wounded buck, but Meats caught up with him and finished what he started a few weeks later during rifle season. Tyler said, “As soon as he came out into an open spot, I shot.” Meats credits this hunt with teaching him his “kill mode” philosophy of dealing with buck fever. Although buck fever is often times detrimental to a hunt, the pure obsession of harvesting a mature animal can be just as devastating. This article gives some insight on How Obsession Can Lead To Failure.

Avoid Debilitating Buck Fever

If you’re one of the many hunters who get so worked up with buck fever that closing the deal becomes difficult, here’s what you can do. Meats said, “What I’ve always told my hunters and what my dad always told me is don’t look at the rack. Once you know it’s a shooter, just stare at the body. Focus on that spot you want to shoot and go on.” By focusing on the deer’s body instead of it’s antlers, bowhunters can tell if the animal is likely to react to bow noise and jump the string and gun hunters can assess the amount of time the animal is likely to offer the shot.

Meats said that bowhunters can prepare themselves for the shakes they might experience while suffering from buck fever by drawing their bow and holding it as long as possible before making the shot during practice sessions. Meats said, “Practice that way once every couple of times you shoot and it will help you with that shakiness and being able to get back on target.”

Make the Shot

You’ve kept yourself calm and undetected long enough for the buck of your dreams to offer a shot opportunity. Good job, but don’t start counting points and inches yet. You still have to make a good shot to put that bruiser on your wall and your dinner table. When it comes to actually shooting a buck fever inducing whitetail, Meats said, “I kind of go into a kill mode, just picking a spot and shooting. I focus more and don’t necessarily think about what I’m doing and just pick a spot and do it.”

Use these tips to keep buck fever at bay this fall and harvest the buck of your dreams. To book a hunt with Neosho River Outfitters contact them at www.guidefitter.com/neoshoriveroutfitters.