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..."

 

[DennisCA]

Great article!
All the hunters I know have gotten the dreaded "buck-fever" in some point of their hunting life. Hell - If the sight of a massive buck stepping out doesn't get your heart beating faster, then maybe you should take up a different sport.
I think having confidence in your shooting ability is part of it - which mean practice and not just from a bench rest (I don't recall any bench rest in the woods - but I could be wrong ).
When I am in the woods (sitting in a tree stand for example) I am looking around at the various routes that deer may take and different scenarios that might happen.

 

[Overkill777]

Excellent article. This is something I struggle with as a new hunter. I didn't get a deer last year so when a doe presented a nice broadside shot inside of 100 yards and I had plenty of time to get set for the shot my heart was beating out of control. I made a perfect shot and took the doe cleanly but it still bothers me how shook up I got. It's just excitement but I think some of these techniques will help me next year especially if I practice them all year.

 

[Mobuck]

I don't get "buck fever" much(as much anyway) but I still get excited when faced with a big buck in sight but not presenting a shot. Much of my deer "hunting" is akin to "placing an order for meat".

 

[surg_res]

I disagree with the use of the term anxiety, which is more or less a chronic state of anxiousness, and closely associated with depression and doubts about one's self-worth. This to me implies that someone has underlying fears of some sort of adverse social outcome with his or her hunting outcomes. More appropriately, it should be described as little more than an adrenaline surge which is to be expected in a state of hunting. Adrenaline is short-lived hormone that leaves your mouth dry, races the heart, and prepares the muscles for the over-exertion of "flight or fight"--thus the tremulousness. As a vascular surgeon that deals with dying and hemorrhaging patients, I get a regular dose of this. With time and repeated exposures to the stimulus, however, these self-inflicted hormone responses become less and less. My suggestion to new or infrequent hunters would be simple. Get out in the field as much as possible. If you are on a once a year hunt looking at the once in a lifetime trophy, there is simply nothing you can do to reign in the adrenaline surge. On the other hand, if you are on your tenth trip to the field and see that solid ten-pointer again for the fourth time and decide today might be the day to commit to him, there won't be any magic. If you are unable to get out often, consider watching the target animal for a few minutes if you can. I have watched a buck for nearly 20 minutes before picking my shot. By then, the adrenaline is not gone, but significantly reduced (very short-lived hormone), and the side effects are manageable. It is better to let an animal live on to next season, than to force a shot--and I've let a few monsters go that way, animals I'll probably never see again.