When the shot is to Close!

[WingNut]

Twice this season (last 8 days), I had two younger bucks get well inside me comfort range. 10 and 18 yards, I blew them both, either didn't settle down at full draw, didn't notice the branch between him and me.....simple panic attack!

Does anyone have "3 Step" process to cure my ailment?

[Doc]

Don't cure it ...... enjoy it. That is the kind of excitement that I go out hunting for. Those things that cause "buck fever" are the things that make it all worth doing. I have had deer that I could have reached out and touched (if I was fast enough), that provided excitement that came close to having me pass out. That level of intensity makes the whole thing memorable whether I get the deer or not. My goal always is to get the deer as close as possible, and that is just so I can experience that out-of-control excitement that you have.

[growalot]

I spend  a lot of quiet time scanning my shot openings...right down to the tall weeds like mullein..that are as tough as small trees..I know I can shoot this or that side of what ever and how far with out thinking....I also repeat this at the time of shot... bend at waist... don't grip bow, breath, and this is your only shot...it works for me.....I mentioned the shot was a tad farther back on my buck than I thought or had wanted...I realized I had gripped the bow some as I yelled that final MA!!! at him...that always pulls my shot to the left some....Good Luck

Edited November 11, 2015 by growalot

[sweet old bill]

Pick a spot and do not look at the horns. MY problem is after the shot, have to make sure I do not have a heart attack.

[fasteddie]

I tell myself to Relax. .....

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[nyslowhand]

..."3 Step"....Hell, you could fill a book full of things to do to cure buck fever!! Since those actual encounters occur in the woods, a self-help book that was written in a home office isn't easily applied!

 

Exactly what Sweet Old Bill said! Once you determine you are going to shoot, it then should become a target and focus on only the bulls-eye point. Yeah, right!???! Also years of up-close & personal encounters might soften the buck fever, never removing it! WTH, if you don't get the fever, time to trade in the bow for a bowling ball!

[dbHunterNY]

try not to think it's a deer.  know its a target and thinking about what's needed to make the shot happen and put the arrow where it needs to go.  then after it's a dead deer running the flood gates will open.  you're not going about shooting a big buck.  you're going about a process with know steps to follow.  admire the buck or deer after it's on the ground and you won't get all messed up and buck feverish.  seems stupid too but don't forget to breathe.

 

....problem with this is saving it all to the end, you've got to remember to visually mark spots where it got hit and where it went for tracking.

Edited November 11, 2015 by dbHunterNY

[LET EM GROW]

Dont think about the deer at all!! Just your shot, once you figure out that your going to shoot at this animal, if your not comfortable at full draw, like when you practice, don't shoot..  it's damn near impossible to cure your ailment, that's just hunting and the adrenaline rush, we get as hunters enjoying gods creation! 

 

If its a buck forget about thems horns! haha

 

practice practice practice any and every which way you can

[ApexerER]

I get so excited when I see a deer, doesn't matter what it is....I feel like my heart is going to beat through my chest. As I have gotten a little older (I am now 42) I have made myself take my time with my shot. When I was younger I would lift my gun and start banging away...(not that many people are going to want to hear that on here) I just started bow hunting a few years ago. When I get the chance to draw or raise my rifle I repeat to myself over and over to aim small miss small....Yes I got that from Ted Nugent TV but it helps me. It doesn't help me at all with the excitement, but it does help me make sure that when I am pulling the trigger or releasing an arrow that I am where I want to be. I learned that rushing the shot doesn't do me any good and like you I missed a lot of deer. All with the rifle. Tampering the excitement for me is impossible. Learning not to rush my shot is not and actually might even make it more exciting. I still might be shaking like hell but it makes me do the best I can at that moment. I have learned it is better to miss a shot opportunity all together than to make a bad rushed shot....Most of my hunting buddies are either liars or they don't get excited until after they shoot....(so they tell me) I am not sure why they even hunt if that is the case...My shot opportunities are few and far between but I get the exact same excitement just seeing them....

[mac]

and it being a deer , I remind myself no matter what its not going to attack me if i get winded like a bear or wolf as i am on the ground which is the ultimate..settle the pin in slow and breath. enjoy the hand to hand combat because it is indescribable to non-hunters!

Edited November 11, 2015 by mac

[turkeyfeathers]

Not sure about bow hunting but I know when a strutting turkey is real close I just about piss myself. I swear they can hear my heart beating. I try to calm my breathing down (by thinking of naked Oprah of course  ) and aim small, miss small. The nervouseness is what it's all about. It never gets any easier. Try and complete your routine . Used to play a lot of competitive golf, that is routine as well when the chips are down.

[Doc]

I know that everyone has some tried-and-true set of procedures or rules that they use to combat buck fever, but most of them don't work when the real occasion comes. Lets face it, it is an irrational mental condition that can cause a whole variety of symptoms ranging from paralysis to light-headedness. I have heard of guys emptying their gun into the dirt in a buck fever attack. Others couldn't pull their bow back. Others forgot every part of their form checklist and fired before even coming to full draw, and on and on go all the symptoms of an attack of buck fever.

 

I personally have experienced a very huge buck that was playing me for over 1/2 hour, pacing back and forth behind a screen of thin brush, making false advances toward a path that would have put him broadside at 20 yards and then reversing back over to the far side of the brush screen. He was actually staging at the edge of a small field waiting for darkness to step out. He was restless and wanted to go out in the field, but simply would not. Instead he paced back and forth next to me just inside the edge of the thicket. 1/2 hour he taunted me with that nonsense. He had me so worked up that I did have a couple of bouts with light-headedness where I honestly believed I was going to pass out (your basic panic attack). I didn't pass out, but I do believe that when he got done with me, I was a total mess. Finally, it became quitting time (sunset), and all I could do was take a back trail around him and go home. Had he come through that trail and got on my side of the bushes, I have to say that I sincerely doubt that I ever could have made (or even attempted) the shot.

 

So as I hear these so-called buck-fever cures, I have to say that I remain skeptical. There may be times when they might work, but there are occasions that can occur that no matter what you try to do, your mind just will not follow any rules or patterns of behavior.

[wdswtr]

The best 3, time, experience and numbers. It takes time to put more deer on the dinner table and with everyone you gain more experience. I was the same way when younger, in too big of a hurry and make mistakes. You get better and calmer as you age.

[Buckmaster7600]

I have mentioned this in another thread but the best thing is to practice. In the Marine Corps we called them stress drills, go for a run or do any kind of physical exercise to get your heart racing then shoot a couple arrows. How I do it is I hang my bow on my porch go for a run as soon as I get back I shoot 2 arrows. This teaches you how to control your body to make the shot.

[Jeremy K]

I've been hunting for over 20 years and nothing I can do or think gets my heart to not beat like a crackheads heart on dollar day.