Do You Get Excited?

[lon371]

Do you still get excited when you see you game?

I have been hunting off and on since I was 13 years old. I have only hunted Deer for about the last 13 years. We live in the country, see deer frequently. I get a little excited and slow the car down every time. When hunting deer, if I get to see a deer even a doe way out of range my heart starts racing. If I have to watch it come into range, by the time it is there my breathing and heart rate is crazy. I hope I am wrong, but I will probably be one of those guys you here of having a Heart issue while hunting. Fortunately I hunt with people, and wife ALWAYS knows where I am and when I plan to be home.

Maybe it is just me. My kids get excited, but not to the extent of myself.

Be honest, I know you all are not calm cool and colective everytime.

Lonny

 

[12GaugeShuggoth]

but I will probably be one of those guys you here of having a Heart issue while hunting.

Sounds like a good way to go to me For me the excitement isn't so much about seeing "game" or "potential kill" .....I just enjoy being outdoors and watching nature. I get the same excitement whether I'm hunting or just watching. In my opinion anyone who claims to always be stone cold calm is either lying or hasn't been hunting very long

 

[lt dan]

aint that the truth, and it is fun teaching the young ones about the difference in apearance of the sexes as well as maturity. this way they can see what the fuss is all about when dad starts talking about the outdoors.

 

[Byron Quick]

Heart pounding? Takes a real good buck nowadays.

Great enjoyment? Always. Even seeing wildlife I'm not hunting. Had a Great Horned owl perch on a limb three feet in front of my stand one morning before dawn. Great day. Didn't see a deer.

Another morning I watched a half grown bobcat kitten trying to catch its tail.

Another great day.

One morning going fishing in a beaver pond, I pulled up where I usually do. The undergrowth hadn't been cut back for quite some time. I opened the door, put my foot out, shifted my weight and swiveled-face to face with a hornet's nest the size of a basketball. Teleported back into the truck, slammed the door, and hornets went splat, splat, splat, against the window. My heart was pounding then, for sure.

 

[shortwave]

The absolute most excitement I get today is taking my nephews or a friends boy turkey or deer hunting during youth hunts. The excitement in their eyes is irr-replaceable especially when they hear that first wild turkey gobble. Alot of kids have seen deer but have never heard a turkey in the wild. The second most exciting time to me is out in the tree stand at first morning light. A monster buck or turkey at that time almost sends the excitement meter over the top.

 

[jdscholer]

About a month ago, while bow hunting elk, I had a large bull followed by two spikes walk directly to me from about 200 yds out; just like the vidios. I'm usually a pretty cool head, but the closer they got, the more I could feel the blood vessels in my head approaching maximum psi. They veared slightly on the wrong side of my tree, blocking any shot, and I had to watch them simply walk away. In the next few minutes I realized just how spun out I was, and also that if I ever don't get that feeling, I'll give it all up. jd

 

[hogdogs]

I don't really get buck fever... I do get more excited at my first deer sighting as that is my sign to myself how season will go. I despise missing my first deer as I figger the deer gods are gonna frown on my inadequacies and send less deer my way.
If I get the first one than I feel the :skunk is off the boat" AND THE REST ARE JUST FREEZER FILLERS.
I do enjoy the woods and the hunt but the reason I am out there pre-dawn is for the meat.
I have lined up a few more freezers with hollow spots in them to increase my total deer take capacity.
LOVE A LIBERAL BAG LIMIT!
Brent

 

[knight0334]

I really dont get the buck fever either..

I mean, really?? whats the deal? Its just a deer(or insert critter)..

Only thing that goes through my head is - "do I really feel like dragging that thing back to the trail?"

 

[lon371]

I guess some of us are in it for the killing or filling the freezer. I am in it for filling the freezer. But I think if it didn't excite me, I would probably just quit and go grocery shopping

I like watching critters in general I guess. Like the albino skunk last year. Or the Fawn rubbing my ladder stand. or the squirrels on the stand with me(not my kids) Or watching the Turkey swarm the trees at dusk.

Like was mentioned, taking the kids the first couple times and they get a chance to see deer or critters at very close range. First daughter had a 9 point walk up to 15 yards and staired her down for a couple minutes, he was stomping snorting bobbing his head, almost mad laugh. She never moved.(she had the gun to her shoulder and could not pull the trigger-I did) But the look on her face was priceless.

Last year took a new hunter on Indiana's youth hunt. HUGE Buck walked under the stand, we both got stirred pretty good. Not allowed to shoot a buck in youth season. He is still out there.

Lonny

 

[Wild Bill Bucks]

I don't get the fever either, but when the fun leaves, it will be time to find another hobby. So far I still have TO MUCH FUN to quit.

 

[Quickdraw Limpsalot]

I had a string of bad luck a while back. I went three years without taking a deer due to lack of hunting time along with my general bad luck. The first one I took after that "drought" was just a yearling doe, but you'd think it was a Booner the way my heart was pumping. Felt like the very first deer I killed all over again.

 

[Legionnaire]

I don't get bad cases of buck fever, but I still get a bit of a rush. I suppose a truly trophy-sized animal could do it for me, though. Last year, though, my biggest enjoyment was my daughter getting her first deer. It was a doe, but it counted!

 

[Brian Pfleuger]

I don't get "buck fever" like I can't hit what I shoot at but I certainly get a pounding heart and a real rush when I see a deer. Never had a problem hitting them because of it.

 

[davlandrum]

My big adreneline rush comes after the shot. I can keep it wrapped pretty tight until then. Once the concentration part is done, I can just feel it rush through me.

 

[wpcexpert]

For me, it all depends on the what the critter is doing. It's more of a how long I have to wait and if I know I might be shooting. Sometime I still get real worked up.

The first day of the season this year, I'm on the side of a tree. Shooting light is approaching, and a dark image moves in to investigate some acorn scent I had put out. I was already at attention. I had no idea what was beneath me. As the wait prolonged, I got more and more worked up. At one point my arrow bounced off the prongs. As daylight came I found out that I was all worked up over a Button Buck. Since I had no intention of killing him, I laughed and calmed down.

The second day this year it was an evening hunt. The last minute of shooting light, a doe came in. I stopped her and ran an arrow thru her lungs. The whole ordeal took 5 seconds. I didn't get worked up one bit. The adrenaline came, but nothing like the button buck the day before.

I'll be worked into a frenzy the whole time I'm watching the freezer filler come in, but the second it's time for buisness, all that stops and it's time to go to work.

 

[BIGR]

You dang right I get excited when I hear a deer coming through the leaves in the woods wondering if its a good buck. Then I see it is a doe or small buck and my heart settles down. When seeing any deer does not get me a little excited then its time to put me in the ground.

 

[jimbo_4]

If it's a doe, I just watch and wait for a shot (if I'm so lucky). A buck I do get excited, until I pull back on the bow. I don't know why, maybe my controlled breathing starts and I'm concentrating too much on the shot to be excited. When I start to aim, no more excitement, no more rush, just focus. Then if I do get the shot, I'm just happy afterwords.

 

[boltgun71]

My uncles and grandfather taught me that if the rush or excitement ever goes away then its time to hang the gun up. If you dont get excited or a rush by seeing the game during a hunt then you have lost most of the meaning and feeling of the hunt. I am pretty good at controlling "buck fever" whether its a squirrel or big deer, but I certainly get the rush and excitement everytime I see game, whether I shoot it or not. If I ever lose that feeling then the hunts over for me, unless its purely a survival situation.

 

[RLFD5415]

I still get that adrenaline feeling when up close and personal with bear. I assume I alway will. But honestly, I can see a day soon when my hunting days are over and I go exclusively to my camera. Can't stay away from the woods, but it gets harder and harder to pull the trigger each year. I know, I'm gettin' soft

 

[Ironwood]

I still get pretty excited when I see game. I think I'm pretty cool when I first see a buck or hog and while I'm getting ready to shoot. After the shot is when the real rush starts. If I didn't get that rush and sense of accomplishment I wouldn't hunt. I'm a deer hunter, not a deer rancher. If it's a legal buck or doe deer it might be in deep trouble walking out in front of me during season.