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All hunters have experienced or seen someone go through buck fever. It is a very real condition that can strike at anytime during the deer season. It is devastating to the person with the condition. Depending on the severity of the attack, it might take years to fully recover from the psychological effects. My grandson, Zane, may never recover from the after effects of his case of buck fever.

Iowa has a youth season where with a tag and adult supervision, they can harvest a deer during the two weeks before bow season starts. They can use bows, muzzleloaders, or shotguns. The boys decided to use their shotguns. With rifled barrels and slugs, a shotgun set up for deer hunting is deadly accurate out to a hundred yards or better. Both Trevor and Zane are excellent marksmen so I was sure one day of hunting would be all it took to fill both their tags.

Trevor and I decided to hunt from the two-man stand up in the long hay field. I planted a food plot nearby, which died from the drought, but the deer still crossed through the area. Zane and his dad were going to the hayfield near the road on the south place. Damon had seen three very nice bucks crossing the road most mornings and evenings near that area.

Trevor and I were in our stand for just a few minutes when a doe walked within fifty feet and stopped. I whispered, "Do you want her?" He quietly answered, "No, I want a buck." She was big and fat, standing broadside to us. No amount of convincing how many steaks or how much jerky she would make would change his mind. He was a kid with a mission. A little while later, three does and a buck ran up the hill toward us. I whispered, "The third one is a buck. Do you want him?" Trevor said, "No, he was moving to fast to get a good shot." I know Damon has trained the boys well to only take shots that are safe and offer a high probability of a clean kill. I could not complain about his not taking what I thought was a good shot if he did not feel comfortable about it.

On the other side of the farm, Damon and Zane were sitting under a hedge tree that we have named "Bart's Hedge." Bart is a friend of ours who knows a good hunting spot but had never seen an Osage Orange or "hedge" tree. He climbed into the tree, which is full of thorns with wood as hard as steel, and trimmed the branches with a hand saw to make way for his tree stand. It was a half days work, but he was successful. Damon and Zane sat quietly beside the tree as the sun began to set. A few does went by, but Zane was also wanting a buck. When the sun went behind the timber, they could make out the form of a deer, a big deer, at the far end of the field. It was walking up the fence line toward them. As it drew nearer, they could tell the deer that was slowly approaching was one of the biggest deer either of them had ever seen. Damon has seen some big deer as he has hunted since he was a kid. They were both in awe of this buck, and it did not have a clue they were there. Damon whispered to Zane to get ready. He pulled up his 20 gauge and waited. When Damon told him, "whenever you are ready" he noticed the normally steady shooter was shaking just a bit. Zane drew down on the monster buck, fired, and missed. He immediately racked in another shell ready to fire at a fleeing deer but the buck ran toward them. He pulled down, waited, and fired again. This shot was also low and the buck of a lifetime fled back into the timber.

Trevor and I met up with Zane and Damon back at the house a half hour later. Trevor and I were doing fine and happy with our hunt, but the other team was suffering the after effects of a severe case of buck fever. Zane may never get over this one.

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