Emotions After the Shot

[60 Deluxe]

I don't get pumped. I don't care for the killing part so usually I am a little sad. A clean kill does give me a sense of relief. Hunting is the highlight of my year but I can see the day coming when my shooting will be done with a camera. Except hogs. I kill them without remorse.

[SaltwaterSlick]

I get pretty excited about any kill... I can sit in the stand or on a stump out in the woods and watch does come and go all day, but the moment I know I'm going to shoot one, it is TOTALLY different... I get the shakes at that doe just like she was the biggest buck in the woods... THAT's why I hunt. Only thing better was videoing my son's first rifle kill and first buck bow kill... He actually had to tell me, "DAD!! Calm down! It's just a deer!" I laugh and cry both when I watch that video... It's the funniest thing I ever saw... I was shrieking at the top of my lungs, laughing, and shaking the camera so bad it's not even a good video... ...Sure wish he was still here to hunt with me.

[Black-N-Red]

I’m usually good til after the shot then thats when I get amped up. The last bow buck I killled was the one in my avatar, I chased him season 3yrs ago. Then finally on December 28th he made his way out on the high line I was hunting. He came in hot, ran for about 120yrds right to my 20yrd spot, stopped walked in the woods then came back out. When he made it back out he was very jumpy & standing right behind a sapling, then minute he took one step forward to uncover the backside of his shoulder & drilled him. After shoot I couldn’t get my bow back on the hanger & I couldn’t txt my wife because I was shaking so bad. When I finally calmed down a little bit where I could txt, in the middle of txting my wife I started puking!! Then I had a headache for 2 days afterwards. And he’s by no means a big deer. I just hope I can hold it together for the deer I’m after this year!!

[Black-N-Red]

I’m usually good til after the shot then thats when I get amped up. The last bow buck I killled was the one in my avatar, I chased him season 3yrs ago. Then finally on December 28th he made his way out on the high line I was hunting. He came in hot, ran for about 120yrds right to my 20yrd spot, stopped walked in the woods then came back out. When he made it back out he was very jumpy & standing right behind a sapling, then minute he took one step forward to uncover the backside of his shoulder & drilled him. After shoot I couldn’t get my bow back on the hanger & I couldn’t txt my wife because I was shaking so bad. When I finally calmed down a little bit where I could txt, in the middle of txting my wife I started puking!! Then I had a headache for 2 days afterwards. And he’s by no means a big deer. I just hope I can hold it together for the deer I’m after this year!!

[JonBoy]

I'll preface this with the fact that I'm not a very emotional person in general. I'm probably kind of cold natured most of the time. I think some of it has to do with the fact that I lost my best friend in a wreck my senior year of high school and then lost two grandmothers and my mother within 3 years after that. I think those years put me in an emotionless state and it's just stuck with me.

That being said, I get excited about hunting and I'm happy when I make a harvest, but its not the kind of "emotion" or acting that you see on tv. I've always thought it was a little silly how worked up some of those guys get after the shot on a buck. Well, after I shot my buck two days ago in Kansas, for the first time, I was jacked up like I haven't been in a long time. I couldn't get the excitement out of my body for an hour or so and couldn't wipe the grin off my face. It was sheer joy and excitement and boy did it feel good. I truly believe I looked like some of those guys on tv for a few minutes.

So, what does it take to get your emotions rolling after the shot? I'm not talking about a little high five and pat on the back. I'm talking about that kind of emotion that sets you on fire for a few minutes. Maybe you haven't felt that yet. Or maybe you have because you finally got the animal you've been chasing for several years. Or because you knew you just shot your biggest buck ever. What's it take? What animal set your emotions at an all time high in the hunting woods?

For me it's the successful recovery on any game animal. I don't why but when I make my shot I sit there and replay it over and over and over in my head which really gets me worked up on whether or not I saw the shot correctly, was it a good shot, will I recover the animal? I can watch that arrow sail through vitals and watch the blood fly but unless I watch that animal crash I always psych myself out of it during the wait. When I get down and start tracking once I have a visual on that animal is when the high hits...and it's the same high regardless of a trophy buck or a meat pig.

[txhunter90]

These guys on TV, act a fool just because of the camera. If they did not act crazy after a hunt, more than likely wouldn't have a show. I haven't shot a ton of deer, so it still gets my nerves going. Deep breaths and thanking the lord, then of course sharing the pictures with everyone. lol

[TheHammer]

Doe or buck I get all kinds of shook up, but a good buck and I’m done. Lol,

[SwampRabbit]

I'm still at that point where I get a little worked up when an animal shows up and starts getting in range. Now rabbits don't get my heart racing... but they do flip a switch that gets me into... "I wanna run an arrow though it!" mode.

As far as the fist pump, etc...

I get into a "worried" mode after I fling an arrow and it doesn't die in sight. too may thoughts go through my mind. Probably started because the first animal I shot with my bow we trailed for 300+ yards and never recovered but apparently had walked past it twice in the dark (had doubled back). I get into a somewhat pessimistic mode. So when I do find my dead animal... I get a huge, and a pretty big huge rush of excitement and relief that I just can't describe. On a few occasions, where I have been in a slump or looking for my first deer with a bow, or a stick bow... and I have been by myself... I have let out a very loud YEAH!!!!!! with a few fist pumps just to kinda let that emotion get out of me.

have even been driving home... and just have had to let out a fist pump or two...

When you work very hard for something, train, put lots of effort into it and have it paid off.... yeah... there is a lot of emotion pent up inside that you gotta let out sometimes.

[TXBRASS]

I find myself immediately praying and giving thanks. That’s the first thing I do when I get in the deer stand, thanking god for the opportunity and for being a hunter, then I give thanks for a harvest.

On meat hunts I don’t fist pump or jump around. I’m excited, but not over the top. On a buck or something I’ve been chasing for a while, I’m pumped and there’s lots of “f ya!”s in there.

Almost identical for me. When I got my bear in Oregon, it had been 3 years and two trips coming and I was giving so much thanks and praise to God that I believe my pistol got born again....

[GarGuy]

I remember two times right off. One was when dad shot that giant four years ago with me sitting beside him. the other was when dad arrowed the wide ten two years ago. Weird thats the two times i think i got the most shook up.

[Wil Taylor]

I always feel some excitement when I harvest any animal. But with that being said, I hunt by myself 90% of the time so I never have that opportunity to share my excitement with others. My biggest joy comes with being with kids or young adult killing their first animals.
A few years ago I took my boss and his 11 year old son hunting in Menard and Caden shot his first deer (doe) we laughed so hard because he was so excited and was having doe fever. When he finally pulled the trigger and she dropped it was pure excitement for everyone. Then he shot a nice little 8 point, again enjoyment for all. On his third hunt he shot a turkey that had a 11” beard, 1 1/2” spurs and was just a huge bird. I kept on and on about that bird. I eventually had to tell him that accomplishment of the deer was great but a bird that size was like killing 160” buck.
Then the following year, another coworker went with me and his 21 year old son. They hunt East Texas and see a couple deer a year. Kyle has a disability but you would never know it. With only one arm he shot his first buck and it was a 8pt and not the biggest in the pasture but you would have thought it was a 200” buck to him. Seeing him so excited had me on cloud nine.
Then last year, I took my son and his girlfriend. She has never hunted before and we sat together the first morning and she shot a doe. And she done an exceptional job and dropped her in her tracks. When I looked over she was all shaking and said she almost pee’ed herself. She ended the weekend with two does and is hooked. A few weeks later I bought her a 243 rifle and bushnell scope. She couldn’t believe I gave her that.
That is my excitement and what I love doing. I get more joy out of seeing youngsters have success.

[SaltwaterSlick]

Spot on Wil!! That's what trips my trigger too now a days!!

[jason.dickens]

2 seasons ago I arrowed a big velvet muley up in the high country. I was on top of the world literally and emotionally. Have a video with my excitement that I only show to other like minded hunters who could really understand my level of excitement.

The first person i saw was my cousin a few hours later, and I had to give him a huge hug. A week of not showering and being covered in blood probably didn’t make me to welcoming but I had to share my excitement with someone haha




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[Anvilheadtexas]

We have a rule.... no excessive celebration. Act like you have done it before. We get a kick out of watching the numbskulls on video. Saw someone mention Stan Potts....good grief, you would think this guy was saving entire towns with his actions. All kidding aside, it’s your hunt, celebrate how you like.

[crittergetter76]

I'm like SaltwaterSlick - I can watch deer or pigs for a long time, in close proximity, without feeling too much emotion. But once I decide I'm going to try to stick one, the adrenaline kicks into high gear.

What really get me the most jazzed is when I make a great shot and watch it fall in sight, regardless if its a doe, buck, pig, turkey, etc.