Does the term "buck fever" apply to animals other than deer?  I say yes.  This is the tale of my first ever hunting trip, my first time to shoot a rifle, and my first time to experience the inexplicable "buck fever."  Well, hopefully I will be able to explain the physical response my body had to shooting at a live animal.  It is truly something I will never forget.

The days leading up to the 1st TexasHuntFish Team Turkey Hunt were a little nerve racking.  I've never been on a lease, never hunted, never had to buy camo clothing, unless it was fashionable, and never seen a live turkey in my life.  So, I was a little intimidated going into Sportsman's Warehouse to buy things that I had no knowledge of.  Do the different camo patterns matter?  I need a netted mask to cover my face, what's that?  And why am I covering my face, will the turkey's recognize me somehow?  Luckily, the sales person at Sportsman's Warehouse was a woman, so that made it way less intimidating.  She hooked me up with everything I needed, but she said the same thing everyone else said to me about going turkey hunting, "It's one of the most fun animals to hunt, as well as one of the hardest animals to hunt."  

If that wasn't intimidating enough, I was also thinking about going on a two day hunt with my boss, Jedi Master, Eagle Scout, and expert marksman, Jason Parrish.  Little did I know that I would also be the only passenger in the Hummer with him for the 7 hour trip to Post, Texas.  Thanks guys.  Diana and Chris would be having a leisurely trip with our Wildlife Biologist John Schwarzlose - the self-proclaimed Beaver Exterminator.  They would be laughing, talking, sleeping, and more importantly, not working.  I guess I drew the short straw, no offense Jason, but there is a reason we flipped a coin to see who was going to be riding back with you.  With that said, we hopped in our respective vehicles and hit the road for a very memorable hunting trip.  I say these off-handed comments about Jason, but he really is a great teacher and I was very fortunate to spend my first hunting experience with him.    

We met Transman in Post, Texas, a small town outside of Lubbock, and followed (tried to keep up with the speed demon) him to his lease.  Thirty minutes of unloading, gearing up, and a quick briefing of the land, and we were off to find some turkeys.

Friday Evening Hunt - "A" Team - Jason and Debra

It was around 6:30 PM and not even an hour after we arrived, Jason had me carrying a rifle, hiking in the brush, and finally set up under a tree.  Jason set out the decoys in between two fields that Transman said was a route to the roost.  We sat and Jason called the turkeys.  I heard gobbles, but saw no turkeys.  Jason had me practice "shooting" at the decoys (just aiming and saying bang), because I would have to react quickly when the gobbler was in range.  Then he tells me to try using this log in front of me to shoot from, and I thought he meant to lay across the log, not prop the gun up on the log.  So I proceeded to get on top of the log and I was like, no way Jason.  He was laughing inside I'm sure, but kept it together for me.  I was GREEN, a hunting virgin and very anxious.  I just didn't know what to expect. 

We decided to get closer to the roost and with a feeder in sight about 60 yards away.  I was set up in the bushes with Jason's Bushmaster .223 with Leupold 5X scope.  I have never shot a rifle, let alone with a scope, and have never shot a gun sitting down.  Everything seemed difficult and scary to me, but I was determined to kill something.  Jason kept asking me if I was ready to kill a turkey and I always whispered back, "Yes, I'm ready to kill a turkey."

We sat here for a while and Jason called the turkeys.  We heard gobbles, but saw no turkeys.  Jason is a stalk-hunter and does not like to sit still.  I mean he will, but his preference is to stalk the animals.  So when he got up and said he was going "over there" to call the gobblers in closer to me, I was freaking out.  So he's going to leave me here with a gun all by myself.  He told me to stay focused on the feeder and he was going to flush the animals out.  Off he went.  He wasn't far away from me, but he wasn't in my ear. 

As the sun set, the colors of the brush started to all fade together into the shadows.  I waited.  I could hear Jason calling the turkeys, but saw nothing.  It was hard to see, but as I was looking through the scope I saw movement.  Yes!  I looked up from the scope in the direction of the feeder and saw a big, black, 100lb hog.  My heart started to race and my breath was short and quick.  I kept looking through the scope and looking up.  It seems like I was looking at this hog for an hour, but it was probably less than a minute, really less than 30 seconds.  Something came over me in a rush.  I couldn't think straight.  I was questioning whether or not I should shoot, where to aim, and was wondering where Jason was.  It was like 4 people were having a conversation in my head and my body was frozen. 

Then Jason came up and whispered somehing like, "Take the shot.  What are you waiting for?  Kill that hog."  At least that is what I heard, then I think he noticed I was not responding to anything.  He kept saying take deep breaths and whenever you're ready, take the shot.  

"Ok, Ok, I'm going to take the shot."

Fire!  The dirt right in front of the hog came up in a cloud.

"Did I hit him?"

"No, you hit the dirt right at his feet."

Well, crap.  Then we talked about what just happened to me.  I was so nervous that when I fired the gun, I pulled it down with my left hand.  Not to mention, the crippling response my body had to taking this shot.  What a rush.  Jason was smiling from ear to ear, not that I missed of course, but because of the response my body had.  It was "buck fever."

"You probably have a whole new appreciation for hunting now than you ever had before, right?"  He asked.

I could still barely put a sentence together, but I'm sure I squeezed out a yes.  Just then, Transman pulled up in the truck, asking about the shot.  Jason went over and talked to him, leaving me all alone again.  I was looking through the scope, hoping the hog would come back, but he didn't. 

Then Jason ran up and said, "There's a turkey right in front of you.  Can't you see it?" 

"Where?"  I said.

"Right in front of the feeder, 60 yards maybe.  Take the shot."

"I don't see anything." 

Sixty yards seemed like miles away from where I was.  The grass was tall and it was much darker than before.  The hog was easy to see, because he was a huge black spot in the grass, but this turkey was well hidden in the grass.  I finally saw his head poke up out of the grass, but was not confident enough to take the shot and he flew off. 

Wow, that was a great first hunt.  No harvest, but great to be out in nature.  We saw a doe and several rabbits.  I think we even came upon an elusive bobcat hiding in the tall grass.  His tracks were on the road, but other than the swish of the grass, we couldn't lock eyes on him.  We rallied back at camp to enjoy deer sausage that our host brought and grilled up on an open fire.  As for the "B" team, they came up empty handed too.  I think we all had a good time though getting to know the land, tracking and calling turkeys, and just hanging out.  But we were determined to take down some turkeys in the morning.

Images and Files: View all 2 photos / videos here.