Duck ague, also buck fever or buck ague, is a hunting term for the
yips, in which a marksman or hunter, before taking a shot with either a gun or bow in a tense situation, loses mental quietude and misses the shot.
Popular culture
In
James Dickey's 1970 novel ''
Deliverance
''Deliverance'' is a 1972 American thriller film directed and produced by John Boorman from a screenplay by James Dickey, who adapted it from his own Deliverance (novel), 1970 novel. It follows four businessmen from Atlanta who venture into th ...
'' and its 1972
film adaptation
A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...
, a character suffers from duck ague before shooting a wild deer, after which another character describes the phenomenon, saying "Hell, I've known
tournament archers, damn good shots, never out of the
five ring. Draw down on a live animal, they get buck ague."
In the final scene of the 1951 film ''
Fort Worth
Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...
'', one character tells another, "Now don't get buck ague."
References
Hunting
{{hunting-stub