Buck Fever in any shape or form is an undeniable element of American gunning tradition. Forgetting to shoot, ejecting live ammunition onto the ground, or even forgetting to take the safety off is talked about around camp fires every autumn with some degree of amusement.

I have found it interesting as I talk with Kevin Simpson about his carving, and watch buck fever in action It’s only been a couple of years since he has been bitten by the fever as he would put it. “When a commission comes in and I get the opportunity to talk with the client about the scene they would like on their gun, I get to live for a moment with them as they recall some of their hunts across the world. I feel my adrenalin start to surge as they are describing their experience to me and I start to take notes on how the animal looked to a nipped ear, dropped tine or even a rack filled with barbed wire,” he recalls. He puts those identifying marks that each hunter describes In each commission to personalize it for them.

Kevin gets to feel and hold the gun stock that has been in the marshy bog hunting water fowl or the long range rifle picking off that majestic elk at several hundred yards. A lot of feeling goes into his work Kevin adds with a smile “90 percent research and 10 percent skill.”

Kevin often puts 12 hour days in his carving studio.

Jamie, his wife, says “I don’t have to wonder where he is.  If he isn’t in his studio carving he has art work scattered across the counter of his studio making sure he gets things just right for his next job.”

There is still a sudden, almost deliberating surge of adrenaline when you start to talk about your hunting adventures to Kevin.  Here in his studio is a true passion to leave a little part of your hunt memorialized in the butt of your gun stock. More photos