Can anything in Buddhist theory explain phenomena like Buck Fever? A surprising number of people whom I know, who are generally kind and compassionate, are also avid hunters or at least enthusiastically support hunting by others. They feel hunting is a healthy activity and a good way to provide food. They site biblical references to man having dominion over animals. They feel hunting is part of a tradition that should be upheld. There are also a couple who feel it's a necessary skill to learn for the inevitable doomsday; but that's a whole other thing. ;-) 

So these are people who feel good about hunting. At least in theory. But there is a phenomena called Buck Fever which is described as intense nervousness by inexperienced (and sometimes very experienced) hunters. There is a video circulating around the internet now showing a little girl experiencing this "buck fever" and while it's being shared by hunting enthusiasts who think it's great, I couldn't help but feeling disturbed watching it. To me it looks like horror in the guise of exhilaration. 

In Buddhism, we understand that any intentional killing will have consequences sooner or later and this is not something to be taken lightly. I wonder if this intense mind and body reaction to killing (or the intention to kill) can be explained by anything in the Abhidhamma or Buddhist theory in general. It's really intellectual curiosity about whether the mind can cause the body to malfunction when the mind perceives something on a deeper level than a person's logical reasoning. Or perhaps it's something else entirely. But I'm interested if Buddhism has anything to teach us about this. Thank you.
Angulimala (finger garland) Bandit was probably the most ruthless serial killer during Buddha's time.  I read somewhere but didnt do much research on it that in his previous life he offered food to previous buddha or arahat who was tired and weak from hunger, after that in every life, Angulimala had extraordinary strength than everyone around him.  in one of his lives he was a wild buffalo attacking the domesticated buffaloes.  The villagers got upset and set up a lynching mob to hunt him down.  He was eventually captured, tortured, and killed.  He wanted to take revenge on those who killed him.  Among the villagers, there was a girl who watched the lynching with teary eyes.   She became his mother in his last life (which woulda been his last victim if Buddha didnt intervene) and the villagers became his victims.  However, i dont think he took pleasure in killing but rather was misguided.     Kalayanamitra is certainly a blessing.