LITTLE THINGS

As I climbed up into the southeast tree stand something did not feel quite right. The stand rests upon a spindle of a tree which sways back and forth whenever the breeze breaks above ten miles per hour. It was a steady fifteen that evening. I have never been a big fan of heights, but the advantages of getting up into a tree for deer hunting gives me the proper incentive to face the fears I can usually avoid. After strapping in, I started to pull my bow up with the small cord I had attached to it. Apparently I had not attached it very well. After raising it only a few feet, the bow fell to the ground.

I sat there for a moment feeling uncomfortable in the swaying tree. I stared down at the bow, and then looked out through the tree line to the nearby corn field. I could climb down and retrieve the bow. I could hike to another tree stand. I could just stay in the stand I was in and just enjoy the moment without worrying about the bow. But what if a monster buck walked by?

I remembered a buck I shot a few years ago after descending two trees and “happening” to find a tree to stand beside when the biggest whitetail I had ever shot stepped into the only shooting lane possible and stopped fifteen feet away. Now I do not believe in coincidences and I believe God cares about us in the little things just like in the big things—our existence does not even make sense otherwise. So if it wasn’t for God, I would have never been in the so-called right place at the so-called right time. I also remembered a bible passage that had been on my mind for a few weeks:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. As high as the heavens are above the earth so are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9

I had been stressed about an upcoming project and my thoughts were not particularly focused on hunting. As I stared into that cornfield wondering if a big buck might be hiding among the stalks, I realized that maybe I had not actually come to the woods for hunting. Maybe I had come for clarity or to find a bit of peace.

I did climb out of that swaying tree and I did pick up my bow and I did go find a spot to sit on the ground and wait. But I spent most of the evening staring up into the canopy of leaves and the flickering of lights piercing through them. I sat and listened to the breeze and the leaves and even a plane flying overhead. After some time, I could hear that quiet voice inside my soul. It did not say anything. It did not have to. I just needed to be reminded that I was not alone, that I was loved, and that He cared.

 

WHY DO I HUNT? PART 2

That kind of question could fill libraries. Why? Because it has unlimited answers. Each person who takes to the field to pursue game has a different reason for being there. Sure there are all the common reasons, the thrill of the chase, the camaraderie, the desire to fill the freezer with fresh meat, the satisfaction of a hard day fulfilled… the list can go on and on. But beneath all those good and adequate reasons is something deeper, something as unique as every human heart. I believe it is in the outdoors, immersed in creation undisturbed, where our relationships often find the nourishment they so desperately need in our fast-paced world. And make no mistake, it is our relationships that give meaning to our lives.

We are meant to love. We are designed to find joy in love. And yet we take so little time to explore it in our daily lives. I too often fail to give my family the time and attention and gratitude they deserve. I too often fail to give God the same things He most assuredly deserves. But when I head to the woods and spend an hour or two beside a creek or a pond, I can begin to hear the whispers of that quiet voice within me that wishes to be heard. And it is precisely at those times when my relationships grow. Sometimes, my daughters, my son, or my wife are with me. Sometimes they are not, but those relationships grow just the same.

I was once told that God is found in communion. That statement has so many possibilities.  As a Catholic there is the obvious Eucharistic meaning for me. But there is also the kiss I share with my wife, the hug I share with my children, the first goose hunt I shared with my father, the understanding I share with the Cameroon Duru tribesman as we stalk an eland, a quiet sunset on the Nebraska prairie, the moment a four-year old buck steps out of the shadows. These are all part of finding God in communion for me. And when you find God in communion your relationship with Him can grow and when that happens all your other relationships will make a little more sense.

I am not sure I really answered the question or if I ever truly will, but I guess my maybe I hunt because I value my relationships. My relationships with the land, with the animals, with strangers, with neighbors, with enemies, with friends, with family, and with God. Is hunting the only way to enhance and grow these relationships? Of course not, but for someone who loves adventure and loves meat and loves God and tries to love others, it just makes sense.

Besides, hunting is the most honest relationship with nature I have ever had.

WHY DO I HUNT?

When someone finds out you are a hunter there is usually one of few reactions. Some of these include excitement, indifference, curiosity, and sometimes anger. I wonder, was it always this way? I doubt it. But because we live in times when people have very effectively walled themselves away from the natural world, we sometimes encounter others with differing opinions. That is okay and even when they get angry, even when they hate me; I have to remind myself that I am not perfect and that love is far more powerful than hate.  

All these reactions prompted me to ask myself a question. Why do I hunt?

 

I began as a boy in rural Nebraska hunting geese and pheasants on the plains. From there I encountered deer and other big game. Back then I never asked myself such questions. Back then it was just a part of who we were. Now I ask myself that question a lot. I am not the same boy of yesterday. Part of that boy still remains, but I have a lifetime of experiences, misfortunes, mistakes, and relationships that have formed and are forming who I am now and who I will become.  Mostly, it is my growing relationship with God that influences who I want to become—though I am still so far away from that person. Yet I have found that the only way for me to work toward becoming the man I want to be is to work on my relationship with our Father.

So, what does this have to do with why I hunt?

I guess part of why I hunt now is because of those places where the birds and deer and antelope lead me--those places where I am quiet enough to hear the still voice within me that is not me at all.

There are so many good reasons why I hunt and some I have yet to discover, but most of all I hunt because it is who I am and because it gives me a chance to work on the most important of relationships.