Post hunt commentary

Today Mark and I went hunting at his grandfather's farm in Rowan CO NC. We were in an elevated blind in a stand of pines. It was cold and it seems the pre-rut movement is starting to come in. There are rubs on Mark's place. The deer in the video came in at 8:24 this morning. Its our last few days of bow hunting before muzzle loading season comes in. It was cold this morning, about 30. Mark made a clean shot, the deer only ran about 30 yards or so. It was a heart shot. The impact video isn't as good on the web, but I'm making Mark a DVD when I get back from my conference for the Army. Hope you like the commentary, we had a great time this morning. Thanks to Mark for taking me with him. Thanks to God for a day in the woods!

I will be out of the loop for the next ten days with Army business. If you get photos of deer send them to me and I'll post them on the blog!

By the way, to all my Army guys, sorry for the facial hair!

Mark hits the target!

All Ye!

Found this guy on God Tube! His name is Coffey Anderson. I know its not a hunting video but it is a glorious song of praise to the God who created us to hunt. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. I found myself singing it in the woods this morning!

We Happy Few

Once more, lend a mythic eye to your situation. Let your heart ponder this:

You awake to find yourself in the middle of a great and terrible war. It is, in fact, our most desperate hour. Your King and dearest Friend calls you forth. Awake, come fully alive, your good heart set free and blazing for him and for those yet to be rescued. You have a glory that is needed. You are given a quest, a mission that will take you deep into the heart of the kingdom of darkness, to break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron so that your people might be set free from their bleak prisons. He asks that you heal them. Of course, you will face many dangers; you will be hunted.

Would you try and do this alone?

Something stronger than Fate has chosen you. Evil will hunt you. And so a Fellowship must protect you.

Honestly, though he is a very brave and true Hobbit, Frodo hasn’t a chance without Sam, Merry, Pippin, Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli. He will need his friends. And you will need yours. You must cling to those you have, you must search wide and far for those you do not yet have. You must not go alone. From the beginning, right there in Eden, the Enemy’s strategy has relied upon a simple aim: Divide, and conquer. Get them isolated, and take them out.

You see this sort of thing at the center of every great story. Dorothy takes her journey with the Scarecrow, the Tinman, the Lion, and of course, Toto. Maximus rallies his little band and triumphs over the greatest empire on earth. When Captain John Miller is sent deep behind enemy lines to save Private Ryan, he goes in with a squad of men. And, of course, Jesus had the Twelve. This is written so deeply on our hearts: You must not go alone. The Scriptures are full of such warnings, but until we see our desperate situation, we hear it as an optional religious assembly for an hour on Sunday mornings.

Imagine you are surrounded by a small company of friends who know you well (characters, to be sure, but they love you, and you have come to love them). They understand that we are all at war, know that the purposes of God are to bring a man or woman fully alive, and are living by sheer necessity and joy in the Four Streams. They fight for you, and you for them. Imagine you could have a little fellowship of the heart. Would you want it, if it were available?

That is our destiny.

Text from Waking the Dead by John Eldredge

Roscoe’s Song

Roscoe’s Song by Jeremy Harrill

Serve the Lord with gladness;

Come before Him with joyful songs.

Psalm 100:2

Contrary to popular belief, hunting is about much more than the kill. It’s about getting to watch creation wake up in the morning, the smell of the woods, the peace, the challenge and thrill of the chase, and as I discovered recently, it’s also about the music too. Yes, the music.

I’ve never been accused of being a great hunter. I’m sure that my name never comes up when hunters are discussing the “great ones”, and deer and turkeys definitely do not tremble at the sound of my name. But I do love to hunt. I’ve hunted nearly everything that can be hunted here in NC with only a few exceptions. Recently, I tried something new. A type of hunting that I’d never done before; coon hunting.

When pursuing most game critters, hunters by day stalk or set up and wait for their quarry to pass by. But coon hunting is different. Coon hunters hunt at night and they use dogs to find their prey. The coonhounds sniff out and chase the coon, eventually (and hopefully) up a tree and then the coon hunters move in. It was very different than any type of hunting I was used to.

We met after dark: three friends and me, along with my son, Cade. The coonhound, named Roscoe was let out of the dog box on the back of the truck and he instinctively knew that it was “showtime.” With nose to the ground old Roscoe was gone in a flash. We just stood there. It seemed odd. We stood there and quietly talked about life, and suddenly, my friend, Levy said, “listen!” And I did. There it was…the music. Roscoe was on the trail and the chase was on. A few minutes later, Levy said, “Roscoe’s got one up a tree.” Roscoe’s long, deep bark was a sweet song. A melodious tune that was easy on the ears. His song was a song of anticipation, excitement, success and even praise. A song orchestrated and sung just for us - one that would even make Heart of David jealous. It was sweet to our ears and to our soul.

We made our way to the tree. I just stood there and looked at Roscoe and listened to his song a little longer. And it was good.

Finally, we let my son Cade take aim with his BB gun and fire the shot heard ‘round the world. I don’t know if his shot came within 50 feet of that old coon, but we celebrated like he had made the shot of a lifetime. And he was proud – and so was I. Coon hunting was cool, and I liked it (I’m sure my wife would really love to hear that cause she knows I need something else to hunt and another dog to feed). Coon hunting was also different than any hunting that I was accustomed to.

In our walk with God, how often do we do something different? How often do step out of our normal ways of doing things. Do we get out of our comfort zone and share the Good News with someone at work or in the woods. How often do we intentionally hang out with or start a friendship with an unbeliever. Do we try new ways to minister and reach out to others with the gospel of Jesus Christ? Going on that coon hunt reminded me of something the HOS fellas have been talking about a lot lately: being creative, thinking outside the box and being intentional about reaching people. Doing something different and trying something new can be especially good. Try it…who knows, you might hear that sweet music. A song like Roscoe’s, a song of excitement, success and praise – a song about one sinner who repents.

“…there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.”

Luke 15:10

Solunar Hunting and Fishing tables for October

I don't know if this is useful, but it might prove to be a psychological advantage. The weather is getting cool and critters should be moving soon. I suppose alot of us will be out in the woods this weekend. I know I'm going both tomorrow, Saturday and Monday. Good luck everybody. Mark Ridenhour and I were commenting on how much closer we sense God is to us when we're in the tree stand. I pray that is the case for all of us.

The Redneck Champ!

Kirk got goosed

Here are some great shots from Kirk Fessler's Goose hunt. He won the trip at our "biggest dadgum outdoor bazaar in Cleveland ever" bizarre bazaar. Now that's a mouthful. Way to go Kirk, looks like you had a great time! Looks like the Christmas goose is ready to go as well.

My Way News - Christian Activist Killed in Gaza

Just a reminder that in many places throughout the world, its dangerous just to be a Christian. The problem with murdering Christians for mission work is that it rarely has the desired effect of the perpetrator. Intimidation and threats of violence meant to silence believers many times only fuels our devotion to God and thus fuels His work in and around us. As history has proven the blood of the saints is the seeds of new churches. Keep an eye on Gaza. We pray today and give thanks for this brave follower of Jesus who in the face of numerical superiority chose to fol ow His God and took the path of most Resistance. We pray for his family who at this moment grieve and we pray for the Gospel to spread in Gaza and that many Arabs would find peace in the name of Jesus.

My Way News - Christian Activist Killed in Gaza

Redneck In Action!

The Redneck Olympics is complete and we have a winner!

Well the Redneck Olympics is over and we have a winner...everyone who came out. What a great day it was! The event kicked off at 2:00 and closed about 7:30 last night. Over 40 competitors ran through the the hay bale hurdle, the BB gun illegal dear shoot, trespass fence sign, corn drag, Hillbilly horseshoe, toilet bowl fishing toss, tractor tire roll and RC Cola and Moon Pie chug and stuff! It was amazing. Some great prizes were given away and its a shame everyone can't win, but thats the way the moon pie crumbles. Thanks go out to a cast of thousands that helped put on the event. Without the help of so many it could not have happened. Thanks to Gnader Mountain, Bass Pro Shops, Bow Tech Bows, West Rowan Bow Hunters, Orvis, Lowes, Allison Racing and all our sponsors. Man isn't just cool saying that you have sponsors! Now thats as redneck as it gets. All in all a great day. I've put pictures on here for you to view and videos will be coming shortly. Thanks again!

Jack turns 9 years old!

My son Jack will be 9 on Monday. Wow, how did that happen. He used to crawl around on the floor and and soil his diapers, now he plays football, reads big sentences and goes hunting with his daddy. Time sure does fly. Tammy and I gave him his first real compound bow for his birthday this year. Its a Bear Whitetail JR. Its a powerful little bow, not a toy. Its his first real "man" thing. Its hard for him to pull back. But with practice he'll be nailing bulls eyes before we know it. I love archery. After work I'll put my target out in the yard and stick arrows till dark. Jack has been my arrow retriever for some time now, but as of today we both can shoot. I'm looking forward to the next few years as Jack grows taller and stronger as he approaches manhood. I suspect like every dad I want to be a good father, to teach him how to be a man, a good honest man, who works hard, but most of all a man who follows hard after God and really lives life the way God intended.

^22 Listen to your father, who gave you life,

and do not despise your mother when she is old.

^23 Buy the truth and do not sell it;

get wisdom, discipline and understanding.

^24 The father of a righteous man has great joy;

he who has a wise son delights in him.

^25 May your father and mother be glad;

may she who gave you birth rejoice!

The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Pr 23:22-25). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.