The Heart of a Sportsman: 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.