Samuel's Buck

Top: Samuel pictured with his big buck and his proud father, Leonard.

Bottom: Samuel with hunting guide, Alan Kerley.

I don't know exactly where to start my story. I believe I will start from the beginning. The story starts at the Oakdale Baptist Church. We were having our annual yard sale and auction to help support our missionary family in Rwanda Africa. Now, being one of the top professional hunting and fishing guides in the state, possibly the World, I decided to donate one of my highly sought after deer hunts to the auction. Surely, by the grace of God, I had the entire hunting season available to provide such an experience. Now keep in mind, generally bidding on a guided deer hunt with me would most certainly sale for thousands of dollars, but apparently, not everyone at the auction could understand the auctioneer very clearly because the hunt sold for a mere $80.00. This was obviously the deal of the century. After the hunt sold, the family that bought the hunt came up and we talked...wonderful folks, the Tackett’s. I told them about the highly top secret spot we would be hunting off of Elmwood Road near the Cornerstone Baptist Church. As the big day arrived, I realized that I had to make sure that everything was just right, so I began my preparation two weeks before the hunt. First, I went and bought a 50 lb bag of corn and drove over to the highly top secret spot off of Elmwood Road and opened the two gates that I have to go through to make it down to the honey hole. I drove the Dodge Ram 1500 King Quad down to the creek, stopped the truck, hopped out, opened the bag of corn and poured it out over a 100 yard area. I then grabbed the Grizzly G30 hub pop up blind and set it up. The scouting and preparation was now completed.

The big day. I picked Leonard and his son Samuel up at 5:45 opening morning. We headed over to the highly top secret spot off of Elmwood road. The morning started off slow, and I must be honest, I was starting to have my worries when we had not seen a deer by 6: 40 am. It was around 19 degrees, but Samuel acted like a seasoned hunter and was hanging in there like a trooper with his 12 gauge pump in hand. I wasn't sure about the range of the shotgun but Leonard assured me that his effective range was easily out past the corn pile. At 6:50 am, Leonard spotted the deer first coming from our right. Leonard let us know that the deer was approaching, so I put my binoculars on the deer and quickly observed that the deer we thought was a doe had a nice set of antlers on his head. As the deer approached, Leonard told Samuel to ready himself and do it just like he had shown him. I ranged the deer and he was 70 yards away. I didn't know how this was going to work out, but when Samuel pulled the trigger I saw the deer hunker down, so we knew he had made a good hit on the buck. We gave the deer about 11 minutes to expire and we started on the track. One problem, no tracks, no blood, no sign. I watched the deer go into a thicket, so we went to the thicket. I went high and Leonard went low. I called Samuel up to where I was and told him that maybe he should do the tracking since he had much more keen eyes than his daddy and I, not ten yards from where Samuel took up the track he spotted the deer lying in the thicket. I have never seen a more happy young man then right at that moment. Let me tell you, God sometimes blesses you when you least expect it, and this was an experience I will never forget. I consider myself blessed to be able to go out and experience God's beauty. How many times do we take that beauty for granted, just like so many more of God's blessings? The next time you are out in the woods sitting in your stand, or in a duck blind watching the sun come up, or listening for that first gobble of the year, let's take a minute to give God thanks for this precious gift we have. And if you know a young person that has never experienced the gifts we take for granted, I challenge all of you to share our wonderful gift with them. We can't waste the gifts we are given, for example God has blessed me with an amazing Tri athlete figure, dashing good looks, spectacular personality, and I am truly thankful for his blessings. My wife tells me each and every day just how lucky she is. Did I mention God has blessed me with a great imagination?

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.

Psalm 42:1

God bless you all and happy hunting.
Alan Kerley "Professional hunting guide and plus size swimsuit model”

P.S. if anyone is interested in hunting with me in my highly top secret hunting spot just off of Elmwood road, let me know.
Happy hunting!

Thanksgiving Podcast

Its the Heart of a Sportsman Thanksgiving Edition Podcast. Have a great time in the woods and around the table!

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Hangin' with the Hunters - Opening Day

TOP: Charlie Steele with a nice 6-point buck
MIDDLE: Kacey Weaver with her first deer - 4-point buck

BOTTOM: Gary Gibbons - winner of the Bass Pro Gift Card

The sunset and sunrise. The cool, crisp air just after daybreak. The colorful fall leaves that carpet the forest floor. That familiar crunch of the leaves that signal an approaching deer. White oak acorns that drop like rain through the woods. That owl that hoots in the darkness. The smell of the fall woods.

If you’ve ever sat in a treestand you know exactly what I’m talking about. If you haven’t, I might as well be speaking a foreign language. These are the sights and sounds and smells of deer season. More than that, these are the handiwork of God. For those of us who practice our God-given privilege to hunt, kill and eat deer each fall – such sights, sounds and smells stir our soul.

This past weekend the Heart of a Sportsman fellas spent the opening morning of gun deer season hanging out with some really cool folks whose souls get stirred this time of year. The kinda people who wear camo and love sitting in the stand in hopes of putting meat on the back of the truck. Our fellas set up at the Woodleaf BP Station and gave away hunting DVD’s, listened to hunting stories and we even made a few new friends.

Special thanks to Terry Collins of the BP for allowing us to hang out with the hunters at his place of business. We had a great time!

From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that God made. They can clearly see His invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God.
Romans 1:20

Seeking Mike's Deer

Seeking Mike’s Deer

KaBoooom!!!! The .45 cal muzzle-loader had seemingly found its mark on the buck. Upon impact the deer kicked so high that it nearly turned a complete summersault. During this acrobatic maneuver, the deer dug his nose deep into the ground throwing dirt into the air, before running into the brush. (The deer surely had a busted nose from the way it hit the dirt during this semi-flip). “Great shot,” we exclaimed as we congratulated Mike on his first deer ever.

The scenario had played itself out many times before from this same stand. We were hunting on my friend Mark Ridenhour’s property. We hunted from a large box stand situated in some pines next to a food plot that always seemed to draw the deer in like a magnet. Mark loves to take someone hunting for their first deer and for the last few years it has become tradition to sit a “newbie” in the stand and introduce them to the sport of deer hunting. I’ve been fortunate enough to be behind the camera to capture these moments on video. This year we were hunting with our good buddy Mike Eckmann.

After the high-fives and congratulations, and detailed replay of each second of the scenario that had just taken place we exited the stand and went to find Mike’s trophy. We were soon on a good blood trail. Just around each bend in the trail, I expected to find the buck piled up in the colorful fallen leaves. I couldn’t believe the deer had gone this far. After a couple of hours, Mark and I were beginning to feel that the congratulations had been a little premature. We were following blood, occasionally having to regroup when the blood got sparse, but always finding a place where the deer had turned and getting on “good blood” again. Unfortunately, we got to a place where the blood just disappeared. We tried everything but were unable to determine where the buck went. We desperately expanded our search until we finally had to call it quits. For anyone who hunts, you know how hard it is to call off the search, especially on a friend’s first deer. It was a long walk back to the truck, literally and figuratively. On the way back Mike made a comment that’s so very true. He said that when you’re on the blood trail you have hope that the deer is just ahead, but when you get off the blood trail, you just seem hopeless and helpless, just wandering around.

I’ve experienced all kinds of feelings while afield. Happiness, sadness, joy and sorrow. Anger and frustration. Desperation and exuberation. Deer hunting can be an emotional roller coaster sometimes, just like life. It makes me think back to that comment that Mike made while headed back to the truck. When we are following Christ, when times get hard and life throws us a curve, we press on because of the hope provide by Jesus. But, when we get off the “blood trail” so to speak, we seem hopeless and helpless and feel like giving up because of fear and uncertainty.

Many years ago the prophet Jeremiah wrote to a people who had been carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. Jeremiah reminds us of what the Lord wants for us in the words that he wrote to those who were experiencing distressing times - “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

While searching for Mike’s buck, we literally searched with all we had and with all our heart, but came up empty. It’s comforting to know as believers that if we get off the “blood trail” in life, as we so often do, that if we seek Him with all our hearts, we WILL find Him. Jeremiah 29:11-13

POST HUNT COMMENTS: It was great to hunt with friends, whether we had meat in the truck or not. These memories will last a lifetime. Thanks to Mark and Mike for letting me hang out with ya’ll. I’ll be on the lookout for a deer with a nosebleed!