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Thread: This Sums It Up Pretty Good

  1. #1
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    Default This Sums It Up Pretty Good

    Saw this somewhere else and figured I would share.
    I know it describes a lot of my thoughts and feeing about deer hunting and why I do it.



    I went to Church this morning.

    The church I attended wasn't awash in religious rituals. My seat wasn't a polished wood pew and there were no hymnals or bibles at the church I attended. Nevertheless, the spirit of God enveloped me. I could feel His presence.

    I go to church early this time of year. This Sunday morning was not all that different than other Sunday mornings. I was greeted by the pre-dawn moon and stars. Silent night. All is calm. The moon lighted my way to my seat. As I sat quietly in the dark morning allowing the cold breeze to wash my face, the pink hint of a new day filled the sky. No artist could paint the canvas I witnessed this morning-or any other sunrise or sunset. It was as if God was gave me a front row seat to watch the rebirth of a new day. It was spectacular.

    The steeples of my church are not straight. There no crosses atop them and they bend in the wind. But the steeples in my church still arch towards the sky, as if to pay homage to their creator. They are prettier than any man-made church steeple. I feel at home in their perch.

    Though I was the only person in my church, the spirit of fellowship was strong. The choir was wonderful as usual. I was serenaded to any number of beautiful songs by the birds who signaled the arrival of dawn. I closed my eyes and let them sing their songs to me. I smiled. How Great Thou Art.

    As the dawn's light opened my sanctuary to my tired, old eyes, I slowly and quietly turned my head to and fro to see what other of God's creatures was in my sanctuary. The gray body of a whitetail deer materialized out of the fog seventy yards in front of me and then disappeared back into the sanctuary. Squirrels chattered. The distant sound of ducks added to the splendor. I thanked God for being alive to witness the beauty of His creatures, both great and small.

    Dead leaves quietly drifted to the forest floor. As I watched individual leaves fall and coat the forest floor with their beautiful shades of yellow, orange and red, I was literally watching God's natural cycle of the Fall take place in front of me. If you haven't sat quietly in the woods and watched thousands of leaves fall lazily to the forest floor, you are missing one of God's most beautiful art shows. Go and watch this and you will thank Him for it.

    Even amongst the beauty that surrounded me, my predator extinct was on full alert. That's natural, the way it is supposed to be during this season of harvest. As I slowly turned to see what was behind me, three does cautiously picked their way through the underbrush towards me. They sauntered directly under the tree I was sitting in. It wasn't time to kill. It was time to observe and learn. The time to kill and feed my family is coming soon.

    Watching the deer amble by reminded me that I had a special invite to this beautiful sanctuary, which is their home and my Season Of Harvest Church. I can think clearly there, have conversations with God. In this church there is no clutter, no e-mail, no cell phone, no pagers, no one to steal my attention. I'm at peace there. I like to be alone there with just my thoughts and memories and rest and recharge my internal batteries.

    In a mere few days, the woods will come alive with activity of buck deer. And I will be there in this sanctuary to bear witness to it-as I should be. To be somewhere else would be against who I am.

    Something from deep inside me pulls me to Season of Harvest Church. If you listen closely, you hear the voice of God in the wind as it blows through leaves and the treetops. Enter quietly and be still and you'll be welcomed into the sanctuary where you will witness the beauty that God has created.
    Last edited by Duck cutter; 10-13-2017 at 04:47 PM.
    Houndsmen are born, not made

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    I STAND WITH DUCK CUTTER!
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    I knew it wasn't real because no dogbox...

  2. #2
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    Amen
    "I swear if I found you in a marsh I don't know that I could keep myself from mud stomping you" -Griffin

  3. #3
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    Amen


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  4. #4
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    So do we get to skip church and hunt from August to January?
    "Think A Guy Like Me Worries About Percentages?" Tin Cup

    "Some get spiritual cause they see the light, and some cause they feel the heat" Ray Wylie Hubbard

    "P.S. I love turkeys. Mostly just hate those who hunt em." Glenn

  5. #5
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    You should post that on CWS partner. Great post.
    Genesis 9;2

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Strick9 View Post
    You should post that on CWS partner. Great post.
    Will do!
    Houndsmen are born, not made

    Quote Originally Posted by 2thDoc View Post
    I STAND WITH DUCK CUTTER!
    Quote Originally Posted by JABIII View Post
    I knew it wasn't real because no dogbox...

  7. #7
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    I thought all the poets were turkey hunters.
    Crops are harvested, animals are killed.

  8. #8
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    I've never killed a deer on a Sunday morning and I deer hunt a lot. I do remember one Sunday in November it was right I hunted and had a huge buck chase a doe across a road 3 times right in front of me and I never got him. I think that's the last time I ever hunted on a Sunday morning

  9. #9
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    Sort of reminds me of something I wrote years ago.



    The Hunter



    I awake in the early morning hours from a fitful sleep. After many years I still get as excited as if this is my first time going hunting. I leave the warmth and comfort of my bed to my wife as I silently put on the clothes laid out the night before. A few cups of coffee and a check of the gear in the back of the truck and I'm on my way.
    The road is dark. I'm alone in my thoughts about what the day will bring. No need to hurry now, it's time to slow down, to leave behind all my worries. The sound of the tires on the pavement changes as I turn onto the dirt road, I'm close now, the anticipation builds. There it is, the parking spot. I ease the truck to the side of the road and turn off the lights.
    I gather my gear, rifle in one hand, flashlight in the other I head off down the trail. It is cold, silent, no noise except for the sound of my boots on the hard ground, deeper into the forest I go. I've been here many times before and when I come to the log across the trail I know I'm close to my destination. A few minutes later and my flashlight finds the tree where my stand is. Swiftly, silently from many years of practice I climb up into my stand, into the air 20 feet from the ground.
    A quick look at my watch shows that I've got about 30 minutes before the first gray light of dawn will appear so I sit quietly in the dark. Now is the time that I give thanks to God for the opportunities that he has given me, for the wonderful creation of the forest in which I sit, and my only prayer this day is for a safe hunt, that I may return to my family tonight tired, cold and hungry but no worse for the wear. My mind turns to my fellow hunters, they are out there now, in the darkness same as I, alone in their own thoughts. What do they think about? What do they want from the day to come?
    As the dark slowly gives way to the gray dawn, so does the silence. The first bird breaks the silence with a single call, then another and another. As dawn gives way to the rising sun, the woods are now alive and so am I. I am alert, looking for the buck that I know is here. Minutes have turned to hours and yet I wait. Suddenly out of the constant noise of the forest I hear it, something different than all the other noise, small, faint, almost imperceptible from the noise that squirrels make. I lean forward and squeeze my rifle a little tighter, straining to see through the brush. There! Something has moved from between the trees. Is it him? A large doe and her fawn step out into the oak flat and start to feed on acorns. I watch them intently for what seemed like hours but it was only four or five minutes and then as quickly as they came they were gone.
    Before I know it the day is almost over and night is coming quickly. The last few minutes of daylight I spend searching the woods to no avail. Darkness descends around me and the woods go silent again. Within moments I'm back on the ground and turn my flashlight on for the long walk out of the woods. Alone in the dark and accompanied only by my footsteps back to the truck I think of the day just passed. Many that have never hunted would consider the day a failure for lack of killing a deer. Not I, it was a great success as far as hunts go. The success of my hunts do not depend on a kill no more than whether or not my family eats depends on a kill. Arriving at the truck I put my gear in the back and unlock the door, step up inside and have a seat. I'm tired, cold and hungry. My prayers have been answered, thank you God.

    Mark W.

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