After missing toothpic earlier this year, it took much of my spirit out of bow hunting. I felt as if I had missed my chance. But a couple good buck pictures on my trail cams got my spirits up. So I found myself in the woods again in mid November. This particular day I spent the after noon refocusing on what drives me as a hunter. It seems I had got caught up in a little self promotion. I had been pushing myself to harvest a big buck to prove something to others about how great of a hunter I am. I had found myself becoming increasingly dissatisfied with hunting because it was becoming more about the approval of others through hunting than actually enjoying it. That morning I had listened to a sermon at church about self promotion and how it will cause you to miss the blessings in your life. These blessings should lead me to thankfulness for what God has been doing in my life ultimately bringing joy. The approval of others is empty, compared to the blessings God has for us! I found myself thinking that possibly missing toothpic was the humble pill I needed. As a hunter, or as a person, you need to learn from your mistakes. As I sat in my stand that day I realized what I needed to take away from this whole situation. Hunting isn't about other people or what they think. Hunting a personal thing. Hunting should be about spending time in God's creation, about the challenge, and about the personal reward that is a result of seeing a blessing gifted by God in the form of a successful hunt. Often times this is not determined by harvesting a trophy. I spent some time in prayer and refocus determining to keep my hunts more Christ focused instead of Ronnie focused. I purposed to take what ever successes that would come my way in the future as blessings from God instead of something I did and to find my joy in thanksgiving towards Him. I was not expecting such a opportunity to live out what I had just decided to come so soon. Not two mintues after I finished I heard a deer coming through the woods. It was a smaller ten point I had already passed earlier in the year. Because missing toothpic had broke my drive, I was tempted to shoot him to just be done and hang up the bow for the year. But I realized I would not have been happy with that buck and would have only been shooting it to uphold my perceived reputation for killing bucks. So I let him walk. As soon as I let my bow down another deer came through the brush. This time is was a wide buck, a shooter without doubt, at first glance! He was coming straight towards me in the thickest cover that gave me no shot. At twenty yards I drew not knowing where I would find a shot window but knowing I had to be ready. At less than five yards I finally had a clear shot. Shooting almost straight down I was able to make a good shot and the buck expired only seconds later. I was completely overwhelmed with awe for the opportunity I had just been given by God only minutes after my prayer. What a chance to experience that thankfulness truly does lead to joy!Only six days later I had a chance to go rifle hunting in Missouri. On opening morning only seconds after legal light I had a buck and doe sneak behind me at only 20 yards I was blessed with another opportunity to take a matching split g2 buck. I have hunted enough to know that a hunter does not often get a chance to harvest two bucks of that size. I was either really lucky or blessed with a chance to see God's work in my life through lessons learned on the deer stand about thankfulness and joy. I believe it was the later! My hunting bud Eric was also able to take a good buck on the same morning. It is so fun to share in the hunting experience of others and to see their joy and excitement. I was able to see my brother (Aaron) and cousin (Caleb) both take big Iowa bucks this year. It was an amazing 2013 season. I'm already getting excited for next year which holds and Elk hunt for me and hopefully my dad as well. With the possibility of toothpic growing another year I am excited to shed hunt and hopefully confirm he is still out there and to Lord willing hunt him one more year!
