Shed Hunting

Back in March after the snow had receded I had a morning to go out and do some shed hunting, looking in the woods and the grass for antlers that had fallen off the bucks who had survived hunting season and even more impressive, one of the harshest winters I have ever seen in Iowa. I only had time to check a few areas so I picked my favorites and figured I would do some scouting for next year while I was looking for sheds.

That morning I walked and walked and was unsuccessful, except that I found my set of sheds that I dropped during my last bowhunt in November, and now I need new rattling antlers as they are ruined. Just the week previous I was in the corner of Northwest Iowa setting up a 3d shoot and when I was not even looking I found a shed-small of course. Last week, I was down in western Iowa looking for morel mushrooms when I should have been turkey hunting, and my father in-law Tom found a nice complete set of sheds belonging to a 2 1/2 old, one in perfect condition and the other was chewed up pretty good. While I have never had much luck at finding the big sheds I have friends with better luck. One of my friends- Jeremy claimed the second largest shed in the Nebraska whitetail show in February this year. The photo I have attached to this is pair of 190 in. sheds found a few years back on ground that I hunt occasionally .

As a whitetail hunter I am amazed that these kings of the woods who have been given great crowns of horns by God's design, are often never seen by human eyes or even hunters except in the month of November during the Rut. Since I live and hunt in Iowa, I know that in the "Land of Giants" these giants truly exist and every once in while, which seems to be becoming more common these days, one of these giants is taken down, but still it is a rare thing to shoot or let alone see a giant in the wilderness without a motion activated camera. But every Spring after the winter has ended we all go out and see if we can find the crowns which the kings have dropped only to grow an even larger crown of tines for next fall.

This year in March as I walked through the areas I bowhunt, all around me was sign of large bucks; trees rubbed bare from last fall and huge scrapes two and three foot in diameter- but no sheds. I looked high and low at the deer trails, hillsides, and bedding areas, and imagined the time when the Kings had walked where I now stood.

The reason I share this with you is because shed hunting is similar to having faith in God. Every once in while we catch a glimpse of the living God working among us but God is as elusive as an Iowa Giant. In scripture it tells us that no person who sees God face to face can live, even Moses the great prophet called a friend of God was never allowed to see his face, and only he was allowed to see even his backside, as God passed in front of him as told in the book of Exodus.

God is as elusive as a 7 1/2 yr. old buck. But if you know how to read natural sign, as skilled hunters do, you must learn how to read God's sign which is all over our world. Just as a buck leaves positive proof of his existence through scrapes and rubs, he most definitively reveals himself through sheds, and so has God.

When Paul wrote Romans 1 this is what he was implying, " ¹⁸The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, ¹⁹since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. ²⁰For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

In the world we live in today, society by and large has little use for the ways of hunting or the ways of God. As outdoorsmen, especially if we are Christians who hunt, we see the world through different lenses, preferably life through the cross-hairs. When we sit in our tree stands and watch the world come alive in the morning, or see it change before our eyes throughout the duration of the hunting season - we are part of something Holy. We witness Fall turn to winter, we see the sun rise and set, we are privileged to see the countless stars-most modern people never have, and we endure the heat and the cold. We are witnesses to a world that goes on in nature just as it has for thousands upon thousands of years, a world that God cares so much about and the modern world so little.

Brodie Swisher our banquet speaker for this year said, "if anyone should have a reason to believe in God it should be those of us who hunt and fish." I think he said this because we are the ones who see on a regular basis the signs of God which were meant to be like bill boards pointing to him. The created world and those things of nature in it, are like the rubs and scrapes the whitetail buck leaves letting us know he is in the neighborhood and we are in his bedroom.
God's sign is all around us and still we are blind, because of that God gave us scripture and then gave us his son to show the way. The Bible, especially the stories about his son Jesus are the most definite and clear way that God has chosen to let us know of his existence and his plan for us.

The life of Jesus revealed in the Gospels and foreshadowed through the entire Bible, taking them combined, are truly like finding a set of trophy sheds. We all know the best proof that a trophy buck is alive and in your vicinity is when you find his sheds. And whenever I come across a massive shed I like to just admire it with my eyes and then run my hands over the tines and the bases, and imagine the monster that left it. If that giant is in my area I begin to plan for the future hunt, because I know he exists and that the likelihood of his return in the Fall is very good, and if I want a chance at the giant I have got to be ready.

There are many forces in our world today that like mice are working their hardest at gnawing away on the sheds God left for us, sometimes it makes me wonder if soon there will be much sign left for future generations. But there in our ever darkening world is hope because Jesus the first time he came came, was like a young buck, his crown was not impressive at all, but when he returns, this time he is coming with a massive crown. I hope you have picked up the sheds he has dropped and that you are now in pursuit of the greatest hunt of all, the hunt of the King of Kings.

Practice, Practice, Practice

I dont know about you but I know that I need to practice before I get into the woods. This last week our outdoor team "Call of the Wild" had the chance to break in our new Rinehart targets in the woods and hills of one of the Reformed Church in America's camps at Inspiration Hills.

It felt so good to be back in the woods slinging arrows. I can tell you though that I was rusty, and my muscles were not used to all the shooting we did since I embarrassingly admit that I had not picked up my bow since November when I shot my last buck. It did not take long though to get arrows flying back on target, but I did have to reset a few things. Not sure what happened but I may have changed my anchor point (the place you draw the bow back to) and that changed my arrow flight by 3-6 inches on target. That may not seem like much but if you are a bowhunter you know that 3-6 inches can mean a shot on the vitals and a short blood trail, or an arrow through the guts leaving you little blood and often no deer at the end of hours of painstakingly crawling around searching for sign.

So before I head into the woods I practice by shooting hundreds of arrows preparing for that one shot. I practice standing, kneeling, uphill, downhill shots at ranges from 15 yds to 45 yds on a regular basis. But I have found 3D target shoots are the best practice you can get for hunting. You experience real world hunting scenarios and only get one or two shots at ranges from 10 to 70 yds. You learn to take your time and focus to make each arrow count. Often 3d targets are at distances that you would not normally take a shot at it, but they build your confidence for the real thing.

You know the Sabbath (ie. Sunday for most) is also about practice-creating a rhythm for your life; a day to praise God and rest, a time to spend time with family. The Sabbath is about taking time to notice the small things in life and pause and reflect upon God is the one who is in control. Worship takes practice and that is why it is so important because if we are not worshiping on a regular basis you will find that your arrows will not fly accurately or that your anchor point who should be Jesus will change overtime to another anchor point like money, sex, alcohol, or even your own strength.

Surprisingly even Ted Nugent seems to understand this. If you watch Uncle Ted you know when he draws the bow every time he says aloud or silently-Father- as he draws, Son -as he anchors it, and Spirit- as he releases the arrow and sends it on target. Uncle Ted rarely misses because he has taken time to create rhythm, and practice is the only thing that maintains that rhythm.

The next time you are in worship reflect upon the Christian practices that create rhythm in your life. If you are father or a husband take the role of the one who sets the spiritual rhythm in the lives God has placed under your watch. If you are not sure what that means or how to do it, ask someone who walks the trails of life with you and is no greenhorn in the ways of Jesus.

A Holy Broadhead

My wife Becca has an uncle whose name is Jim Winn. Jim lives in California and he is a flint knapper which means he practices the ancient art of making stone arrowheads, knives, and figurines. He is so good at what he does that he has worked for National Geo. and the Discovery channel when they have produced shows on neolithic man and the Aztecs. At family gatherings we often get to see Jim in action. He begins with a carefully selected large chunk of rock that he has found in the wild back country somewhere.

He then begins to pound on the rock with one of his stone tools, or a bone tool from elk or deer antler. He breaks that large stone down until the piece of stone he intends to work with is palm size if it is to be an arrowhead. This palm size stone is jagged with sharp edges and then Jim begins the meticulous work of chipping off the flint until it is a fine very sharp stone edge.

Before long that stone in the master flint knappers hand of the likes of Jim's turns from a rock into a deadly stone broad-head or a beautiful piece of art.

It is now past Easter but during Lent we often read from Isaiah 53, 3"He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him." 5 "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed."

The point I want to make is that Jesus was like a stone in his Father's hand. In scripture it talks about Jesus being the Rock, the stone the builders rejected, the capstone, and the keystone.

I want to throw out another image-Jesus was the Rock who in his Father's hand at the cross was crushed. This suffering servant in Isaiah is Jesus at the cross, "a man of sorrows" , and there was nothing in his physical appearance that would cause us to desire him. Who knows exactly what Jesus looked like but it doesn't really matter, what matters is what he became. The sinless one became sin for us and took upon himself a cruel death we deserved in order that we might be freed from the Devil's grasp.

Hebrews 2:10 "In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering...Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— ¹⁵and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death."

In the hands of his Father, Jesus who was the stone the builders rejected, was crushed at the cross. As Jesus hung upon the cross, his adversary the Devil looked on in joy not realizing that God the Father was crushing his son and at the same time breaking, chipping, and knapping him into a Holy Arrowhead. Unknown to Satan, Jesus was the Rock that his Father had carefully selected, prepared, and then used to create the perfect broad-head able to pierce the prince of darkness and bring down the great Dragon/Serpent- the Devil.

When we rest in God's hand we too can trust the master knapper's design for our life. That plan will always include the breaking of our stone hearts- which represent our lives. On this side of heaven,we will experience pain, loss, and struggle, but out of it God will shape our lives into holy weapons used to wage war on the forces of darkness, or create in us beauty that will turn the eyes of people back to the Father "The Master Knapper."

I Peter 2: ⁴"As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— ⁵you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."

Button Bucks

Well it has been nearly two years since I last posted on this blog and so much has happened in my life since then, both in the church and in the woods. The vision which I felt called to, was to lead an outdoor ministry and though it has taken years to emerge it is finally taking shape within the Call of the Wild Ministries. If you are reading this please take time to read the previous posts because there is some sound wisdom given in them. Many of the lessons I have learned in life have come from mistakes I made as a young person in my early twenties, just as most of what I have learned in hunting has come from the mistakes I made as young hunter.

Hunting is in my blood and I believe it is passed down through the side of my mother's family who for generation after generation were hunters. But after my parents divorce when I was eight, I was left to wander in the woods of life like button buck, (without a true father figure to teach me or guide me, with the exception of my scout leaders) and figure out things for myself. If you have hunted long you know how awkward and dumb a button buck can be, and that is why so many are killed by gun hunters every year. Sometimes in bow season I just like to mess with button bucks. I call them over under my stand with a doe bleat call where they catch the scent of a doe in heat on one of the scent wicks hanging, and get them fired up and then I do a deep guttural grunt that sets them on edge. I know it is somewhat cruel but quite amusing.

Well my point is that in the postings to come I want to share some of what I have learned in life and in hunting so that you are not running through life like a button buck and to save you the pain I endured in life and in the woods.

Our goal in Call of the Wild Ministries is to connect you with other men who share the same passion of the outdoors and form bachelor groups (ie. bucks who before the rut travel together in groups), because in life we are not only the hunter, but we are also the hunted.