I want to start this out by saying for nearly 7 years of my life I've refused to let God in to my life in any way. I would catch myself asking for help from him and quiet it down because I didn't want to believe. It's hard to explain why it's just how it went.
Yesterday during an afternoon hunt I was about ready to call it well before the sun started setting when I found myself in an argument with, well, myself. It was a struggle to do it but I prayed. I prayed for forgiveness for the years I've spent denying any acknowledgement to God. I prayed to God asking him to make this hunt memorable and then I once again prayed for forgiveness for being selfish, asking of God when I've done nothing to prove I deserve anything from him.
I sat there reflecting on the choices I've made and after remembering my promise to God that I would be sure to share with everyone I can that I asked him to make this hunt one I would never forget I heard a rustle in the brush to the right of my stand. I dismissed it at first as a squirrel and went back to staring off in the distance where, to my awe, I saw the squirrel that had been pestering me since opening day at 7 am. My heart started to pound; I couldn't bring myself to believe it was a deer just yet so I turned my head slowly back to the noisy brush. Materializing from the grass came a head. A beautiful doe, it was young by the looks of it but no fawn spots so I was thinking of taking a shot. I decided against it and just sat and observed as another doe (or button buck; I couldn't tell) came out with her. Siblings, I assumed, and they were here to answer my prayers. I sat and watched as the fed below me on the corn I laid out the previous day (yes I bait, there's no signs of natural food where some one else hasn't already set up on the private land. Corn is what they eat there since I hunt on a farm.) I let them sit for about 45 minutes when a car hammered on its horn a distance away and they spooked.
With a sigh I thought my hunt would be over but decide to sit and reflect until the sun went down on what just happened. Another 30 minutes passed by and sure enough they came back. I decided that since I have two tags and they weren't newborns that I could take them and not feel remorse. That's when "Buck Fever" set in. I was standing and waiting for the right time to take a shot when one of the siblings meandered away from my shooting lane leaving it's sister head down in the grass. She finally turned broadside and I steadied myself. I locked my eyes behind her shoulder and started to draw. As soon as I felt my fingers reach anchor I loosed the arrow and watched it fly, inches over her back. Dang, I knew what I had done wrong immediately. Buck Fever got the best of me and I didn't align my shoulders the way I usually did when practicing from my stand. She jumped away after the arrow sunk in to the dirt behind her, out of view for a split second so I knew if it had been a few inches lower I'd have made a hit. After she calmed down a bit she came to investigate what had spooked her. She sniffed my arrow a bit and I thought I was going to be busted, my scent is on that arrow whether I like it or not and she isn't going to like it. I was right, she didn't, so she walked a few yards over and started feeding in my second shooting lane.
'No way', I thought, 'I'm going to have a second shot?'
Too lucky, but apparently I hadn't learned from my mistake. I quietly nocked another arrow and got set up to wait for her to turn broadside again. It took about 20 minutes for her to get comfortable and we had a few staredowns in the mean time. She finally turned and I took the opportunity. It's a more difficult shot the way I was facing and the light was starting to fail. I still had my eyes locked right where I wanted the arrow to go. I aligned my shoulders properly and began to draw. Anchor, and then all of a sudden I lost focus and instead of seeing the spot I saw all the spots I didn't want to hit for a split second, arrow flew. I wasn't sure if I had hit because she walked away sort of confused.
She decided it best to poo as she left and I sighed because I know it's bad if deer relieve themselves right where they eat. But then I thought maybe I slammed her gut and that caused her to go. It wouldn't have been a clean kill to say the least but I was determined to follow up as soon as I could. I waited while she stood in some brush with her tail to me. I had no idea what she was doing. She walked off again behind a tree out of sight and I sat down waiting for more movement. She walked once again in to the field about 50-60 yards off and laid down, 'Did this really happen?'
Her sibling showed up and they both made a break for it. I doubted myself once again and waited to make sure they were gone.
climbing down from my stand I looked for my second arrow and couldn't find it. I called my brother to come down and help me look for it in case I did hit her. Not 10 minutes after he's helping me look did I find the arrow, clean as a whistle, behind the tree that would have blocked my shot. I was confused as to how it got there especially when I wasn't aiming, or so I thought, that far to the left.
We packed up and headed out but I wasn't as disappointed as I had initially thought I would be if I missed. It was exactly what I asked God for, an unforgettable hunt. And I'm filling my promise here by letting all know that I spoke with God and my prayers, as best I can describe it, were answered.
My missing was all on me. I wasn't prepared for the adrenaline, I don't think any one is, for my first shots at a deer. I came out of that hunt learning a lesson, the shot comes when the mind is calm. Next time I won't miss. And next time, I'll be praying just to pray and thanking God for my ability to be out there.
Topic: Finding God in the Wild. Unforgettable hunt. (Read 736 times)
