Hunting: A Love Story

If you aren’t a fan of hunting- don’t get bored.  There is a twist in this love story.  Keep reading!!!!

In case you were unaware, I love hunting.  Since rifle season for deer is quickly approaching in Oklahoma I figured it is time I make a post about hunting.  I know- it’s shocking I made it through two whole posts without talking about hunting; but you know what they say- third time is a charm.  I miss hunting.  I miss the cold air blowing through my facemask/ stocking cap.  I miss the sound of acorns falling from trees and hitting leaves on the ground.  I miss the adrenaline rush I get at the sound of a squirrel climbing through the trees as it crashes through the silence of the woods and tricks my ears for a few moments into believing a deer is walking toward me.  I miss the sound of an actual deer walking through the woods and the immediate realization of how dumb I was for thinking the squirrel shaking the dead leaves in the trees sounds anything like a deer walking through the leaves on the ground. 

I miss the heart stopping beauty of seeing the deer pop out of the woods into view for the first time; the sense of anticipation as I decide whether it is a deer I should shoot or not.  The enjoyment of watching the deer that aren’t “shooters” walk around, eat, pick up the faintest of noises I can’t even hear and swing their heads around so quickly I don’t even see them move- all in the event of danger being nearby.  The exhilaration when I do decide to shoot a deer.  The fact that whether it is with bow or gun, every move must be so calculated as to not make a single sound, because if I do I won’t be able to move for 2 minutes as the deer stares me down trying to figure out where the noise came from.  The jubilation in my heart as I make a shot that I am positive is a good one and that somewhere in the woods is some delicious meat God has blessed me with waiting for me to go collect.  The satisfaction I feel when finding the deer, knowing I have successfully harvested it.   I miss all of it.

The work involved in getting the deer to my vehicle, taking it to a place where I can process it and the extensive work involved in butchering the deer….. I don’t miss that as much. But the taste of deer steak; the tender, delicious, mouthwatering, perfectly seasoned (in my opinion) deer steak.  I miss that for sure.  I miss deer hunting the most as it is the most delicious type of hunting as well as the most bountiful (in terms of amount of meat from each animal harvested).  Even though I haven’t done it as much lately, I miss duck hunting.  Season hasn’t started yet, but I miss pheasant hunting as well.  I will miss the annual trip we take every first weekend in December and the “guy time” of that weekend. 

I miss other things as well, but most of those I still get in quantities.  I miss my family, my friends, and my familiar surroundings.  But, I still get to talk to my family and friends, and am becoming familiar with these surroundings.  I get no cold weather, no hunting, and no time to sit in the woods and be part of nature (which is a huge part of the appeal of hunting).  I miss it.

What is most amazing of it all though is how little I miss it.  There are days that are worse than others, but overall, I’m doing well.  God is amazing.  I am not sure what I expected exactly, but I expected it to be worse.  But God is gracious.  For a variety of reasons, I am fine with not hunting.  The biggest of which is this:  God has called me.  He has called me to this place.  He has called me to be a voice in the darkness.  He has called me to proclaim his death and resurrection: his love for the world.  I used to have a thought in the back of my head of, “why would God call me to a place where it is HIGHLY unlikely I’ll be allowed to hunt?”

John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”   

If you know me very well or are friends with me on Facebook (Cory Wantstogohunting Hogan), then you know I love hunting.    It was a large portion of my life, and one could easily argue my life revolved around hunting as much as possible.  But I choose to lay that down for the sake of Christ.  When I willingly give up that which is temporary to introduce other people to that which is everlasting, He is gracious and makes it much easier. 

Don’t get me wrong- I still love hunting, still miss it, and will schedule vacations to visit family so that I can at least spend one morning in the stillness of the woods, but Christ’s call makes giving up my former joys easier.  He replaces them with other ones, joys that are more permanent and pressing- joys of the Lord.