Anticipation of the Hunt

Hunting is a big culture here in our community. Our son, Walden has turned 10 and can now legally hunt under an apprentice for 2 years. All the possibilities of hunting has created a lot of anticipation for him.

Realizing the gun that Al and I have used has too long of stock for a young, shorter person Al decided to purchase another gun. With the gun/ammo situation right now, that was not an easy feat. We went from store to store just trying to find a gun that would serve the purpose and use a common bullet. A 243 Ruger Rifle was chosen. Then the next challenge was to find bullets that were in stock. Hopefully, we are now more prepared for the next 3 hunters as well.

One purchase leads to another. A scope was needed, then a shooting stick. An orange vest, warm gloves. Digging in our ‘grow into’ box we found warm clothes that do not rustle with every movement.

Then they had the job of sighting in the new gun and scope. Getting over the fear of the noise was a reality – you can not flinch when you pull the trigger. After several practices, Walden did learn the basics and was ready to go to the field.

Then it was the scouting. Al and Walden took a couple of different days to look the land over to see if they saw Whitetail bucks or other evidence of a good hunting ground. Big antler rubs would make them excited about the possibilities.

We do see Whitetail deer here at home every day. On occasion, we have seen a couple of nice-sized young bucks in the neighborhood. They have even bedded down on our own property. But I told Walden several times – “Don’t count on it!” Not only are we surrounded by residential homes, making shooting safety a challenge, but the bucks also tend to disappear come hunting season.

With Al and Walden’s scouting, they did choose a spot somewhere around Wood Mountain to create a blind out of large bark pieces to sit in.

Since it was open upland bird season when they were scouting, they took along the 22 rifle. Grouse is a fun bird to learn how to harvest along the logging roads through the forest. Walden was able to bag a couple of birds – Spruce Grouse, Ruffled Grouse, and one squirrel. Then he came home and watched a YouTube video of how to fan out the tails and preserve them for mounting. Currently, they are under my bed, drying.

Now that Walden had a wild game harvest under his belt, the anticipation for deer hunting increased.

He was not dreaming of shooting a “spikey” – a buck deer that barely passes the requirements to harvest.

On October 21st Youth gun hunting season opens two days prior to all other gun hunters, giving them a bit of a jump in the hunting world.

On opening day Al and Walden packed their backpacks, gear, and food. They left around daybreak. The day had finally come!

After the bustle of the men getting out the door, I sat down to a quiet cup of tea.

Not long after they left I heard a gunshot. Not unusual in our community. It ran through my mind that it could be Walden.

Sure enough, in a few minutes, I got a phone call from Walden that he shot a buck in the Fish and Game land that borders our driveway.

As they were leaving they had seen several deer in an open area, including a buck. They parked behind a building, got all ready, then Walden stepped out from behind the building with his shooting stick. He fired one shot, hitting the buck in both lungs.

So I got the rest of the children out of bed and we bundled up to go see what Walden had harvested.

It was a Whitetail 4 x 5 with a nice full body. Needless to say, Walden was quite pleased he did not have to settle for a spikey.

We took pictures, then Al proceeded to give us all a lesson on gutting. The children were given some basic lessons on body parts – lungs, heart, stomach, intestines, colon. The body parts that make him a buck. We talked about how the lungs are necessary to breathe and why the buck did not run far, or suffer.

We spoke of how the spirit of an animal leaves at the time of death, and the eyes no longer have a sparkle. It is the same for us as people. God says our eyes are the light of our bodies. (Matt 6:22)

After a family effort of getting the buck up on the back of the truck, Al hauled him to the shop to rinse out the gut cavity and then skin and hang it. Now the children are looking forward to butchering day, and we feel blessed to be provided with meat from our 10-year-old.

A lot of time and investment went into all the anticipation for hunting. The purchases, time spent scouting, and practicing to shoot were all a necessary part of the preparation. Discussions of gun safety were mentioned often. We were glad to do this for Walden so that he learns the skill and has the enjoyment of the hunt as well as providing food for the table. We were training him and moving him towards the end goal of how to hunt successfully.

There are so many things for our children to learn. Life can get difficult and we want to teach our children as many life skills as we can to help them along. Often those skills are straightforward. Like hunting. We know the basics of what it takes to hunt and can train a child to do it.

In light of spiritual training, how much more time should we be spending on teaching them about a relationship with our Lord!

We want to be encouraging them to memorize scriptures and know what the Word of God says. This way they can walk in the Light of God’s truth. With scripture written in their hearts, the Holy Spirit can bring them to mind and direct their way all through life.

When we were preparing Walden for hunting we not only gave him the tools to use, we showed him how to use them.

Our own example of how we live is a huge part of our training for our children. It’s a heartfelt, deep training ground. We want to go beyond the knowledge of truth to how to walk in it.

If all I do in training my children is to spoon-feed them with commands – do this, don’t do that – they do not learn to apply the Truths of scripture from the basis of the underlying principle, or authority of the Word of God.

It is our desire to write in our children’s hearts every day. To give them substantial Truth to walk in. Yet so often the day gets full and I go to bed wondering if my time was well spent. Life got full and we did not work on memory work, or even read from the Bible.

Am I anticipating eternity enough?

How do you purposely write on your children’s hearts every day?

~Sheila