"They may rule over...all the creatures"

Genesis 1:26Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

I was exhausted, we had been hiking, sitting, and intently searching all day with no luck. The sun was just starting to go down and there was a little chill in the winter breeze. The sunset was pastel yellow and baby pink. As we drove off to our hotel to get out of our layers of camouflage and daylight-hunter orange, we say something moving to the side of the trail....What was that? Oh, it must have been a bush, no...wait. Is that what I think it is...there they were. Two does in the middle of the field we had been walking through all day. Was this our chance?


Dad slowly drove by, turning the car around about a half mile past where we saw them, then drove another half mile past them. We parked at the bottom of the hill and quietly got out of the car trying our best not to slam the doors. We snuck up the side of the fence keeping low while I carted the 800 pound rifle (not really but it felt like it after carrying it all day). We had already agreed that I would get the first chance so James and Mom went to the right while Dad and I continued to sneak up the muddy, grassy hill. I glanced around taking in the cold mountain air, praying to myself, "God be with me, calm me, take my emotions." The nervousness, excitement, and adrenaline was so intense, my eyesight felt like an eagles and I could hear every last twig under my feet. Dad and I snuck up the hill and he abruptly whispered, "Stop.." I held my breathe...He whispered, "Get down, they can see us..." We laid down on our stomachs and waited what felt like an eternity and a half second all at the same time.


I looked down at the ground, at the grass, the dirt. What intricate detail there was, even on the ground. God created every last piece of dirt, each blade of grass. What an amazing God that he would create all of this for us!?! Dad signaled to start crawling closer. We slowly drug ourselves up the grassy hill to get closer. I was sweating at this point, in 20 degree weather, while army crawling with an 800 pound firearm. But I was so excited, amazed, nervous, and every other emotion possible in 10 seconds, that I barely noticed. The dry grass cut into my hands but I could only focus on one thing, getting up that hill without being heard, smelled, or seen. We made it to the top of the hill about 200 yards away.


This was it, it was the moment we've planned on for months. I had every thought possible go through my head to the point that all I could think of was what I was doing at that exact moment. We crawled up to a flat place and dad put out his expertly homemade gun stand. I was shaking, my hands were sweaty, and my stomach felt like a hundred pound brick tossing around. They walk from left to right but one was behind the other. This brought me back to hunters safety class where they explained that you never shoot an animal while another is that close. So we had to wait.

All of my emotions were building up and I kept whispering, "I can't do this, I can't do this, I'm so scared." My dad whispered back, "You'll be fine, just remember to aim and hold your breath. Do you have it in sight?". "I can't find it, I can't find it, wait...I've got it," I had it in my sights but she was walking slowly. Now what do I do? While I was thinking of all the things I could do like wave around, sneeze, anything to get their attention, Dad yelled out, "Woooo!!!". She stopped, this was my only chance, I had to fire now or I would not have another chance until next season. I had a perfect aim in my scope, I drew a big breath in, held it, slowly squeezed the trigger, and BOOM! In a half second she fell and I dropped my great grandfathers rifle, screaming with delight! I was crying and shaking, screaming and breathing heavy. I did it! It was the biggest adrenaline rush I have ever felt.

I had never felt this kind of excitement but most importantly, this kind of primal one-ness with nature. I felt like the Native Americans, hunting for their family, the earth providing for their every need. I felt so close to God's creation, so amazed at his love for us that he gave us all of this to enjoy. It is similar to the Lion King with the "Circle of Life" concept but even deeper than that. It was a picture into the heart and face of God. He created this beautiful field and those beautiful animals for me. Thank you God for your amazing creation!!!



On a another note, I know some people feel very strongly about hunting either one way or the other. I believe it is not only preserving our forests, but preserving the animals as well. Most places need to have herds of animals controlled to avoid overpopulation and starvation. Nature has a way of regulating numbers of animals by only providing a certain amount of food. Most of these animals will die over the winter of hunger. To avoid the suffering, the DOW has done a TON of research about how many in the population need to be removed to preserve a good balance of healthy population. This is where hunters (and fishermen) come in. The DOW sells and controls hunting licensing to help assist in keeping populations down. Not only is this good for the populations but also for the state in general. The funds that the DOW collects from hunters and fishermen pay for a HUGE portion of the upkeep of state parks and open spaces, allowing nature and animals a safe haven to live. Hunting is also a great way to get healthy, organic, free range, non-hormone, and everything else meat. Game is lean, delicious and so good for you. I feel that it is a great time for family to be together, enjoy the outdoors, and provide meat for the family (that would otherwise be purchased at the store).