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 Last
month I laid eyes on what I thought was a mature 10-point. As the
whitetail was running away he looked good — I thought 135 class. I
hunted him hard with no more sightings until yesterday. I sat perched
in my tree stand enjoying an absolutely beautiful morning. For the
first time I had even brought coffee along! I struck up a conversation
with the Lord. I don’t like to ask for personal or selfish wishes,
however I couldn’t help but recall a message I heard from the late
Adrian Rodgers. Adrian said that the Lord wants to be called upon and
loves hearing all of our wishes and desires. He loves us all so much
that He wants to answer our prayers — but in His time — not ours.
As I stared at the sun glistening on the snow cradled in the crotch of
a tree in front of me, I pleaded, "Lord I know I've been hunting this
buck too hard. Many things in my life have taken a backseat to my
obsession with this wonderful creature that you've placed on this
earth for all to enjoy. I know myself well. I'm hard headed, but I
love you, I love my family and I love others. I don’t know how to
quit, I don’t know when to quit, please help me. If possible please
let the 10 point show today and let me take him." Three or four
minutes went by and I heard a loud crunching in the snow heading my
way fast! It was very thick where I was hunting and I was hunting this
stand for the first time, tucked inside a dense bedding area. There
are no trees bigger than 5" in diameter, but I was fortunate to find
one large enough to hold my stand. I saw movement at about 50 yards
and I could make out the shapes of 5 deer. The first two were young
bucks that stopped at 35 yards. I only had two shooting lanes and they
weren't in either one. Suddenly I saw him — the 10 point! In the
thicket he looked like a shooter for sure; but alas, he moved past
without a shot opportunity. Disgusted, I gave two grunts with my grunt
call and waited a few minutes. After that I hung up my bow. It was
cold and I was shivering like a member of the Polar Bear Club. I got
back on the line with the Lord and said, “God, thank You for letting
me see him and letting me know he is still alive and on the property.
And as if He were saying “I'm not done yet”, I saw movement where the
deer had gone. I slowly lifted the bow from its hook and clipped on
the release. First I saw a doe, next was one of the bucks that was
with the big boy, and they were followed by another deer. Finally I
got a glimpse of the 10 pointer coming directly at me! As he got close
to the shooting lane I noticed that the animal wasn't all I thought he
was. He was a typical 5x5 but lacking in width and mass. Most
importantly he was probably only two and a half years old. This deer
needed at least one more year to grow so I let him walk.
All of the pressure, stress, and neglect I had shown my God and the
others that I love in order to pursue something that existed only in
my head taught me one of the greatest lessons of my life. I believe
the Lord spoke to me yesterday. He told me to relax, to calm down and
to consider what is most important in my life. Our passions are a gift
from God to help us enjoy all that he has created, but we must not
allow them to take over our lives. That day it became clear that I
needed to place God first, then family, then others, and finally
myself. I'm very proud of my son and cherish the time we get to spend
together with God in the deer woods. I intend to teach him the lesson
I’ve learned about priorities!
From what I’ve seen and know, the people involved with FHFH have
certainly got their priorities straight. May God Bless them as they
work hard serving him and giving us the opportunity to do the same by
feeding the hungry of our communities.
May God bless you,
Mike Malley
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