With the peak of the whitetail rut upon us here in Virginia, I took the opportunity to spend the entire day Monday, literally, in a piece of cutover currently holding several nice bucks. Now, I am accustomed to hunting from an elevated position, but unfortunately, this cutover is very thick and the trees are too thin to climb or hang a stand. Therefore, I broke routine and fashioned a brush blind near a bend in a road. I also set up a doe decoy in the road, with the thoughts that if a buck crossed the road in either direction and saw the decoy, it would either slow him up enough for a shot or actually lure him towards me for a closer shot.
Well, I had several encounters with does during the first half of the morning. At 10am, I noticed a deer crossing the road 75-80 yards to my left. I quickly attempted to find the deer through my scope, but it was just a blur. I then heard cracking and commotion behind that deer, looked back and instantly could tell this deer had 'shooter' written all over him. When this buck reached the road, he turned, trotted up the road away from me and then stopped. All I could see were his legs, so I quickly sent several deep, guttural grunts in his direction, and he whirled around and literally sprinted back down the road in my direction. He locked up in the road directly facing me at 50 yards, nearly the exact opposite view as what is shown below in a picture taken of this deer several weeks ago on an adjoining property. I had the crosshairs on him at this point, but did not feel good about taking a head-on shot at a buck of this caliber, and I hoped he would turn broadside. After a few short seconds he did and I was able to stop him, but there was a tree covering his vitals. Shortly thereafter, he took off on a trot up through the cutover and he was gone. Seven and one-half more hours I sat, but no more sightings of him or any other deer for that matter.
Well, I had several encounters with does during the first half of the morning. At 10am, I noticed a deer crossing the road 75-80 yards to my left. I quickly attempted to find the deer through my scope, but it was just a blur. I then heard cracking and commotion behind that deer, looked back and instantly could tell this deer had 'shooter' written all over him. When this buck reached the road, he turned, trotted up the road away from me and then stopped. All I could see were his legs, so I quickly sent several deep, guttural grunts in his direction, and he whirled around and literally sprinted back down the road in my direction. He locked up in the road directly facing me at 50 yards, nearly the exact opposite view as what is shown below in a picture taken of this deer several weeks ago on an adjoining property. I had the crosshairs on him at this point, but did not feel good about taking a head-on shot at a buck of this caliber, and I hoped he would turn broadside. After a few short seconds he did and I was able to stop him, but there was a tree covering his vitals. Shortly thereafter, he took off on a trot up through the cutover and he was gone. Seven and one-half more hours I sat, but no more sightings of him or any other deer for that matter.
Needless to say, this was a tough pill to swallow. I have replayed this scenario in my head too many times to count, have heard the opinions of many other friends and hunters on what they would have done, and have questioned myself either way what could have happened if I had taken the shot. However, I have come to settle it this way. I am a volunteer Hunter Education Instructor in the state of Virginia, and my hope in serving in this capacity is to raise up young hunters who learn to hunt safely and ethically, obey laws, respect game and treat landowners, which ultimately will help continue to portray a positive image of hunting for years to come. When it comes to optimal shot placement, we teach students to only take broadside and quartering away shots at big game animals to ensure ethical kills. Why, therefore, if I am serving as a mentor to these young hunters, would I take a marginal shot at a trophy buck that I would not encourage any of my students to take? What kind of example is that?
In a more significant direction, this has encouraged me to take a look at my Christian character. I have begun to reflect on where and to whom I am a spiritual mentor, and in what ways do I encourage young believers to incorporate and/or abstain from activities in their lives in order to develop their character, that I in turn do not include and/or abstain from myself. Men, I believe this speaks to the heart of why we do not have more of an influence on our surrounding community. Over time, we have become accustomed to cutting corners, taking shortcuts in our spiritual growth and character, and we have ultimately blended ourselves in so well with the world that they do not recognize Christ in us. John 13:35 states that, "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (NASB). Maybe it is love that you are struggling to work out in your own life. But maybe for another, its is another part of your Christian character that you are struggling to improve or move beyond. I encourage you to make the necessary changes today to clean up your character, to be a man of integrity, to walk the walk just as you talk the talk, to stand out for Christ, whether it be at home, at church, at work or at play. We need the positive influences of pure Godly men in our communities like no other time in our nation's history. - GE
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