Staying on the 'X'

I can recall a few waterfowl hunts over the years during the September goose season, the early season for wood ducks and in the late season for mallards where my buddies and I found ourselves in just the right spot. It was during these hunts where the waterfowl seemed to be downright determined to get in the blind with us! Occasions like these are what we often refer to as "being on the x". One of the best waterfowl hunts I remember being a part of was a few years back when most of water around our setup was frozen up, with the exception of our little hole which had just enough moving water to keep it from freezing. It wound up being by far the wildest display of in-your-face decoying of big ducks that I have ever experienced. My dad was with us that morning as well, which made it extra special, and we really put a hurting on the green heads and Canada's that day. However, most of the time, the waters surrounding our hole are open, and when that's the case, the 'x' is usually several hundred yards or so down the creek from the edge of where we have permission to hunt. And although we often witness a great display of birds from our setup, a few passing shots is generally all we wind up getting. The 'x', the honey hole, the funnel - all terms that sportsmen use to describe being in just the right spot to experience some incredible encounters with wildlife and hopefully harvest game. And when you're there, it is relatively easy to have success. However, most of us are rarely fortunate enough to be there consistently. It takes many hours of study, research, scouting, preparation, and hours spent in the woods, fields, and swamps to figure out precisely the desired location of the game we seek.

John 15:12-17 (NASB)
This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. This I command you, that you love one another.

Get to the Spot

I spent this past weekend with my immediate and extended family in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We took advantage of the Columbus Day holiday on Monday and made it a long weekend vacation, which was much appreciated by my wife and kids. With as many outdoors opportunities as I have been able to experience lately, my primary goal this weekend was to spend time with my family, so I intentionally, but with concerted effort, put fishing way down on my priority list. However, I did carry a few rods with me, in the event that a blitz was on, and I found a brief opening at first light Monday to head over to the Little Bridge, located between Nags Head and Manteo. This is a popular destination for inshore anglers, who routinely catch speckled trout, puppy drum and rockfish this time a year from the fishing area along the bridge. Although the weather had not been good at all due to the effects of the nor'easter, fishermen had still been harvesting these species daily along the Little Bridge. When I got there, the parking lot was already full, and droves of fishermen were stacked up the entire length of the bridge. However, I only needed to be there for a few minutes to realize that I was not within casting distance of one particular 10 foot wide spot where all the bites were occurring. Anglers who frequented the bridge had arrived before daylight and had positioned themselves in just the right spot in order to reap the fruits of their labor. Unfortunately, those of us out of range could only watch and speculate why the population of trout and drum being caught that morning were in such a small, confined area.

 

Romans 5:8 (NASB)

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Location, Location, Location

Well, it finally happened. On Tuesday of last week I was blessed to be able to harvest turkey number three and tag out for the first time in my life during the spring gobbler season. As it was just starting to get light, a gobbler that I had hunted unsuccessfully the previous morning began sounding off at a feverish clip, giving my buddy and me a good opportunity to pinpoint where he was and set up on him. We decided to split up on him, sitting in different spots along a field edge with the roosted gobbler in the woods behind us. The bird eventually pitched down after gobbling up the tree for over an hour, got quiet and disappeared for a bit, then reappeared along with two hens out in the field and out of my shooting range. He started gobbling and strutting again, paying no attention to my Avian X decoy, and all I could do was to helplessly watch the show. What we didn't know was that there was another gobbler in the vicinity, which quietly worked its way into the hunt and appeared next to my buddy's decoy. Upon him shooting that bird, the first gobbler ran right back near me on the edge of the field and I harvested him at around 40 yards. If the bird that my buddy shot doesn't show up out of the clear blue, neither of us likely kill a bird. Needless to say, it was a divinely crafted morning with both of us tagging out at nearly the same time.

1 Corinthians 13:1 (NIV)
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.