Every hunter who loves nature and the sport of hunting knows
that when the thrill of the hunt has gone away, it’s time to give it up. This
can be a heart breaking moment, the end of an era of something you loved so much.
Over the past 4 years this apathy has been slowly creeping up on me. Although I
have taken some of the biggest bucks of my life, they felt meaningless. Sure I
was blessed by God to provide food for my family and was able to put a trophy on
the wall and in the freezer, but I didn’t get that adrenaline rush that I once
cherished so much. I thought for sure this year was going to be my last, as I
watched bucks chasing doe and eventually took a young deer last week with a bow,
it just felt mechanical, it felt like just killing.
Perhaps it was because of all the tension and anger trying
to keep poachers off the property, perhaps it was because when I went hunting
it wasn’t for the thrill of the hunt, more like shopping for the family. (we all know how much men love to shop) or perhaps
my adrenal glands were broken. Hunting just didn’t feel like something I wanted
to do anymore and I had become apathetic and complacent and lost my passion.
Until…
Today while placing out a trail camera, I passed 15 deer in the
truck with little interest, driving up to the top road on the property I care take,
I looked to my left and saw a cow of a buck bedded down in the middle of the
thicket. My heart just about jumped out of my chest this wasn’t the biggest
buck I had seen; in fact, I saw a massive buck just 2 hours earlier with little
to no interest. As I slowly drove by I was experiencing something I had not had
in years, BUCK FEVER! It took everything in me to continue to drive to the top
of the hill and out of the buck’s sight. As I looked in my rearview mirror, I
prayed he wouldn’t spook.
I got out of the
truck and loaded my 270 Browning A-bolt medallion, grabbed my backpack and
started to stalk back to the field the king of the woods was bedded down in. As
the field came into view, the doe headed out. I glassed the field and the Buck
was just surveying his domain. He was the king of the field, the boss of his
heard and something welled up inside of me.
I slowly placed my backpack in the snow and went prone. I didn’t
care that I was laying down in water and snow and didn’t notice I was getting
soaked through to the skin. What I did notice was my heart and breathing was elevated
I was on the hunt. All I could focus on over the next 30 minutes was the buck
and shot placement. Slowly the pressure in my finger against the trigger
increased, time seamed to stand still. I was passionately in that moment, closing
my eyes now I can still see that moment, cross hairs sitting rock steady on the
chest cavity. As the report rang out I could see the round hit true. All of the
skill wisdom and mussel memory gave the respect that was due to this king of
the woods.
In that moment when I looked across the 235-yard valley I
felt the passion I thought I lost. My heart pounded at the thought of a clean
quick kill, the beauty of the landscape and the smell of the fresh air. I was rejoicing
in that moment. I thanked God for the ability to harvest this nice buck, I thanked
the Buck for feeding my family and I thanked God again for returning my
passion. Not one of the issues that were stealing my joy of hunting were in
that moment.
Without passion the
world becomes meaningless, mundane and routine. This is what my hunting was becoming.
Funny thing is that it was just a symptom of a much bigger ailment, I was losing
my passion in life. How was this happening? I was allowing the world to
influence my life in an unhealthy way. Like the poachers and trespassers were
ruining my passion for hunting, so to were the events of life. I was allowing
current events to pouch my joy, I was allowing people to trespass upon my life
in an unhealthy way. I found myself losing my passion in areas I was very
passionate about, including my ministry.
The book of proverbs had tremendous value for me today,
Proverbs 12:27 rings truer than ever before, “The lazy man does not roast what he took in hunting, but diligence is
man's precious possession.” Passion keeps us from becoming apathetic,
mundane and routine. Passion keeps us working hard for a cause, or purpose. All
of our relationships depend upon passion, if we lack passion for God, we make
excuses not to make time for worship with Him. We become lazy with our
attendance in church, the time we spend in his word and our communion through
prayer with Him. This attitude then trickles to every other aspect of our
relationships and life and the end result is a dispirited depressed meaningless
existence.
Find the moments that you were once passionate about and
diligently pursue them. Start with your relationship with God, diligently seek
Him through prayer, worship and study of His word. For in those moments all the
poaching and trespassing of the world and those who just want to break our joy
down, will fade from existence and all that will be left is you in the moment
of your crosshairs on the target. I am forever grateful to this King of the
field for giving me back my passion.
God Bless Pastor Ken Bascom
