Man Fully Alive
The glory of God is man fully alive! I have posted in the past about my hunting adventures. I took up deer hunting last year. My dad wasn't a hunter and i've never had an "elder" show me the ropes of hunting. Masculinity is bestowed - it is taught, it is handed down - and in some sense, hunting is a part of the masculine adventure. Unfortunately for me, I've had to teach it to myself. I have two good hunting buddies and they are showing me a good deal and I do have an older man that is extremely experienced in all types of hunting. He helps me learn from my mistakes but I am, for the most part, doing this myself and that is OK. Not ideal, but OK.

Saturday was a grand day. The weather was incredible - crystal clear blue skies and very fall-like temperatures. I hit the stand at 6:30 am and enjoyed some quiet time with God. I saw a few deer early and then about 8:30, 6 doe walked into my stand area. I set my stand up at the end of a food plot down into a hardwood forest that falls down into a creek bottom. These doe came off the food plot and were heading down into the woods. They walked right up to my stand and hung around for a few minutes munching on acorns. A spike came up out of the woods to check the girls out and then a 4 point came along. With 8 deer now under my stand, I was frozen waiting and hoping for a large buck to come along. I heard something coming up behind me and as I slowly turned my head to the right, a very nice, mature buck came up. He was perfect - almost. One side of his rack was thick and mature with 4 good points and a smaller 5th point. The problem is, his other side was mangled and broken. He had been fighting and lost some of this side. Hard as it was, I let him go but needless to say, it was thrilling. He was almost perfect, almost on my wall.

I went again this morning. I only saw 1 doe and she had a nice 6 point following her up out of the creek bottom. At this point in the cycle, the younger bucks are "pushing" the does. The does aren't in heat yet and the rut hasn't begun...but it is close. The younger bucks are driving the does and the big boys are holding back. Once the rut kicks in, the chase will be on. My hope is that my stand is in the right place to catch the right buck at the right time. So far, I am encouraged by the traffic flow around my stand.

What was trilling beyond words this morning was my first encounter with a bobcat. I've had 2 bobcats in my driveway before but this was the first time I've seen one in the woods. About 10am, I heard a scream way off in the woods. I had no idea what it was - at first, I thought it may be a goose honking and the echos of the woods were playing tricks on me. The screaming continued non-stop and was getting closer and closer. I noticed the squirrels started running up the treees and that tipped me off (that and the hair standing up on the back of my neck). This wasn't a goose. It was a bobcat and he was moving in on me. The screams got louder and louder and then he went totally silent. About the time he went silent, he appeared on my left cruising up right in front of me. About 30 yards ahead of me he stopped and I had a full side look at him. He then disappeared like a ghost into the thick brush. What a thrill!

Now this doesn't ring everyone's bell but I am telling you, you feel fully alive at 8am on a cold fall morning watching the miracle of God's woods. It is thrilling beyond words.

Soar!