The Lesson Learned Buck

During my second year of hunting, I happened to have a really nice eight pointer come near my stand one evening during a bow hunt. He ended up winding me and ran off. A couple days later, I decided to try for this buck again and readjusted my stand to where I last saw him. It was a dreary Saturday evening hunt on November 16th, right in the peak of the famed rut. However, the weather turned south on me shortly after entering the tree stand. Unfortunately, I didn't own any rain gear because I didn't have a lot of money at the time but I stupidly decided to stick with the hunt. I was chasing after this buck like a buck chasing a doe in heat.
Around 4:45pm I saw the magnificent buck come busting through the dense cedar grove with his nose to the ground heading straight in my direction. Up till now, I had not harvested any deer with my bow, although I had taken several frustrating shots over the previous year. I tried to stand up and ready myself but I couldn't, no matter what I tried, I was frozen to my stand like an icicle to a gutter from buck fever. It was every bow hunter's nightmare and it left me temporarily paralyzed! I tried to regain my composure but the buck was on a mission and getting closer to my stand. I knew that if I was going to harvest this deer that I would have to do it while sitting. I drew the bow back and was surprised at the range of motion. By this time the deer was ten yards away and parallel with my stand and on my left. He was quickly moving along his well trampled trail and was completely oblivious to my presence as he was sniffing for a doe, but he was beginning to move away from me. I was able to grunt in desperation, but it failed to stop him in his tracks. This buck was on an unstoppable mission to find a doe! I had a decision to make and no time to make it so I quickly picked a spot and released the arrow. I prayed the Redhead Carbon Supreme arrow would hit its mark. The spinning arrow was like a blur as it whizzed towards the beautiful eight pointer and a micro second later I watched as the buck kicked his rear legs like a bucking bronco. He took off running like a lightning flash and stopped about forty-five yards from my tree stand.
At this time the daylight was quickly slipping and a thick fog was beginning to stir. The soupy mixture of dusk, rain and fog made it difficult to see the deer clearly through the woods. I thought I could see him wobbling and was sure I landed a solid hit on him. I was now totally overwhelmed with buck fever and I was soaked to the core from the rain. My body began to convulse in uncontrollable shivers that would have made the South Pole explorers proud. Against my better judgment, I decided that I needed to warm up by getting out of the tree and staking my claim on my trophy lying in the woods. By the time I gathered my gear and climbed down, the daylight was a thing in the past, so I made my shivering trek through the woods with my flashlight in hand. Full of excitement and anticipation of collecting my first bow kill, I went to the last spot I had seen the incredible buck wobble. To my dismay, there was no deer anywhere to be found. I did a quick search and was totally confounded by this magnificent creature so I began to second guess my shot. I replayed the shot over and over again and I even went back to my tree stand to retrace the shot and soon found the arrow sticking in the ground like a javelin spear. It was covered in a grassy greenish slime. At this point I knew that I had hit the deer, but I had no idea why the arrow was covered in green slime. I did another exhausting search like a parent looking for a lost child, but I still could not find my trophy buck.
I drove to a friend's house to show him my arrow and he told me that I had gut-shot the deer and while it was probably a lethal shot, the deer could travel a long distance before expiring. I was in for a long sleepless night because the hour was getting late by this point.
I had to attend church the next day, and then we had a potluck dinner after the service. I could not wait to eat and run and go find my trophy deer. My friend and I finally had a chance to make a dash back to the woods in the early afternoon. We searched high and low for the elusive deer but we just couldn't find him anywhere. We went over the next ridge and searched some more, but still came up empty. After two hours, my buddy said, "Let’s go over the next ridge and if he's not there then we'd have to give up hope of ever finding him." Exhausted, we crested the ridge and quickly saw the white belly of the deer through at the base of the next ridge. In a surreal moment of absolute joy I took off running like a silver bullet towards my first bow kill deer. Upon close inspection, we found that I indeed gut-shot the deer and he traveled approximately 400 yards before expiring at the base of the ridge. He measured approximately 96" and was a 2.5 year old eight point buck. While he wasn't a true Pope & Young trophy, he was indeed my trophy buck and my first bow kill.
I learned many lessons from this hunt such as: purchasing proper rain gear and being prepared for any type of weather while hunting, the importance of proper shot placement, waiting at least 30 minutes before leaving the tree stand, and to go above and beyond the call of duty before giving up the search for a lost deer. While things didn't quite go as planned for me on this hunting trip, I was very fortunate that in the end everything worked out just fine and I recovered my trophy buck. I experienced a chilling rainfall, severe buck fever and a lost deer, but in the end it all came full circle and I was rewarded for my efforts.
In fact, the Bible talks about a similar principle in the New Testament. In Romans 8:28 (HCSB) we read, "We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to his purpose." Now this verse doesn't say that everything in our lives will be good. Nor does it say that our lives will be cookie cutter everything goes perfect for us, but it does give us hope to cling to during the bad times. In fact, Rick Warren says, "We are either going into a storm, in a storm or coming out of a storm." We will experience rough points in our lives, it might come as pain or hurt or loss; but during these times we can cling to this scripture like a rock climber clinging to a ledge. Somehow some way all these life experiences will work together to help us accomplish God's purpose in our lives.
I have noticed this time and again in my life that God takes the storms in our lives and uses it to unleash his glory in my life. In fact, I am now a stronger person today because I not only experienced the storms, but I was able to pull through these rough times. Take a few moments and look back at your life--both the highlight reel and the times you would rather forget, and ask God to show you his purpose in each of them. God wants to heal your pains so that he can make you a stronger person and a more faithful follower of Jesus. If you allow him, he will take the bad stuff and not only heal you of your pain and hurt but he will use it so you can help someone else who is struggling with a similar situation in their life. God, take the lessons in our lives, both the highlights and the lowlights and use them for your purpose in our lives!