The Pursuit

I have very little experience hunting waterfowl.  In fact, I have only participated in the pursuit of water bound birds twice.  On one occasion, a friend of mine and I were invited to a goose hunt in Western Minnesota with his Father in Law.  I figured it would be a simple, grab my shotgun, some 3 inch 4 shot loads and go along for the ride.  Little did I realize, that my friend’s father in law had a different plan in mind.  Within the first 10 minutes of the 3 hour journey, our elderly guide produced two wooden goose calls from a pocket deep in his overalls and handed one to each of us.

“All right boys, have either of you ever used a goose call before?”

“Nope.” I stated.

“Me neither.” Replied my friend.

“Good, then you haven’t developed any bad habits.” 

The man then proceeded to insert a cassette tape into the dash of his Chevy Silverado which began to describe the art of goose calling.

After nearly 3 hours of “too whitting” into the wooden call my lips were chapped and my cheeks ached from puckering.

We went to bed early in a camper that was filled with mosquitoes and woke up having found very little rest.

We navigated in the dark to his duck blind where we sat for 2 hours without seeing a bird in the sky or on the water.  Finally, after eating all of my morning snacks by 9:30 a.m. two honkers could be heard wondering into our air space. 

“Give them a couple of quick calls boys.”

We did…sort of. Between the three of us it sounded like one goose was battling a gerbil riding a piglet.

Despite our lack luster calling, the two ignorant Canadians came swooping in.

“TAKE EM!”

The three of us popped our heads out of the blind with our firearms shouldered.  Six quick blasts resounded from the 3 scatter guns and there were “two geese a layin…” in the water.

Overall it was an enjoyable experience.  Enough so that I decided to try duck hunting on my own since I had gone to the trouble of buying the waterfowl shot and the appropriate licenses. 

I found a few small ponds that I wanted to try in the area of Cushing MN.  I didn’t have a call…or waders…or decoys…or a dog…just me and my little Elmer Fudd style shotgun.

I slowly snuck up on my first pond and was rewarded with a mass exodus of wood ducks exploding from the surface.  I began shooting wildly, aiming at any airborne bird in my range.  After 9 shots from my double barrel side by side, I saw two small ducks floating dead in the water. 

“Hmmm…sure could use a dog right now.” I thought.  Followed by, “Or some waders.”

I am not one to walk away from a challenge…nor from meat that is potentially offered to my table.  So I did what any rational thinking man would do…I went down to my "basic necessary attire" and went to pursue my birds.  I have not gone duck hunting since.

I find it remarkable, as to what I am willing to do in the investments of my pursuits. I came to consider this week, “Do I pursue Jesus with such vigor.”

In Matthew 20:29-34 we find two blind men who pursue Jesus in an incredible way. 

May we too be willing to throw off our cloaks and pursue Jesus even despite the rebukes of those around us.