MAN I LOVE TO HUNT

Well, after several hunts and a couple unsuccessful shots at deer, I finally dropped a buck on the last day I hunted!

Jason was home from school, so he got to come along with Chris and me for the morning hunt. He agreed that the ranch is an awesome sight! We spotted deer within the first 5 minutes of leaving the truck.

After watching the first several deer, we continued on to another ridge. There we saw a small buck and I considered taking this 2 point. At about the moment I considered sighting him in, he bounded out of sight.

We walked a high ridge and a larger (3 point) buck was in an opening with a few does. We checked the range (250 yards). Yep, this one is the one.

I sighted in, but couldn't seem to hold completely steady, because after the first shot, the deer simply looked confused. Must have been wavering in my aim more than I thought. Rack in another shell and shoot again! This one caused the deer to hunch up, take one step and fall. Successful hunt!

He wasn't the 5 point I had hoped for, but he was a nice buck - or as Chris would say, "Yeah, he's alright I guess!"

The only pictures taken of the event were on Jason's and Chris' cell phones and Jason's digital. Will post a picture when I can load a copy:-)

Home for the holidays

Yesterday, Heather arrived home from college in Indiana. Tonight, Jason comes back from school in Miller, SD. Tomorrow, the Wiley family will gather with us at the Schultz home.

Reva and I will wake up earlier than the others. I'll get the turkey in the oven. Then, we'll roll out homemade rolls together. WOW! I love Thanksgiving. This year it means even more since Heather and Jason are away at school

The Schultz family will get a Christmas tree (not a holiday tree:-) on Friday and decorate the house for Christmas. I hope anyone who might check this blog has an AWESOME Thanksgiving.

Please take time to pray for those serving our country and away from family. Please pray for those that have an empty place at their table because a loved one died. May God Himself be part of all our festivities during this time to reflect and give thanks.

The Nativity Story

The theatrical trailer of the film - The Nativity - hope people will have the chance to see the AWESOME story.

What a day

Today, we said our "temporary" final goodbyes to Gwyn Regan. WOW, what an event. People came to the church on Friday to help set up. We had overflow seating in the basement, library, main entrance and in 2 large areas upstairs. All were wired with video and sound feeds so people could catch the funeral.

It seemed like people just kept arriving. We had crews covering the parking lot and overflow lots secured. We had greeters and ushers at every door and on every level. The place was PACKED!

What a beautiful tribute to a beautiful girl!

Gwyn, age 15, was killed on Tuesday night when she went off the shoulder of the road, overcorrected and spun into the path of a Chevy Suburban. She and her family have attended First Wesleyan since about 2000.

In the midst of tragedy, God does amazing things. I told several people that "it seems like when life is at its worst, the Body of Christ is at its best." How true! So many people helped and showered the family with love and support. What a fitting tribute to God's love for Gwyn and her family.

Please pray for Michelle (mom), Katie (younger sister) and Shawn (dad).

We had the chance to share the Gospel message during the service. Gwyn knew and followed Jesus. What a comfort to have hope for eternal life with Christ.

Successful Hunt

WARNING:
If you're an animal rights activist, you might want to discontinue reading this post immediately.
But, if you love to hunt like I do, read on and check out the picture attached.

On Monday, I took the afternoon off to hunt with Chris D. We hunt on the ranch his wife's family owns. By the way, I feel EXTREMELY BLESSED to have received an invitation to hunt with him on such an AMAZING parcel of land.

Well, on Monday evening, we came upon a couple small herds of deer. One herd was bedded down on a hillside. We had an advantage (other than having rifles that can reach the kill zone at about 600 yards:-) in that the wind was blowing across us and not taking our scent to them. Thus, the only challenge we faced was getting closer without being seen.

We ambled over several ridges to get closer. (Oh, the reason we did this is because there appeared to be a HUGE buck with the herd) So, after practically wearing ourselves out traipsing up and down hills, we finally came to the "magic" ridge that was above the herd.

We crawled to the top (cactus REALLY hurt your knees) and saw that the deer had gotten up and started down the draw. We were now at about 300 yards.

Sure enough, the one deer was a really nice buck. Chris graciously asked if I wanted to shoot that particular deer - (did I mention that he was a really nice buck?!). I told him to go ahead. He drew down and shot. The bullet hit and the deer staggered and fell. Shortly after that, he rose to his feet again and stood there! We waited for what seemed like forever (probably about 2 minutes).

The shot caused all the rest of the deer to run around, but they still didn't know where we were, so they weren't running off. Another nice buck appeared at about the 400 + yard range and I drew down on him. Unfortunately, I missed (because the wind had risen to nearly hurricane force gusts:-) My shot caused Chris' deer to start walking away. Chris took one more shot before the deer walked out of site behind another small ridge.

What do we do now? We decided to give the deer a chance to lie down - and probably die because he had been hit hard. We went back to the truck to retrieve some warmer clothes (remember the hurricane gusts), our knives and some water. We had only planned to take a "short look" on these ridges, so had left much of our stuff in the truck.

We walked into the draw, and as we approached the spot where Chris shot, we saw the buck bedded down very near where he was first hit. Chris took one final shot and we went to check our success.

As you can see, the buck is a beautiful 4X4 mule deer buck. So, the hunt was successful - sorta. Chris got his, but I missed mine.

Actually, the land is so beautiful, I couldn't bear the thought of not continuing to hunt for another buck, so I purposely shanked my 425 yard shot. - If you believe that, I've been authorized to sell you a parcel of the ranch:-)

A time to mourn

Looking at my blog, I realize that I'm still learning about the cyber community. My last post WAS AUGUST FOR CRYING OUT LOUD.

Much has happened in a few short months. Many of them pale when I consider the events of Tuesday, November 14th.

I took the morning off and went hunting with a friend. We shot a beautiful buck the night before - will post pics tomorrow - and I passed on several that morning. We came back to Rapid with rain falling and temperatures dropping.

About 5:30, I took Christy to gymnastic practice at the YMCA and then went to the church to prep for a meeting. Pastor Chris called me looking to get ahold of the Regan family.

He soon called me back to let me know that 15 year old Gwyn Regan had just been killed in a car accident. The news came like a kick in the head. Gwyn is a smiling 15 year old who attends First Wesleyan with her mom, Michelle and sister, Katie. Now, in a moment, she was swept out into eternity!

We went to the hospital. The board vice chair conducted all the business at the meeting and I went to be with the family.

Gwyn was traveling east on Catron Blvd. bypass. It appears that she hit an icy spot and fishtailed. After going off the shoulder of the road, she overcorrected and swerved sideways into the path of an oncoming Chevy Suburban. Officials say she died immediately.

Please pray for Gwyn's family. We're planning the funeral for Saturday at 10:00 a.m. at First Wesleyan in Rapid City. Gwyn's mom is Michelle, her dad is Shawn and her little sister is Katie. They all need prayer, love and support in the days and weeks to come.

Please pray for Pastor Chris and me too. We will somehow need to speak a word from God's Word to bring comfort and hope. We need help from God's Holy Spirit for direction!

Man, life is short! Reminds me just how vital it is to KNOW JESUS! GWEN DID, and for that, we rejoice in eternal life.