Man to Man Devotionals
Weekly devotionals with inspirations from the field.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
The Open Scriptures
It is amazing the things you can learn by simply reading information on a specific topic. If you are looking for hunting information, there are many sources you have today at your figure tips. From well illustrated books to the endless supply of hunting magazines and journals, one should have no problem finding some info on a desired subject. Not to mention all the different hunting related websites that are out there, such as Tecomate.com, that strive to share with you quality hunting and biological information. Furthermore, the online resources are endless. There are online hunting forums, specific hunting info from state agencies, and don’t forget about Google Earth and the info it has to offer. It is no doubt that all of this easily attainable hunting information has made all of us more successful in the field.
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Wednesday, April 03, 2013
The Open Sepulcher
As you all know Easter was this past Sunday. It is the day we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I like to call it Resurrection Day. Resurrection Sunday should be a time for us to reflect on the Passion Week and on all that Jesus did for us on the cross at Calvary. We should do this every week if not every day, but this time of year is set aside for us all to remember that special sacrifice Jesus made for us. As we look back on the Resurrection we see many things that it teaches us about Christ and Christianity:
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Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Open Season
Here in Mississippi turkey season is in full swing. This is my favorite time of the year and you can bet that I will be wide open chasing turkeys till the season ends. However, no matter what game animal you enjoy hunting; they all must be hunted during a specific season. Spring turkey season across the nation is typically set during the months of March, April, and May. Whitetail deer season typically runs somewhere between September and January. Each state agency’s are responsible for setting the seasons for each and every game animal that is available to hunt. The days available to hunt in each of these seasons may change from year to year. These changes come from studies and surveys done by state agency biologists and staffers to better manage the wildlife animals we all love to hunt.
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Wednesday, January 30, 2013
The Future Harvest
All farmers have one thing in common regardless what they are growing. That common thing is the future harvest of their crops. A row crop farmer works diligently preparing his field the best he can. He sprays, disks, and rows prior to planting season, he plants the best variety of seed for the area his farm is in, and he applies different chemicals to enhance the growth of his crop. He does all of this work with the future harvest of a successful crop in mind. A cattle farmer works attentively with his herd to give them the best care he can. He provides good grazing ground by taking care of his pasture, he provides them with hay and other supplemental feed when it is required, and provides medical assistance when needed. He does all of this work with the future harvest, a good sale, in mind. Even a deer hunter or manager works thoroughly on his property to maintain a healthy population. He plants food plots both during the spring and fall, he manages the native habitat properly, shoots the necessary number of does each year, and passes up lots of good looking young bucks. He does all of this work with the future harvest of a trophy buck in mind.
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Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Good Soil: Part 5
Again, if you have been reading this series of devotions you know that I have encountered many obstacles this past year in planting food plots. I had to deal with some very hard deeply compacted soil from logging equipment. I came across some shallow soil with sand stone lying underneath. I even had to deal with patches of briar bushes that sprung up without me knowing. However, I am glad to say that these were not all the conditions that I had to face this past year. Lots of the ground I planted food plots in was good soil. This ground was well prepared with good chemical composition. The seeds that fell into this soil yielded some awesome looking food plots. Many of these plots were what I would call average looking. They turned out just like I expected them to. On the other hand, some did far better than I have ever seen; they more than exceeded my expectations.
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Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Good Soil: Part 4
There are many things on my hunting property that I would love to have. For starters, it would be great to have some kind of agriculture fields nearby. I also would love to have more hunters around my property that was more interested in growing mature deer. We all want what we do not have. However, what I do have in large abundance of is briars. The pine jungles of the Deep South are full of all sorts of thorny foliage. The primary species of briars growing on my property is blackberry bushes. Though these plants do produce good forage in browse and soft mass, these bushes will ruin a new pair of hunting pants. I have found myself caught-up in the middle of a blackberry patch many times. Just walk down an old lane where pine timber has been thinned at night trailing a wounded deer and you and your legs will know what I am talking about. Something else I noticed about these briar bushes is that though they may produce good food, they don’t allow other plant species to grow very well along with it. Also as biologist I know too much of anything can be a bad thing because this decreases plant diversity.
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Wednesday, January 09, 2013
A Time to Go Forth
Friends 2012 has ended and the New Year is already underway. I hope all of your hopes, your goals, and your aspirations were met this past year. However, even if they were that success is in the past and will not get you through this New Year. That’s why they call it a “New” year. The year 2013 is going to have “New” objectives, “New” obstacles, and “New” opportunities that you will be confronted with. The only way to deal with 2013 is to diligently “Go Forth” and tackle this New Year head on.
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Monday, December 24, 2012
The Indescribable Gift
Have you ever bought someone a gift that you could not describe to them? All you could say about it is that you are going to have to open it up to find out what it is. Or, have you ever gotten a gift from someone that was so great words could not express what that gift meant to you. I was able to hunt down an old Winchester shotgun one time that my dad always wanted. The look on his face was priceless when he opened it up during our family Christmas party. The only words he could say was, “Where did you find it?” and “Thank you.” I searched the internet, talked to some gun collectors that I knew, and finally found the gun dad had been looking for. This reminds me of a story told on a distant island one Christmas. A particular man put together a necklace made of a particular kind of sea shell and gave it to his wife for Christmas. When she opened the gift, tears of joy and amazement filled up within her. She knew that these shells were only found on the Northern most part of the island. She told her husband that, “You would have had to cross the deepest river, climb the tallest mountain, and track across the densest jungle to get to the shores where these shells are found.” The man simply answered, “Yes I know, you see the journey is part of the gift.”
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