1Jan 08
Hunting Endurance
posted by
One early morning this past December, Dad,Matthew,Daniel and I headed down to Culpeper to hunt. After an hour of driving, We all got out and headed to our hunting stations. Dad and I went to the tree stand.Daniel went to 
the blind and Matthew headed for the fox house. Daddy and I finally arrived at the treestand. While in the tree stand things kept falling and with all the noise, our hopes of seeing anything began to go down. The Lord prompted me to pray that His will would be done.
Not long after (only about 5 minutes), I heard something running torward us. All of a sudden a large six point buck (almost 8 points) came into the clearing. Our guns were lying on the floor of the stand but Dad and I froze, not moving a muscle. The deer starred at us for about 30 secconds before going down to sniff the ground. Daddy then bent down to pick up his gun when the buck looked at us 
again. Dad patiently stayed in the bent position until the deer looked away. Suddenly, it began to run, but right before it would of dissappeared, it stopped to look at us one more time. Daddy quickly fired his gun and the deer fell down right where it was. After processing 
it, we had almost 45 pounds of meat – our biggest deer ever! Watching Dad’s endurance, even when it was painful while standing in an awkward position, encouraged me.
Though therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 2 Timothy 2:3
Endurance: The inward strength to withstand stress to accomplish God’s best.
[...] Thank you Mom! Much eager work went in to preparing for the evening. There was fresh deer meat from Dad’s buck to slice up for our traditional New Year’s Stir Fry. A tasty punch was prepared with pineapple [...]
Wow! Way to go Mr. Wilkes! Praise the Lord for his provision! I’ll bet that was a hunting trip you’ll never forget, eh Kenan? That has got to be the biggest six point buck I’ve ever seen. Are you going to save the rack? And 45 pounds of meat! It is neat to see you all working together to process the meat. Dad shot a big doe last Friday and so we’ve been doing the same.
Congratulations! Wow, a big deer five minutes after you prayed. That must have been exiting to shoot. You get that deer process quickly when you all work together. God bless you with endurance !
Your an awesom story teller Kenan. Excellent job writing and also hunting.
The meat tasted especially good New Year’s Eve. Mom said she put together a special marinade along the lines of what our cousin Henry had suggested last week.
Congratulations Dad! What an exciting day that was!
Congratulations Mark and Kenan! What a nice buck! Reading your post lifts my spirit with the thought of God’s great goodness.
A little tip:
My rifle has a sling. This summer I plan to drive a nail in the tree next to where I sit/stand in the tree stand. Then I can lift the gun off the nail with very little motion.