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Weekly Devotion February 17, 2025

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This Devotion was written by Sportsmen Devotional and posted with permission Bible Study Verse: Mark 8:34 Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” - Thoughts: This fall I was forced to rethink my hunting strategy for whitetails. My son bought a portable tree stand with sticks and was talking about how he was adjusting his stand placement each time he went out hunting. Instead of waiting for the deer to come to him, he was looking to go to them, based on the scouting he was doing. What really got me thinking was his buddy took a huge buck hunting this way. I’ve worked pretty hard at putting down food plots to attract the deer to my permanent stands. In the permanent stands, I have shelves, a desk chair, windows to close up when it’s cold, and a heater to warm it up. I have to confess that I like my comforts. Sitting in these blinds is a sheer pleasure. Action Point: I do believe my comforts have made me soft, and it’s time to rethink w...
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Weekly Devotion February 10, 2025

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This Devotion was written by Sportsmen Devotional and posted with permission Bible Study Verse: John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. (NIV)  Thoughts: We are really blessed to live in America, despite our circumstances. Life can really throw some curveballs at us if we’re not careful. Sometimes those curveballs work in our favor. This year I still had my non-resident deer tag from bow hunting in Michigan and I got invited to sit with my two nephews this year for opening day of firearm deer season. It’s been a long time since I’ve done that, and my older brother has a small section of land, and he let us do some hunting this year. Sitting all day with my nephews in a blind sharing laughs and snacks was a real blast. We even saw a few deer, but no harvest. It’s fun watching them get older and I know that’s one thing we share together: our love of family. We are fiercely loyal to each other in our family and that makes it even more f...
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Sportsmen Breakfast

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  Men of the Outdoors 7th Annual Date March 1, 2025 Location – Emanuel Lutheran Commons 200 E Quincy St. New London Ticket Price - $10.00 in advance and $12.00 at the door.   Children 12 and under are Free Ticket Locations – Johnny’s Little Shop of Bait and Emanuel Lutheran Church Office. You may also purchase tickets Online at www.emanuelnl.org/moto or (Scan QR Code with your Phone).     Our 7 th Annual Sportsmen Breakfast begins at 7:30 AM. The Breakfast features:   A ctivities and games for the Kids available during the entire program O ver a dozen hunting and fishing vendors to visit and chat with. Five different workshops to attend Breakfast includes: Biscuits & Garvey, sausage links, scramble eggs, fresh fruit, muffins, coffee, milk and bottled water. Keynote Speaker: Randy Mayes Randy has bow hunted big game around the world.  He has taken Cape Buffalo, Brown Bear, Bison and Musk Ox to name a few.  He has even bow ...
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Weekly Devotion February 3, 2025

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This Devotion was written by Sportsmen Devotional and posted with permission Bible Study Verse: Hebrews 9:27-28 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. ESV. Thoughts: I cannot wait for the opening day of spring turkey season. Every year for many years, it’s been the same for me; I could hardly wait. I prepare, scout, watch videos, pattern my gun, practice calling, and much more. I greatly await opening day. What’s your favorite season opener? Is it whitetail deer? Or, maybe it’s duck, elk, bear, mule deer, antelope, or a particular fishing season. If you do not hunt, you may look forward to a day you’re headed on a hiking or vacation trip. We all anticipate and get ready for opening days or days when we plan outdoor activities. Action Point: There is a day coming when the Lord will retur...
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Weekly Devotion January 27 2025

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This Devotion was written by Sportsmen Devotional and posted with permission Bible Study Verse: Matthew 24:32-36  32 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it[e] is near, right at the door. 34 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. 36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[f]  Thoughts: August of 2012 I was sitting some one hundred yards back from the edge of a deep canyon squalling on a varmint call hoping to attract a bear within rifle range. Now, understand, I had not been to the canyon’s edge and didn’t know if there was a bear anywhere near my stand, I was simply calling blind hoping a bruin could hear the call and would be hungry enough to come to ...
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MOTO 2025 Tentative Schedule

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  With the start of a new year, the Men of the Outdoors would like to share with you our tentative schedule for 2025. It would be nice if we could be more definite, however we don’t always have control over circumstances and dates. Here is our tentative plan for the year: Event                               # of Days              Date Ice Fishing                               ½ Day                   Late Feb. Breakfast Chat                          2 Hours  ...
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Weekly Devotion January 20, 2025

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This Devotion was written by Sportsmen Devotional and posted with permission Bible Study Verse: 2 Corinthians 4:4 4  The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (NIV©)  Thoughts: Hunting is different in all regions. Out west where I do most of my hunting, I mostly employ the “spot and stalk” method. This requires good optics and lots of time on high vantage points. As the name implies, I spot animals from my vantage point and then stalk one if I so desire. If you’ve done much glassing, you know that the sun is your enemy. One simply cannot look directly into the direction of the sun at sunrise or sunset. Neither can you shoot through a rifle scope with the sun in your eyes. I saw this first hand on a hunt when a friend was shooting at a deer with the sun directly behind it, along with a prickly pear cactus. My friend was doing his best to see the deer in h...
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