Men of the Outdoors

This Devotion was written by Sportsmen Devotional and posted with permission Bible Study Verse: Psalm 119:105  Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. (NIV) Thoughts:  Years ago, I was venturing out on a fishing trip into Canada onto a lake where some of my family had already fished in previous years. In discussing with them what my options were going to be on this remote fishing trip, my brother-in-law offered me a map of the main lake where I was going to be fishing.  On this map, he had marked out what fish were located where. As I looked at the map, I recognized I was inheriting knowledge from him of years of fishing on this lake. I was going to benefit from years of his trials and errors.  I wasn't going to walk in blind to this lake and have to fend for myself in trying to figure things out. I knew where the small mouth bass were, the pike, and the walleye. It was all laid out for me in the map color coded with notes and lure suggestions to boot. I...

This Devotion was written by Sportsmen Devotional and posted with permission Bible Study Verse: 1 John 4:19  We love because he first loved us. NIV) Thoughts: Some seasons the harvest is plentiful; other years, it is a grind. Last year, I filled two draw tags and a general season tag with mature bucks, plus a doe. This year, I only harvested one doe toward the end of the season. You have to love the pursuit, or your passion for hunting may fade during a difficult season. Action Point: I love the hunt, not just the harvest. We love because He first loved us. When our relationships struggle, it can be easy to walk away or respond negatively if our love is not rooted in the Father. I don’t give up on hunting when it gets difficult because I loved the hunt before the harvest. Jesus does not give up on us during hard seasons, and we should extend that same commitment to others. Sportsman’s Tip of the Day: Keep game bags in your backpack. They will help preserve your meat and keep it cle...

This Devotion was written by Sportsmen Devotional and posted with permission Bible Study Verse: Hebrews 10:24-25   24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another–and all the more as you see the Day approaching. NIV. Thoughts: I’ve worked to improve my turkey calling over the years. I’ve practiced with mouth yelpers and various friction calls, trying to imitate a hen turkey and perfect the sounds I can produce. Most of the time, my calls sound good to me. I’ve often asked others to listen and critique my calling. When my wife or grandsons listened, they always told me how good my clucks, yelps, cuts, and purrs sounded, and that it sounded just like a wild hen turkey. When I asked a few friends who are better hunters and callers than I am, I received honest feedback. It wasn’t always what I wanted to hear and might have hurt my turkey-calling pride...

  This Devotion was written by Sportsmen Devotional and posted with permission Bible Study Verse: I Timothy 4:8  For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. (NIV) Thoughts: This summer and early fall, my son and I have worked diligently together to get our new hunting property up and ready to go. We have cut trails, put up portable tree stands, built permanent ground blinds, put in food plots, developed a spot for us to camp at, and have been scouting together recently. We have prepared well for this upcoming season. We have rolled up our sleeves side-by-side to accomplish our goal of giving ourselves the opportunity to be successful white-tail hunting. My son is learning the value of hard work . . . he is not getting this hunting opportunity without sweat on his brow! Action Point:  Preparation. Preparation. Preparation. This is what we have spent a good portion of our la...

This Devotion was written by Sportsmen Devotional and posted with permission Bible Study Verse: John 5:22 “...the Father judges no one, but has appointed all judgement to the Son.”  Thoughts: This past weekend, I had a chance to go to Canada to do some perch fishing through the ice. Man, did we have a great time and were the fish ever hitting - 390 fish in three days to sort through! But what we learned from our outfitter was that almost all the perch we were going to catch were females getting ready to spawn. So with hearing that, I was curious as to what percent of the fish we took home were actually females. I ended up bringing home 79 perch, so as I was filleting them, I kept track of how many were females. As I opened them up, I kept finding one sack of eggs after another. At the end of my cleaning, 79 out of 79 were females. Pretty amazing!  Action Point: I thought that was fascinating, but you know how I found that out? I opened them up to see what was inside. Someday,...

This Devotion was written by Sportsmen Devotional and posted with permission Bible Study Verse: I Peter 5:8  Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. (NIV) Thoughts: While I was hunting deer recently, a large black bear approached me. When he was still about 40 yds away, I leaned my muzzleloader against a tree and dug my camera out of my pack.  When about 12 ft. from me, he began to circle, getting inside of 8 ft. At that point, I realized that I had moved several steps away from my gun. If he had wanted to attack, I would have been in trouble. I tried to scare him off, but he wasn't about to leave. Throwing sticks at him, shouting, suddenly raising my arms and trying to look as large and as intimidating as possible seemed to make him more interested.  He studied me for almost five minutes. He had no fear; and I'm sure I could have moved closer--even close enough to touch him. Bear experts say that w...