Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Patience

I have struggled many times with patience so I have researched high and low for help.

I found a quote from George Horne " Patience Strengthens the spirit, sweetens the temper, stifles anger, extinguishes envy, subdues pride, bridles the tongue, restrains the hands, and trembles upon temptation"

This quote does do a nice job of showing the positive aspect of patience but It didn't help me have patience.

So I found the Serenity Prayer. 
"O God, give us serenity to accept what cannot be changed, courage to change what should be changed, and wisdom to distinguish the one from the other"

That was good, but it only seemed to help while I was saying it!

It wasn't until I read James ch 5 verses 7-11

Patience in Suffering


7 Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. 8 You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. 9 Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! 10 Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. 12 Above all, my brothers, do not swear--not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your "Yes" be yes, and your "No," no, or you will be condemned.

that I saw how silly my impatience was. James was pleading with Christians to be patient for something important, the second coming of Jesus. Here I am grumbling over not being able to move ( I wish to relocate) to Jacksboro now, which is simply a side note to the life I live here. When I should keep in mind that without God there would be no Jacksboro to move to. When you are thankful for possibilities it makes waiting for them a pleasure, since we are not promised tomorrow. God bless and remember patience is contagious.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Squirrel shoot out

I cannot count the squirrel hunts I have been on in my life, but one stands out among the rest. I had met Stacy to take a little walk about in Catoosa WMA and maybe shoot a squirrel or two. We had planned to meet up with Ron and Ray at the long field around 10 am (that was the earliest they could get there) and maybe do some deer scouting. Stacy and I got out of the truck a little after daylight and went through the anti-seed tick ritual of skin so soft and permanone application. We wondered around in the woods for a while when Stacy saw some cuttings on a stump and said "I think we ought to sit here". I had a 22 magnum and Stacy was packing a 12 gauge, we sat up on opposite sides of the small hollow we had entered and within minutes I saw a squirrel. "BAM" I dropped him, and with that crack of the rifle squirrels broke from there hiding places running away from me into the barrage of shotgun fire compliments of Stacy. This pattern continued for half an hour until we thought we had filled our limit of 20. I don't know if we miscounted or didn't find one, but we ended up with nineteen. All of this in 30 minutes out of a stand of about 7 hickory trees. I don't think I will ever be able to duplicate a day like that but hope keeps me going back. The magical day ended after meeting with Ron and Ray, showing them our bounty and bragging about Stacy's shooting prowess. We probably would have wondered around the woods some more but Ron decided to see if he could hit a hornets nest with a throwing stick...he could. After a long run back to the trucks we left catoosa. Stacy and I with 19 Squirrels and Ron with 100 seed ticks.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Ground Hog for supper

One Thing I enjoy about hunting is eating what I kill. The bounty is diverse. One day eat deer, the next eat turkey. I even enjoy the occasional ground hog. I love hunting g-hogs since it fills the summer hunting gap and allows for perfecting my long range shooting technique. Most farmers are more than happy to let you plug away at the little ill tempered whistle pigs since they are seen as a nuisance to anyone with livestock. A thousand dollars worth of cow breaking its leg in the ground hog's hole will make any farmer want them thinned out. I have a Marlin 22 Mag that is really accurate out to 150+ yards. I love taking it since it is light plus a good head shot doesn't ruin any meat. Most people use a more traditional varmit gun like the 22-250 which can be effective for shots twice as far as I would shoot with my magnum. I made this choice because my gun was more affordable, I also derive enjoyment by having to sneak up a little closer for the shot. If you ever want to try a little ground hog for supper you should try it in a crock pot. If a crock pot is not handy then here is a little recipe I like. 1.) put 1 cup of honey, 1 tablespoon of dried jalapeno pepper, and a teaspoon of salt into a microwave safe bowl. 2.) heat until honey is softened (about a minute) 3.) roll quatered ground hog in mixture untill covered thoroughly 4.) place into a baking pan and put in oven on 325 degrees for about 45 minutes 5.) watch closely so as not to burn the honey You could also wrap it in aluminum foil for the grill. Either way it is a good alternative to the always reliable crock pot and BBQ sauce.