I can take you where two gobblers roost. They are in the same place about five out of seven days. We have been meeting and talking several mornings since the season opened. I can describe what they look like. They have walked within 35 yards of me. They have come from behind me, beside me, and in front of me. Sometimes they came quietly and sometimes they brake through like a bull in a china shop. After a month, I can take you where two gobblers roost.
I have hunted turkey for about 30 years, and I am a better hunter now than I was then. I have learned how to predict much of what a turkey will do. I have also learned some of the best ways to set up and some of the best ways to use calls to bring these stubborn fowls within the range of my shotgun. And while I’m not a great caller, I feel like I am above average. It looks like, after these many years, I would have perfected the art of killing a tom. But I can take you where two gobblers roost.
What I have been reminded of during the last month is, no matter how long I hunt, I will always be unable to do the job perfectly. I will, at some time, mess up an opportunity or miss a shot I would normally make. I can be good, better, or best, but I cannot be perfect. And it just takes one snafu to prove it. That mess-up may not come for many seasons, but it will come, just as sure as I can take you where two gobblers roost. In that same 30 years, I have been a Christian. I have prayed many prayers, read my Bible many times, shared the gospel in many venues, and served in many capacities. One would think I would have perfected the lifestyle. Unfortunately, I can take you to places where sin still resides. The truth is, you or I will never be able to live the Christian life. It just takes one mess-up to prove it. After all, to be a Christian is to be Christ-like, and who can do that? No one. Our sin however is never meant to only remind us of our lack, but to also remind us of the plan and power of God. His plan was never to call us to achieve something we cannot do, but it was to give us his power – the power of the Holy Spirit- to accomplish in our life what only He can accomplish. What’s our part, you ask? To simply, and daily, ask Him to bring about those things in our lives that He wants to bring about. To yield our inability to his ability. Then leave it there. And rest. And maybe go hunting. And maybe, eventually, go to where only one gobbler roosts.
Gary Miller
gary@outdoortruths.org