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“That’s a buck, but where is it?” I knew there was an antlered whitetail some place in front of me, yet I had not seen or heard a thing. The time was in the middle of Ohio’s November rut, the deer’s breeding season, when the males’ necks swell and the biological changes cause them to produce a very distinct odor. The breeze was directly in my face so I moved slowly and quietly into the wind. In just a few minutes, I jumped a six pointer and as quickly he disappeared as he crashed off through the thick underbrush. This was not the first time I’d smelled deer before I saw them, so I instantly recognized the fact that an encounter was possible and prepared for it, mentally at least. I’ve also smelled deer hunters long before they came in to view. One time several years before the Ohio six pointer’s missed opportunity, on a deer hunt in my then home state of Maryland, I scored on a non-typical six which I believe was because of one of those smelly outdoorsmen.
Squatted down in the middle of some very dense growth, I started smelling a cigarette. This puzzled me as my friend, Mark Smith did not smoke and we were the only people with permission to hunt the farm we were on. The senses in my nose were perhaps playing tricks on me as the smell came and went. But after about five minutes, my ears picked up sound and then the form of a man trespassing as he hunted came into view. I watched the guy walk past me going into some thicker stuff off to my right. He never saw me, so three minutes later when I heard movement to the right I assumed he was coming back. Instead, a very heavy antlered buck was trying to sneak out, coming not as much from where the man had gone but where the smoking scent was drifting with the gently blowing breeze. That rack now hangs on a plaque joined by a few other bucks that have provided the family with a freezer full of venison throughout the years. And the six pointer is there all because some hunter, who shouldn’t have been there, smelled very bad, long before he showed up.
Another smell related to my reflection of past deer hunts is a perfect segue into the holiday season, but you may have to hold your nose. I’d shot a ten point buck on our Ohio shotgun season opener one year. That was a great day, but a few days later I made a very bad decision when I chose to make that harvest into a European mount which requires boiling the head to produce a skull mount. Years before, I’d done this with a bear skull on a Coleman stove outdoors, so I knew it was a stinky operation, but forgot just how terrible the smell can be. Yet despite that past experience, I asked my wife Cyndi if I could do this one in the kitchen. Reluctantly, she agreed. She was working in the God’s Great Outdoors office on the other side of the house when my memory was shocked back to the first time I had done this! I then realized that very soon, Cyndi would catch my drift, if you know what I mean, and she would not be pleased. So, I had to do something and being so close to Christmas I came up with the idea of adding cinnamon and nutmeg from the spice rack to camouflage the disgusting odor. It worked! Well, that is for a little while. After a bit, the stench became stronger than the spicy aroma and before I knew it, it just smelled like a rotten Christmas! When Cyndi’s nose caught wind of my dilemma, I was busted, just as if a buck had caught my scent!
Christmas time is filled with many things that can invade our sense of smell, being both wonderful delights and creating lasting memories. One aroma that we look forward to every winter is the scent of the Scotch pine that we bring into our home to decorate for the Christmas holiday season. A hunt to harvest just the right pine, fir, or spruce tree can be a fun family outing and can also be used as an event to develop a deeper relationship with the families of those unsaved sportsmen you’re trying to reach with the cause of Christ and to help them understand what Christmas is really all about.
Fresh mountain air could be the essence of what fills your nostrils if you live near the Colorado Rockies. Amidst the scent of new snow and spruce, the co-host of Focus on the Family John Fuller and his family take advantage of the fact that permits can be obtained to cut one tree a year in the Pike National Forest to satisfy personal Christmas needs. The ability to hunt a Christmas tree in some national and state forests throughout the nation is something that was shared by a friend when the family moved to Colorado. The Fullers use a GPS to mark each potential harvest location as the group treks through the woodland looking for the right evergreen to bring home, until the choice is made. Besides the time in the snow covered mountains, the drive to and from can be filled with memory making events and times of relationship building.
Tom and Adie Wolcyn own and operate Wolcyn Tree Farms & Nursery in Cambridge, Minnesota. The farm, which is located northeast of the Twin Cities, is very busy during the Holiday season. People come from all over to cut and take home their Christmas tree. A ride on a hay wagon out to the tree covered hillside is part of the adventure. The smell of fresh straw is overwhelmed on the way back by the freshly sawed evergreens. At the showroom/office, the aroma of hot cinnamon apple cider and hot chocolate and holiday-style baked goods fill the air.
Learning to use the travels to and from offers a chance to build or deepen relationships and share the Christ in Christmas. Remember to present the birth of the Savior given to us in the Gospels. Try these thoughts in relating to the tree. The evergreen compared to everlasting life with Jesus if you accept his gift of salvation. The lights as He was the light that came into the world to save it. Refection of the light on the ornaments is what Christians should do, that is reflecting the light of Christ to others around us. Last, the wood of the tree, the cross, is why he came into the world; it makes the gift as special as it is where Jesus provided the blood sacrifice for you and for me. Let’s proclaim the gift, as we travel together on the Trail To Adventure! in God’s great outdoors.
A Merry Christmas & blessed New Year from all of us at God’s Great Outdoors!
Some other non-hunting, hunting ideas that can be used for relationship building that are shared in the Trail To Adventure! DVD teaching series which instructs pastors and laymen on winning unsaved outdoorsmen to Jesus Christ are for shed antlers, berries, mushrooms, edible wild plants, nature walks, bird watching and the list just goes on!
| Gerry is a past Board of Directors member for Christian Bowhunters of America. He is the host and producer of the nationally syndicated, 25 minute, weekly outdoor radio program God's Great Outdoors and serves on their Board of Directors. He is an Ohio Hunting Safety Instructor and an instructor for the National Bowhunter Education Foundation. Gerry lives in West Milton, Ohio with his wife and their 19-year-old son Clint. Gerry and Cyndi have a married son, Courtney, and his wife, Rebekah who live in Troy, Ohio and a daughter who is a junior at Grace College in Winona Lake, Indiana. |  |
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