Lessons Through Persistence

One of the characteristics of a memorable hunt camp versus an average one is the quality and comfort of the lodge. Bob and Jan Lien, who own the property where we stayed, originally purchased it because they loved the ridges and valleys of Southeastern Minnesota. After some years they decided to improve the property by adding a lodge to host hunters from all over. It was fully equipped with everything we needed, including plenty of beds for the tired hunters! A big thank you goes out to Bob and Jan. Also, thank you to all the neighboring landowners who so graciously allowed a bunch of excited mentors and patient mentees to go out and chase some big gobblers on their property.

One definitive aspect about hunting that you can ALWAYS count on is that you will be learning some positive, and possibly hard lessons while out in God’s glorious creation. Some of the lessons learned while at camp were when mistakes were made, but good character-building conversations were had between mentor and mentee to turn the mistake into a positive memory. Many of the lessons were shared back and forth between mentor and mentee while in the blind or while they were running and gunning after some springtime gobblers. One of the lessons that stuck out to me was about how hunting can be a great vehicle to teach yourself, or others, the necessary qualities of persistence and a never-give-up attitude. While spending an afternoon of run and gun hunting we ran into many mishaps, some self-imposed and others due to turkey instincts, but one thing that I was reminded of was how often in life we are met with obstacles, some self-imposed and some totally out of our control. If we use that never-give-up attitude, the same attitude we use while hunting, we will be unstoppable in life and in the woods. But what drives us to never give up while hunting? Is it to gather some food, gain social recognition, or to build a career?

When you talk to most hunters, it’s something deeper, it’s the gift of joy. Joy from success, joy from fellowship, or the joy of provision. These all are gifts from God and they are things He finds joy in. “The joy of the Lord is my strength” -Nehemiah 8:10. After reading that verse, it’s no surprise that we have such an engrained desire to pursue that joy we get from hunting—that joy of the Lord. The lessons we learn firsthand while hunting, whether easy or hard, are ones that our Heavenly Father wants us to learn to be the best version of the person He created us to be.

After lunch on Saturday, Greg Symons, aka “Sarge”, shared the Gospel with all those at the camp. Everyone had fun shooting archery, throwing tomahawks, and playing games, plus sharing stories around a bonfire. At the end of shooting hours Saturday night, I remember talking to Cole, one of the mentees, after a very, very, very long day of run and gun turkey hunting. We were all dead tired, not to mention getting rained on. There weren’t any successful harvest photos to be taken that evening, but we did have a ton of amazing opportunities to learn about never giving up regardless of the results. To me, gaining the quality of perseverance will profit a man much longer than turkey meat would.

Success doesn’t happen overnight, and even when it happens on the first evening, that success has likely been earned over a few days and evenings without a harvested animal. That’s the cliff notes version of Don and Will’s hunting stories for whitetail deer and turkey. They first met up at Kicking Bear’s 2018 Youth Deer Hunt where they hunted really hard and had a blast! Something special happened, though. The duo went on to chase whitetails on Will’s grandmother’s property, and again a great time was had, but no critters were pinched. Now fast forward to Kicking Bear’s 2019 Minnesota Youth Turkey Hunt where Will and Don meet up once again with a critter in focus.

“Wait, wait, wait! There’s the tom!” Don said, and with a quick reset the gun goes Ka-BOOM! The tom runs off with Don and Will quickly following the trail that seemed as though it was going to end without a trophy. But they started praising God when they walked out of the woods to see the bird down in the field. It was a long, long, long day of hunting for the Don and Will. They had been sitting in a blind, did some run and gun, and all the while being surrounded by turkeys that were just out of range, but finally got to connect on this beautiful tom.

The true trophy, though, wasn’t just the bird they pinched, but the lessons learned, and wisdom gained by both hunters. Will said, “You gotta work hard, but that hard work pays off,” and “you have to be really quiet because turkeys have great hearing!” All joking aside, he learned this from what some may say is, “just a hunt.” For a young man that just recently won an award at the Boys and Girls Club for his great work ethic, that lesson means something. While they were celebrating a long-awaited successful hunt, they went to show the property owner, Jim Larson, the trophy and Don felt an overwhelming feeling of gratitude. This caused him to reminisce on the importance of passing down your passions, your faith, and an attitude of gratitude towards God for all things, good or bad. Don felt like that was the true trophy, the wisdom he gained from intentionally investing in God’s Kingdom.

Through this experience, as well as those before, Don has decided to officially commit, through Kicking Bear, to hanging out with Will once a month for a minimum of one year. Stay tuned for more stories of these two in the near future as hunting and fishing seasons ramp up. God is good all the time, and all the time God is good. Praise God today!

Through all the early mornings, long sits, and trophy-less walks back to camp, Will and Don never gave up, never let go of their great, positive attitudes, and never forgot to be grateful for what they had. And that, ladies and gents, is why they and several others were successful, because they learned through persistence.

Thanks to Darren Grefe and the rest of the Kicking Bear Team who set up all the blinds in the right spots!