I was on the lake in my boat when it was still pitch dark, in the perfect place on the lake to see the whole hillside coming down to the lake. I was pretty sure that the big bucks that were there the morning before would show again, and I would row over within 40 yards and get me a nice buck deer with my bow. There is a hiking trail all around the lake and just at the time I was expecting the deer to show a couple from the campground decided to have an early morning walk together around the lake, holding hands, and talking loudly. So, I did what any highly intelligent hunter would do, I started fishing, and I caught a lot of trout. The forecast is for a thunder storm here tomorrow at 11:00 am, and Thunderstorms in the Steen’s at 8,000 plus feet can be major gully washers, in fact there was a weather alert warning that showed up on my phone for the Steen’s, so we are going to get up early and be all packed and headed home by 10:30 am.
This morning I decided to get up before day light to fish on “Fish Lake” in the Steen’s Mountains. We are camped right next to it and my 10 foot pram is always in the lake ready to go when I want to fish. This morning the lake was so beautiful as I could barely see across it before the sun came up. I was doing a slow troll with a wet fly and I saw a beaver swimming across the lake and followed it with my eye as it headed to a big beaver lodge on the side of the lake. As I watched the beaver I saw two really big bucks drinking from the lake, I could hardly believe my eyes. I have been hiking all over trying to find a buck to shoot with my bow and here are 2 monsters less than 200 yards from my tent. I slowly rowed my boat towards them, and they hardly paid any attention to me, I think they thought I was a big beaver. I got within 33 yards according to my range finder and attempted a shot, but I have never shot a bow sitting down out of a boat, a very little boat before. I missed so badly he only took a few steps and stopped and I got a second shot, same story. So, I did some practicing today, and I am ready for those bucks. I plan on being on the lake in my boat at 5:30 am, I am going to have my binoculars, and I am going to glass the hill above the lake and when they head down I will be there waiting for them. Great plan! 😬😬😬😬 I am so nervous that something is going to go wrong! I will let you know tomorrow how it all turns out😳😳
Yesterday I snuck up on 5 different deer and got within 10 yards of 2, 20 yards on 2, and 40 yards on the 5th one. All of those are really good shooting distances with a bow, and I could have easily shot any one of them but I couldn’t get any of them to grow horns as hard as I tried. In the Steen’s it is bucks only so I could see and sneak up on lots of does and not come home with any meat. Even though I didn’t shoot my bow I had lots of fun with the challenge of getting close to each of the deer without them seeing, smelling, or hearing me. I was constantly checking wind direction, and looking for bushes, rocks, and trees to walk behind. One of the reasons I have hunted archery primarily for the last 55 years is because of this added challenge of getting close. I am not always as successful as I was yesterday, in fact the stories of just, almost getting close enough for a shot and having the deer or elk spook is my normal story over the years. I don’t have to catch fish to enjoy fishing, and I don’t have to kill something to enjoy hunting, which in the hunting department, is a good thing or I would have quit hunting years ago! This trip has been particularly enjoyable because of the camping being just Patty and I, the fishing has been incredible, the scenery is beautiful, the weather has been sunny but not to hot at 8,000 feet elevation, I have seen deer every time I have gone out, though just does, and I have had lots of reading, writing, and praying time. I am thinking that I will see a buck or elk this evening, maybe, you never know, we will see, I hope so, don’t you love it! It is just like life! Maybe we will, maybe we won’t, but you always keep trying, keep setting the goals and having the dreams.
I am amazed how few people have ever been to the Steen’s Mountains. There are the Big Indian, Blitzen, and Kiker gorges which are amazingly beautiful. Then there is the East Rim which you drive up to and are at almost 10,000 feet in elevation, and from there you look down into the Alvord Dessert and much of the Southeast corner of Oregon. Looking around at all the rock cliffs you almost always can spot some big horn sheep as a bonus. Because of being camped at 8,000 feet the stars seem triple in number and twice as bright as at home. It is so inspiring to sit in my camp chair at night just looking at the stars. I have meditated on Psalms 8:3-4 often in the evening,”When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained; what is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him?” And also Romans 1:20, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” I want to know God more and more so I read His Word everyday, I spend time with Him in prayer everyday, and I look at His creation and try to see His invisible attributes, His eternal power, and His divine nature. Up here in the Steen’s is the perfect place to see God through His creation.
One of my activities that increases during times like now when we are camping, and have extra free time is my journaling. I use my journaling as a tool to try and figure out who I am and how I am doing in my character growth as I pursue the character of Jesus. A major character area that I desperately want to grow in is in my level of wisdom. I want to think and choose and act like Jesus would. I have a scales that I can step on, and it tells me how much I weigh. My doctor can do some blood work and measure a number of things that indicate good health or problems in my physical body. I can take a test and my level of intelligence can be determined. Wisdom, how do I measure the amount of wisdom that I have? The New Testament book of James says that if any of us lack wisdom we can ask God and He will give us some. It seems that the lack of wisdom would be universal and the lack of it would go without saying in all of us. I think what I want to know about myself is, “Am I getting wiser as I grow older or am I just staying the same or going backwards?” Proverbs 8:11 says, “For wisdom is better than jewels; And all desirable things cannot compare with her,” and verse 17 says, “I love those who love me; And those who diligently seek me will find me.” What would prompt and motivate the diligent pursuit of wisdom in me would be a clear indicator of my level of being a fool. I have a friend who when his kids were young would regularly ask them, “was that a wise thing to do or say”? It would be so cool if God would ask me that question throughout the day, forcing me to think about my decision or words, whether I was acting in wisdom or being a fool. I have started asking myself that question in my daily journaling time. The first area of questioning is everything that I have purchased that day. I can be very impulsive and periodically I will buy something that I later recognize as being really stupid. The second area of evaluation is the words that I have spoken to people, especially spontaneous conversations, I can say some extremely dumb things. My hope is that as I daily review my behavior as being wise or foolish I will learn and grow in wisdom, that is my hope anyway.
I have my favorite spot in camp where I have my chair, and I move it around the clump of quaking aspen trees to keep it in the shade except in the morning and evening when I like to sit in the sun to stay warm. In my chair I read my Bible, I pray through my prayer journal, I read the book I am on now, I work at memorizing Philippians, I write my blog, I think about and write on the syllabus for my new seminar that I am going to teach this January, I work on writing new ministry goals, I read and refine my Leadership Class material, and I write in my journal as I reflect about myself and what I need to work on most in my life in the way of character flaws. I am always taken back by the marked increase in my clarity of thinking, my creative thinking, and my reflective thinking while up here. It seems so much more focused, energized, and undistracted here.
We are camped at 8,000 feet so I am still having some altitude issues, Patty way more than me. The wind is usually blowing some which makes a unique sound through the quaking aspens, and the view from our camp of sage brush and quaking aspen groves is beautiful. We bought this new blow up queen size air mattress and put a 4 inch thick piece of memory foam on top of that, and I have been sleeping like a baby, so nice. Our routine is pretty simple, sleep, eat, hunt, fish, eat, sit in my chair, eat some more, fish some more, take a nap, eat some more, fish some more, hunt, sit in my chair, sleep. I am not doing anything on schedule, or because I am supposed to do it, but we do sleep mostly at night, but beyond that, whatever I want to do, whenever I want to do it. That is just part of my system of getting ready to go full steam ahead when I get home with goals, to do lists, and constant checking schedule and pace.
This is Blitzen Gorge. I hunt on the top on the left side of the picture.
A hunter fell today in this canyon and was killed.
