“The Road Warriors”

Posted on December 3, 2011 by randybirdsong

Well, as you all may are may not know, the rigors of doing outdoor TV can effect many things in a man’s life. Now don’t get me wrong we are blessed to be able to hunt all over the country and have the opportunity to chase some really good deer.

But like Randy mentioned in His blog, there is nothing like coming home, especially when you need meat for the freezer. Now we never waste any meat wherever we go, there are times that we donate our meat to local charities, churches, and the ranchers/ outfitters we hunt with.

But when we return home to hunt familiar stomping grounds, that’s the time you feel like you can easily find those, acorn chomping, mud hole stompin, nostril blowing, nanny’s that we score based on the number of white packs in the freezer, IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN.!

 

So I left Illinois and Kansas this year with 2 tag sandwiches in my fanny pack but, I am going back to Illinois on Dec the 9^th  to try and redeem myself at Buck Creek Farms.

Now to say that I have had a boomer year, well that would be a bold face lie. Between work and just a little rough luck in the deer killing dept, the Ruiz’ 3 deep freezers are empty of venison.

 

This is why a Homecoming makes you walk around with somewhat of an attitude when it comes to deer killing. So, here we go. I have rifle in hand, not my Mission bow, but don’t get me wrong I love my Mission, but truly the mission I was on, the rifle was the right tool for this task……………….

 

It’s Nov the 30^th and my buddy Paul McLemore invites me, ok I invited myself, to hunt with him on one of his places for that afternoon. He assured me that he had a spot that the does were coming to like folks in the drive through at a Chic-Fil-A, he also said there is 2 good bucks as well. I assured him that if both those bucks were standing in the food plot with one doe, the doe gets a ride home in truck. I was not there to hunt bucks; I was there strictly for some U.S.D.A. Grade “A” Nanny meat.

 

Now I had been praying all weekend long while at work that the weather and the Lord would give me the chance to go hunting on my 2 days off to whack and stack for the freezer, in a legal way might I add.

 

So off we go, now I have never hunted this property so I was solely at the mercy of Paul as to where to hunt. I told him put me where I can see a long way, and stretch a bullet as long as possible if need be, he said I have just the spot.

 

Paul drops me off and tells me what direction to head and where the stand would be. Now Paul is a killa and I had my full trusts that with rifle in hand I was going to be on some pipeline are large food plot that was LOADED with choice venison on the hoof.

I followed his directions to the climber on the tree, shimmied up the sweet gum tree about 20 feet are so, turned around to be sure my harness was hooked good, sat down and realized right then and there that I should have brought my bow. I could only see 40 yards in either direction. I was in the biggest saw briar thicket you could ever imagine, and I’m holding a 30TC in my hand. Not good.

So NOW I’m waiting on the text that would say Just joking, walk to the North 200 yards and the food plot will be right there. But no text ever came.

 

 

 

At 4:20 I thought I saw, ok, I thought I heard something walking, yep there it is, Mr. Gray Squirrel. By 5:30 I had seen 1 squirrel and wood duck. How am I supposed to get meat in the freezer to feed my family with a squirrel and 1 duck, I asked the Lord. But little did I know God had this all worked out.

 

I climbed down, met up with Paul, and assured him that the joke was very funny, you perched me in a thicket with the wrong wind knowing that it would take a skidder to clear a path just for a deer to walk through. He responded to that with a strong southern smile and said this, you not like that area?

My response was, yea if I’m trying to kill the bull of the woods, but I came for some meat brother. We talked about going the next day and i made him promise that a food plot was what I was looking for, the one that the does are eating to the dirt.

My long 55 min ride home was filled with thoughts of how I was going to explain to my wife, daughter and 3 year old Shi-Tzu Gabbie that we would all be eating chicken from that Chic-Fil-A again.

 

Now here is where God intervenes and reminds me what it means to be thankful and humble, and how He was going to answer my prayers for venison in the freezer.

 

I had to take a different route to our home due to construction on a small bridge that wa out on our main hwy. This would take me past a new school that had been recently built at the northern parts of our county. I had passed there earlier in the day and what I saw there at 6:45pm was not there earlier at around 2:40pm. There was a deer lying in the median of the highway. There were no vehicles in sight so I turned around to see what the deer was, because you never know when it might be old sad daddy.

 

Now it wasn’t a booner but a decent 8 point, and to top it off he still had his rack.

I stood there for just a minute to see if the buck was breathing are alive, but after about 30 sec I saw no signs of life, so I reached down expecting this deer to be stiff as a 2×6, and to my surprise he was still warm, as a matter a fact he was hot and limber. I looked around to see if anyone was pulled over but saw no one. I rolled the deer over expecting the whole side to be smashed from a vehicle collision, but other than a broken lower right leg, this buck was fine.

 

So being from south Louisiana and growing up eating anything that wouldn’t eat us first, I loaded this dude up in my truck and headed home. I get home and advise Belinda, (my wife) whom I had spoke with by cell phone earlier on the way home that I had not killed nor seen anything, and that she should get dressed to head to Chic-Fil-A that we now had a deer in the truck to skin, and that she needs to get the grill ready for back straps. Now I’m not one to lie to my wife, but she looked at me like I owed her money and said this, so what did you do pick up one on the way here? And my response to that, as I was walking out the door with knives in hand was YEP. So 2 hours and 20lbs of hamburger and 2 back straps later I had just what I had asked for, it just happen a little different than I expected.

 

So the moral of this story is written in:

James 4:2   You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.

 

I was halfway through skinning this deer when this verse of scripture hit me. I wanted a deer, but was I being honest with myself and others as to really wanting the meat as bad as it seemed. Well honestly, I did want and need the meat, but I too wanted to kill it myself. I had only killed 2 all season and both were in Montana and both were given to Mr. Bud Williams at Big Sky Outfitters. I had been several times since but with no luck.

 

Now like I said earlier I had asked the Lord for some deer meat, and in His time and His way he gave it to me.

You see I desired the meat, but I wanted to kill it, it’s the manly thing to do right?  Wrong, what God taught me right there was how and when we humble ourselves to His ways and trust Him, He will provide, In His time.  Ask and you shall receive, but before you ask, check your intentions then watch God work.

 1 Peter 5:5 “God opposes those who are proud. But he gives grace to the humble” 

 

Ain’t nuttin wrong with a little Road Kill.

Till next time, be blessed,

Troy Ruiz

 

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