OUTDOOR TRUTHS

The cameras don’t lie. Their all-seeing eye is there when I can’t be. I know every varmint that comes across my field. There were raccoons, bobcats, turkeys, skunks, coyotes, and even a bear. What’s been absent are the deer. I mean, there have been a couple of spikes and a couple of doe, but nothing like every other year. In fact, I can’t remember another time like this in the twenty years I’ve been hunting this property. I know disease comes and goes among every herd. And I’ve been listening to other hunters who are complaining about the same thing in other states. I’m just not sure. But the only explanation I can come up with is that disease has hit my deer. Most likely EHD, or its close cousin, Blue Tongue. Both are caused by midges that attach to deer and are carrying the disease. I’m not an expert on the exacts but I’ve been around long enough to see this in different areas. Again, I have no other explanation. What’s the answer? For the deer, they will survive and grow. For me, I will too. I will just have to move and find a place where the deer have not been affected. I am forced to do that.

As I have thought about this during the last few weeks, my mind has gone to moving and changing. Most of the time these are not popular with us. Sometimes it seems that just as we get settled, and just as we sink into some sort of normalcy, something happens that causes us to become unsettled and looking for a new place. We are forced out of our comfort zone and into our next community. I’m also reminded that sometimes God is the instigator of these changes. He does it by making our surroundings so uncomfortable and so unproductive that we have no choice but to move. The good news is the place He is moving us to is always a better place. It will always be a place with peace and provision. So, if you’re present place is not producing, maybe it’s God just getting you prepared for a better harvest.

Gary Miller

gary@outdoortruths.org

Gary Miller has written Outdoor Truths articles for 21 years.

He has also written five books which include compilations of his articles and a father/son devotional. He also speaks at wild-game dinners and men’s events for churches and associations. Stay updated on Outdoor Truths each week by subscribing at Outdoortruths.org