Ep. 26 - The Unforgettable Hunt: Turkey Tales and Life Lessons

We share our most memorable turkey hunting experiences and reflect on how these adventures connect to life's deeper lessons about patience, perseverance, and finding meaning in suffering.

• Wes's first successful turkey hunt resulting in a double within 20 minutes
• Comparing the excitement of turkey hunting to the thrill of elk hunting
• Brandon's intense encounter with three gobblers that tested his patience and strategy 
• A high-stakes creek-crossing adventure to retrieve a turkey in neck-deep water
• The satisfaction of introducing children and newcomers to their first turkey hunting experiences
• Exploring Elizabeth Elliott's wisdom on suffering from her book "Suffering is Never for Nothing"
• How recognizing, accepting, and offering our suffering as a sacrifice can transform our perspective
• The connection between love and suffering, and why avoiding pain means avoiding meaningful relationships

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Transcript

Morning Prayer and Turkey Hunting Stories

Speaker 1 1:19

You can't just say it. That was an indirect way of saying push the button.

Speaker 3 1:29

Thoughts aren't thinking Thoughts aren't thinking it's not even that early anymore. Yeah, still thinking about that truck.

Speaker 1 1:36

Yeah, I almost got ran over, whew.

Speaker 3 1:38

That was something right there. That was something. We won't talk about it. It's okay, randy, you want to pray us in?

Speaker 2 1:45

Yeah, let's do it, lord. Thank you so much for this morning, lord, that we can wake up. Lord, we see your faithfulness even in the sunrise, lord, just how good you are to us, lord, that we don't go to bed wondering if the sun will come up. Lord, that you're so faithful, we even know exactly what time that's going to happen. And so, Lord, thank you for your faithfulness today. Thank you for your love for us today. Lord, give us opportunity to share that love with others and to share the gospel, the good news, lord, the best news that human ears have ever heard, lord, and give people open hearts to receive it. I pray, lord, that this podcast will be able to touch somebody's life, that, lord, you would use it to bring you glory. We love you in Jesus' name, amen, amen. Amen.

Speaker 3 2:31

Yeah, we had an exciting morning, but it's good man, we've already been up, had steak and potatoes this morning, Shoot yeah, it's good stuff right there.

Speaker 2 2:42

I appreciate y'all inviting me and bringing me some.

Speaker 3 2:45

Yeah, I mean 7 o'clock is early enough. You know 7 o'clock is early enough. Yeah, that was our. I tried a new cut of steak this morning, just tried it out. It's like a, not a flank steak, it was like a.

Speaker 1 2:59

You said it was a chuck roast.

Speaker 3 3:01

Well, it wasn't a roast, it was like an upper chuck something.

Speaker 2 3:05

Up chuck? I don't know. Up chuck, that doesn't sound that good. I'm glad y'all didn't bring me any up chuck.

Speaker 3 3:12

That was good. I cooked it two different ways. I cooked it all the same way. I cooked it on the flat top, but I pounded two steaks out and then I just left two steaks. I pounded two steaks out and then I just left two steaks. I just cut two steaks and cooked them. They were both good. I mean I enjoyed both of them. The steaks that I pounded out, they cooked way faster, yeah, so they were much more done than I would prefer a steak, yeah, yeah, but it was still good. I mean it was tender.

Speaker 1 3:39

Yeah, it was tender Since it was pounded. I liked that better for a breakfast food. It was delicious. For a dinner food. I could see liking the other one better, but for breakfast I liked that.

Speaker 3 3:50

The other one was cooked like perfect.

Speaker 2 3:54

How do you guys say it? It was a little stringy, though.

Speaker 3 3:57

Yeah, it's not a cut of meat that you would normally just cook like a steak. For a reason it. Yeah, it's a cut of meat that you would normally, you know, hot rug. Yeah, yeah, like slow cook all day long, but it's, you know, it's cheap. Yeah, I want to try something you know you get some get some more. Get some more beef in the diet there. It's good for you. Yeah, make your babies come out naked dr says it's not that's hey, that's my favorite saying.

Speaker 3 4:25

I tell these boys all the time I work with all these young men, I tell them all the time, boys, you better watch what you're eating. Some of this stuff that you're eating, your babies ain't going to come out naked.

Speaker 1 4:35

I feel like it's easier to say consuming, maybe not eating, drinking.

Speaker 3 4:42

Jocko Go and Liquid Death.

Speaker 1 4:46

Liquid Death is water.

Speaker 3 4:48

Well, just drink water then.

Speaker 1 4:49

But it's flavored water with lime juice.

Speaker 2 4:51

But why would they call it Liquid Death? Marketing, their marketing is insane, but would not Liquid Death be a negative marketing thing?

Speaker 3 4:59

It's enough to keep me away from it.

Speaker 1 5:01

They are a multi-million dollar.

Speaker 2 5:04

They had a super bowl commercial well, but here's the thing I guarantee you they're made. Their main marketing is to young men. Yes, because your frontal lobe has not developed yet no and so you don't have the logic to not drink something called liquid death.

Speaker 3 5:26

It's cool, that's like Monster. I don't drink that crap.

Speaker 1 5:32

You used to.

Speaker 3 5:33

It'll kill you.

Speaker 1 5:34

You bought a flat every week.

Speaker 2 5:36

A flat. It'll kill you. It was bad.

Speaker 3 5:40

It got bad. There's only six in a flat, though I mean it's not like there was and a flat though, oh, okay. I mean, it's not like there was 24 or something like that, but yeah, still way too much, way too much.

Speaker 1 5:50

They'd be gone by Tuesday. He'd be like where's my monsters?

Speaker 2 5:53

Yep, he'd be very shaken, oh man.

Speaker 1 5:57

I got a buddy like that. We went to a summer camp. I think he averaged four monsters a day he's still alive.

Speaker 3 6:05

That's crazy.

Speaker 1 6:05

He's still alive yeah, it's crazy, that's good glad he's alive. That's good, that was bad that was good, that was not good. And I was. I was his roommate. How would you like to be? Leading that camp and he's how would you like to be his roommate?

Speaker 2 6:23

Yeah.

Speaker 1 6:25

It was a very large camp. I think at the end of the week they said there was like 900 students or something.

Speaker 3 6:30

Yeah, shoot, I'm about it. I love kids with energy.

Speaker 2 6:41

I'd rather be trying to figure out how to contain their energy versus trying to light a fire under their butt. It just depends on what time it is. Yeah, I guess. If it's early midday I'm cool with that, but by 9 o'clock at night I'm like alright, you gotta settle down.

Speaker 3 6:51

Listen, bedtime's 8.30. What you talking about? Oh, man, so I got a late night coming up tomorrow, yeah, tomorrow. So by the time y'all hear this podcast, my daughter is going to be somewhere in Guatemala. Oh, wow, that's cool. Yeah, she's going to be on a mission trip down there in Guatemala for her spring break and yeah, so we're super excited about that. I'm very excited about it. Mama is extremely nervous about it.

Speaker 1 7:20

Yeah, I get that it's Allie's first time out of the country. Yeah, I get that.

Speaker 3 7:23

It's Allie's first time out of the country. Yeah, yeah. So y'all be praying for my daughter, Miss Allie. She's excited. I think it's going to be good.

Speaker 1 7:34

Planes are scary too.

Speaker 3 7:37

Planes are. I mean, it's cool man, they're just buses in the sky.

Speaker 1 7:40

Hey Spirit's the only brand who has not had a crash yet. Their doors come off. Their oxygen tanks come down most of the time, but they haven't had a crash.

Speaker 3 7:50

Yeah, well, she's not flying Spirit, so that's helpful. Oh man, All right, let's talk turkey. This morning, dub, you got a story to tell us.

Speaker 1 8:01

It's your story too.

Speaker 3 8:03

We're going to get it from your angle.

Speaker 1 8:06

You want the whole. Thing.

Speaker 3 8:07

Let's hear it.

Speaker 1 8:07

April 1st I wake up.

Speaker 3 8:09

Oh, come on, Not that detailed 6.22 am here, we go, sorry, everybody.

Speaker 1 8:18

Me and Dad we went hunting on April Fool's Day last year. I've never killed a turkey before at this point. So we walk out of the front porch, walk about 50 yards down the road, stop, listen, hear a gobble Like shoot. Walk about probably another 75 yards.

Speaker 3 8:42

I called one time.

Speaker 1 8:43

Yeah, walked about Probably another 75 yards. I called one time. Yeah, call again. Gobbles, what do you think? There were like two or three.

Speaker 3 8:51

Yeah, we heard three birds yeah.

Speaker 1 8:53

Probably 100 yards from us.

Speaker 3 8:55

Two of them, yeah, two of them were within 100 yards, one of them was A couple hundred yards.

Speaker 1 9:00

Yeah.

Speaker 3 9:01

Further down in the creek.

Speaker 1 9:02

Dad tells me Go sit on that tree and just get ready. He put the decoys out. He sat kind of like to my left but kind of behind me what would that be? I'm not good at that, I don't know.

Speaker 3 9:16

Come on what would that be think of a clock eight something like that yeah, ish, yeah, yeah um.

Speaker 1 9:26

You interrupted my story. I'm sorry, I blanked hold up you're sitting down. Oh, you can take a swig anyway, sit down hear him gobbling and dad say go ahead and take your safety off. I'm like alright.

Speaker 3 9:47

I'm sitting behind you at this point, before I tell you to turn your safety off. Not in front.

Speaker 2 9:53

No, no, had his barrel propped on your shoulder Right.

Speaker 3 9:57

I have done that before Not with him, but I've done that before.

Speaker 4 10:03

Oh man the stupid things.

Speaker 1 10:05

And then At the end of this fire break. So we set up about 50 yards from the end of the fire break and then we see two heads pop up Like shoot, and they just come on a beeline.

Speaker 3 10:20

I purred like one time as soon as I saw them, him, I perred one time right, and then I don't remember hearing that I was like yeah, that's all I heard. You couldn't hear it over your heart rate, that's, you're like robert. Whenever he was talking, he said that he opened his mouth and he'd hear his heart, dude that that was intense. I've never, I gotta say I've been in some really intense situations before. Um, I've never opened my mouth and heard my heart beat.

Speaker 2 10:44

I don't think my heart can beat that hard. I don't know. He's in better shape than I am for sure.

Speaker 1 10:51

Anyway they come. When I beeline to our decoys, spinning and drumming Every ten steps, they'd stop and puff up.

Speaker 3 10:58

Well, one of them. Every other step he was going back and strut.

Speaker 1 11:03

Yeah, they come up to the decoys probably 10 yards.

Speaker 3 11:10

The decoys were about yeah, about seven yards. Yeah, they were like super close.

Speaker 1 11:14

I shot one as soon as I shot. Dad didn't even have his gun on his shoulder yet. I don't think.

Speaker 3 11:20

No, I didn't.

Speaker 1 11:21

Just pow got both birds.

Speaker 3 11:23

Yeah, I didn't even aim. That's how close they were Is it on our Instagram, the pictures yeah, probably yeah.

West's First Turkey Hunt Double-Up

Speaker 1 11:29

Go back to April 1st. We can repost it, okay.

Speaker 3 11:32

Yeah, whenever we post about the podcast, we'll post that up there.

Speaker 1 11:37

Yeah, that was fun.

Speaker 3 11:38

First turkey ever double up dude it was like it was like it was like the easiest hunt I've ever been on. Yeah, it was like a 20 minute hunt yeah, I told him I said I said west, this may never, ever happen again.

Speaker 1 11:48

Y'all are back yeah, my mom texted dad. Yeah, for sure, my mom texted dad. And what'd she say?

Speaker 3 11:54

she said y'all get one. I said nope. She was like oh man. I said no, we got two. That's how close the shots were, like she didn't even realize there were.

Speaker 3 12:03

She didn't even realize there were two shots yeah, we were like we were probably 125 yards from the house, no way man 75 really yeah, at best pretty close yeah, we were right there I mean so where she gets up in the morning, um, you know she'll read her, read her bible and stuff. Where she sits is um right next to a window in our, in our living room, and um, I mean, yeah, we were 75, 80 yards from that window there was. There was no chance she wasn't hearing those shots. No, but yeah, I mean that's, that's the way his first turkey hunt went.

Speaker 1 12:39

That's awesome, our first successful turkey hunt yeah, I've been on a couple, but I've never even heard a bird.

Speaker 3 12:45

Yeah, yeah, so a huge change from, like, his first turkey hunts yeah you know, like when, when, when he was little, when he was a little guy couldn't even carry the gun. Oh yeah, I mean he wouldn't have a gun, you know, because probably the first time I ever took him turkey hunting he was probably oh, probably like seven years old or something like that, you know.

Speaker 1 13:08

So I'm like we were talking about this morning. I was a small kid till I was like nine or eight. Yeah, I was small, yeah like really little yeah, I mean so like didn't even break a hundred pounds.

Speaker 3 13:19

So when, when, when was you know? When he was born he was a little baby or whatever. But then he was three years old and he was still wearing like a three-month-old or six-month-old swimming suit. That's how small he was and he was ripped, dude. I mean like I'd put him on my shoulders and he would lay down my back. You know, I'm sitting here holding his legs, he would lay down flat on my back and then he could just sit right back up.

Speaker 1 13:48

I think I could do that now, but I think my base is kind of gone away a little bit.

Speaker 3 13:54

First off, I could still hold you. Second, there's no way in— On your shoulders.

Speaker 2 13:58

Oh yeah, but there's no way— we're definitely doing this before I leave today?

Speaker 3 14:01

Absolutely yeah, but there's no way doing this before I leave. There's no way in the world you could do that there's absolutely, there's no way man, I mean, you would do it so effortlessly and I used to tell you you don't remember this, I'd be like don't ever let this slip. Yeah, you've always got to be able to do this yeah, I don't remember that yeah, yeah, you, yeah it's.

Speaker 3 14:19

You don't remember the important stuff, but anyway, um, whatever, but yeah. So when he was little I'd take him hunting. In fact, wes found the little blind that I used to use the other day, it's just you know, like almost, it wasn't like it's probably about that tall it's about 18 inches tall. It's just got like 4 or 5 stakes you just stake it in the ground, and I would just do that. And he's, you know when he'd sit down, he couldn't even see over it.

Speaker 3 14:46

Yeah right, you know which means, okay, good, nothing can see him, but I mean we'd go and we never. We were never successful with him.

Speaker 1 14:57

I don't even know if I heard a bird.

Speaker 3 14:58

Being little, we heard birds sometimes, but yeah, you didn't. I don't think you knew what to listen for for the longest time. So but yeah, that was really cool to get him out there and yeah and uh, get him on a bird and everything I think I love turkey hunting probably I gotta be honest probably more than deer hunting.

Speaker 1 15:22

Yeah, you're insane.

Speaker 3 15:27

I don't love it more than duck hunting. It's really really close oh my gosh, whatever it's really close. But I mean, I think the appealing part of turkey hunting is that you get to call and that thing responds.

Speaker 2 15:46

Yeah, it's awesome when a gobbler is just hammering, and there's not much like that, right. When he's just blowing up the woods. That's an exciting thing, there's very little like that to me, right.

Speaker 1 16:03

My favorite sound in the woods is a mega meat going through the lungs of a deer.

Speaker 2 16:09

I like that sound too.

Speaker 1 16:12

Or a broadhead hitting a deer's head. That's a nice sound too. It's a nice sound. It sounds like a 2x4 breaking in half. That's how I describe it. Wow, half.

Speaker 3 16:25

I can't. That's how I describe it. Why? Why are you the way you are? That's why you drink liquid death that is a result of liquid death right there. Yep there it is. It's almost empty, almost empty. Yeah, you'll be jacked in a minute here. Oh nice cross-eyed, but yeah, I mean. So I've had. I've had several people tell me never go elk hunting, yeah like, if you love turkey hunting, you're, you're, you're gonna. I mean, it's like you'll sell everything and move somewhere where elk live?

Speaker 2 17:03

I would, yeah, and my wife would never do it, but it's all our families here. But I would definitely move out west Like, just like I don't know Like we went to Kansas. This is not out west, but we went to Kansas duck hunting a couple of times with a friend of mine.

Speaker 1 17:25

Midwest.

Speaker 2 17:26

Yes, the Midwest. Even we looked at it and I might be wrong on this, but we looked it up and I believe Kansas, the state of Kansas, has a population that is less by two or three times than atlanta.

Speaker 2 17:46

Oh yeah, goodness oh yeah like and I'm like this is where I need to live yeah, or like grass, like when we went elk hunting in southwest uh colorado, a little town of two or three thousand people and I'm like man, there's so much you can hunt out here, you know, and of course we got to have a successful elk hunt right.

Speaker 2 18:09

They killed that elk, um, and it is, it's really like. It's like turkey hunting with a 800 pound, thousand pound, whatever animal. That's just I mean, he's just, I mean when you know you animal, that's just, I mean, he's just, I mean when you know you've got a big bull out there and he's bugling, but he's also just annihilating the limbs off of a tree. That is your heart. You're talking about hearing your heartbeat. That is pretty incredible.

Speaker 1 18:38

I've never heard an elk bugle like in person, but I really want to because it is such a beautiful sound, yeah, like early in the morning where you can see their breath come out their mouth man, it's uh, it was an incredible experience if, if we could, I'd go every year.

Speaker 2 18:55

Um, it's just, it's pretty amazing. It's gotten to be pretty doggone expensive.

Speaker 3 19:00

That's why I said, if I could go yeah, yeah, it's gotten to be, oh man yeah, that was a special trip.

Speaker 2 19:06

Did y'all have a guy, oldest son? Yeah, we had a guy. In fact, he told me he'd come on the podcast, um, and so I hope to get him sometime, but his name was roman. This dude was awesome. Man like he. Uh, he not only guides elk hunts, but he also guides mountain lion hunts with dogs.

Speaker 3 19:23

Oh yeah.

Speaker 2 19:24

Oh wow, he and I hit it off because of just the dog aspect and the craziness of the stuff he does and just with the mountain lions he sent some videos of some that they've treed and killed this year and he took me over to his place and showed me his dogs while we were out there. But you know how some people you just know they're, they're like hunting wise, they're just like killers. Well, the first time I met him we were sitting in the lodge the first night before we'd ever even hunted, and troy meets was actually out there with us and um troy was, y'all got the right guide.

Speaker 2 20:04

And I was like, really, he's like, yeah, his name's Roman. And uh, so dude comes walking in full camo, face painted, and I'm like I like this guy.

Speaker 3 20:13

It comes Rambo.

Speaker 2 20:14

Yeah, he had been hunting trying to actually kill a cow just for meat on a water hole and just sitting in a ground blinds, while he had his face painted just to darken it in, right, um, but he was, he was awesome man.

Speaker 2 20:31

We were on bulls every day and we hunted the same four, really three after date, killed the one, but without spooking them and busting out that herd. Um, but it was just because he was, he was awesome. So that trip was incredible and it is. It's like we'd have two, three bugling at the same time and sometimes within 150 yards, all three of them just bugling and of course, it was archery hunt. So having to get them in close and it was it was something that I for sure will never forget.

Speaker 2 21:07

So, um, but yeah, this is so much like Turkey hunting in a way, um, but yeah, so I think I can move out there. Um, don't think it's going to happen, but, uh, I have. I have considered um going to happen, but I have considered going out there and trying to track some in September when their rut's happening, with all the archery stuff, they need tracking dogs quite a bit, and so I thought about going out and just taking maybe Remo and Crook the blackmouth. I thought about going out and just taking maybe Remo and Crook the black mouth and um, cause, yeah, I mean for major state Remo, I don't want, won't want Crook trying to catch an elk.

Speaker 1 21:53

I don't think that would end well.

Comparing Turkey Hunting to Elk Hunting

Speaker 2 21:56

So I don't think that would end well, but being able to go out and do something like that, I think would be pretty awesome too. Maybe spend a couple of weeks during their rut just going from ranch to ranch trying to help and do that kind of thing would be a pretty cool thing.

Speaker 1 22:11

You said dog hunting for mountain lions. It reminded me of something I'm signed up for the media emails.

Speaker 2 22:16

Yeah.

Speaker 1 22:17

I got an email the other day. In Virginia there was a guy running dogs. He shot a black bear. It fell out the tree and killed him.

Speaker 3 22:26

Oh my gosh killed, the guy crushed or the dog no guy oh man that's how good, how nuts yeah, that is, that's crazy like.

Speaker 1 22:36

could you imagine, though, you're like, you shoot a bear and it's just like oh well, I mean back up.

Speaker 2 22:45

Yeah, golly Jeez man, that's awful.

Speaker 3 22:48

It is terrible.

Speaker 2 22:50

That's like to get to say like Closed casket funeral.

Speaker 1 22:55

I shouldn't have said that.

Speaker 3 22:56

Too soon.

Speaker 2 22:59

Yeah, that's rough man Like. Yeah, you hear about people getting killed by bears, but not usually when they're falling out of trees on someone. I guess that bear was like if I'm going, you're going with me, I'm taking somebody with me. I'm not going. Yeah, that sucks.

Speaker 3 23:22

Back to turkey hunting. Something I thought about man alright easy on the Jocko, go over there it's done good grief. I mean we all gotta go. That's like a certainty.

Speaker 1 23:38

I'd rather die from a falling black bear than choke on like some mac and cheese or something, or drown. At least he went out doing something he liked.

Speaker 3 23:43

He'd rather die from a falling black bear than choke on like some mac and cheese or something, or drown, or drown, or you know.

Speaker 2 23:46

At least he went out doing something he liked.

Speaker 3 23:48

Yeah, I'd love to go out doing something cool.

Speaker 2 23:51

Yeah.

Speaker 3 23:51

You know? I mean I've seen friends suffer from cancer and stuff like that Boy. I don't want that.

Speaker 4 24:01

Yeah.

Speaker 3 24:01

I don't want that for my family. I don't want that. Yeah, I don't want that for my family. I don't want that, you know, for anybody around me yeah, you know and it's like a really good friend of mine had brain cancer. That was horrible. Yeah, it's bad. It was man, it was gail, oh yeah. So I'll never get brain cancer because it's the smart ones that get that I'll die from, like foot cancer or something Toenail fungus.

Speaker 1 24:27

Toenail fungus Something stupid. Toenail fungus.

Speaker 3 24:33

We just couldn't stop it, golly.

Speaker 1 24:35

Spread to his hands.

Speaker 3 24:37

But it won't be diabetes. I promise you that that ain't happening. Yeah, I am going to outrun diabetes. Anybody ask me why I'm running. What's chasing me? Diabetes? A black bear falling out of a tree? Yeah, oh my gosh.

Speaker 3 24:54

All right. So you talk about a turkey just rattling the woods? Yeah, so two years ago I've been on a quest to get a turkey with a bow, and not last year but season before last. So two years ago I've been on a quest to get a turkey with a bow, and not last year but season before last. So two years ago now, I got on three birds I thought it was two, turned out to be three.

Speaker 3 25:16

One of them would gobble until he ran out of breath. I mean just constantly. I mean until that last go gobble. It was like he was, you know, just couldn't, couldn't even get anything else out, and they were in some planted pines and the reason, the way I found them was, a group of geese came over like, flew right over their head and they all went nuts, yeah and uh. So I, you know, I ran over there to where I heard them and I kind of got set up in some privet, like right across from where I thought they were. I just kind of got down on the ground and I'd, you know, hit a little cluck or something and they'd all fire off yeah you know, and, like I said, I thought it was, I thought it was two and it turned out to be three.

Speaker 3 26:04

Um, and then that one bird man. He just kept gobbling so hard and it probably took. I was probably 70 yards from him when I you know where I felt like, okay, I gotta stop right here because I've got this. You know, this open area like this meadow out here, I can't cross that. I've got to stay in this thick stuff because if I walk out of this they're definitely going to see me. So I just stopped right there and I did throw a little breeder hen out, which doesn't take a stake or anything like that, and somehow I don't know how, but I actually threw it about two or three yards and it set up perfectly. Yeah, it just landed upright. I was like all right, perfect.

Speaker 3 26:46

That is called skill Got the skill. Yeah, I'd never do it again, but it worked. So I'm just sitting there in this little privet hedge and I'd call a little bit and they would gobble, and it's like they were just walking back and forth trying to see this hen, you know, which obviously was me, and um, so they finally started closing the distance and I saw them walk into that grass and they just stood there, yeah, and I'm sitting here with a bow. So when they walk into that grass they're probably, I don't know 45 or 50 yards.

Speaker 3 27:28

Yeah, didn't have a rangefinder oh god perfect, nice, but they were probably 45 or 50 yards and, um, so I would, you know, I would like purr real soft and that same. I finally figured out which bird it was, because I could. I could see him at this point, man, he would gobble until there was nothing left. Yeah, so he was. He was a young bird. He wasn't, wasn't a mature bird, but the one next to him, you know, was, I mean, he was visibly bigger. And so they, they finally started closing the gap.

Speaker 3 28:01

Well, so I'm, I'm in, I'm, I say, a privet, hedge, don't think, you know, athens, think, like wild, crazy privet, some of it's, you know, four feet tall, some of it's probably 12 feet tall, right, just this real thick stuff. And, um, so I'm sitting there, you know, playing chess with these birds, trying to get them to come across to me. They finally get at about 30 yards or so, which I'm comfortable with taking a shot. But where they came, I was like I felt like I was too deep in the privet to take a shot. Looking back on it, I should have done it. I mean, if you've got to be in cover, if you've got to be taking a shot in cover, you'd much prefer for you to start out in the cover and whatever you're aiming out, to be out in the open, versus whatever you're aiming at being in the cover and you shooting into it. Looking back on it, I should have taken the shot.

Speaker 3 29:05

I was sitting there holding my bow at this point I was using a mouth call. So I'm sitting there holding my bow, I've got my release on my bow and everything, and all of a sudden, this other bird that I had I had no idea it was there, he had walked down. So I'm on an old fence row, he had walked down the fence row and he was probably 15 yards from me and, man, he threw down a gobble and I just about came out of my skin. Yeah, because I had no idea he was there. Yeah, well, he was the mature bird. Okay, all right. So those two birds that were out in front of me. So at this point that's probably why I didn't take the shot. At that point, you know realistically, because I knew, okay, this guy just came to the party, or if he's been here the whole time and he's just now gobbling, this is the one yeah you know.

Speaker 3 29:50

So I'm like, okay, I'm not shooting these other birds. So they, they kind of doubled back two or three yards and then they walked off. Um, they walked off to the west from where I was sitting and that other bird that had walked down the fence row, he walked kind of a circle back around to where those two birds were and he stood there for probably for what felt like five minutes it was probably about 30 seconds or so had no idea I was there. I mean, he saw that hen because he walked straight down that fence road. He saw her the whole time. Um, but, and that's why he gobbled when he got so close, I guess, to try to make her move or something or look at him. And then when she didn't, he's like well, the heck with you.

Speaker 1 30:37

That's right, you know, but if I make a girl who appreciates me, yeah, for real for real.

Speaker 3 30:43

But, man, I tell you that was. I've been on a lot of turkey hunts. Um, that was probably one of the most memorable and, uh, coolest hunts that I've been on, just because of the way that bird gobbled, the way that one mature bird man, he just he never made a sound. He well, I'll take that back. He may have gobbled whenever they were up in the pine trees and I just didn't realize it. It only sounded like two birds to me, um, but I may have convinced myself of that whenever I saw those two birds initially, potentially.

Speaker 3 31:19

Yeah, I mean, that's something that happens yeah, but I mean so he could have been gobbling when they were up in there.

Speaker 4 31:24

But yeah, I still I think back about that hunt.

Speaker 3 31:30

I should have taken that shot. I mean, it was like I said, it was like between 30 and 35 yards. Man, that was a layup yeah. I could have done that easy and, with the arrow set up, I was shooting and I may have gotten hung up in the bird, which would have been preferred. Yeah, I don't know, I had gone down to 60 pounds. I was shooting a pretty light arrow. It might have just zipped right through because I was shooting a fixed blade.

Speaker 1 32:03

Yeah, fixed blades will penetrate better on a bird, because you're cutting through feathers.

Speaker 3 32:08

But I've learned in talking with guys, that uh right I've talked with a lot of guys that do a lot of turkey hunting and they talk about um that.

Speaker 1 32:18

You want that arrow to get hung up in the bird, okay, um if you're shooting for the body now if you're shooting for the head doesn't really matter? Yeah, probably not getting hung up throw a four inch fixed blade on there.

Speaker 2 32:31

Like the turkey. What are they called Guillotine?

Speaker 3 32:36

Magnus yeah the Magnus Guillotine.

Speaker 1 32:39

I don't even know what it is Broadhead about that big.

Speaker 3 32:42

It's three inches.

Speaker 1 32:43

They make a four inch, though it's giant, it's crazy. You gotta have veins. I think most people do a four-fletch with feathers.

Speaker 3 32:55

We've built some for people. We have eight-inch feathers. That's crazy. We cut them down. We don't do a full eight-inch, but they're eight inches long and they're probably three and a half inches tall. Wow yeah.

Speaker 2 33:10

Just to be able to control the flight of that big of a broadhead.

Speaker 3 33:13

Yeah, so we've built a lot of turkey arrows and that's kind of our base. That's what we start with.

Brandon's Close Encounter Turkey Hunt

Speaker 1 33:19

If you're shooting a big broadhead. A big broadhead If you're aiming for the body pick in yeah, just use your regular arrow Dead meat or a field tip, probably don't shoot a field tip. Field tip probably don't shoot a field tip.

Speaker 3 33:29

I mean, you could don't shoot a field tip. Don't do that.

Speaker 1 33:32

I never killed a target on my bus. I don't really know don't shoot a field tip.

Speaker 3 33:35

That would be cool, that was bad advice everybody don't shoot a field, tip you can?

Speaker 1 33:39

that was the just don't say I told you to yeah that was no, say Brandon told you listen here's, kill something.

Speaker 3 33:47

Kill it. Don't go out there to play with it. Don't go out there and make a bad shot, you know, just just kill it.

Speaker 1 33:54

Yeah, I mean, get it over with kind of what you did with ducks this year. What? I just played with them a little bit oh is that what happened all right, that was me last year, though my gun clicked more times than it went off.

Speaker 3 34:10

Yeah, that was frustrating.

Speaker 2 34:11

Yeah, the last two years, I think, I've duck hunted twice, and that was well. I duck hunted three times, but all three of those were in Kansas. So I'm not a huge wood duck guy, but I love deer and I love turkey hunting. Those are probably my two favorites.

Speaker 1 34:27

I had a thought. Real quick, Let me tell you about this Dad Yesterday.

Speaker 3 34:30

Everybody brace for impact.

Speaker 1 34:38

I was fishing. I thought I was fishing okay and I heard ducks get off the water. Yep, I was like, okay, cool, I look up, white body, kind of black tips on the wings, with kind of a brown head. What kind of duck is that?

Speaker 3 34:49

I don't know I mean, it could have been it. They squeal when they got up. Yeah, it was probably a hen wood duck, okay they'll trick you sometimes one of them looked like a pintail for a second.

Speaker 1 35:01

It wasn't a pintail, it kind of looked like one it did you can pretend I could. I was like I could be like man dad. I launched a boat. I saw 40 pintail Get off Bulls brigs, get off the water.

Speaker 2 35:15

Now, that's borderline. More on line, yep, that's more like a lie. I'm gonna tell you right now.

Speaker 3 35:20

I'd go to jail, I'm just gonna tell you man, that's one bird I have not gotten. Is a, is a, is a Bulls brig. So Well, is a bull sprig.

Speaker 1 35:33

Well, Brandon, you've heard a turkey hunt from me, turkey hunt from Dad, turkey hunt from you now.

Speaker 2 35:39

All right, so probably my favorite turkey hunt of all time, and I quit turkey hunting for a little while, just when my kids were young. It was just one of those things, it was just a season.

Speaker 1 35:50

I feel like every dad who's really into hunting, they'll kind of stop when their kids are young and then they'll get back into it when their kids can do it with them.

Speaker 2 35:57

Yeah, and that's what happened with me, my oldest got back into it. Just like, just like archery hunting with me, man, that like I got out of it, my oldest son got back into it and so I did too and and love it. But uh, so this was two years ago, had a really good season two years ago. Kill five I'm kidding, didn't kill five, but did kill tilt, kill two and um.

Speaker 2 36:20

So but one of them I had gone um to a place, had a creek running through it and there was a good bit of water in the creek at the time and so Dake had heard a turkey in this place, in this area, a day or two before, so he went there to hunt. I went to another place. I walked for like an hour and a half I didn't hear anything. Well, he texts me right off the bat. He's like I got one. He is gobbling like crazy. Well, he was messing with him and the turkey goes, comes towards him, then goes back towards the creek and so he tries to um and the turkey's kind of on a little island, so he tries to cross the creek. Well, he's walking across a log slips. He goes in like up to his chest. So it was one of those kind of cool mornings during turkey season. So he tried to hunt for a little bit longer and he's like I'm leaving he's like if you want to come, hunt this bird then that's fine.

Speaker 2 37:26

But I'm out, I'm freezing and so he left and so I just looked on Onyx and I'm like, if that bird was headed this direction, I'm going to go to the other side of the creek and maybe I can get in front of him. So I get there and on the other side of where I thought he would be going and I get out, I call Kind of ease, around the road through some planted pines. I don't see any turkeys, and call kind of ease, around the road through some planted pines. I don't see any turkeys, and call don't hear anything. So I walked about five. It was probably about four or 500 yards down to the Creek, but I was just wanting to make sure they hadn't worked all the way up to through those pines somewhere before I went walking down through there. So I walked to the edge of the Creek and at this point part of that Creek is probably only 30 yards from me and I just yell one time and this joker just hammers about 100, maybe 125 yards away and I'm like holy, you know, he's like it sounds like he's coming towards me as he gobbles. He's gobbling on his own at times, and so I just hit the ground.

Speaker 2 38:33

And I realized actually, because to get across one creek was one thing, there was a little island there, but then there was another creek that was the deep run of the creek that he was on the other side of, so between me and him, if he came to the edge of the creek where I could shoot him, it was probably going to be 70, 80 yards, and so I had to cross the first creek to get to the island. And then I knew like in that if I can get in that first creek, I can get over in the second one, at least on the edge I'll be close enough. If he comes anywhere near that other creek, I can, I can shoot him. And so you can picture like a fork in a creek with a little bit of ground which was still had a little bit of water in it over it but it wasn't deep, and then a really deep run of a creek. So I didn't call um, I kind of let him drift off from me a little bit and I crossed that first creek.

Speaker 2 39:37

Well, when I crossed it I called and he hammers and I can tell he's starting back towards me and so when that happened I'm I start like in waist steep water. At this point I'm moving from cypress tree to cypress tree, trying to keep a tree between me and him, and I look in front of me and there was a tree that probably went up to about my chest and forked and I was like, if I can get to that tree I'll lay my gun in the fork of that tree Like a little shooting stick. It really was.

Speaker 2 40:12

That's awesome, I'll lay, I'll lay my gun in the fork of that tree and if he'll come up anywhere close to the edge on the other side, then I can, I can nail him. So he's gobbling coming, I'm trying to slip through behind it, from tree to tree, and I finally get to that tree. I put my gun up there, call a couple of times, he's just. I mean, it was one of those, that's just. He was fired up, you know, just gobbling. So eventually he gets to the edge.

Speaker 2 40:43

But there was a downed tree and he is walking back and forth behind that downed tree, gobbling his head off, and he would not step out from behind that tree. And I'm sitting, I'm like starting to think I'm not going to get a shot at this turkey. And I wasn't, I wouldn't call a lot, but I just call enough. And and he, he finally stuck his head out from behind the limbs on that tree and I was able to shoot him and so but then now he's on the other side of this deep creek shoot, and I knew that there was water on the other side of him, so he's kind of on an island. So I took my vest off, um threw my phone on the dry ground that I had there, and I had to wait across to get him, and so the water was um literally up to about my neck, and so I took my gun with me, just in case. So I had my gun over my head.

Speaker 2 41:42

Yeah, I had my gun up over my head and I'm kind of bouncing on one foot going across there, and so I've got a video of of once I get back across the um, the creek. But I got it. Got over there. Uh, I get him, and now I gotta get back again, and so with a turkey and a gun and a gun, and so I've got. I'm holding him on my shoulder, which he you know, I don't care, he's getting wet he don't know it.

Speaker 2 42:10

and so I've got the, I've got the gun over my head and I finally get back over there and I took a video of it and I actually have it where I show where I started and then where I killed the turkey. But you know I'm soaking wet. Did you have rubber boots on? I had on hip waders.

Speaker 1 42:31

Oh, so they're just filled.

Speaker 2 42:32

Just, they're just filled up with water, so I took your legs way about 50 pounds more than they should and uh, you know and and I'm freezing, but but the cool thing about it and the two turkeys I killed that year were both really cool hunts. But one of the coolest things I've still got the call was I killed him with a call that dake made what yeah, so he was making turkey calls.

Speaker 2 42:55

I don't think he's done any this year, but he made turkey calls for a couple of years and I killed it with with his and I made some kind of cheesy video like I was, you know, some big time hunter advertising these dw dake williams turkey calls. I was like you gotta get you know something stupid, like a mouth call or, yeah, mouth call. Oh, that's really cool. And so I big time hunter advertising these DW Dake Williams turkey calls. I was like you gotta get you know something stupid.

Speaker 1 43:13

Like a mouth call or mouth call. Oh, that's really cool, and so I killed both of those turkeys yeah With with mouth calls that he made.

Speaker 4 43:21

And um.

Speaker 2 43:22

So that that was probably my favorite one, because like wading through that water like waist deep, waist deep, you know, and being able to get up behind that tree and watching that turkey work back and forth behind that tree and finally just getting his head out enough I could kill him, that was. That was really really really cool.

Speaker 2 43:41

Um, yeah, it was awesome man and the the other one I killed that year um was actually behind my house and uh, I'm just easing down this was in the afternoon, so we get home from church and me and my wife and my youngest son are actually all laying in in our bed just watching a movie or something kind of as you do after church.

Speaker 2 44:06

Yeah, just almost, almost asleep, and it's late, like it's getting late in the day, and so Like 4 o'clock late, or like 6.30?, like 4, 4.30 late, you know, and so there's not a whole lot of time left, you know. And so I'm like I'm going hunting and so I'm like I'm just going to go back behind the house If I don't hear anything or nothing's, yeah, check a food plot. If there's nothing there, I'll just come back. And I was like Reed, you want to go? And he said no, I'm tired. So I throw my stuff on real quick, head out the front, head out the door, and I go down. And I walk down the side of a field. You go through a little creek, come up and there's some planted pines, a little wood road and it dead ends and there's a long food plot that we have there, and I guess it's probably 100 yards long. Well, a lot of times turkeys will be in there. It wasn't planted in anything, but a lot of times turkeys will just be in there.

Speaker 2 45:09

So as I get closer to that corner, I'm like if I don't get, if I'm not careful, they're going to see me through these pine trees. And so I get down and I crawled on my belly up to the edge of the pine trees and I called a little bit right before I get up there. I don't see, I don't hear anything. But I crawl up there, I don't see I don't hear anything. But I climb, I crawl up there and that was a little log, I mean, it was probably only about six inches in diameter. So I crawl up there, uh, and I'm looking down the food plot and I'd called and I'm looking down the food plot and I'm there's nothing in it.

Speaker 2 45:47

But I look over on the left and it looked like because the way the sun was setting you know how you get that glare on the woods well, it looked like a stick that was sticking up on the edge of the, the wood line, probably 75, 80 yards down on the left side of this food plot. And looking at this stick and it's not moving, but I'm like my gosh, that looks like a turkey's head, you know, and that sticking up right there and I'm like that's got to be a turkey. And so I just called a little bit with a call, that date made and right, you know, right after I call, he steps out into the food plot 75, 80 yards. I called and I yelped a couple of times. He blows up. He just starts strutting. But as he's getting closer, I'm like you know, he's probably worked into about 60 yards, real slow.

Speaker 2 46:46

I got a slate call out and I just started purring and just clucking a little bit on it, no interest whatsoever. He actually turned waltz out the food plot. I'm like, well dang, just screwed that up. So I put the mouth call back in. I call he doesn't gobble.

Creek Crossing Adventures in Turkey Hunting

Speaker 2 47:05

He never did really gobble, but I got a call two minutes later he's back in the food plot and every time I would call he just blew up and I watched him cause he had gone out the end of the food plot. I watched him work all the way up and I had a little. There was a little rise in the food plot. So I watched him work all the way up that food plot and every time I'd call just a little bit he'd blow up. And I bet it took him 10, 15 minutes to work all the way up the food plot and I was like as soon as his head comes up over that rise I'm going to try to take it off. And so finally he gets close enough where he pops up over that rise and that food plot and I shot him and killed him.

Speaker 2 47:55

Um, but the whole thing, you know the whole thing probably took 25 minutes you know, and so I text Reed and and the other boys and I was like, yeah, I'm like Reed should have come, you know, and so, and then of course he's calling me blowing me up, but, um, but then that was with the call that date made again, and so that those were really cool, Um, especially to be able to kill with the call he made. So, yeah, but those were a lot of fun. Um, getting to see those turkeys uh, one working like they were, but just kind of unique experiences too, so it's pretty cool stuff.

Speaker 3 48:40

Yeah, yeah it's it is a lot of fun. I mean it's and and I love. I say all that. I say I love turkey hunting and everything probably my favorite thing to do is to take a kid like Wes.

Speaker 2 48:55

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 48:56

Somebody that's never been before, like I took Mr Charles last year.

Speaker 2 48:59

Yeah, killed a bird.

Speaker 3 49:01

He comes out there with his sweet 16.

Speaker 2 49:03

Oh yeah, it took him three weeks to find shells.

Speaker 3 49:06

I was like Mr Charles I got a gun.

Speaker 2 49:07

Yeah, no, no, no, no, no, no. Yeah, that's good.

Speaker 3 49:10

yeah, he found some shells and he got them ordered. You know, like I said, it took a few weeks to get them in or whatever, and so we didn't get to go until later in the season. And you know birds, you know they can be hit or miss um the later you get in the season and like that that bird you said in the afternoon he'd blow up.

Speaker 2 49:30

You know he'd destroy everything, but you never could give him a gobble which is not unusual right yeah, they won't gobble much in the afternoon if, when gobbles in the afternoon, you you about got him.

Speaker 3 49:39

Yeah, he's done if he gobbles after like 10 o'clock in the morning. Yeah, that bird's dead yeah, I mean he's coming, he's. You know he's kind of desperate, that's right, that's right. And and if he's responding beyond that time of day, in my experience you know, you've got some wiggle room to make a mistake.

Speaker 2 50:01

Yeah, and you can still get that bird. That's good stuff. Sorry, I didn't mean to kick you in the head. So Murr's not up here with us this morning.

Speaker 3 50:08

This morning we got Sarge with us.

Speaker 4 50:10

Yeah.

Speaker 3 50:16

Sarge is our about 100-pound German shepherd yeah, he's awesome. He's a big old baby. But you don't want him mad at you. I would not try to come in my house and do it.

Speaker 2 50:24

Yeah, that's for sure. That's for sure. I'll put it that way. Yeah, you're talking about taking kids hunting. There'll be a lot of people who love taking kids hunting and about, uh, a week and a half.

Speaker 3 50:38

Oh yeah, next weekend Everybody's going to win his youth week.

Speaker 2 50:43

Man. There's a lot of people that love to take kids hunting.

Speaker 4 50:46

Um but yeah, I mean I would if a kid wants to go hunting. But yeah, I mean if a kid wants to go hunting, I just seem I mean I wouldn't even take a gun. Yeah, I'd just go call them. Yeah, Tell them what to do and how to do it, that's right.

Speaker 3 50:59

I mean, I just get a lot of joy out of getting to do that. You know, somebody that we need to have on the podcast is Gary Castle. He is super active in the turkey hunting Takes kids hunting every year. They have a foundation that they do it through. I can't remember the name of it. He's going to punch me in the mouth next time I see him for not remembering the name. Oh.

Speaker 1 51:26

Is it Hunt for a Cure? Oh gosh, tall Gary yeah.

Speaker 2 51:34

Where's he from?

Speaker 1 51:36

I ain't yeah.

Speaker 2 51:39

I tracked a deer for a guy that did something like that. I just didn't know if that was him or not. I can't remember the name. Yeah, Gary, he's a great guy.

Speaker 1 51:48

He killed a heck of a deer on Fort Stewart this year. I think it was a Boone and Crockett right or a Pope and Young, it was one of them.

Speaker 3 51:56

Yeah, it was definitely Pope and Young. It may have so Boone and Crockett's got to be 120.

Speaker 2 52:04

Boone and Crockett I thought was like 160 or something.

Speaker 1 52:07

Yeah, Boone and Crockett's big Pope and Young is 125. So it was Pope and Young. Yeah, Ben and Crockett's big Pope and Young's 125. So it was Pope and Young. It wasn't Ben and Crockett if it was 160.

Speaker 2 52:15

Yeah, I don't know. Honestly, I don't know exactly what it is I know it's up there.

Speaker 1 52:19

One of them's 125. Pope and Young's 125. And he made that one and it was a very good year For Fort Stewart. If y'all know about Fort Stewart, it's like what is it like?

Speaker 2 52:33

hundred, two hundred thousand acres it's huge humongous, it is giant you just want to pay attention to the bombing area so, yes, you have to sign in, make sure you see like a thing or a bowl or a you know unexploded ordinance.

Speaker 1 52:56

Just don't touch it, yeah, bad idea.

Speaker 3 52:58

But it's just the best.

Speaker 1 53:00

Yeah, they're not known for having the biggest deer ever, but yeah, I mean if you're, if you're in Georgia and you're looking for a place to turkey hunt.

Speaker 3 53:07

I highly recommend going to Fort Stewart.

Speaker 1 53:08

Yeah, I got some birds there, man, I'll tell you a story. We um, me and Billy G if y'all know about Billy G, y'all know Billy G Um he about six, two dumbest person you ever meet. But um, anyway, me and him went hunting on a wma I'm not gonna name drop uh on wma here close to statesboro. One morning we get about I'd say quarter mile down the road and we had seen a couple hunters. We walked in with these hunters and we were like we made a game plan with these other people. We were like, okay, we don't want to intrude on each other's hunts. Where are y'all going in at, have you already scouted? And they're like, yeah, we're going over here. So we're like, perfect, we haven't scouted yet, we'll go up here, yeah.

Speaker 1 53:58

So that was really neat experience. We walk dark not dark, but it's like you can barely see, yeah, to the point where you don't need a light, but you can kind of see. We get up and there's this creek and there's probably a gap in the road about from me. I mean it was probably 10 feet wide, yeah, so I mean you can't jump it. Yeah, there was a light pole as a bridge.

Speaker 2 54:24

Oh, wow.

Speaker 1 54:25

Talk about sketchy. A lot of people didn't know where you were at Crossing that.

Speaker 3 54:29

Yeah, yeah. So we had as soon as you dropped that. You might as well just go ahead and say where you were.

Speaker 1 54:33

We had two decoys, two guns and two people. Yeah, yeah. So I had a sling. He didn't have a sling. I don't even think his gun can take a sling, had to drill it out but I crossed. He handed me the decoys and his gun and then he crossed. Yeah, If we killed a bird we didn't hear anything, but if we had killed a bird we were done.

Speaker 2 54:55

Yeah.

Speaker 1 54:55

Because we. That was so stupid. That's funny. But we didn. We take bikes up there because there's tons of roads. Yeah, I mean you have to walk ever to get away from people.

Speaker 2 55:08

Yeah, I've drugged up my, my kids you know as well, my little one, because once I got back into turkey hunting man, we'd walk and walk and walk and walk and he'd hang in there.

Speaker 2 55:18

He never, never really complained you know, and we'd walk miles around different places trying to find turkeys, and he never really complained but we got our steps in. We had another one. This was actually behind my house too. We had a turkey goblin. So me and Reed, who was my youngest, started on one end and Dakin Jackson, my older two, started on another end. Well, there was a turkey gobbbling almost directly in between us. Well, this turkey's gobbling at crows, but he's not responding to a call. But I'd had some experience with turkeys in this area before, where he's like, where I kind of knew where I thought he would go. So this wasn't really nice. But it was actually me and Jackson and then Dake and Reed. So I was like Jackson, come on, we're going to walk up around this road and this particular road and we're going to sit and I would call Dake and I'd be like Dake, blow that crow call. And he'd blow it, turkey gobble. Well, this turkey was old and he was smart and so he didn't want anything to do with a call.

Speaker 4 56:34

This was later in the season.

Speaker 1 56:35

Is this private or public?

Speaker 2 56:37

This is private, he's educated, he just doesn't want anything to do with it. So it's kind of bad. But basically what I did was I used dake and reed to push that turkey to us. And so they're coming up out of the creek and we're up on this road and uh, jackson and I are walking down the road and all of a sudden I see through the pine trees, redhead, I mean. And.

Speaker 2 57:02

And so I was like jackson, get down, he's young, I mean, I think he's probably 12, and uh, and so I got him in front of me, I called maybe one or two times well, this turkey, he's coming straight down the road to us. And jackson was kind of sitting down in a hole. Um, not intentional, we just had to get wherever we could get quick because he was coming. And so I literally had my hand on his back so to hold him up, because he he was in a real uncomfortable position and he couldn't see the turkey. I could see the turkey from the whole way and he got within like 25 yards and I'm like kill, kill him, jackson.

Speaker 4 57:41

And he's like I can't see him.

Speaker 2 57:43

How can you not see? He's like cause I'm down in a hole. And so finally, I'm telling him I'm like he's about to come out from behind that pine tree right there in front of you. You ought to be able to see him when he does blow his head off, and so by that, time he steps out and he was literally like 10 yards, and jason just smoked him and, uh, it's the biggest turkey we've ever killed out there.

Speaker 2 58:10

I mean, I want to say he was right at a 12 inch beard, it's huge, yeah. So, um, he was. It was funny, though, because you know. And then dake and I got a cool picture of the three of them walking off, carrying the turkey going down the road.

Speaker 4 58:26

But, yeah.

Speaker 2 58:26

so I don't know, Maybe a little dirty dad trick there, but it worked. Jackson's the middle one. Right he is. Yeah, he's the big one.

Speaker 1 58:35

He's like 6'3". Yeah, the tallest one.

Speaker 2 58:37

Yeah, he's way bigger. He's kind of like sarge he's. He's big and really nice, but you don't want to make him mad. Yeah, and he's hard to make mad, but once, once that switch flips, it's like everybody clear the room, you know. So, um, he's just a big boy. So anyway, yeah, it's good stuff what we got you gotta leave at 8 45 yeah, I need to get to a meeting, but what you?

Speaker 3 59:06

got. I had someone to ask y'all about this.

Speaker 2 59:08

I'm I'm okay I'm reading a book right now by um elizabeth elliott and the title of the book is uh, suffering is never for nothing.

Speaker 3 59:22

Okay. Yeah, and of course, elizabeth Elliot. She was a missionary.

Speaker 2 59:27

Yeah.

Speaker 3 59:27

Her husband was killed by an Indian tribe or a tribe of people, wasn't it cannibals. No. Oh sorry, no, oh, um, so sorry they thought the the tribe that killed this group of men, thought it was a group of cannibals.

Speaker 1 59:48

Okay, that's where I got that from.

Elizabeth Elliott and the Gift of Suffering

Speaker 3 59:50

Yeah, it's cannibal, was some somewhere in the story yeah, okay, so it was uh, um, like hawking indians or something like that. I, I think, was the tribe that they were a part of.

Speaker 4 1:00:04

They killed them with spears Anyway years later, she was remarried Her husband was killed while they were on the mission field.

Speaker 3 1:00:14

She stayed in the mission field. She's like God, what do I do? She talks about doing the next, the next step. Yeah, and the next step was okay. We still have this mission, you know, we still have this yeah, that's right, she went to figure out. You know how to run a diesel generator and how to distribute food and all this kind of stuff.

Speaker 3 1:00:39

I mean she, she kind of took on the role of some of the tasks that he was doing because he was no longer there. And then years later she was remarried and then that husband got cancer and died from that Dang, and so she has been through what we would. I think anybody would look at it and consider it suffering.

Speaker 2 1:01:05

Sure.

Speaker 3 1:01:06

Yeah.

Speaker 2 1:01:08

She could be somewhere. Yeah, I would not argue. I would not argue with that suffering, right?

Speaker 3 1:01:12

Well, she says, and I wanted to ask y'all about this. She says how to deal with with suffering of any kind. She has suffering of any kind. She has these four things that she, that she talked about. She said number one recognize it, number two accept it. Number three offer it to God as a sacrifice. And number four offer yourself with it. Wow All right, so here's the part that I want to talk about accepting it recognizing it and accepting it.

Speaker 3 1:01:47

I understand. Now it's hard. Yeah, not recognizing it, it's pretty, I mean your husband gets killed.

Speaker 2 1:01:50

Yeah, that's obvious, that's not hard to recognize, right?

Speaker 3 1:01:53

I mean now, there may be some things in life that we'll go through, and it's maybe we wouldn't consider it suffering but yeah, we sometimes we would compare it to well, my wife didn't die, or I didn't lose my child, or something. So when we compare it to other things, our suffering doesn't look the same. That's right. Right, so maybe sometimes it's hard to recognize it. Yeah, so that brings those two things to being extremely valid that we need to recognize it and we need to accept it.

Speaker 3 1:02:24

And I think the acceptance part is that if we're going to if we're going to say that God is sovereign, which means he's in control of everything, then that says that nothing can get to me whether he, unless he calls it, or allows it.

Speaker 2 1:02:41

So that's why we need to accept it Right, because it's from God.

Speaker 3 1:02:46

All right this third thing offer it to God as a sacrifice. That's making my brain smoke a little bit.

Speaker 2 1:02:54

Yeah.

Speaker 1 1:02:55

I almost asked what does that mean?

Speaker 3 1:02:56

What does that mean? I don't know. What does it mean to offer suffering to God as a sacrifice?

Speaker 1 1:03:01

Pastor Brandon, what do you have to say?

Speaker 2 1:03:05

I mean, I can make some. I'm just kidding.

Speaker 3 1:03:09

Don't just start making stuff up.

Speaker 2 1:03:12

The first thing that came to mind was in the book of Romans, when Paul talks about in view of God's mercies, offer yourself as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is our reasonable act of worship, and so that was the first thing that came to mind. Is just this reality that our lives are to be lived as a sacrifice, that our lives are to be lived as a sacrifice. And if I think about what a sacrifice is, I think about it's something that is given to God sacrificially, trusting him with the results, and I think about it as to me, that's what I go to with. That is, as me, living my life as a living sacrifice, if I can take that suffering and offer it to him as God, I'm trusting you with this. I'm offering you something that costs me something, and that was was the thing you think about the sacrifices. Even in the old testament, you couldn't just sacrifice the lame animal. It had to be something that mattered it had to be a perfect.

Speaker 2 1:04:33

It had to be perfect, spotless. That's why john the baptist sees jesus coming and he's like behold the lamb of god who takes away the sin of the world. He was the spotless lamb who would ultimately come and take away our sin. And I think about suffering. We don't suffer because something happens with things we don't care about. We suffer because something happens to things we care deeply about.

Speaker 3 1:04:56

So one of the things that she said in the book and I highly recommend reading this book Again. It's called Suffering is Never for Nothing, One of the things she said in the book and I highly recommend reading this book.

Speaker 4 1:05:03

Again.

Speaker 2 1:05:03

It's called suffering is never for nothing one of the things she said in the book was if you don't want to, suffer. You have to purpose to never love that's and see, and I did that in my life before I was saved yeah, you've talked about that, yeah yeah, just being hurt enough that I just said I'll harden my heart as much as I possibly can, I won't, I won't care, which is pretty much impossible to do.

Speaker 3 1:05:24

Oh yeah, you can say that you can tell yourself.

Speaker 2 1:05:27

That's what you want and you can do it to a degree, but it's one of those things where— Eventually, something will happen and everything's going to come out at once.

Speaker 2 1:05:37

Yes, and that's what happened the day it was actually April 1st, you mentioned April 1st, it was April 1st of 2000 when I got saved and that's what happened that heart of stone was taken away. He gave me a heart of flesh and affection for him and I think about that. You know, with this you can go through life without loving and being loved, but it sure is empty, you know, and you you're gonna say you're gonna feel pain, but the emptiness of not being loved or not accepting love and not loving is worse than the pain, I believe for sure yeah it's just an interesting.

Speaker 3 1:06:26

it's an interesting, I believe For sure. Yeah, it's just an interesting. It's an interesting perspective of you know saying that I'm going to offer, that I'm going to offer my suffering to God as a sacrifice. And you know, if we say, if we say all good gifts come from God, which I believe.

Speaker 4 1:06:50

Yeah, right.

Speaker 2 1:06:51

That's what James says, absolutely.

Speaker 3 1:06:53

Absolutely, then that means we have to somehow come to a place where we recognize that this suffering that we have in our lives is a place where we recognize that this suffering that we have in our lives is a gift from the Lord and if he's given us a gift he's done it not just for our benefit, but for the benefit of the body.

Speaker 2 1:07:16

Yeah.

Speaker 4 1:07:16

Right the benefit of the whole world.

Speaker 1 1:07:18

Yeah, so how do?

Speaker 3 1:07:18

we, how do we use that? How do we get to a point?

Speaker 1 1:07:21

Yeah, my youth pastor. Last year his mom passed away and while she was in the hospital she had some type of cancer. I don't remember what it was, but she was suffering. But she turned into a really good thing because she shared the gospel with all of her nurses and doctors and every day she was posting scriptures and stuff like that and she actually saved a decent amount of people.

Speaker 2 1:07:56

They came to know the Lord through that.

Speaker 1 1:07:59

I mean, I feel like that's kind of fitting.

Speaker 3 1:08:03

Yeah, for sure, for sure, I think our natural bit is to be like you know, woe is me?

Speaker 4 1:08:11

Yeah.

Speaker 3 1:08:12

Have a pity party. Yeah, about whatever's going on, definitely yeah.

Speaker 1 1:08:15

For sure. It's our flesh. I mean most people. Their favorite person is themselves.

Speaker 3 1:08:24

I think, to a degree, everybody's favorite person is yourself. Yeah.

Speaker 2 1:08:28

Well, it's usually the first person you think of when you wake up in the morning.

Speaker 1 1:08:32

Yeah.

Speaker 2 1:08:33

What do I need to do? What time is it? How much time do I have to get ready? What do I? You know, even if you go through times where your self-esteem is low well, low self-esteem is still thinking about yourself.

Speaker 2 1:08:48

Oh yeah, you're still constantly thinking about yourself, so you may not like yourself, but you're still thinking about yourself. You know what I mean. Yeah, and I always tell I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I was able at one of our college nights to talk to a young lady from Ukraine and she's had two of her family members die in the last year. I don't think they were directly caused through the war, but two family members who died, and so she's really been struggling with. She said, every time I get close to God it seems like somebody else dies. And she was even having a hard time telling her father she loved him because she was afraid something was going to happen to him. Oh my gosh.

Speaker 2 1:09:35

And so I told her. I said well, do you love your dad? And she was like yeah, but I'm scared to show him that love because I'm afraid something will happen to him, like it's happened to my grandmother and mother. And I said well, here's the thing though it's like you love your dad, you're not in control of what happens to him, so what's happening for you is you're missing the joy of the relationship with your dad because of something you can't control.

Speaker 1 1:10:04

Even if something does happen, you're going to regret not telling your dad that.

Speaker 2 1:10:07

Yeah, so you're missing the good part because you're afraid of what might happen and I said it hasn't happened yet.

Speaker 3 1:10:16

So she almost blamed herself for those family members.

Speaker 2 1:10:19

Yes, in a way it was more of a fear of everybody I get close to seems to die for those family members. Yes, really, in a way, she, she, it was more of a fear of everybody I get close to seems to die. Everybody I love seems to die Did you ask her to walk away. I just told her I'm like, don't ever talk to me. I'm like, and I'm like, and don't talk to me again either. Like, don't, don't care about me.

Speaker 3 1:10:38

Yeah, listen, don't you ever tell me, you love me? Yeah, no.

Speaker 2 1:10:42

And so we talked through that. But I told her too. I said, you know, if, if pain and hurt and death and all of this stuff feels foreign, it's because it should like. We weren't created for that, you know. We were created for paradise. We weren't created for death and pain and hurt and we were created to live in perfect love, and so it should feel odd, it should feel like completely, it should feel unfair, right yeah, right, but but the reality is what we live in.

Speaker 2 1:11:14

it's why I was, I've been studying through first peter, and peter is like really encouraging all of these different churches that are scattered around, mostly Gentile, non-jew churches and man. It is incredible because he does give commands for them to follow, but every command is surrounded by two, three, four different reasons why we have hope and why we should do this, and it's incredible to read and to see like everything he's talking about is don't put your hope in this temporary world because it's not your home right?

Speaker 2 1:11:58

you know he's the one who talks about us being. He uses, actually, a lot of the language that is in the Old Testament describing the Jews coming out of the exit out of Egypt through the Exodus describing us as still being sojourners, so to speak, or exiles ourselves waiting to go into the promised land. And it's just so cool. But to understand like it feels, it hurts because we're not made for it, Right?

Speaker 3 1:12:29

So it was just interesting to me as I was reading through this, and the reason I asked about it is because I'm going to be teaching on this on Sunday. Yeah, and I'm trying to wrap my brain around it.

Speaker 1 1:12:45

You're probably going to get those questions.

Speaker 3 1:12:47

Oh, I hope I do, you know I mean so I don't. I'm not preaching, I'm teaching a small group, that's right and I get to have conversation in teaching a small group.

Speaker 3 1:12:59

Yeah, you know it's not just uh, okay, you sit there and listen to me talk. That's it, yeah, and that's that's the best. Yes, I, I get to ask questions. I get to. You know, we get to pick each other's brains a little bit and and talk through stuff and and um, it really it helps us grow in our faith, helps us understand why we have the hope that we have as we go through that. So just, it's really. It's something that I've never considered before.

Speaker 4 1:13:37

I am 100% okay with admitting that I've never looked at suffering or loss or something like that as something that I can offer to God as a sacrifice yeah, of course I've looked at offering myself to. God as a sacrifice.

Speaker 3 1:13:43

I am called to God as a sacrifice. Yeah, of course I've looked at offering myself to God as a sacrifice.

Speaker 4 1:13:44

I am called to be a living sacrifice.

Speaker 3 1:13:48

I'm called to take my cross, yeah every day. Right, I'm called to deny myself and take up my cross. Yeah, you know which means that I need to be crucifying the sin in my life. Sure Right, I need to be crucifying the sin in my life right.

Speaker 3 1:14:03

That's essentially what that means to put it in kind of layman's terms is I need to look at whatever I'm living for that's apart from God, and I need to be in the active pursuit of killing every single day, yeah, and that's not a negative thing, that's a good thing, right.

Speaker 2 1:14:21

Yeah. Every single day, yeah, and that's not a negative thing, that's a good thing, right. We we view that as negative as, oh gosh, I got it. I've got to. You know, be crucified with Christ. No, like it might not always feel good because of our flesh saying no to things, but we got to understand that's the best way to live, like that is the, that is the. That is the best way to live.

Speaker 3 1:14:41

If you know, so. I um last week I'm not ready to tell this whole story yet, I'm still kind of processing through it Um, but I was. I was prompted by the Holy spirit to do something. And when?

Speaker 2 1:14:59

I got this initial prompting. I'm like all right, I heard that wrong.

Speaker 3 1:15:05

You know, yeah, and I was going to meet with somebody and I I went to turn down the road that I need to go down to go to meet with this person and I mean, I slowed down, I had my blinker on. I was getting ready to turn and I turned my blinker off and I just went straight.

Speaker 2 1:15:23

Yeah, yeah, and I had to argue with the Lord for a minute. Oh, yeah, right.

Speaker 3 1:15:26

So I went and I had some trash in the back of my truck, went and threw the trash out and stuff.

Speaker 4 1:15:31

And I'm still. I mean I say I'm arguing.

Speaker 3 1:15:45

I'm just going back and forth.

Speaker 4 1:15:46

You done that like this.

Speaker 3 1:15:47

This is this is stupid, yeah this is no, I'm not doing this absolutely. This is absolutely ridiculous. Yeah, no, I'm not, and I was like you know what, god, I know that you're faithful yeah I know you're faithful. There's no question in my mind about that, and I know what's better? Than any sacrifice I can give to you is obedience.

Speaker 2 1:16:07

You want that more than anything.

Speaker 4 1:16:08

Yep, that's right.

Speaker 3 1:16:12

So I hope this wasn't you know from a bad burrito that I ate last night or something you know, or you know something I shouldn't have eaten for breakfast this morning, or whatever. But I'm okay, yep, I'm going to do this and I did it. And man, I was like bracing for impact. Yeah, I mean, I had no idea what the response was going to be, and I'll share the rest of that story one day, but not today.

Speaker 4 1:16:37

Yeah, okay, but anyway, all right, we got to wrap her up right there.

Speaker 3 1:16:42

Yep, we went from turkey hunting to, uh, crazy turkey hunting to bear hunt tactical turkey hunting. Yeah To uh um water turkey hunting. You know, really looking at, you know how do we, how do we, how do we look at the suffering in our lives? And remember I'm still going through the book of Job.

Speaker 1 1:17:02

I mean I'm like I'm marinating in that thing right now, dude, Are you going through it like kind of like molasses?

Speaker 3 1:17:10

in the wintertime man probably slower. I just got into chapter two and it's March.

Speaker 1 1:17:15

When did you start? January? Wow, oh wow.

Speaker 3 1:17:18

Jeez.

Speaker 1 1:17:19

Job isn't that big.

Speaker 3 1:17:21

It's 42 chapters. 42? Yeah, 42 chapters.

Speaker 1 1:17:25

Oh it's bigger than I thought. Yeah.

Speaker 2 1:17:28

It gets to where it feels a little redundant in the middle, where his friends are just trying to give him advice.

Speaker 1 1:17:34

Yeah, and they're just like spewing stuff. If you move through these chapters, you're going to be in Job for like five years. I'm cool with that.

Speaker 3 1:17:43

I don't care how long it takes.

Speaker 4 1:17:44

So the way, and this last thing, I'll say the way I study, I take a journal and if you think about opening a book on the right side of the page.

Speaker 3 1:17:53

So when you open the book you've got a page like the front of the page, like you're reading a book, right? On the right side would be kind of where you read and then you turn the page and you read on the left side or whatever so. I actually transcribe scripture on the right side I write it out.

Speaker 4 1:18:13

Word by word.

Speaker 3 1:18:14

I write it out and then on the left side I make any kind of notes about. Okay, this is, I'll make cross-references of scripture and stuff like that. And like okay this word right here. This word was the same word used for like okay, so burden at a spot in scripture is the same word used for gift in another spot in scripture is the same word used for gift, another spot in scripture.

Speaker 4 1:18:43

Yeah, that's helped me with this idea of offering this as a gift. That's right.

Speaker 3 1:18:49

So, anyway, that's that's the way I go through doing this, and the reason I do that is because there's something that happens. I don't know if it's in everybody's brain, but there's something that happens in my brain If I write something.

Speaker 2 1:19:01

Yeah, so I studied in college. I just rewrote my notes. Yeah, yeah, it was just easier to remember.

Speaker 1 1:19:06

You're kind of making like your own study Bible almost.

Speaker 3 1:19:09

You know, who knows, I might print it one day.

Speaker 1 1:19:11

Probably not, but that's what I'm doing, and three people will buy it Me.

Speaker 2 1:19:17

The John King study Bible.

Speaker 1 1:19:25

Me, nana and some weirdo.

Speaker 2 1:19:27

Some weirdo. That's good stuff.

Speaker 3 1:19:29

Anyway, that's what I'm doing. That's my process for going through it. Alright, let's kill it, we're done.