The dark enveloped me as I switched off my green LED headlamp and settled into my stand. So far, everything had gone right… my alarm went off on schedule and to my wife’s surprise, I hadn’t hit snooze every nine minutes for an hour and a half (“How’s come you can get up early for hunting, but not for anything else?”). Everything was packed or laid out the night before, so getting dressed and out the door went smoothly.

The trip over was pretty uneventful. Now and then as the fields gave way to lowlands, wisps of fog began flitting in my headlights like phantasmal memories of inhabitants long departed. The closer I got the property, the fog thickened and the visibility dropped until I was crawling along the dirt roads looking for the opening in the trees that indicated the lane to my parking spot. Again, proper preparation the night before ensured my pack was loaded, bow and accessories were ready to roll as soon as I stopped.

            After spraying down myself and all my gear, the trip to my stand took longer than usual as the normally familiar landmarks took on a whole new look in the fog and distances seemed totally out of whack. Finally I located it, strapped on my safety gear, and started climbing to my lofty perch.

            I’d planned the day out perfectly. The storm front was to come through that afternoon, and the barometer change should have things moving around ahead of it. My ambush site was set up near a funnel between the staging area and food source, and trail cams confirmed what the torn up trail hinted at… this was a deer superhighway! I’d taken every scent elimination precaution and played the wind perfectly. I could just feel it… this was going to be THE DAY!!!

            As the darkness paled, strange shadows began emerging from the void. The anticipation in my mind was almost palpable. The seconds turned to minutes, and minutes begat hours. Squirrels rustling through the leaves and pileated woodpeckers slaloming through the trees kept my attention focused, but no deer. I nibbled on granola bars and pretzels for lunch in solitude. No deer. I successfully battled the afternoon nap-attack, remaining fully alert… but no deer. As the light waned, I got to watch three turkey hens wander down the draw pecking at unseen morsels and dusk settled in, heard the cacophony as they “gracefully” flew up to roost somewhere over the ridge. But no deer.

            As I climbed down and made my way back to the truck I racked my feeble brain wondering where I had gone wrong. I’d taken every precaution, had the perfect spot, on a perfect day. The only thing missing was, of course, the deer.

I drove home in the darkness, fighting off the sleepiness with the help of the radio and the famous Christian theologians, Motley Crue. Vince Neil wailing out his doctrinal discourse…

“Without you in my life, I’d slowly wilt and die”

“But with you by my side, you’re the reason I’m alive”

Slowly a thought began to form in my thick skull - this day had been a microcosm of life! We work hard busting our hindquarters to ensure that everything is in place and just as it should be. We spend out resources, both time and monetary, to get the latest and greatest thing that will make us successful in our earthly quest. Yet ultimately, once we’ve done all that we think we need to in order to be successful, our “tag” feels unfilled. Just like with the deer hunt, a fast bow, fancier gun, latest camo style… it just doesn’t matter without the object of the quest – the deer. A bigger house, faster car, better job – none of those will bring us happiness in and of themselves. Our lives are never fully complete without the true object of our heart’s desire, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.