Jay Houston - A Hunters Field Notes: Inspiring Stories of Meeting God in the Rugged Outdoors

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS

EUGENE, OREGON

In Part 1, Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New International Version.

In Part 2, Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible.

Verses marked NIV are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Verses marked HCSB are taken from Holman Christian Standard Bible, Copyright 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible, Holman CSB, and HCSB are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

Verses marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Verses marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Verses marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible , New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189 USA. All rights reserved.

Verses marked MSG are taken from The Message. Copyright by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Verses marked GNT are taken from the Good News TranslationSecond Edition 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by permission.

The elk hunting story in part 1, chapter 1, Be Prepared! appeared in Jay Houston, The Ultimate Elk Hunt (Creative Publishing International, 2008). Used by permission.

Italics in Scripture quotations indicate authors emphasis.

Cover design by Koechel Peterson & Associates, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota

Cover photo iStockphoto / Thinkstock

A HUNTERS FIELD NOTES

Copyright 2012 by Jay Houston and Roger Medley

Published by Harvest House Publishers

Eugene, Oregon 97402

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Houston, Jay, 1953

A hunters field notes / Jay Houston and Roger Medley.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-0-7369-4364-2 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-0-7369-4366-6 (eBook)

1. Christian menReligious life. 2. HuntingReligious aspectsChristianity. I. Medley, Roger, 1961 . II. Title.

BV4597.4H68 2012

248.842dc23

2011038141

All rights reserved . No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Printed in the United States of America

12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 / BP-SK / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

A man after Gods own heart is measured by his selfless sacrifice for others . This book is dedicated to my good friend Steve Chapman , whose life and love for his family, in my experience, continually exhibit the selfless character of Jesus Christ .

JAY HOUSTON

To the sportsmen who, like me, are hungry to hear Gods voice and are surrendered to be changed in the process .

To my partner in this journey, Jay Houston, for providing encouragement when I felt unworthy of even being used by or spoken to by our Lord .

To my wife and friend, Shasta, who has encouraged and supported me to pursue the outdoors and endured countless seminars and hunting trips knowing all along what He has in store .

To the author of my story, God Almighty, who has changed me through the many high-country experiences in His creation and given me real , tangible stories that shape me, my family, and those under my care. I am grateful .

ROGER MEDLEY

We want to give any glory for this project to God. Were it not for the sometimes gentle and other times not so gentle leading of His Holy Spirit, this book would never have seen the light of day. His gentle leading came in the form of many phone calls where what is God saying to you? and really? Me too were the topics.

Authors write books for all sorts of reasons; however, in this case we agreed we were only Gods tools and He wanted to do something much bigger than the two of us. In A Hunters Field Notes , God has used some of the stories that have come from our travels along our life trails as well as lessons learned along the way that will speak to men who, like us, love the hunting life and the outdoors.

Our prayer is that if this book makes a positive difference in your life you will do two things: give God the glory and pass the book along to a family member or friend.

We want to thank our good friend and fellow hunting buddy Steve Chapman for his encouragement and for opening the publishing door, our editor Barb Gordon for her amazing skill with words and loving patience, and Harvest House acquisitions editor Terry Glaspey for taking a chance on us.

Jay

Roger

T hrough the years Ive received some very inspiring and encouraging letters from individuals who have read the hunting books Ive written, including A Look at Life from a Deer Stand . But theres one letter that will always remain among the most unforgettable. It was from a young man who knew his dad loved him supremely, but because his father was not the kind to verbalize his thoughts, the young man was resigned to the likelihood that he would never hear them.

Then one day the son got the heartbreaking news that his dad had suddenly died. All hope was lost that he would ever know what sentiments filled his fathers heart. That is, until the day he found one of my books with some handwritten notes on the open spaces inside the front cover. They were from his fathers pen and written for his sons heart. The young man wept as he read the words. He could almost hear his dads voice in the writing that revealed his fathers carefully chosen expressions of love and appreciation for his son. There is no way to measure the depth of joy the son felt. And I was moved to tears when the son shared his story with me and sent scans of his dads writing.

When Jay Houston and Roger Medley mentioned the idea of creating a book called A Hunters Field Notes that focused on passing down thoughts and hunting lore as legacies, I immediately remembered the young mans story. I thought of how many sons, as well as dads, moms, husbands, wives, and other family members and friends, might someday be deeply touched by reading the thoughts from the hearts of people they love. For that reason, Im thrilled this book idea has become a reality.

When you get into A Hunters Field Notes , youll find it is much more than just ink on paper. It is your opportunity to create a priceless heirloomone that contains the incredibly valuable gems of the feelings that fill your soul. Keep in mind that as you write on the pages, youll be blessing those who come behind you in time and encouraging those who continue on after your hunting days are over.

Steve Chapman

[Isaac said to Esau,] Now then, get your equipment your quiver and bow and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing (Genesis 27:3-4) .

T he original concept of creating an easy-to-do journaling guide for those who love the outdoors came years ago when Roger and I first met over breakfast at a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Colorado Springs. A Hunters Field Notes is the result of nearly three decades of personal journaling and prayer, along with a collaborative collection of high-country and backwoods stories, biblical parallels, lessons learned, and personal encouragement extracted from two separate yet Christ-centered lifetimes. As a team, Roger and I pledged to remain loyal to one imperative: to only write as Gods Holy Spirit inspired and directed us. After nearly a year of prayerful writing, we got together to combine our respective efforts. It became clear that while we originally thought it would all blend together into one voice, so to speak, God clearly had something else in mind: two distinct trails leading to the same destination.