I had this trip planned for months. Even so, 3 of my 4 flights were canceled. They swapped my aisle seat in row 7 for 31F. My 5 hour drive to Atlanta included coming to a complete stop three times on the Interstate. I learned long ago that if I am doing all that I can to move forward, then I just need to let the day unfold. Impatience solves nothing. It's like the person who said, "If you allow th...  Read More

I had taken my first two bears in the same week, but I had never yet eaten bear. Laura did not even want me to cook it in her kitchen. I was working for minimum wage and she was working part-time, so we were living on an extremely tight budget. I put a roast in the crock pot on Sunday morning, which she only allowed on the condition that if we didn't like it I would take her out to lunch. We were ...  Read More

By the time I skinned my bear, boned out the meat and packed it out of the mountains, it was after midnight. As I pulled into our apartment in Chugiak, I was excited to show Laura my bear. We had been married 8 months and she did not grow up in a hunting family. We lived upstairs in a 4-plex with thin walls, so I was being as quiet as I could. It turns out that Laura was sleeping. When I turned on...  Read More

I followed the bear into the heavy brush- bow in one hand and an arrow in the other. There was no blood. Again and again I circled, but there was no sign of any kind. Finally, I went back to my tree. I thought, "Where would I have run if I was a bear?" The answer was the exact opposite of where I had seen him run. It was up a narrow draw into the mountains. As a last resort I decided to simply wal...  Read More

I didn't see anything in my bear stand again that night. When I call it a tree 'stand' understand something- there was no seat, only a platform for my feet. I had to literally stand all of those hours every night I hunted. For weeks the only animals I had seen were squirrels. I headed out again the next night and climbed up my tree. After several hours I caught a glimpse of movement, and then I sa...  Read More

When I got back home with my cinnamon colored black bear I immediately grabbed my bow and went into the mountains to hunt from my stand. In over 3 weeks nothing had come in, but I remained hopeful. As I drew near I was shocked to discover someone up my tree and in my stand. This stand was hidden and far off trail. I could not imagine anyone 'stumbling' upon it. Then my shock increased. It was one ...  Read More

Though this was my first bear, I had been sure it was a black bear when I shot it. I decided to take it to Fish and Game in Glennallen. Either bear was legal for me to take, but I was only allowed one grizzly bear every 4 years, so I needed to know for sure. When I explained to the 2 wildlife biologists that I shot a bear and wasn't sure if it was a black bear or a grizzly bear, they both rolled t...  Read More

Though nothing was coming into my bear stand, I made the drive and hike into the mountains night after night for several weeks. I continued practicing with my bow and was confident that if I was given the opportunity I could make a good shot. I had been out of the army for about 4 months, and Laura and I had the opportunity to go to Glennallen and Kenny Lake to officially accept our first teaching...  Read More

When Laura and I were first married I decided I was going to hunt black bear with a bow and arrow. My Hoyt compound bow was the first quality piece of hunting gear I'd ever purchased. I had met 2 guys at the archery club who also wanted to hunt. We made a good plan. We decided to set up 3 stands in different locations and then we would take turns hunting whichever stand had bears coming in. In tho...  Read More

For many years I have found that 'getting' in shape and 'staying' in shape do not come automatically. More than that, both are in many ways unpleasant. What I want NOW is a terrible master. What I want NOW is to eat more than I should and exercise less than I should. Our physical bodies make wonderful servants, but when allowed to lead, they soon become tyrants and dictators, don't they? So here i...  Read More

All of humanity once had one language. For any kind of relationship to exist, there must be communication. For people to work effectively and in unity, there must be communication. So why did God confuse mankind's language? Why did he- in a moment in time- separate people by language groups? Ultimately, it was because of the sin of PRIDE. It was not by mistake that Satan named one of his great mov...  Read More

Did you know that God has called you to LEAD others? Too often Christians feel almost as though they need to apologize for their faith and convictions rather than using those opportunities to encourage others and point them to Christ. As literal sons and daughters of the King (not some temporary earthly king, but the TRUE KING), we need to embrace our position- our standing- in this world. When Ki...  Read More