Perfect Imperfection Gains No Reward

So, I’ll admit it — I slipped out of work early in order to maximize my daylight during the 2012 bow season .  My stand was in a great spot – a new location – and I did not have to leave any human scent walking to the stand because I utilized an access points across railroad tracks.  I had cut beautiful shooting lanes, put out a mineral block, and now it was time to await my prey.

Have I mentioned how much I love my bow?  I can shoot that thing for hours.  It’s strings are orange and brown, and this Quest QS33 is a sweet machine (see how I have it displayed on my home-made bow rack from a discarded pallet).  I’ve got a bear claw quiver, 3 pin Truglo sight, Hostage Capture rest, and Fuse stabilizer.  I use only the best release in the market -- a T.R.U. Ball In my opinion, she is absolutely perfect.  Unfortunately, she does not have a good run of luck.  I missed one last year on closing day because of an unforeseen twig, and that is the only shot I had on a deer with that bow.  Today, my gut told me something different was going to happen

I had snacked on a few peanuts when I heard what sounded like a ruffle of leaves.  As I looked up, I saw a small deer walk to the mineral block.   When I say small, I really do mean small.  This was a yearling that was alone, meaning that something happened to mom.  The deer had a noticeable limp that made me wonder if it was hit by a car -- possibly killing the mom.  I really did not want to shoot this deer; however, I let one walk last year on opening day and NEVER saw another one again.  Seeing the deer was struggling and knowing that coyotes would find it, I decided to go ahead and shoot.  The deer presented a broadside shot, I drew my bow without detection, inhaled and exhaled, and then let the arrow fly.  The deer stood there stoic and then charged.  Dumbfounded, I knew what happened — I choked under pressure.  

I could see the fletchings of the arrow sticking out of the ground in a place that revealed I shot too low.  My mind immediately identified the issue - I used the wrong pin.  I cannot make any excuses for the miss, but I will offer a few possible explanations (so please humor me here).  First, it was a new stand and I did not calculate the exact yardage to that spot.  I have friends that use range-finders, but, to me, that just removes some of the sport out of it.  Second, remember what I said earlier -- missed a deer the last day of the previous season.  I wanted this deer to erase that memory; however, my "wanting it" did not contribute to a clean shot. 

I sat there for another 20 minutes over-analyzing everything here.  I had been still and was visualizing the shot and the pin selection.  I decided it was time to head home and looked up to see 2 deer on that mineral block.  Now, mind you, they were about the size of the earlier deer and I saw a third moving in — it was their mom.  I waited until she stepped behind some high grass and slowly rose to my feet.  My heart was thumping wildly at this time because it had been 4 years since I shot a deer.  She did not give me a great shot but one that I had practiced multiple times, so I was quite confident. I drew, selected the appropriate pin this time, and let that arrow fly.  She jumped, kicked, turned, and ran.  I breathed a sigh of relief!! 

As I got to the mineral block, I could not find the arrow — no problem.  It was probably still in the deer.  As I started looking for blood, I saw nothing.  Walking larger circles, no blood.  I went to where she ran, but still no blood.  She jumped over a big log pile; and when I tried to get over it, she jumped up and ran.  That was good because I saw exactly where she was down.  I walked over there and, once again, no blood.  It was that moment that I realized today’s hunting session was perfect imperfection — I did everything right but it ended imperfectly.  Another bad run of luck for my wonderful bow because, you know, it was the equipment's fault. 

I made two different mistakes that day and have taken full responsibility for my actions.  The first was using the wrong pin — that was a simple miscalculation as I hastened the shot.  That mistake can be understood with my desire to put one in the freezer.  The second mistake is a big “no-no.”  Instead of trusting my practice and what I knew to be the correct pin, I compensated to ensure I was not low.  The consequence is that I was high.  Two different mistakes led to the same result.

That sickened me and, in leaving the woods, I called my dad.  As I described everything, he even agreed that missing once is not like me and missing twice within thirty minutes is downright strange.  He laughed not to mock me but because he understood.  Then he said something that stuck with me:  “Son, you’re  not perfect.  Accept it.  Learn from it.  Move on.”  The following season ended with 3 in my freezer, so I considered that a success.  It never could have happened had I not heeded my dad’s advice:  “Accept it.  Learn from it.  Move on.”  The archer -- my dad -- that taught me to shoot, although he has now put down his bow, is still teaching me how to shoot and how to live and how to lead.

Can we stop for just a moment to consider similar advice from our Heavenly Father? Let's see how my dad's advice falls right in line with what the Bible teaches us about redemption:

1. "Accept it" -- My "perfection" and "doing everything right" fell short of the hunting mark I wanted to attain.  The same is true of our spiritual lives in that we fall short of God's expectations (Romans 3:23).   It is only when we recognize our condition that we can take the appropriate steps to correct it.
2. "Learn from it" -- Dwelling on that hunting imperfection would actually be counterproductive, so I needed to accept my part in it and move forward to get it right.  The same is true of our sins.  While we cannot change our condition, God provided a way to overcome our mistakes through His Son Jesus Christ (John 3:16).
3. "Move on" -- I had to let the past go and head in a different direction.  Quite frankly, my archery practice changed.  Rather than flinging arrow after arrow at a target, I run laps around the house (to get the heart rate up), stop and some unknown distance, and then shoot.  Spiritually, we must confess our sins to Jesus and have faith that He is the right path to pursue.  The Bible tells us that if we confess -- say the same thing as He does about them and then turn away from them -- then He will forgive us and cleanse us from those sins (1 John 1:9).