When Things Don't Go Our Way...
A couple years ago i lost permission on the main farm i had gown up hunting most of my life. Countless hours of learning the property, setting stands, running cameras and patterning bucks- gone. I also lost access to a killer set i had through some township land that gave me quick and quiet entry into my other private land piece. I was kicked out by a DNR officer that wouldn't believe my story about having received legitimate permission by the township to park and walk across the land. I hunted there from a different access while watching bucks walk past a blind on the township land that was being hunted by someone who was not supposed to be there.. but after dead end phone calls with the DNR about it, there wasn't anything i could do.
I struggled with a lot of anger that whole season. That i had lost all this land i had poured my energy into. That someone was illegally hunting the land i had legit permission to access through. All hopes of getting on a shooter seemed to vanish. I had no control over anything anymore.
I spent the following summer knocking on every door that owned property i had seen good deer on or thought could hold good deer. All no's. Even people who i knew and had land already had people hunting it or leased the hunting rights out. So instead of spending the rest of my energy and time getting rejected, i turned to public land.
Most of all my sits that fall were duds. I did get some pictures of some good deer in the summer, even got a glimpse of a giant right across the line feeding in a private field on the bow opener. But no encounters. So I started getting more aggressive. I walked more spots- scouted more areas- found more sign- and started finding good deer. I missed a nice buck twice, my brother missed one, i stalked one and didn't get a shot, saw one that didn't get close enough.. All in all i believe i saw 8 shooters that fall. More than i ever have while hunting on my private land.
This spring i've put hundreds of miles on and i've got a killer stack of spots that i'm absolutely jacked to hunt. I am in love with hunting new areas and figuring out how deer use a piece of land. I love the challenge of public and and i don't think i could go back to hunting all private. I have grown more as a hunter and woodsman this last year than the last 10 combined. That being said, none of that would have ever happened without giving up control and making the best of what i had.
As men i feel like we can be control freaks. Mostly because of pride. We want the outcomes to work out how we plan them. We want the pride of saying- I did this and this happened just like i planned. We want to be experts at something. To take pride in our accomplishments. To do things and have people give us praise. But God wants the opposite. He wants us to give Him control, use the skills he gave us to be experts at something and give Him the praise. And in the end things will always work out the way He had them planned.
Author Jake Cornish has been with Final Descent Outdoors as a field staffer since 2014 and is based in Allegan, MI. Jake comes from a large family where hunting wasn't just about harvesting a trophy but also about putting food not he table. Jake is also a very talented videographer and editor. Jake and his wife are very involved in the local church and when he isn't hunting, working, or filming a project he is working out. Jake also helps with the production at FDO.