Cabin Prep | What Are You Seeking | Mississippi Harvest

Reese heads back to the North Mississippi cabin to link up with longtime friend Scott Hinnant for some much-needed pre-season prep and fellowship. From filling feeders and hanging stands to checking trail cameras, the guys roll up their sleeves and dive into the work that lays the foundation for the hunts ahead. Along the way, they share stories—like Reese’s unforgettable Mississippi buck—and reflect on what keeps them coming back to the woods season after season.

But this episode goes deeper than food plots and deer sign. Reese and Scott talk about the heart behind what the seek TO find, Christs presents—why it matters where your purpose lies, and how our time in the outdoors can reveal where our priorities truly are. Whether it’s the camaraderie, the thrill of chasing whitetails, or the quiet moments with God in creation, this conversation challenges listeners to slow down and think about what drives them when they climb into a stand.

If you love hunting talk with a mix of faith, purpose, and real-life reflection, this episode will hit home.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02: 0:25

What's up guys? Welcome to another episode of the Seek and Find Podcast. And guess what? I am finally in North Mississippi with Scott. The Sip. The Sisip. Sisip. So this podcast, we're going to dive into the end of last season and basically really what our uh, I wouldn't say motto, but our Bible verse of Seek and Find, the whole reason it was created is Matthew 7.7. Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be open to you. So Scott, I man, I hunted here with you for uh about three years. Hardcore, pretty hunt, I mean, pretty hardcore hunting. And um man, we saw a deer. We didn't, I mean, actually, there was one year where we I don't think we saw a deer. It was hard.

SPEAKER_00: 1:32

That that one that that one year was it was it was unreal. Like it was like I actually thought for a second, I said, I gotta stop hunting Reece. He's the worst, worst luck I've ever seen. Because I think it was like a week before you came. I was like, dude, I saw like 12 deer.

SPEAKER_02: 1:46

It was like two years in a row. The people that came before me and the people that came after it was everywhere.

SPEAKER_00: 1:51

Like you can't not see a deer, and you come and it's like squirrels. 100%.

SPEAKER_02: 1:57

Yeah, we we uh we squirrels, we thought about squirrels a few times. I mean we actually shot some uh raccoons a few times and we were like, man, we grew up.

SPEAKER_00: 2:07

We're just trying to eat you know survive. Yeah, yeah, so uh it was tough, it was tough.

SPEAKER_02: 2:13

Really, this podcast, we really want to dive into some scripture and we want to dive into um you know, seek and you will find when it comes down to like hunting versus um your walk with Christ. So patience, it's definitely tough with men. Yeah, patience with men is definitely a hard thing. Um in a deer stand or in prayer, uh we tend to want instant results, but God definitely does his thing. He he wants the greatest work and the greatest accomplishments. He wants um, it seems like most of the time he wants us to um strive for it. And um I don't know, man. He he I don't know. It um the past three years, so Amber and I came here that first year, she knocked down that bucket 12 yards with a rifle, and I'm like, man, there are deer here. Yeah. And then I started really hitting, like I think I came five times the first year, uh, six or seven times the second year, and Scott and I literally, actually, those first two years, Scott and I came, or I came by myself because I was like, man, we need to hit it hard. Amber was looking for footage to put together for our YouTube channel. Yeah, and um, I was just like, we're gonna go and hit it hard, and we hit it hard. We did.

SPEAKER_00: 3:53

We dove deep. I mean, we stretched it out. We went to the like I'm I'm taking you to spots that normally I wouldn't go to because they're difficult to get to. They're you know, it's hard to get in there. But we were trying to get, you know, well, we're hunting hard for the footage.

SPEAKER_02: 4:08

So I'm gonna try tomorrow or the next day. So we're here um land prepping in a sense, um getting ready. Prepping out the season, yeah. Cleaning up the cabin, clearing some lanes, putting out trail cameras and all that. But um, I took some drone footage of the cabin before we cleaned it up, and then I really want to take some drone footage of like the property and kind of give you guys an idea of like, you know, we didn't Scott and I are not, or I could say Scott, I guess. He lives three hours from here, and it is not one of those let's put up seven trail cameras. Every single spot has a lock-on, and every single spot has a feeder. Like, this is you know, we have lock-ons in the same spot that we've always have. We come out here, we kind of like our first three, four days we kind of figure out where the deer sign is, but then all of a sudden you find white oaks that are dropping acorns like crazy. Then you're like, okay, let's go to the white oaks, and then all of a sudden, it's like, well, golly, we're at this white oak, yeah, but the deer aren't coming to this white oak, so let's go to the next one. And then it's like, why are we even focused on white oaks? And it just gets to a point to where really come uh December, January, it's like grab the rifle, sit at the pipeline, and just like blast for bucks because it's just it's so difficult. The land is difficult, it's not like a flat terrain over here at the cabin that you can just you can't really just pattern the deer and where they're going because well it changes every year. And it changes. You also have cars that drive down here, so there is um from here out to the main road, there's probably three sets of 170 acres.

SPEAKER_00: 6:02

Yeah, it's it's about that 160, 180.

SPEAKER_02: 6:05

And then you have at the very end where we're where this cabin is at, there's two cabins next to us. Well, one cabin has a full-time resident, and then the cabin next to us was just built, and their residence is kind of on and off. We never really know. So you wouldn't think that one or two vehicles throughout the day driving down a road messes with things, but when you have deer that come up ridges, cross over the road, and that road is the road you're driving on. I mean, you have you have deer that are all of a sudden turning around and going back to where they came from.

SPEAKER_00: 6:40

Yeah, that I think that's a whole nother podcast in and of itself. We uh obviously we're getting on seek and find and trying to dig into the scriptures about that. But as far as deer are concerned, they'll pattern you before you pattern them a lot of times if you're not careful. They will figure out where the traffic is and and the pressure and they will avoid it. So it does, it changes every year. You got, you know, you talk about white oaks and red oaks dropping. Well, there's how many is out here? Like it's countless, right? So you've got to find, and it changes from year to year. This one might be dropping good this year, and the next year it's gonna alternate and it's gonna change. Well, last year was a dry season. We didn't have any acorns on the ground, it changed everything. Uh, years before we had more acorns than we could hunt. Like we didn't even know, you know, it was so many that you couldn't really nail one down. So it does. It changed, even this, you know, the stands that I got there, you know, that's over 20 years of hunting. So it's like I know that those spots can be hot, but it could be where that tree's not dropping that you set that lock on by. So it's not gonna be hot that year. So you got to, you know, figure out something different uh as far as what they're hitting, and and especially early season. We're talking about feed patterns right now, we're talking about acorns dropping stuff, but it's uh it changes the game every year. It's different year to year. I mean, yeah, you got your stands in place where I've had them for years and they're they're notoriously good spots, but if that you know, the reason that you put that stand there, those acorn trees aren't dropping, or that food source is not there, then it's gonna change the game. They're gonna do something different. So it's you know, like I say, early season rut's different, but right now it's uh trying to figure out the food source and and where they're uh I mean, even even the trail camera stuff.

SPEAKER_02: 8:20

I mean, we we had a podcast that was talking about trail cameras, and that podcast was really all over the place, but that's really how trail cameras are. Like you utilize them for good, but then trail cameras can also be bad, and it's um, I don't know. I I think of scripture and I think of like the voice of God, and at the same time, it's like you know, any time we're in the woods, it's never wasted time. You're always learning, you're always growing from what you learn, and it's the same as scripture. Like you read scripture, you figure out scripture, you understand it, you're like, all right, yeah, this is good, and then you try and soak that scripture in, and then you apply it to your life, and then you're going about your day, and it's like, you know, two weeks, three weeks, it's like everything's great, okay, everything I'm learning, awesome. And all of a sudden, you're sitting here, like, man, you come to the end of it, and you're like, dang, um, I really uh I don't understand. Like, you you think you understand, but then you don't, and it's the same, it's the same as being in the woods, man. Like you think you got the deer down, you think you got everything going, and then I mean, for instance, us the past three years, it's like you don't you have it figured out and then you don't. And it's it's a hundred percent. Yeah, dude. I I mean it's um so Galatians 6 9, it says, let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Yeah, I mean, that's so how I've transitioned my mindset with this whole Mississippi hunting and coming out here. Now, people look nine hours, holy smokes. This dude goes out here six, seven times a year, but like coming out to the cabin, experiencing it, walking in the creeks, just being out here and hanging out, it's not it's it's not uh I don't just say hey I'm going out here to hunt, like it is, it is a whole nother experience. Now, hunting and being out in the woods and being around deer and trying to get on a deer, that's that's another story, but it's just like it's always been more ever since that first time coming out here. Now we did get spoiled a little bit. Um I mean, I don't even know how many times we hunted before Amber shot our first buck. I mean, it was probably three days or two days, and it was almost like a spoiled effect, but then I started getting in this mindset of you know what, I'm not going out there to um to really harvest the deer. I'm going out there to hang out with Scott to help him with the cabin, really just to come out here and serve and just really um it's always about prepping the cabin for whatever God has in store for that season. And we we really never know. We have a few dates planned, but like you never know who's gonna come out here, you never know who's gonna um be able to experience these blessings. Like, we literally have a pile, a pile, and I mean when I say pile, I could pick this pile of shark's teeth up with both hands and it'll fill both my hands. Yeah. And we're in North Mississippi. I mean, if that doesn't, if that doesn't explain the flood, that a small little creek in North Mississippi has a pile of shark's teeth that literally we found those in probably an hour and a half to two hours of just walking through the creek and just looking for them.

SPEAKER_00: 12:02

Yeah. Um, I mean it's about the experience. So I mean, we we can make the hunt too much about the harvest, right? We can go and we can expect to kill this deer, see this, you know, see these deer, and we don't. But what you're getting at, I think, is how how can we take what we do, the failures of it? Because to be honest with you, especially, you know.

SPEAKER_02: 12:24

And is it failures?

SPEAKER_00: 12:25

It's not, but that's what that's what I'm saying. Like we, you know, we're in North Mississippi, we're not in Iowa, we don't have Kansas tags, we're just here and we're trying to do best with what we got, and it's hard, it's not as easy. So uh not to not to knock the guys hunting up there, they're killing great deer and they put in the work, but I'm saying if you don't, if you don't succeed in a harvest, yeah, then when you say seek and find, what what is your trophy? Is it really all well, you know, Reese came up here for four years and had an officer the trophy buck? Well, I'm just gonna quit going because it ain't worth it. No, because it's it's the experience, right? It's about what do you get outside of that? And that's what we're all about, is trying to give the experience of the outdoors the peace that comes with being still and knowing that he is God, just getting out here and being quiet, learning, getting the scriptures every day. I mean, it's worth every second to come and enjoy that, whether you get the deer after or not, because we love it. We love chasing deer, we love going and trying to find that deer and and and make the right move and get lucky enough to have a shot on an animal. But the reality is, is that's not the trophy.

SPEAKER_01: 13:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 13:32

The trophy is the memories that we have and the and the failures that we have and the laughs that we have together and going and finding the shark's teeth, you know, doing some fishing, just enjoying the outdoors for what it is. I mean, yeah, there's parts of the country where there's a lot more uh deer per acre, and there's you know a lot, a lot more big deer uh as far as you know size is concerned. But when you just get down to the nuts and bolts of hunting, and when you talk about going out there and seeking and finding, it's like I'm just gonna go put in the effort, and if if I kill this deer or harvest this deer, great. But if not, I've enjoyed every second of getting to fellowship. Yeah, you know, enjoy the enjoy this time together to have with a brother in Christ and and and go enjoy the outdoors for what it is. I mean, because it you know, I obviously the uh the bigger the buck you put on the film, the the the more people want to watch in a sense, but the reality of it is we want to try to bring that, it's just much more to it. It's a lot more to it. We want it, we want you to see that the outdoors, whether you're hunting, fishing, or whatever, is it's the it's the element of getting out there and trying to find an animal and putting in the effort, but there's no failure. You you can't look at it as a failure. You've got to look at it as, man, I enjoyed every second of what I did. And if I get to, if I get to succeed in it, great, as far as that goes. But the real success is in just being here and and being able to relax and being able to soak up uh the atmosphere that you're in and and get in the word like we do, you know, every day and and just enjoy what God has given us. It yeah, I'd I'd love to go out and you know, early bow season and take the buck of my dreams. But the reality of it is I've been doing that all my life and I still ain't found that deer, you know. I I've I've seen him on camera, but I I have yet to take him. But uh so it's really about a perspective, you know, and I think it's the same with our faith. It's a perspective. It's it's what are you looking for in your faith?

SPEAKER_01: 15:27

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00: 15:27

What are you what are you seeking? I mean, are you seeking for God to improve your life as it is right now, or are you seeking God because of what he's already done? Are you trying to seek Jesus because you want your finances to be better? Are you trying to seek the Lord because I'm in this situation in my life? And there's nothing wrong with being in that situation praying. I'm just saying the the real reason that you do that is because He is He's worth seeking every step, you know, every every step of the way. You're just gonna enjoy His presence and whether your life gets better or not, that's not the point. Right. Because we have eternity to look at, we have the heavenly realm to look at. It's it's already been done, so we love him and and seek him because of what he's done. You see what I'm saying? Because of what he's done and not what he can give us. So it's kind of the same way with hunting. We go out here and we can hope and pray that we see or harvest that animal, but the reality of it is the trophy's already there. Jesus is there, he's the trophy. You know what I'm saying? Same way in hunting, the trophy's already there. We're getting to climb up in this tree and spend time together and film and laugh and and and hang out. I mean, that's the trophy. That's the memories. You you kill a good buck, you know, five years from now, you can go back and talk about that deer, but the trophy is gonna be the five years in between where you didn't kill nothing and you just got to eat chili in the evening and you know, just hang out at the camp. You said I'm going. I mean, that's that's that's the uh what are you seeking? I guess would be the question.

SPEAKER_02: 16:54

Well, it's like it's the patience in the pursuit. So, you know, the harvest, whether in the field or in your faith, it all comes in God's timing. Yeah, and it's it's never our timing. So you always want to look at it like you enjoy every second of it, you know God's gonna provide, and you come out here and you enjoy every second, and the providing might be finding a really good shark's teeth. Um, the providing might be finding a really nice buck that you can get your you know arrow through or a doe that you can get your arrow through. But um I don't know.

SPEAKER_00: 17:38

It's um well, when you talk about seek and find, you have to ask this question what's the trophy? Whether you're in the woods hunting, what's the trophy? Like, are you after that deer? And if you don't get it, you didn't get your reward? Yeah, same with your face. Your faith, what's the trophy? So the trophy is Christ in his presence. That's believing in him. The trophy's already there, yeah. Like his presence with our faith and believing on him and having having the the the fellowship with the our creator, right? He formed and fashioned us to be in his presence and desire that. So uh when we think about results, seek and find, sometimes we we get too result-oriented in our faith, if that makes any sense. Like we're we're okay, I tried this, I tried this Jesus thing, but uh my life didn't get no better. Well, you're missing the boat. You you you really are. I mean, the whole the whole point is that Jesus is there and it's for salvation, it's for it's for that fellowship and that presence and that having the Lord in your life and and knowing that you've been saved through the blood of Christ. That's the trophy. And it's the same with hunting. We can go out here and we can chase these deer and we can, you know, make it about something that it really isn't. We can get too caught up in that, uh, the trophy being the size of the deer or uh the footage that we got on a hunt and this and that, but we're really missing the boat. We got to go out there and appreciate that God has given it to us and it's here. The trophy is really about going out and just enjoying that, you know what I mean, taking part in that and being able to say, I'm just so grateful that I can go and chase these animals, whether it be whatever kind of turkey hunting or deer hunting or whatever you want to do. That's the trophy. And it's the same with our faith. That we sometimes we look at results too much in our faith and how that, you know, well, I didn't get the results I wanted. Well, that the result has already been done. When Jesus died on the cross, that was when he said it's finished, right? The results there. You give your life, and it's the the the peace of knowing that you have eternal salvation in him, and also you get to enjoy him. You know what I mean? You get to you get to taste and see that he's good, and regardless of what your life throws out there, God is good and he's with you, and he's he's walking through every step. And so to correlate that to hunting is just about what what is your trophy? When you go to the woods, what truly is your trophy? Is it that success of killing it, or is it the success of knowing that I'm getting to go enjoy the chase and enjoy what God has given us to go do?

SPEAKER_02: 20:17

For sure. For sure, yeah. It's um, you know, the reward often comes. Um, well, I guess you could say in life with Jesus, the blessings come after faithful seeking. So if we keep asking and keep seeking and we keep knocking and we don't lose heart, um the harvest eventually comes. I mean, and whatever that harvest is for your life, yeah, it um it eventually comes after seeking, after finding, after looking, after knocking. Um the patient endurance.

SPEAKER_00: 20:58

With the right heart, right? So if we're if we're seeking and knocking, but we're seeking and knocking based off results as far as what God can do for me right now, right? We're missing the boat. Like I said, it's about seeking him. He wants us and our fellowship. That's what God wants. Yeah, he wants us to enjoy Him and glorify Him and all we do. And it's like I said, that correlates to going into the woods. Are we missing the boat when we make it too much about that animal versus?

SPEAKER_02: 21:25

I mean, there's been times where we've literally looked at each other and been like, all right, yeah, what's the risk? This whole day we're gonna just go and look for shark's teeth and we're just gonna go search.

SPEAKER_00: 21:36

What is and where is your trophy really at? That's I think that that's what correlates to the outdoors. Like, what are you seeking? Because there, I mean, obviously, we're you know, we're in a place where, you know, there's I I guess you could say it's good hunting, North Mississippi compared to Florida. Florida's got some great hunting too, but you know, you come up here and you're expecting to, you know, go and harvest this certain animal with a max, you know, I'm I'm expecting this, and then you're let down because it didn't happen. Well, you're missing the enjoyment of what's really happening in front of you.

SPEAKER_02: 22:08

I mean, don't get me wrong, it's like the first the first year, first time Amber and I ever came, it was like you expect, because us living in Florida, it's like we see what we have, and it's like you come nine hours, you expect certain things, and you see the sign, you see everything, and then Amber's buck comes out and she smokes it, and it's like an exciting time. And then after that, after the hanging up of the buck, the fellowship at cabin, right, and then like three years goes on of five, six, seven hunts, or five, six, seven days, or five, six, seven um, what do you call it, times that I actually came every year for three years, and it's just like you are you're seeking, you're seeking something that you think is there, or that you feel like your hopes are high, but then at the same time, you you get that realization of like, well, why am I actually here? Right. And then you see the fellowship, and then you see the times sitting at this table, and then you see the time sitting at the campfire, and it's like you realize at the end of the day, like, dude, the times in a tree stand were way less more important than the times we spent actually at camp. And then you get the veterans that come and you'll have them like you'll they'll go out and you know, they'll go and hunt hogs, you try and put them on deer, you try and do all this stuff, but then you'll have those veterans that are like, you know what? I just want to drink some coffee, I want to sit by the fire, that's it, and I really want to do nothing on my last day.

SPEAKER_00: 23:52

Some of the most successful hunts, and when I talk about hunts, I'm talking about the ministry hunts that we've done through Passion Pursuit and Bearded Outdoors, Operation Freedom Beard and stuff. The most successful hunts that I can tell you we've had did not involve like almost harvesting. Right. I mean, we did, obviously, we've had some success with it, but it never went to, man, I had a great hunt because I killed this deer.

SPEAKER_02: 24:17

It was it was almost like I had a great time.

SPEAKER_00: 24:20

It was that's it. I mean, because it's all the way to the cabin. Like I said, the greatest hunts we've ever had is people going, man, I had I had this experience that'll last me a lifetime, and I didn't get the deer that I was after, and I hunted hard, but it was about the fellowship. It was about being able to sit around the campfire with brothers and sisters in Christ and and just loving one another and then you know, experience, and it's like I said, it's the same way with our faith. Sometimes we can miss the boat by looking at results. We want results in our life through our faith. But the reality is he's the result. Like seeking Jesus is about being able to be in the presence of God through the Holy Spirit and being covered by the blood of Christ. I mean, that's the that's the gift, and we miss it so much in our faith. We we walk right past that because we're like, Lord, I need help with my finances, Lord, I need I need help in this divorce, I need help in this brokenness, addiction, or whatever it is I'm going through, and we don't get healed and we're like, well, God didn't let me down. No, he didn't. Right. You got to seek him, not for your situation that you're in. You got to seek him because he is the prize. You got to enjoy him because he's the prize. And I think in my mind, that's where the hunting goes too. You got to enjoy the hunting for what it is. You got to enjoy the outdoors for the prize is the fellowship. The prize is that time you get to spend when you're not on a roof somewhere working your tail off or whatever it is. Well, that's yeah. You know, it's it's the enjoyment of that. And if we get the deer, man, that's just icing on the cake in a sense. That's the cherry on top. That's like, okay, we did get the deer, but that was never the hunt. If you came, right, or we had a ministry hunt or whatever, and somebody killed the buck of a lifetime, right? It still would not be the prize. Yeah. It never has been.

SPEAKER_02: 26:08

Or if you think it is, you're gonna go through with it and everything's gonna be good, but then you're gonna drive home and be like, golly, I had more fun sitting on a roof working my butt off.

SPEAKER_00: 26:17

It's it's like if you had a job that was promised to make this X amount of money and commissions, right? And you go do it and you bust your tail, but it doesn't provide. Like that was your goal, was that money? Same when you come out for deer. If that was our goal, the end goal, the end result was that deer. And so who would come back? We wouldn't I wouldn't have anybody coming up here to hunt with me because they'd be like, man, I I've hunted for four years. I ain't even seen a good buck. Well, if you get it and you come and you enjoy the atmosphere, you enjoy the time here, and you and you enjoy the outdoors that God has given us to enjoy, then you want to come back, not because you can kill that big deer, but because I enjoy every second of being out here.

SPEAKER_02: 26:54

And that's what I love, man. Like, I think that's one really big reason why I always, no matter what, I come back and hang out because it's not so serious. Like it sounds crazy. A lot of folks listening right now are probably like, what do you mean it's not so serious? Well, there's 170 acres here, and then he has a north farm that has twice the size of deer that are out there ready to be harvested, but like the it's such a it's such a different experience. Like, for instance, I drove up today, it's 90 degrees, and I'm cleaning the porch and I'm doing all these things, but like when I pulled up, there was a there was a different feeling. So you're seeking Christ in your daily life, and you're finding that joy and you're finding your peace, but then like you come out here, and it's like it's not the fact that I'm getting away, it's the fact that I'm coming to a spot that like I could go to public land in Florida, but I could also come to Mississippi, and being in Mississippi in the woods versus being in public land in Florida in the woods, it's a whole nother, yeah, it's a whole nother perspective because I see it every day. I I'm in it mostly every day, but then you come out here, and whether it's 90 degrees, and that's why a lot of the times it's like, dude, it don't matter if it's 90, 80, 70, like you show up here and you see the cabin, and it's just like it's a different, completely different perspective than what you're seeking in your daily life. And it's not about getting away, it's not about leaving your family and getting away from. I wish Amber and the kids were here right now. Now, Scott and I knew that the only way to be able to actually get a lot of things done, to be able to get the shooting lanes and that wood chopping and getting the firewood ready for the season was to be able to come by ourselves and really get after it. Um, because the kids want to play, the kids want to have fun, Jace wants to now shoot deer, and um you know, so he got to experience this. He got to experience, you know, not shooting deer in Florida, but not seeing deer in Florida. I guess that's my fault. But coming out here, us not knowing, I think that is such a big and important thing, is trail cameras are great, feeding great. If you can do all of those things, that's awesome. But most of our success when it comes down to enjoying ourselves, I think is being so underprepared every year that like when we go to hunt, our first two days are literally trying to find what these deer are doing. Like that is that is what gets me, that's what's gotten me back here every single year because it's you know, we put up a few trail cameras and we'll do a little feed here. There, but when it comes down to the extent of what we could actually do, what we could actually see and have, I'd be sitting at home, like, oh, uh, those cameras aren't really showing anything, we're not gonna go, right? Like, you get to a point where it's like, what is the trophy? What is the experience? And that's where it comes down to, you know, are you doing it for the right reasons? Exactly. And I mean, I've caught myself a few times on public land in Florida, like, I'm definitely coming out here thinking I'm gonna kill a monster deer, and I haven't seen one deer in 20 sits. Like, yeah, so you get to that point of what are you actually seeking to find? Because you can seek all day, but like, what are you seeking? Now, if it's God's presence and if it's you know God's love and his patience and his mercies that are new all the time, every single morning, and you wake up every morning and you're like, this is amazing, then you come out to Mississippi and you don't see a deer, you know why I come back every year.

SPEAKER_00: 31:08

Exactly. If it was straight results oriented in in the deer hunting realm or just wildlife in general, if we were turkey hunting, deer hunting, fishing, whatever, if you if you came based off results, heck, if I've been deer hunting since I can remember now. 35 years or so. I have worked so hard to go chase a deer. So if it was straight results oriented, I would have quit a long time ago. Yeah, and so that's the way that's the same way we do with our faith. A lot of times we can find ourselves being so you know, you know, relying on the proof of how our life is right, the results-oriented. Well, it's not working out. Yeah, my the things that I've been praying for are not happening. The things that I need God for don't seem to be happening in your circumstances, and the reality of it is is we're seeking results instead of seeking Christ. And it's the same way deer hunting. We're seeking a big buck versus seeking what he really has in front of us, which is the time spent. You get what I'm saying, right? So we seek God for who he is, and we seek Christ because of what he's done. And it's the same way we're hunting. We go and we chase these deer because of the blessing that it is to be able to sit out here and be still, know that he's God, get in the word, pray, and enjoy the environment and and the chase. Because, like I said, if if it was straight, you know, results-oriented, I would have quit a long time ago. Yeah. Because I went years without having, you know, you you hunt hard, you know, in Florida, especially. I mean, last was it last year? Dude, you were in the stand every day. I mean, it I mean, and nothing.

SPEAKER_02: 32:33

And that was private and it was public. Yeah. And then you'll like you'll see trail camera pictures and it's like I need to be out there every time.

SPEAKER_00: 32:40

That was straight results, you know, oriented. If, in other words, you would go, all right, the results aren't there, I'm quitting. I'm not doing this no more.

SPEAKER_02: 32:48

I'm I I Well, I said that a few times last time. Right.

SPEAKER_00: 32:51

I put in too much time, I've worked too hard, the results aren't here, I'm done.

SPEAKER_01: 32:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 32:55

Well, we can do that if we're not careful with our faith. We can say the results aren't there because we live in a world where there's it honestly is just chaos around us. You get so busy doing this and that, and you're trying to make, you know, you want this prayer answered, that prayer answered. But the reality is, is when we come to know Christ, the answer is right there. Like that his presence, that is the answer. So seek that. Seek and find him. When he says seek and find, knock and doors shall be open, he's talking about him. He's not saying seek and find and I'll bless you and seek and find whatever you want and you're gonna get it. Yeah, he's not saying seek and find and I'll help you here or there. He's saying, seek me right and you will find me. In other words, he's saying, I promise you, if you truly seek me in my presence, you will find me. But if you're seeking me because you need your bank account to be better, if you're seeking me because you're sick and you need healing, if you're seeking me because you're in a bind of some sort, yeah, not that he wouldn't do it. It's just he's God, he can do it if he wants to, but the reality of is we're missing the picture that he is the trophy. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 33:56

Same way we're it's all heart. So let's transition this into um the hunt last year. So which one? Where I killed my buck. Oh, okay. Yeah. So we've been kind of talking about coming here three years, no deer, this and that. Um kill the doe early season, and then Eric, really. I I don't know if you and Eric were talking secretly and were like, hey, we need to move a stand. We kind of had an idea, we talked about it.

SPEAKER_00: 34:29

We had hunted a few, actually, we'd hunted it quite a few times that season, and it was in a good spot, but it was just it was just right off the edge of where it really needed to be.

SPEAKER_02: 34:39

Yeah, deeper in that thing.

SPEAKER_00: 34:40

The more we hunted it, we realized, I mean, you're hearing footsteps over the deer there, they're just not coming out to that point. So we dug a little, and the problem is it's a bed near, that's where they stay. So if you get too deep in there, you're pushing them out, right? We're looking at what a 20, 30 acre thicket, maybe at best.

SPEAKER_02: 34:56

I mean, wide-wise, if we're in a tree stand and I shine the camera from the left to the right, you can see both feet. Right.

SPEAKER_00: 35:03

I mean, it's like it means they're all there, and you know the deer there.

SPEAKER_02: 35:06

So that the we did move it, what we'd move it, maybe we moved it about a hundred yards inside the thicket from um the edge of the planted, well, that was planted cotton at the time, but I don't think I don't think what was planted is actually important, it's the thicket that's involved. So there's there's cedars, there's pines, and there's oaks all mixed in on basically, if you're thinking of Florida, it's like if you saw some cornrows and then you saw basically the oak tree line in between. That's what it is, but it's instead of you know 10 yards or two or three trees wide, it's 30 yards wide. And Scott has always known that there were deer there. Um, and Eric, his buddy, it just at the end of the year, we're like, you know what? Let's move these stands, let's move them back, let's put a feeder up. And really, the fee, what's crazy about all this is like everybody wants to talk about feeding and it's legal and you can do it, but me killing my buck had zero to do with any kind of feed being in there.

SPEAKER_00: 36:17

It had everything to do with me being the best guy you've ever seen. I mean, I've rattled it before. It was look, it you gotta tickle the horns right, you know what I'm saying? If you don't tickle them right, they're not coming.

SPEAKER_02: 36:26

So the rattling of the horns was actually um sufficient. And you know, grunt and rattling, and we had a buck come into the open field and he was too far out there, he was kind of behind me. We're like, all right, they're moving. And then we heard, I mean, there was a grunt that we heard probably it felt like it was 200 yards away.

SPEAKER_00: 36:49

So much better knocking. And I'm like, I swear I just heard a grunt. So I'm like, Reese, because normally when you hear something, you're like, Did you hear that? Did you hear that? And I'm like, No, I ain't heard nothing. Right. And so I'm like, I heard it, but I didn't want to say anything because I was like, hey, I know he heard it. If I heard it, I know he heard it. And I'm like, Did you hear that?

SPEAKER_02: 37:06

So he grunted this deer, and this the buck from the field came in, and he was probably a two-year-old um basket eight. Um, would I have shot him if he was at 50 yards? I would have 100%. 100%. Um, he ran into the thicket, got downwind of it. He ran towards where all the does and stuff that you know you would think are at in the thicket, but from that area, all of a sudden we hear a grunt that is coming towards us from the same direction. And because the grunt was so deep, it wasn't a high-pitched grunt.

SPEAKER_00: 37:42

No, it was kind of one of them you hope you heard, but you weren't 100% sure. You know what I mean? It's like I'm pretty dead. How many times have we heard it and thought that's what it was? And you never see the deer, so you go, well, it must not have been that. But in this case, it was like, I'm pretty sure. Dude, I'm pretty sure, but I don't want to get my hopes up. Dude, it happened, it seemed like it happened.

SPEAKER_02: 38:00

It was no time, he was coming right to that, and it was you hear a few grunts, and then all of a sudden you see a buck past Scott, and I was behind Scott, and this deer was head down, just kind of like the public land buck I shot, head down behind the tree, coming right at us. And it was almost like, are you gonna do it or are you not? Because if he would have hit that field, he would have been gone on the neighbors.

SPEAKER_00: 38:26

And I know what I'm about to say, so many hunters can relate to, especially if you're a bow hunter slash uh gun hunting, gun season, bow like how many times we had success with a rifle, but the deer was in bow range. Like, I don't know how many times I've I've harvested deer with a rifle. I really want to do it with a bow, and you hunt so hard all season and can't make it happen, all of a sudden you get the opportunity, and the freaking deer's in bow range.

SPEAKER_02: 38:54

That's what's wild. You know how many times we've thought about bringing a bow and a gun? And because we try and stick, Scott and I, like we're avid, avid bow hunters. Like, if it was up to us, we'd bow hunt 24-7, but there's so many situations, especially on this other farm, the North Farm, that like having some binoculars and a rifle, like you can get into so many, you know, 140, 150, 160 class bucks that it makes you just grab that rifle and go. So it was at the very end of the season. There was actually snow on the ground. This was, I think, the end of January. And there was snow on the ground. First time our kids saw snow. Um, we probably have some footage of uh if you go to Seek and Find TV on YouTube, you'll see it. Yeah, it was like there's there's snow that we saw in in Columbus right down the road.

SPEAKER_00: 39:48

Mississippi, we get an inch, we're shutting down everything, everything was funny. You couldn't go nowhere, you couldn't go to Walmart and get that.

SPEAKER_02: 39:53

So we're walking in on snow, and we just happened to see this buck, and the blood that he saw after I shot this buck through my binoculars, was somewhat because of the snow. Yeah, he saw the red blood. And I mean, we really were kind of like, okay, we kind of know you shot it good, but the situation was very sketchy.

SPEAKER_00: 40:17

Well, you the deer didn't really act hit, you know what I'm saying? Like with a bow, you get that that meal kick so to speak, you gotta, you know, you got something that says I think it was so close. Yeah, it was. When you're talking about shooting, what do you have? 30 out six, I mean the deer's 30 yards, and you're like, you know, it punches through so fast, but the deer did not act like he was hit. Right. But uh being as the the the where we were hunting, either he's got to come out in a wide open and we can see he's not hit or he's dead right there. So and hearing, you know, and we didn't hear it.

SPEAKER_02: 40:47

I mean, we we both instantly looked at each other when we felt that the deer went down.

SPEAKER_00: 40:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 40:53

And then it was just kind of one of those sits where it's like, okay, we're gonna sit another, you know, these deer are moving, we're gonna sit another 30, 40 minutes, and we're gonna get down. And when we got down, it wasn't, but you you went to that first set of snow where he saw in the binoculars where the blood was.

SPEAKER_00: 41:10

It wasn't ex well, I say exciting, it was exciting, but it didn't really get real until we walked up onto that spot where I thought was blood through my binoculars, and we realized that's blood, and then it was like we got him, like there's no doubt.

SPEAKER_02: 41:22

Because it was it was so close that it was like you either completely smoke this deer or you completely miss this deer. And when you see blood, that instantly was like, okay.

SPEAKER_00: 41:35

And as far as the setup, if we're if we're gonna do some some obviously some ministry talk here, some some scripture and stuff, but as far as just hunting, if I could give some advice on that, the bedding area that we, you know, especially early season, bow season, right? You're talking about food source, water, comfort. Those deer are not roaming, you know what I'm saying? They're gonna be close. So the hard part is, and that's why we had the stand where we had it early season, we did not want to go off into that bedding area because it's like the chance of you blowing them out is exponentially higher than you actually getting there without them knowing you're there, having to win, right? Everything worked out perfect. So you stay off the edge of it and hope they come to you, right? Go to the food stores, get between them. But later season, when we moved it, the deer are roaming hard, right? It's the rut. They're traveling, there's different deer showing up on camera every day. Well, that changes the game. Now I can kind of move in there and know that if we do happen to bump deer, there's gonna be more come through because they're roaming, they're traveling, they're chasing.

SPEAKER_02: 42:33

And that's how it was. Like, even if we would have walked on that young buck, if that buck would have been in the thicket and we would have got up in the sand, we still would have had that buck coming that I killed.

SPEAKER_00: 42:42

And that's the that's the challenge that early season gives to you in the deer hunting world is you got pictures of deer, you you've scoped them out, you've done your you know homework, so to speak. But the problem is, is you got to get tight. Early season, there's you got to get tight. You can't, these deer are not gonna travel two or three miles. You know what I'm saying? They're not gonna travel that 800-yard distance you got from your stand to the bedding area. You gotta get tight. And the hard part is can you get in there without them knowing? So that's why early season offers so much challenge because you know the deer are there, your camera's telling you there, but by the time you get to the stand, that deer knows you're there and you never see him. How many people can say, Man, I've had daylight, this deer's been daylight for the last two weeks. I got him. And you go in there like, I didn't see him. I don't understand. He's been here every day. What happened? Well, he probably watched you walk in. Truth be told, if not, he smelled you, you know, when he he was gonna stick to his routine. So later season, obviously it opens up, but early season the challenge is getting there tight and and not messing everything up because those deer are they're gonna they're gonna be eating and sleeping and and trying to stay close to water, and it's just uh it's hard to get in there tight on. It really is.

SPEAKER_02: 43:50

Yeah, yeah, I agree. So you want to uh you want to do another episode of the hunting story, or do you have a hunting story off the top of your head that you're gonna be?

SPEAKER_00: 44:01

Oh I man, I got so many hunting stories. I'm trying to you hit me up now, I'm trying to think of one. Um yeah, we can do that. There's nothing better again. We talk about the trophy. That's the fact that I can sit here and tell hunting stories, the last, the biggest deer I've ever killed is on the wall right behind you. He scored 156. Biggest deer I've ever taken in my life with a boat. You know how often I think about that deer? Not very often. I I I enjoyed the hunt, I remember every second of it, but you know what I remember is is our mine and your failures when we had a blast. The times that we screwed it up, but we just enjoyed every second of it and laughed. And the times that we had to work so hard to try to get in here on this deer, or either we had that deer pattern, we thought it and we hunted so hard to try to the time that's what I remember. Like, and I enjoyed every second of it.

SPEAKER_02: 44:53

You know that how often we have literally been in the woods, like, yeah, dude. I I shot a deer. You shot a I think it was I think it's almost every year where it's like I sat in the same spot and you either shot a buck a few days beforehand or you saw a bunch of deer, or it's the after the fact, like after the fact I leave, and it's like, yeah, I had Eric and his dad come.

SPEAKER_00: 45:21

And it was the most amazing, like crazy, right? It's always been we were out there every day for a week and it didn't happen, and they come and I'm like, I'm kind of skeptical because I'm like, man, I got these guys coming, I want to put them on deer, but I'm kind of down because I'm like, it ain't been happening, you know, and then we go out there and it's like the heavens opened up, there's deer running everywhere. Yeah, yeah, but it again, it all goes back to the trophy, right? So if you're if you're seeking Christ for anything other than himself and his presence and the goodness of God, you're missing the point. It's the same way with hunting, too. If you're seeking the trophy and the in the results of a successful hunt, meaning I gotta put an arrow in this giant deer and be able to put it on Facebook, right? I'm not condemning it, don't get me wrong. Uh there's nothing wrong with it, but I'm saying truthfully that I think we're missing the point. We we're not seeking the right trophy. I mean, God says you seek me, you'll find me, because He is the trophy. If you'll seek me, if you'll seek Christ, you will find Him. It's not if you'll seek me and you'll get this reward, or you seek me and you get this, and it doesn't happen, and then we go, well, I gotta I I can't do that no more. That's not the case.

SPEAKER_02: 46:32

I mean, if that was if it was the case of you know, seeking and finding the trophy, then like the experience would be irrelevant. The experience of you know, in between hunts, finding shark's teeth and going on the creeks and and being at the cabin and the fellowship and the cooking cooking good food after a hunt, like all those things, um, it just seems it seems so irrelevant if the only reason we're here is to seek that trophy.

SPEAKER_00: 47:04

We're just seeking the wrong result. It's the same way in our faith. If we're seeking the wrong result in our faith, in our walk with Christ, we won't see it. Yeah. Same way with hunting. If we're seeking the wrong results, we will get burnt out, tired, and why are we doing this? I go do something else. 100%.

SPEAKER_02: 47:19

I've I've felt that way so many times on public land in Florida, it's like, why am I even doing this?

SPEAKER_00: 47:24

I can't do it because you're calling me and it's 98 degrees. Like, I get like you call me, like all I hear is mosquitoes buzzing, man. I can't know. I'm out.

SPEAKER_02: 47:32

I'm on this solid buck, dude, 110 inches I know he's coming.

SPEAKER_00: 47:37

And uh, but dude, if that I know if if you were result, if you were result oriented uh last year, you would have quit after about two weeks in.

SPEAKER_02: 47:46

I mean, I think there is one point where you're like, why are you even coming back?

SPEAKER_00: 47:49

Why am I doing this? I'm I'm out here just killing myself, yeah, and nothing, nothing that I want, right? So we want the wrong thing. That's what I'm saying. If we want the right thing, then every minute of that is worth it. It's the same way in our faith. If we're seeking him for who he is, his presence, his goodness, and and salvation, like we have won the victory. If we're seeking it for heavenly things, every second is worth it, no matter what. If not, then we miss the boat and we we tend to struggle in our faith because things aren't going the way we want. But you gotta have the right trophy in mind. That's the bottom line.

SPEAKER_02: 48:24

Well, this was an awesome episode. Um, solid advice, solid, I mean, it's not even really advice or opinion, it is just living the way you live and the way your lifestyle is, and uh, you know, what are you truly seeking and what are you truly finding? And you can ask yourself that question right now. And if you know of friends or buddies that you know hunt so often, but like are seeking the wrong reasons, send it to them. Send this, send this podcast to them and let them know, you know, it this you're seeking the wrong things. Listen to this podcast because we've been here, man. We've we've been dealing with it for, I mean, just just me and Scott alone has only been four years, but Scott's been dealing, you know, with with uh harvest and not harvest and and going and hunting 15 times and seeing a handful of deer, he's been dealing with this his whole life. So why are you seeking? Why are you finding? And if it's about the harvest, if it's about that deer, you're doing it for the wrong reasons. If you can get up in that stand and you can thank God for everything that you have in your life, and thank you, Lord, to be able to sit out in this tree, to be able to lend you're always gonna have successful hunts, and that's the best advice I feel that Scott and I can give you guys is seek the right reasons, get out in the woods, get out in a tree stand, go and scout, do it with your kids, man. I mean, this would be a whole nother podcast on why you do it with your kids. Like your kids want to be out there with you, they don't want to be at the house. Your wife probably wants it, uh maybe. Some wives don't really want to be out in nature, but some wives want to be out there with you, they want to experience what you're experiencing. That's the whole reason why I started filming, you know, 10 years ago is because I'm like, I hunted so hard by myself, and it's like, dude, I want my wife to see these things I'm talking about. And next thing you know, great friends, great fellowship, meeting new people. Um, and we're really out here to seek God's presence and to really enjoy his presence and just man, just soak it up, sit by a campfire, talk, fellowship, sit, you know, wherever you're at. That's that's really what the hunt and the harvest is all about. The harvest is when I go home, am I a bigger man and a better man and a greater husband than I am the first three years? I can tell you honestly, I went home saying, Amber, I'm a better man. I'm gonna treat you better, I'm gonna act better, I'm gonna, I'm, I've been this person this whole time. And that's what's the crazy thing. It's like once you get those right people, um you'll realize it has nothing to do with hunting. Um but we love it, that's our platform, that's what we enjoy doing, and that's how we know to speak Christ through others is through the outdoors and and through the healing that you know being in nature gives. Um but with that said, Scott, you have anything else to say?

SPEAKER_00: 51:38

I would just end it with reiterating what we've said over and over in this podcast is that Jesus is the trophy. So if you're struggling in your faith because you're walking through your life and you're not seeing uh the things change in your life, then you sought him for the wrong reason. The the reason is him and him alone and his presence. That's what you were made for, designed for. And when you begin to just simply say, God, I don't know if you'll change my circumstance, I don't know if you'll fix this problem in my life, but I know that if I can just fellowship with you and I can talk to you, then I can walk through that with peace. I can walk through it with joy, I can fight any battle because I have the greatest treasure and I sought the treasure and I found it in Christ and in Christ alone. That would be what I would leave you with. It's the same way with deer hunting. Like I said, instead of making it about amount of inches of bone on a deer or how many fish you catch or how many turkey you kill, it's it's it's not about that. It's about the memories, the fellowship, that just go with the right purpose. If you seek him, you will find him. And if you go to the outdoors seeking to get some rest, if you go to the outdoors seeking to find some enjoyment, just have some peace, you're gonna enjoy every second because you're gonna realize that your trophy is not in the size of the deer or the animal that you're chasing. The trophy is the time out here spent doing it and the time that I get to reflect on the Lord and pray and just enjoy that outdoors that he gave us, then you're gonna find your trophy every single time you go to the woods.

SPEAKER_02: 53:16

Well, Scott, I appreciate you. Yeah, as always. We're uh blood brothers without the blood. I mean, he shed some blood today, hitting some potholes on his e-bike. But um we uh we just love love the fellowship. We love just being out here together, and um, that's what it's about. You guys need to seek and you need to find. And if you guys have any questions, you can comment below. Um, you can text us below now. There's in the description, you can text. Um seek and find outdoor TV on YouTube, seek and find TV. You can find our shows on there. We're gonna have a land prep here soon. Um, and we just have a lot of exciting things planned this year with veterans, with the disabled kids, with the ministers. Awesome, yeah, awesome stuff's going on. So God's working as always, and I don't like saying God's moving because God is He's always moving, um, but we're just obeying and we're just um we're we're just the messengers, and that's all we can ask for. Praise God. Um praise God for everything we have, praise God for our life, praise God for our circumstances in the valleys, in the in the mountaintops. I just praise God for everything. Um and thank you, Jesus, for dying on the cross for us because if it wasn't for that, we wouldn't even be, we wouldn't have a purpose to wake up. So thank you, Lord. Thank you guys, appreciate your support, and we'll catch you on the next one. Peace.