Say "Uncle"

Over this thanksgiving weekend I received wonderful news to give thanks for. My sister is going to have a baby!! I am so thrilled for her and Danny. They are going to make great parents, and hopefully I can be a great uncle. (Great as in fantastic, not great as in old :) )

In hearing this news, I realize that I will be going back to Central Minnesota more often to visit my new niece or nephew. This means more hunting for me, which is why I want to buy a bow and arrow. The season lasts from mid-September to late-December. This equates to many weekends of hunting and playing with the new baby in the family. I am really excited!

I have never even shot a bow and arrow before, but I have always wanted to start the sport. There are many things to consider when buying a compound bow and arrow. I spent some time researching about what to look for today and found some valueable insights. Specifically this website: http://www.huntersfriend.com/bowselection.htm

The important thing is to find a bow that fits my body. Everyone is different and one of the most important things to be successful is to have a bow that I am comfortable shooting. This will give me better form, which turns into better shooting. From this I am to choose the draw length and draw weight. That is how far back the string is pulled and how much weight it takes to pull the string back. Draw length can be estimated based on height, but it comes down to what is most comfy for me. A rule of thumb is my wingspan divided by 2.5, which is about 30" for me. The longer the draw length, the more power the bow will have because more of my energy will be converted to potential energy as I draw the bow. The draw weight is a major component in the power of the bow as well. Obviously the higher the weight, the more power. I will probably find a bow in the 50-60lb class. This should produce plenty of power to take down a whitetail with today's bow and arrows.

Another important thing to consider is brace height. This is the length from the arrow shelf to where the string is in the resting position. A larger brace height allows for a more forgiving bow. The reason for this is because with a smaller brace height, the distance required for me to draw the bow is greater. When I let go of the string, my body might flinch or twitch or move somehow. With a larger brace height, the string has less distance to travel back to rest which means it gets there quicker, which means there is less time for me to make a mistake. Average brace heights are around 7". I will probably look for a bow with a brace height more than 7.5".

Other less important factors when looking for a bow are split limb vs. solid limb. I am indifferent as to these 2. I will choose the cheaper of the 2. Cam aggression is also a thing to consider. An aggressive cam provides more power, but is more difficult to control. The cams affect the smoothness of the draw back and the tolerance between holding the string back and firing the bow. An aggressive cam will reach higher power faster, but this means that the hunter can not let the string forward when holding a draw back because it will want to fire quicker. I will go with a moderate cam. Then there is letoff %. This is the % of the draw weight that is let off when at full draw. For instance, if I have a 50lb draw weight and 80% letoff, it will feel like 10lbs when holding the string at full draw. This is nice because it gives more time to aim because it is not as difficult to hold back the string. The axle height is the distance from axle to axle, basically how tall the bow is. This affects how forgiving the bow is as well. The taller bow will have more forgiveness. I will look for a bow with a little more axle height probably around 34".

The last thing I will talk about is the recoil. This was really interesting to me. Even a bow and arrow will have recoil, the same way a shotgun has recoil. It is simply physics. Most of the energy released will go to the arrow which gives the arrow motion forward. However, some of the energy is absorbed by the bow, giving it recoil. This energy is exerted on the limbs of the bow. The old type of bow has vertical limbs, which when fired the stored energy will cause the bow to want to go the same direction as the arrow. The way bow and arrow manufacters solved this problem is by making the limbs horizontal so when the bow is fired the limbs go up and down which means the top limb is going up and bottom limb is going down and the 2 forces cancel each other out leaving less recoil. This is genius and I will be sure to look out for it when I am purchasing my first bow and arrow.

There is so much more to learn about the right bow and arrow for me. I haven't even mentioned arrow size and broadhead. However, I am going to start shopping so that I can get out in the woods earlier next year and spend more time hunting that trophy buck.

I went on so long about this because I wanted to make sure I knew what I was talking about before I actually went out to look for a bow and arrow. I wanted to make sure I learned what I read earlier today. You know that you learned something if you can rephrase it in your own words and it still makes sense.

One Love,
Danger

The Bird's and the Butterfly's

Click on the picture to see it better.

Each week Laura and I try to study the Bible together. We are going through Ephesians right now and recently we studied the end of chapter 4 and the beginning of chapter 5 titled "Children of Light" in our NIV bibles. The image above is a diagram we drew to encapsulate the idea Paul is trying to get across in this section of Ephesians. Laura is in Physics right now, so using a hill where Potential energy and Kinetic energy are described further helped us understand this passage through the diagram. Not only was it fun to draw, but it helped us to better understand the process of sanctification and the importance of a holy lifestyle. (I actually drew this on one of the blank pages in the back of my bible. Kinda funny everytime I look at it.)


This would make more sense if you read Ephesians 4:17-5:21. This section talks about the transformation we are supposed to experience as children of light by putting off our old self and putting on our new self. This is a transformation of the mind and heart which causes our deeds to transform from bad to good.

In the diagram, there is a snowball at the top of the hill. This snowball is you. On top of the hill the potential energy is the greatest. We can head towards the right side of the hill, evil or our old self, or we can head towards the left side of the hill, good or our new self. It is important to notice that on top of the hill, the snowball is not moving. The kinetic energy on top of a hill = zero. It is lukewarm, like in Revelation 3:15-16. This is not good because Jesus will spit you out. So the snowball has the ability to roll left or right.

If we roll down the left side, we are stuck in our old self lifestyle. Where we are doing bad things, like stealing or cheating. Our hearts are hardened and we are seperated from God because of this. If we roll down the left side we are ignorant and insensitive to the things of God, and we are impure in our actions. As we roll down the left side, we continually lust for more and remove ourselves farther from God and godly things.

If we roll down the right side, we are becoming more like God. We are "being imitators of Him" (Ephesians 5:1), and the attitudes of our mind are to be made new. We will be more other people centered instead of self centered. We will naturally be more humble, and we will actively be exposing evil to the light of Christ. This was an important thing we hit on. Not only are we to be exposing evil to light, but we are to be active in searching this out. We need to be actively seeking evil so that we can destroy it. Sure we can sit back and wait to be convicted of evil before we destroy it, OR we can seek out the darkness in the corners of our hearts and destroy it when WE find it. Not when it finds us. There are many areas in our lives that need the light of Christ to shine on. Many that we don't even know about, which is why it is important for us to seek these areas so that they do not catch us off guard.

Another important thing we noticed is that it is easier to roll down than it is to climb up. I think this is true both ways. It is easier to continue in our old way of life and head towards our old self. I also believe that it is easier to continue being imitators of God if that is something we practice. The more good I do, the easier it will be next time. As well as, the more evil I do, the easier it will be next time.

The snowball rolls and picks up speed as it heads down the hill. This means that the farther down the hill we roll, the harder it is to go back, not impossible, but harder. It requires more work. Near the top of the hill, the snowball can easily go left or right. The snowball does not have as much kinetic energy, or movement, to slow it down to head the other way. This would represent the wayward soul. The new believer who has a hard time changing from his old ways of evil and wants to go back. But as this snowball makes his way down the right side of the hill, it becomes more and more difficult to turn back towards evil. I think that the more we know God, the less we will want to sin. Thus making it more difficult to sin because our will is fighting against the will to sin. I am not saying that it is more difficult for the more mature Christian to sin because it is always easy to sin, I am rather referring to a lifestyle of sin.

The same is true on the other side. The more we sin, the easier it is to sin and the more difficult it is to get out of that sin. The hill is in the way to easily cross to the other side. Crossing sides requires work. Actively seeking God and being aware of our choices and who we are as we transform into the likeness of Christ is necessary to put on the new self. Paul lists a lot of actions and attitudes that are to be put off, which goes along with putting on the new self. We can't just one day say we are new and be new. No, it needs to be followed with actions and a changing attitude for the statement to be true. This is our sanctification, being transformed from who we were to the image of Christ. This is done by actively seeking God and destroying the darkness that is in us. If we do not destroy the darkness that is in us, we will hold that darkness. There is no darkness in God. Therefore, if we hold onto our darkness, we cannot be like Christ and therefore we are not fully sanctified. There will be no darkness in heaven. Somehow, the darkness will be driven out of us. I would say it is easier to take care of it now rather than later. One way or another God will destroy the darkness in us (Hebrews 12:14-27). I would rather give it up, than have it ripped from me. The later hurts much worse.

What Laura and I learned was that we need to always be moving. It is not good to just sit on top of the hill because we need to be headed towards the bottom of the right side of the hill. We don't get there just by sitting. We also learned that it is easy to change our direction when it is still early. The farther we get in either direction, the easier it is to continue heading there. Which is why it is so important to continue heading in the right direction. We learned that being an imitator of God means being others focused, humble, caring, and actively destroying evil. We also learned that Laura and I draw wings differently. She draws them like a butterfly's and I draw them like a bird's :)

One Love,
Danger

Vaction is a detail oriented affair, I should come up with a vision statement.

I did not get a deer this last weekend :( Therefore, I am headed back into the woods this weekend. Hopefully, I will get a shot at the tirdy pointer. Perhaps only in my dreams...

Before I left to go deer hunting last weekend, I spent $300 and a couple hours to blow insulation in my attic. Before I did this, my attic looked cold and gloomy. Now it looks like a winter wonderland of snow. I feel warmer just looking up there. With the government 30% rebate, I really only paid $200. That should be paid off by the money I will save on my heating bill in a few years, maybe less.

I got really excited yesterday because I was looking at fireplaces and different design plans for them. I went to the Fireside and Hearth website. They allow you to custom design a fireplace and they show you what it will look like. I am going to get a gas fireplace. I want to go with a natural stone mantel and hearth. It looks gorgeous. The estimate was $3500. I can maybe make cuts here and there to get it under $3000. I plan on going shopping for them next week :)

Ceiling fans are 25% off at Menards this week. I should stop in and pick 2 up for my family room today. Could save me $50.

The question I have for the day is how I should spend the last 5 vacation days I have at work. I could take 3 days before Christmas off and 2 days before New years. This would give me 12 of 14 days that I do not have to work, including weekends OR I could take 1 day before Christmas and 4 days before New Years off which would give me 12 straight days off. I am faced with difficult decisions as an adult. I am leaning towards the 1 / 4 which gives me 12 straight days off, but we will see what Laura's schedule and the Christmas plan looks like :)

Deer Hunting

This weekend I will take to the field with the nearly 500,000 other deer hunters to enjoy the peace and serenity of the sport/art of deer hunting. The weather is supposed to be warm and sunny. I am a little skeptical of my success because of how warm it is supposed to be. The deer have their winter coats on and they don't like to move as much when it is too warm. Hopefully, I can attract them with doe urine and my "True Talker" buck grunt. All things aside, I am very excited and took Monday and Tuesday off of work so that I can hunt longer.

I like to sit in a tree and wait for the deer to come to me. I get to enjoy nature more because there is a lot of down time while the deer prepare to show theirself to me. Not only that, but the shots are usually a lot more accurate because the deer are not running. This means less wounded animals. I was disturbed by a comment made by a man behind me in Fleet Farm. I was buying ammo for this weekend and the cashier lady wished me good luck on getting the big one this weekend. I smiled at her and thanked her for her wishes. Meanwhile, the jerk behind me says in a snarky tone, "Big one! We shoot everything." I looked at him with a disgusted face and neglected to say anything as I left the store.

Thinking about it a little more, I should have snapped back at this guy. "You know it is jerks like you that gives hunters a bad name!" "Is your only purpose to kill and destroy?" That is not what deer hunting is for me. I am not in the woods to murder and destroy everything. This guy made is sound like he brings chaos into the woods and leaves when he is satisfied. I respect the woods and the deer that I hunt. I thank God every time I shoot a deer and thank Him for giving the life of that animal to me. I thank God for giving the other deer another day of life, and for caring for them. This guy was missing the big picture. I hope that the people he hunts with and, God forbid, his kids don't have the same attitude as him.

Hunters, please respect the woods and the animals in them. It is God's creation and it is our duty to care for it as God does. Let us not go in to destroy. It is irresponsible and inappropriate. May God bless and keep those safe who will be hunting this weekend.

One Love,
Danger