BRIAN JOHNSON ON OUTDOORS: I’m thankful … for it all

Published 12:01 am Tuesday, November 27, 2018

So far this hunting season has been one of the least productive seasons I have had in years.

In fact as I type, I have harvested exactly one Pronghorn, zero whitetail, zero hogs, and one duck!  This isn’t exactly up to my usual standards. To be honest, I can’t say that I have been real avid, but I did make the pilgrimage to Kansas only to discover that 13 degrees is way too cold for this Texans to bowhunt.  I gave it my best effort but three days was all that I could stand so I left early and came home empty handed. However, I would say that its seasons like this that make me look back and appreciate all of the great years and successful times that I have been blessed to enjoy in the outdoors.  I can honestly say that God has blessed me beyond measure and I have had more great experience than any one many deserves.  My mind is filled with memories that will last a lifetime and my freezer has been filled many times as well.

From my perch in the top of a frozen tree, I began to count my blessings and think about all that I am thankful for. This list is by no means all inclusive, but it is a good start.

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I am thankful that my dad took the time to take me and my brothers hunting and fishing while we were growing up. He did this even when I am sure he was tired and might have had other things that needed to be done. I can remember him paddling his walk through windshield Galaxy boat.  He paddled around the cove acting as our human trolling motor so that we could experience bass fishing at Rayburn for the first time.  I am also thankful that he bought us a bass boat with a trolling motor!

I am thankful for the times that he got up at 3 a.m. to take us hunting for waterfowl at the refuge. I am thankful for the years that he got us a lease on the old “China Hunting Club”. I am thankful that he taught us how to set out decoys, and blow a duck call.  I am thankful that he showed me how to train a Labrador retriever and instilled in me a love for great hunting dogs. I am thankful for the breakfast of homemade biscuits, bacon, eggs, and sausage that my mom would have waiting on the table when we returned from our adventures.

I am thankful for the times that I got to spend hunting with my “Paw Paw Babb”. He was one of the last hounds-men who hunted deer with beagles.  I’m thankful that I got to experience this before it was outlawed completely in Texas.  I’m also thankful for my “MiMi” who taught me patience as we sat under a tree waiting for squirrels to come out. She taught me how to catch catfish and cook them on the shore.  I’m thankful that every time I smell fish frying, I am reminded of those campfire cookouts with her.

I am thankful for the times that I have spent duck hunting with my youngest son Noah. I am thankful for the passion and excitement that he has shown for not only the duck hunting, but the dog training as well. I am thankful for the fishing trips I have had with my son Caleb. They way he gets so excited every time he catches one makes me smile as I type. Every time he hooks one he calls for the net saying it’s a big one regardless of its size.  I’m thankful for the bow hunts that I have had with my daughter Brianna. I’m thankful that she still wants to hunt with me even though she is a grown woman.  I am thankful that she still goes bow hunting even when I can’t.  She has carried on the tradition well.

I am thankful for my friends and hunting buddies who are too numerous to name.  They have shared the camps, cooked the meals, helped track and clean the animals that we harvested.  They have hung stands, filled feeders, planted food plots, and shared their lives with me.

I am thankful for my brothers who were my first hunting and fishing partners and still share in these experiences with me today.  I am thankful for my wife who has tolerated my often obsessive hunting addiction and has taken one for team and gone with me when I’m sure she would have fathered done something else.  I am thankful that after all of these years she finally actually likes to hunt and is good at it!

I am thankful for Jesus who gave me the ability to hunt and fish and created the very fish and game that I pursue!

As I look back at my own list, I notice that it wasn’t about the size of the bass or the antlers on the deer.  In fact it hasn’t been about the animals much at all.  I realize now that the trophies aren’t the ones that we pursue but the ones that we pursue them with.  Today I am thankful for all of these wonderful people that God has placed in my life who have truly made my life a great adventure! May God richly bless you this holiday season and I encourage you to take time to thank Him for the people in your life who make life worth living.

Brian Johnson, originally of Port Neches, is pastor of the Outdoorsman’s Church in Winnie, owner of DuckDogTrainer.com and outdoors writer for The News.