Decoys and Duck Calls

Today was the first time in a couple of weeks that I have been able to get outside and enjoy the outdoors.  The last weekend of rifle season our family started sharing a cold virus, which left us in bed instead of in the deer blind.  We have now transitioned from deer hunting to duck hunting and  while I do not go on duck hunts, I do go scouting with my husband.   Our outdoor scouting adventures cover several miles around Lake Wister (I cannot reveal the specific locations of the honey holes) and a lot of walking.  On our scouting adventure we had the chance to see some hunters working a group of ducks to get them into shooting range.  Well, we didn’t actually see them because they were so well camouflaged, but we did see their flapping wing decoy and hear them blowing their duck calls.  I started asking my husband questions about the different types of duck call sounds hunters make and why.  He explained that ducks are very social birds and basically the different types of calls are invitations for the ducks in flight to stop for a visit and join the party.  Some ducks fly right over the hunters and others decide to fly in and check out what’s going on.  Unfortunately for the ducks that fly in, they quickly realize this is a party they shouldn’t have joined and they end up on the dinner table. 

Our choice of friends and activities can parallel a duck hunt.   Just as the ducks fly around the sky deciding where to land, we go through life deciding which people to be friends with and where we want to socialize.  Also, just like the hunters who work diligently with decoys and calls to lure ducks into shooting range, there are many things in life that try to lure us away from our Christian walk.  We have to be like the ducks that fly true to their course and be careful not to be lured away from our faith by things that sound and look enticing.

Colossians 2:8 Don't let anyone lead you astray with empty philosophy and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the evil powers of this world, and not from Christ.

 

This photo is of my husband and our three oldest sons in 2009.

 

CAMOUFLAGE

This year I have spent more time in the woods hunting than ever before and I have learned how important camouflage is to a successful hunt.  Visual and scent camouflage allow the hunter to enter the domain of deer without being seen or smelled and blend in with the natural environment.  Preparing my personal camouflaged blind and clothing for hunting brought to mind how individuals can camouflage themselves in daily life, especially through social media. 

I was a huge fan of social media when it first came on the scene and still believe it can be beneficial, if used appropriately.  I personally see social media as working much like hunting camouflage in that it allows individuals to portray themselves as something they are not. . . they are camouflaged.  None of our lives are without struggles, disappointments and achievements; but on Facebook and Instagram we can have the perfect life.  Now granted none of us want to air all of our dirty laundry, but more often than not we want to post and share those pictures and status updates that obviously show us only at our best.  Do we talk and act one way on our profiles and a different way in person?  Do we use social media to camouflage who we are to others?  There is an acronym known as WYSIWYG {What You See Is What You Get}.  Well, WYSIWYG is not always true with social media.  We all know those individuals; the perfect parent on Facebook, the young man who acts tough through the words of his tweets or the young girl who photoshops her selfies for Instagram.   Social media has created a new avenue for peer pressure for all ages allowing people to be camouflaged.  We have to decide how to use social media to project ourselves to the world.  Is it who we really are, or are we camouflaged in social media to be something we are not?

These are my two camouflaged hunting blinds.