Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire A church that hunts together?

Do any of you belong to a parish/church/etc that organizes hunting trips?

Obviously hunting trips are a great way of building fraternity & camaraderie among men (especially). And that holds true equally for those men who belong to a given parish or church. You have time together in the evenings for fellowship, and could even have a couple of talks on worthwhile religious or moral topics. Beyond that, if you could get the guys who go on the trip to agree that if they take a deer/elk/etc. they will donate at least 25% (to choose a random number) of the meat to the poor, you�d have an opportunity for Christian fellowship and a great charitable work.

I am in the seminary now, and down the road I�d love to organize that type of thing. However, I have never (in my limited experience) seen such a trip organized by a church. But I know that there must be people who have done this, and there�s no sense in re-inventing the wheel if I can build on older & wiser heads than mine, so I thought I�d bring it to the �fire.

So to repeat the question: Do any of you belong to a parish/church/etc that ever organizes hunting trips? Or have you ever heard of one? If you have, can you give any particulars�how was it organized? How long? Was it just a hunting trip, or was there any Christian formation that was incorporated into it? Where was the church, and how far away was the trip? Was it organized by a men�s group, or by the pastor himself? Any other cool or interesting things that they did--competitions, etc? Thanks for the help, I appreciate the feedback�

I used to stage an annual church men's "prairie dog safari"-
one day, just enough of a trip to feel like one, a gas grill hauled out and monster-size burgers cooked and served. The varmint trip worked well because guys of all ages liked it, and
we also staged various targets other than the rodents- balloons
in the brush, etc. It was one of the most successful things I've
ever done, and got to the point that guys we didn't know would
see us getting ready and ask to come along.

I used to elk hunt with a group of men from my church, was a great time every year. Lots of hunters in my fellowship that I now attend but many if not most oare form Oregon and I am a WashingtonResident. I stull hope to get an Elk Camp tradition re started.

My Pastor and his young daughters go hunting with me a great deal.

You are onto something and I applaude your efforts.

Which seminary?

i've never participated in such, but do like the concept.

back in the day, several of us youngsters would gather with a chop ax, and go looking for a Xmas Tree on adjacent lands of the Church.

a Xmas Tree in the Sanctuary is a beginning. from that point forward, we can continue.

Oh, yeah- also taught flytying classes for nearly 10 years, on a weekly basis, in a church-house. Most participants had no connection w/ the church, but came for their interest in the activity. Was always careful to keep it on that level, on purpose, and found plenty of opportunity for sharing spiritual matters, as a result.

Not officially, but the pastor and several other members organize and carry out local hunts together. The pastor and some members are going on a turkey hunt to Texas next month. Several have gone elk hunting together to Colorado. It is very common to see hunters standing together before and after church and planning hunting and shooting get togethers. So far work has kept me from going on any out of state hunts, but I have hunted with several members.

I have taught several hunter education classes in church facilities.

I definitely like the idea of any outdoors-related activity, from the x-mas tree hunt to the fly-tieing. And the prairie dog safari sounds like a lot of fun, and I can see why people would want to come out for it! The only reason why the hunting trip strikes me as something unique is that you're out for longer (=more bonding time), and you can bring back something to really help feed people who might need help. I suppose you might be able to bring back something extra to eat on a fishing trip, but only if you're deep sea fishing for marlin or something, lol.

Safariman, what you mentioned seems like what I'm talking about, although I don't know if it was organized by the church in some way, or just a group of friends (fellow church-goers) who happened to hunt together. Either way, a cool thing. Oh, in answer to your question: it's a Catholic seminary--I'll PM you details. I'm leaving it out of the thread just because I don't want to shift the topic at-hand. Lot's of times the religious discussions have a way of turning septic pretty fast!

Oh yeah, I meant to add: safariman, I really like your signature line--keep your priorities straight! And hacklewrap, that's an excellent observation out being able to talk about spiritual matters without making that the point of the classes...

I think its a great idea! I've considered it but have yet to put it together. Maybe this thread gives the needed impetus.

Here's a link to an organization you Christian hunters may appreciate. This group is active in my area.

http://www.christianbowhunters.org/

Please do! It seems to me that as long as you've got three guys you've got the minimum, and it wouldn't be hard to make new converts, I don't think. There aren't enough of those types of activities for men that are organized by churches. And even if there were plenty, there can never be too many!

PS-Thanks for the link.

My Sunday School teacher used to take my brother and I pheasant hunting. It would have to be something laid back and informal with some targets to shoot if you want to take big groups. Probably incorporate grilling out or something as well. We had a wild game feed that went over pretty well.

One benefit we always looked for was the mature men being able to
bring along boys who lacked dads or granddads- that was the point behind the low-key scale. Some fine young men had rare chances, with some stand-in grandpas.

That's a great point, hacklewrap. With the breakdown in families, you often have kids whose dads aren't around, or aren't around much. Insofar as is possible, it's important for the other men in the parish to help be stand-ins. My dad is a psychologist, and he has done a bunch of work/studies/etc. on the effects of substitute fathers. It turns out that because kids are so resilient, they can draw a lot of the important "father figure" things they need from someone they don't see that much of--e.g., sports coach, teacher, pastor, grandpa, scout leader, etc.

I always thought that it was good for my sons to see grown Christian men interacting (besides their dad) and having a good time. Hunting is a great way to do that.

Our church has, for years, hosted a wild game supper at the end of hunting season. It is open to the community and so well attended that the Church had to start using tickets to control the numbers. Notices go out to other churches and people are encouraged to bring guests that might enjoy and or benefit from the meeting. The members donate the wild game and volunteers help cook it. We usually have a drawing for prizes and a message at the end by an invited guest.

I have attended a similar event in Alabama for several years now. The food was excellent and the fellowship outstanding. A good percentage of the members do hunt and fish together.

I attended a church for years that had an annual "fishin mission" campout.

It was, as you say, a great bonding time.

We went for a long weekend and cooked for ourselves, actually, I did most of the cooking and it was fun.

You have to consider that for this to succeed you need to do an event that can be done by folks of different experience levels, different physical abilities and you need to make it affordable. It was even lightly subsidized by the mens service organization.

When we were done, an annual "trophy" was put up in the fellowship hall to commemorate the occasion and preserve the tradition. The trophy was always something a bit silly but in good taste and included a photo of all the participants that year. I miss it.

If ya have more questions shoot me a PM.

My first parish was in a rural area, once some of the men whose wives and kids came to church regularly found out their new priest loved to hunt and fish, they began attending (out of curiosity at first), and I had so many offers to hunt and fish in areas I normally wouldn't have access to. Everyone was a winner...first the Lord and then me!

Several local churches have been working together for the last three years to put on a wild game dinner. We use ours as an outreach to those who otherwise wouldn't enter a church. At our last one we gave away 17 guns and a new ATV.

Nothing beter than gathering and then going out to kill all God's creatures!

LOL

Aw, ColsPaul, since they were created to serve us, as long as we're using them (food) I guess it's alright!

I like the idea of having a game dinner after the hunt--to bring people back to church, and even just as a fundraiser.

oldtrapper, what you're talking about is just what I'm thinking of! Expect a PM. And you're definitely right that it has to be geared to different experience & physical levels, and be pretty cheap. A long weekend doesn't usually mean you're going too far away or doing something fancy (=$$$). In-state licenses aren't too expensive, and probably many guys will already have them. That's one of the great things about hunting (and fishing too)--it isn't only for guys who are in their salad days or great physical condition. Football games, etc. are great, but you can't get everyone involved.

Re. experience, I thought you could even have a couple of training sessions for those who haven't hunted much or ever (or "review", for those who haven't been in a long time). And maybe even if there were guys who didn't have the necessary equipment, another generous-hearted guy who had an extra rifle could let him borrow it for the weekend...