I recently posted a picture of the Southern WV whitetail that I hunted all season and asked others to help me come up with a name for him in order to further develop the story that hopefully will end with me putting an arrow through him. After all the help, it hit me that his name had to be Solomon, or “Sol” for short. No doubt you will see me reference this deer several more times, as a 170” buck is not an everyday thing.
Solomon is an incredibly wise buck, a trait that has allowed him to reach the size he is today. In the past two years I have only one daylight picture. He doesn’t seem to have a pattern, even in the early season. He is a roamer, as I have pictures of him on every camera I had up. I have never even laid eyes on him, something which I hope can change this year as I expand my hunting grounds and holding efforts in an attempt to narrow down a place to kill him. However, there is still doubt in my mind that I will be able to outsmart the wisest deer I have ever hunted. I need to shift the odds in my favor—matching wisdom for wisdom seems to be a good start.
The deer’s namesake, King Solomon, was the wisest man to ever walk the Earth aside from Jesus. As I have studied Ecclesiastes and Proverbs, my prayers for wisdom are being answered by the words of Solomon himself. For anyone who knows me well, Ecclesiastes is undoubtedly my favorite book as an elderly Solomon lays out his wisdom to conclude that the Earth is meaningless and the only thing that matters is the pursuit of The Creator.
“Remember your Creator
In the days of your youth,
Before the days of trouble come
And the years approach when you will say,
“I find no pleasure in them”
-Ecclesiastes 12:1
As I hunt for Solomon, I have to latch my eyes onto the fact that the creation is meaningless compared to The Creator. I must put my pursuit of God before everything else, or I will come to regret my actions as did the Israeli King. As long as I do that, I can enjoy creation to its fullest potential, including hunting my favorite deer I’ve ever captured on camera. Through this, I will be building earthly wisdom and the wisdom of God.
God informs us about wisdom in James and gives us a promise:
“But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.” -James 3:17-18
“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” -James 1:5
Wisdom is one of the few things God guarantees us through prayer, so I encourage you to join me in pursuit of it. I pray that I apply those qualities of wisdom to my life and my outdoor adventures. Though it’s not the goal of growing in wisdom, maybe my pursuit of the wise will aid in the fall of the King of the Woods, Solomon.