Delightful dinners

Twice in the last week, I had the chance to cook dinners for landowners who have allowed myself and my family to hunt on their land. Last Thursday, my brother, Paul, and I took a crockpot full of wild rice casserole, plus homemade bread and apple crisp to the home of a landowner in Cannon Falls, where we have successfully hunted wild turkeys. Then, we went to Prescott, Wis. on Saturday with venison meat pie for a landowner, his wife and one of their sons and his roommate.

Both meals were a success and it felt great to be able to give something back to landowners who have been so generous to us. In the first instance, the landowner's wife was out of town and he had to cook for himself for two weeks. He seemed to appreciate having someone else do the cooking on one of those days. In the second instance, we just wanted to prepare some venison that came from the deer my son, Andy, had shot on this landowner's land. The landowner, now in his 70s, hunted many years ago and it has been a while since he has enjoyed a venison meal.

In both cases, we experienced good fellowship, plus we were able to take some time for prayer. I think prayer makes a difference and I'm hoping that the prayers we offered provided some benefit for these generous landowners.

I am growing stronger in my belief that we, as hunters, need to look for, and take advantage of, opportunities to give something back to landowners who let us come out and hunt. Not only is it the Christian thing to do, it's something that can help ensure that we'll continue to have places to hunt. I have witnessed and heard about many instances of bad behavior by hunters and I think we're in danger of having landowners decide to stop giving permission to hunt on their land. In some cases, I can't blame them.

That issue aside, I'm just thrilled to have been able to bestow a small blessing on some very good people.