May 18, 2012   

Today's Photograph . . . . Antler Shed (MQ)

Bible Study Verses

Romans 6:3-5 

Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection. (NKJV)

Thoughts 

For the life of me I could not get a single turkey to respond to my crow call. At 9 pm, I was traveling along the edge of a rim attempting to elicit a shock gobble from a roosting tom in the ponderosa pines below me. Nothing. 

The next morning before sunrise, I tried again. Nothing. I hunted until the afternoon and then decided to take a break. It was early May in the high country so I decided to go to a different area and look for shed antlers. 

Every year in the late spring antlered animals drop them. It is legal to collect these "sheds" as long as they have cleanly dropped from the animal and are not the result of some type of kill, whether it be human or animal. 

In the summer the animals begin to grow new, often larger antlers, which come to their full realization in the fall, just in time for hunting season. The shed antlers remain on the forest floor waiting to adorn someone's fireplace mantel or to be eaten by the abundance of rodents for the high calcium content. 

(Brett M) 

Action Point 

Some of the sheds I found had broken tines. some were small, and one was fairly disfigured. These were nothing that any self-respecting elk would want adorning his majestic body. Fortunately, every one of the elk is able to shed those old antlers and start anew each year.

Baptism symbolizes our bodies being buried under the water only to be resurrected in a new life with Christ Jesus. Our old sinful, selfish life is dead and we are given new life. 

Paul taught the Galatians that baptism was a spiritual growing up. No longer were you an immature believer, but on the path to true spiritual maturity. In Galatians 3:25-27 Paul writes, "But now you have arrived at your destination: By faith in Christ you are in direct relationship with God. Your baptism in Christ was not just washing you up for a fresh start. It also involved dressing you in an adult faith wardrobe-Christ's life, the fulfillment of God's original promise," (The Message).

Sportsmen's Tip of the Day 

Antler sheds can be found in many different locations. A few common ones are near fence lines, in draws, or in thick cover. They can be found wherever elk are found. The key is this, you need to look for them where the elk were when they dropped. In many areas that means searching in their winter range, not in their summer range.