Now that’s how you get a deer.
I’ve heard so many great stories about Dale Earnhardt over the years, but this one has to be the most powerful.
The seven-time NASCAR Cup Series championship was an avid hunter, though he didn’t like people shooting the deer on his property… those were like his pets.
And during a sermon at Dovestone Church in Covington, Georgia, recently, former Realtree cameraman Chad Sanders recalled an incredible story about hunting with Dale many years ago. They were out in the woods along, before sunlight, and Chad said he was on a hot streak with all the deer he had been getting when on one else was.
Dale of course wanted to know his secret, and I don’t think he was at all expecting Chad’s answer:
“It was crazy, everywhere I was going, I was filming big bucks, and nobody else was getting any deer to shoot. The next morning, I’m sitting in the deer stand with Dale Earnhardt. And the guide leaves, and Dale looks at me, he says, ‘Alright, Chad, do your thing.’ I said, ‘Do what thing?’
He said, ‘Look man, ain’t nobody that lucky.’ And I said, ‘Dale, honestly, those camera guys are just as good of hunters as I am, the only think different between me and them is the favor of God.’ And he just looked at me and said, ‘What?’
I said, ‘It’s the favor of God. When I get to the deer stand, I ask God to bless the hunt. I ask God to allow us to see deer.’ And he said, ‘You’re for real?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I’m for real.’ He said, ‘So tell me what you do.'”
Chad explained how he had quiet time before the sun came up, and would read his Bible and asked God to bless his hunt each and every time, and Dale wanted in:
“I said, the first thing I do, I set up my camera, get all my settings right, then I get out my Bible and I have a quiet time. He said, ‘A quiet time?’ I Said, ‘Yeah.’ He said, ‘Well get your Bible out.’ I said, ‘Okay.’ So I got my Bible out and I started reading, he said, ‘What are you doing? I said, ‘Having quiet time.’ ‘Have it out loud.’ I said, ‘Okay.’
So I start reading the Bible, at that time I was reading a Psalm and a Proverb, I was reading it and we started discussing it, and we sat there and talked for 30 minutes before it got light about the Bible. With Dale Earnhardt. And I prayed, I said, ‘God, I ask for your favor this morning to bless Dale, because he’s gotta leave and won’t be able to come back. So I just asked that you bless us with a trophy buck that he would be proud of,’ And I said, ‘Amen.'”
They sat there for a little bit when Dale spotted a huge 10-point buck, exactly what he had been waiting for, and he took a shot… and missed.
He thought it was over for him, but they said another prayer and decided to wait it out and hope for the best since Dale wouldn’t be able to come back for a while:
“And then we sit there and he gets these Swarovski binoculars out and he’s like, ‘You ain’t gonna believe this. I said, ‘What?’ ‘There’s a huge 10-pointer at the feeder right now.’ I said, ‘Seriously?’ He said, ‘Yeah. I’m fixin’ to shoot it.’ I said, ‘You can’t, you gotta wait until camera light.
He said, ‘If that thing is walking off, I don’t care, I’m shoot it.’ And he shoots, and the deer just stands there. And he ejects the shell, the deer runs off. And I sad, ‘what happened?’ He said, ‘What do you mean what happened? I missed it.’ He sat there and I said, ‘What do you wanna do?’ I said, ‘I’ve got enough roll, we can make a show.’
He said, ‘Oh no, you ain’t makin’ no show out of me missing a deer.’ So we’re sitting there, and I pray, and I said, ‘God, I just pray you will bring that deer back to allow Dale to get a second shot and be able to harvest that deer. Amen.'”
Well, not 10 minutes later, that deer comes walking back, and Dale hit the perfect shot.
Chad said that it was exciting to get the deer, but most importantly, Dale got to see firsthand “God’s faithfulness through [his] life”:
“Y’all, it wasn’t 10 minutes later, Dale, who could see further to the left, said, ‘Here he comes.’ And I turn the camera on and film it, great daylight this time. That deer comes down, walks right in the open, he shoots it, makes the perfect shot, it runs off and falls dead.
On that particular hunt, Dale got to see God’s faithfulness through my life. But it’s all because I knew who the glory went to, and then at the end, we prayed to thank God for that deer.”
It’s an incredible story, and it sounds like it was an incredibly fruitful hunt in the most important way it could ever be.
Listen to the story here:
