Find Him

A cluster of quick shots rang out as one bird hit the water and another sailed out towards a skinny island near the river channel. After marking the spot where it last hit water I grabbed my shotgun and headed for the boat. “Better take the dog with you”, Dad shouted out the back door of the blind as I scrambled to get the motor running. It was cold, just a few days after a good freeze, but the sun was quickly warming things up again. Sheets of ice lined the bank from where the river rose, froze around the edges, and then receded to its normal pool. It was a great day for duck hunting. 

With one bird in hand and in pursuit of its fleeing companion, me and Ol’ Chatter, my first duck dog, idled across the foggy lake till we neared the shore of the skinny island. He took his favorite post at the bow of the boat, which allowed him a quick exit once we reached land. As soon as he was within jumping distance he leaped from the bow, stretched his torso, and landed on the bank of the island with nose to the ground. 

Chasing crippled birds is much easier with a dog and while it is not ideal to have them fall outside the decoys, the best hunters will still lose one in the bushes from time to time. I have never had what I would call a “whistle dog”, a dog that responds to whistles and sign language, one that you can control from afar like an RC-car. The level of training that goes into having such a dog is quite impressive. No doubt, it is fun to watch those dogs work and I am always surprised to see the precision with which they operate. 

A lot of people will look down on a dog that isn’t so trained. After all, isn’t the point in having a retriever being able to gather ducks without leaving the blind? While there is much validity to that logic, sometimes I enjoy getting out there and working with my dog. His job is to make my life easier, but my job is to do the same for him. When I make his life harder by sailing a bird off into the woods, it seems right to get out there and help him. I believe you learn more about your dog when you can watch them work up close. It's intimate, you can see how they place their feet while working a thicket or how their nose leads the rest of their body from side to side. You see what distracts or attracts them. In my experience, it seems they appreciate your nearness and enjoy their work more when you get out there with them.

Chatter may not have been a whistle dog, but he was a pretty natural hunter. He knew four basic commands: sit, stay, back, and find him. “Find him” was one of my favorite commands to watch him execute. All the fluff and politeness of the hunt has been stripped away and it comes down to one simple task: find him. Find the duck and bring it to me. In my opinion, this can be the best test of a dog. No whistles, hand signals, or anything else to distract from the matter at hand. I don’t know where the bird is, so I need you to find him. A dog can come into his own in moments when you just let him hunt. 

While Chatter started the search back on the skinny island, I took my time to tie up the boat before joining the hunt for our crippled bird. I beached the boat near where I thought the bird had made landfall and we started the search along the bank there. “Find him”, I’d say with a long drawn out cadence as I walked behind Ol’ Chatter. I could hear his nose thumping with each expectant step. “Find him”, I said again as we made our way through the twisted greenbriers and slick sheets of ice around the island’s edge. We scoured the island from North to South and back again. Nothing yet, but the pup kept searching while I stopped to catch my breath. After thirty minutes of searching, the cold air mixed with my heavy breathing made me question if we would find this bird, all the while Chatter’s nose thumped along. It seemed like he was favoring one section of the island, but after pacing back and forth I started to lose faith in my friend’s ambition. Perhaps the duck regained his composure and gave us the slip. Maybe he crossed the island and disappeared into the foggy river channel. He was here, but maybe not anymore.

Just when I started to give up the search, I noticed Chatter’s nose had become glued to a sheet of ice that extended out over the island’s edge near the river. He’d sniff the ice hard, as if he smelled something beneath it. I eased off the bank and into the water to see if I could see anything underneath the ice shelf. It was dark and I couldn’t make out any distinguishable features of a bird. Chatter pressed his snout against the ice again and started scratching at its surface. I nudged the dog out of the way and used the heel of my wader boot to break through the sheet of ice until we could see what lay beneath. After a few quick stomps, Chatter dove head first into the hole in the ice and emerged with our bird in tow. He found him, just like I asked him to. 

I would have missed that bird and the details of finding him if it weren’t for the persistence of a good hunting dog. Chatter wouldn’t have known the meaning of a whistle or been able to discern the commotion of quirky hand signals, but he understood what it meant when I said “Find him”. At that command he’d give a nod, go to work, and not stop until he accomplished that purpose. I appreciate a dog like that and I respect a hunter that’s not too prideful to get out and work with their dog. We never found any trophies or medals hiding in the bushes, but we found our share of ducks together. To me, accolades mean much less than a mouthful of feathers. 

I am grateful that the Lord sees fit to let me live out these little parables. This story lives in my mind with such detail not because of icy river water, the thumping of a Labrador's nose, nor the persistence of the hunt. It lives so vividly because of what my Heavenly Father teaches through these recollections. This particular memory is approaching ten years old and I value it more now than I did when Chatter grabbed that duck through the ice. It’s funny how time sheds light on old stories to bring new understanding. 

When I think about that hunt today I am reminded of Jesus leaving the ninety nine sheep to find the lost one. Jesus Christ, described by many as the Hound of Heaven, on the hunt for one lowly sheep, or in this case a little crippled duck. The Father commands, “Find him” and he goes on the hunt. With nose to the ground, Christ seeks out those that belong to him and he will not return empty handed. He crosses lakes, trudges through the muck, and makes his way through twisted briers to find those hiding from him. No sheep, crippled duck, or lost soul is so far gone as to not be found again. The Hound of Heaven seeks them out and carries them back to the Father’s hand. 

I must never forget that I am one whom the Father commanded “Find him” and “Bring him to Me.” I am not saved of my own accord, but thankfully Christ came and found me. When I was shot to pieces by the sins of this world, my own sins, Christ still came to find me. There is no mind so muddled, nor heart so broken, nor hands so filthy, nor sinner so lost that the Father’s command of “Find him” comes back null and void. There is no lost cause in the Kingdom. Christ accomplishes the will of the Father and he says that of those he went to find, not one will be lost (John 6:39). 

Lord, thank you that you sent Christ to hunt down this little crippled bird in your Kingdom. Thank you more that he comes to find me each time I go astray. I hear the thump of your grace hunting me down and there is nowhere to escape it. Though my sin increases, the intensity of your pursuit abounds more and more. Thank you, Lord, that regarding me, you gave Christ the command, “Find him”.

Because you never tire in giving that command, my wayward heart has hope. Find me Lord, please find me, when I have lost my sight of you. 

I hear the call of Christ. I hear him calling my name. 

Again he says, “ I have found you”. 

Matthew 18:12-14

What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

John 10:27-28

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.