Dec

Don’t Become Weary by Randy Rowley 12/11/25 ©

In early September, Clayton Carrier, Jeff Morris, and I decided to apply to duck hunt in five TPWD Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) via E-postcards. In early October we were notified that we’d been selected to hunt the Carl Frentress Unit of the Richland Creek WMA (near Lake Richland Chambers) on 11/22/25 – 11/23/25, with a mandatory orientation on 11/21/25.

On 11/21/25 we checked in at the WMA headquarters. At 2:30 PM they started calling hunters from their list, based on who arrived first, and asked them to select the unit that they wanted to hunt in.

We’d never been there and only had electronic maps to guide us. Unfortunately all the units looked the same, but the TPWD employee who checked us in told us that there were no bad spots. When it was our turn to select, we chose Unit 18.

After the units were selected, we were grouped with other hunters who were going to hunt in the same area, and were assigned to a TPWD employee, who we followed to the units. Our unit was the last one that he went to.

The unit was big – around 1,000 yards lengthwise and 667 yards widthwise. It also had several large sections of bullrushes for cover. But what really caught our eyes were the ducks. There were hundreds of them flying in all directions. We decided which bullrushes that we’d head to in the morning and left to allow the ducks time to settle back down.

We arrived the next morning and unloaded my truck. As Clayton and Jeff put our gear and decoys into their jet sleds I drove my truck around 400 yards away and parked it. I then joined my companions.

We headed to our selected bullrushes, around 400 yards away, wading in knee-deep water. The TPWD biologist said that the bottom was soft, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as the ponds at the Guadalupe Delta WMA near Tivoli.

After we arrived we chose where we wanted to hunt from, set out our decoys, and got settled. We waited around 45 minutes until legal shooting time.

The golden hour came, and ducks started flying by us. It wasn’t in a wild flurry, but a steady stream. Few were interested in our decoys, which were mostly still due to the lack of wind. The ducks that were interested in them were teal and pintails. Most of the ducks that came by were in flocks of four or less, although we saw some large flocks.

We started shooting ducks. Clayton’s dog, Abby, proved to be worth her weight in gold again, as she retrieved most of them.

Within a couple of hours, we completed a three-man limit – our second three-man limit on an FCS self-guided duck hunt in our 15-year history of hunting ducks! Clayton bagged three Green Wing Teal (GWT), two redheads, and a gadwall. Jeff bagged two redheads, two shovelers, a GWT, and a pintail. I bagged two GWT, two shovelers, a gadwall, and a pintail. We saw hundreds of ducks!

Sunday was almost as good as Saturday. We selected some bullrushes that were around 150 yards further away from the ones that we hunted on Saturday but had a harder time finding them. Clayton bagged two gadwalls, two shovelers, a GTW, and a pintail. I bagged two GTW, two pintails, a gadwall, and a shoveler. Jeff bagged two pintails. We didn’t see as many ducks as the first day, and they were mostly singles and pairs, but still saw hundreds.

We ended the trip with 32 ducks, which was one short of our most productive two-day bag of 33 ducks on 12/7/19 – 12/8/19 on a small pond Southeast of Austin. On that hunt three hunters hunted the first day and five hunters hunted the second, which resulted in a 4.13 ducks per hunter per day average. On this hunt we ended up with a 5.33 ducks per hunter per day average, so I regard it as our best two-day hunt to date.

I won’t sugar coat it – WMA hunts aren’t easy. There’s a lot of walking and wading involved, often on soft bottoms, while carrying a shotgun and dragging along decoys, chairs, blind bags, and possibly materials to build a blind. If you go on one, you’ll probably be sore for days. But the potential rewards are great, and you’ll probably leave with a much stronger belief that you’ve actually hunted than you do when you plop down on a bucket to shoot dove on the edge of a maize field.

Although the bottom in Unit 18 wasn’t bad, the sheer distance that we had to wade was daunting. That was compounded on the second day, when we were tired from the first hunt and had to wade at least 150 yards further. I had to occasionally stop and take a break, especially on the way back to the levy after the hunt ended.

I’d be lying if I said that waking up early to go fishing or hunting, especially, was easy for me. I usually don’t sleep well the night before – it’s often hard for me to fall asleep and when I do I often wake up, subconsciously thinking that I’m going to sleep through the alarm. When the alarm finally goes off, never have I not argued with myself on the wisdom of going on the fishing trip or hunt. And when I finally drag myself out of bed, I’m often stumbling around like a zombie.

Sometimes following God’s calling feels as challenging as waking up at 1:30 AM to go duck hunting. My sinful self wants to wallow in laziness and selfishness instead of doing what I should do. During those times, I often remember Galatians 6:9-10, which says, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”

Paul didn’t elaborate on what he meant by doing good, but Jesus gave some examples in Matthew 25:31-46, including feeding the hungry, giving drinks to the thirsty, inviting strangers in, clothing people who need clothes, taking care of the sick, and visiting those in prison. He said that the difference between the sheep (those who did such things) and the goats (those who didn’t do such things) was what they did and didn’t do.

Paul was very clear that “doing good” doesn’t save us. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”

God has called us to do good works. James wrote in James 4:14-18, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.”

Good deeds or works are the evidence of our salvation. They are the result of replacing sin with service and are the fruit that we bear as disciples of Jesus, who said in John 15:8 NLT, “‘When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.’”

So how do we not grow weary in doing good? The Bible has answers, including:

Continuously serve God. It’s easy for breaks in service to become permanent.
Put our hope in God. Isaiah 40:31 says, “but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” We often forget about our weariness when we fix our eyes on Jesus.
Abide in God’s word. Joshua 1:8 says, “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” Reading the Bible enables us to know what to do.
Talk to God. When Elijah killed all the prophets of Baal with the sword, Jezebel declared that she would have his head. Elijah ran and came to a bush, sat under it, and prayed that he might die. 1 Kings 19:4b says, “‘I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.’” He lay down and fell asleep. An angel came and fed him and gave him water. This strengthened him enough for a 40-day long journey to Mount Horeb, where he talked to God.
Seek encouragement. Proverbs 27:17 NLT says, “As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.” Connect with other mature believers who will strengthen you.

Just as I was a pooped puppy after that weekend hunt in the Carl Frentress Unit, we can become pooped while doing good works for the Lord. Don’t allow that to happen.