Feb

In a Hole by Randy Rowley 2/19/26 ©

In early January, eight FCS members arrived at Port O’Connor for a self-guided/chartered blast and cast (duck hunt and bay fishing trip).

On Friday evening, after a guided duck hunt, I went to Wayne Weilnau’s house, picked up my duck decoys and jet sled, and headed to the Guadalupe Delta Wildlife Management Area near Tivoli for a solo hunt the following morning, as no one wanted to join me. Mine was the 15th truck in line when I arrived.

After arriving I realized that I’d left my hunting chair in Wayne’s garage. I had two options – go retrieve it or make do with what I had. As Wayne’s house was 30 miles away, that meant an hour-long trip there and back, which would probably put me further back in the line. I decided that after unloading my jet sled, I’d flip it over and use it as a chair.

At 4:40 AM the biologist arrived and hunters started picking their spots. When I got to him, there were only three spots left. I selected the only spot that offered a north side set up, which would allow the ducks to land into the around 25 MPH winds.

I drove to my spot’s parking area, put on my waders, and loaded my jet sled. Another benefit of my spot was I only had around a 170 yard walk from my truck to the pond (the furthest spot is around a 1,200 yard walk).

I arrived at the pond, put out my gadwall and teal decoys, swimmer, Pulsator, and Mojo, and selected a spot to hide in the tall reeds. I flipped my jet sled over and sat down on its back corner. Unfortunately, it caved in around six inches, as it wasn’t built to handle 225 lbs. My choices were to live with it, sit in the water on my rear, or stand. I decided that Plan A offered the best chance for me to quickly retrieve downed ducks that the wind was pushing away from me, as getting up from sitting in the mud would probably take a lot time. Also, I’d probably be spotted if I hunted standing up.

The overcast sky gradually lightened and I started seeing the layout of the pond. But what I didn’t see was ducks.

Finally, legally shooting time arrived, but I had nothing to shoot at. Nor did I hear many shots from fellow hunters. It was almost sunrise when two small ducks landed next to my gadwall decoys. They were too small for scaups, so I concluded that they had to be teal.

I raised my gun and they took flight. I missed the right bird but nailed the left one. Almost immediately, it started quickly floating away from where it had fallen. I stood up and started wading after it. The bottom was soft, and I frequently had to pull a leg out of the mud, but more than halfway across the pond, I snagged it – a hen bufflehead.

As I headed back to my hiding place I stepped on several soft spots, but I was able to keep going. I returned to my hiding spot and sat down.

A few minutes later, a solo big duck came in towards my gadwall decoys. I nailed it and repeated my previous retrieve. It was a drake scaup.

On the way back, around 20 yards from my hiding spot, I took a step with my right foot. Instead of the expected firm bottom, my right leg immediately sank in the mud past my knee. I tried to push myself out of the hole with my snow ski pole/wading stick but didn’t budge an inch. I tried twisting my boot in all directions, but that didn’t help either.

I tried freeing myself for five minutes but was no better off than when I started. My options were few. I had no hunting partner to help me and the nearest hunters were probably at least 400 yards away – if I’d yelled at the top of my lungs they probably wouldn’t have heard me. And neither the biologist nor game warden would be able to help, as neither had waders on when I’d seen them in the past. I could call Mike Pozhenko for help (Mike had hunted there at least twice before), but he was at least 45 minutes away.

So, I went with my best option – I got down on my hands and knees in the very cold water and crawled out of the hole.

My coat was soaked from my upper chest down, as were my sleeves. Water also found its way into my waders. With the 25 MPH wind and 40° temperature, I quickly turned into a popsicle. As the only ducks that I had seen after the buffleheads were scaup, and I already had my limit of them, I decided to call it a day. I packed up and headed back to my truck. After a few minutes of trying to warm up I headed to the check station.

I told the biologist my story. He said that I’d probably stepped in an alligator hole. His theory made sense – I’m just glad that the gator wasn’t there, or people would be calling me Peg Leg.

Jacob, the father of 12 sons and one daughter, committed the sin of showing favoritism. Jacob’s first favorite son was Joseph, who was born in Jacob’s old age. Jacob made an ornate robe for him that is often called “the coat of many colors.” When Joseph’s brothers saw that Jacob loved him more than any of them, they hated him.

Joseph then told his brothers about two dreams he had. In one they bowed down to him. In the other, they and their parents bowed down to him. As a result, they hated him even more.

Then, while his brothers were grazing Jacob’s flocks, Jacob sent Joseph to check on them. When they saw him in the distance they plotted to kill him. Reuben, the oldest brother, tried to rescue Joseph from their hands, telling them to instead throw him into a pit/cistern (a storage tank for rainwater). When Joseph arrived, they stripped off his robe and threw him into a dry pit. Then they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites heading their way. The brothers agreed to sell Joseph to them. The Ishmaelites took him to Egypt, where they sold him to Potiphar, Pharaoh’s official (See Genesis 37:2-36).

Genesis Chapter 37 recounts the powerful story of how Joseph’s journey through dysfunction and betrayal revealed the hidden work of God.

By almost everyone’s measure, Joseph’s family was a mess. His grandfather Isaac loved/showed favoritism to his son Esau over his twin brother Jacob, as Esau was a skillful hunter and supplied Isaac with wild game. As a young man, Jacob (whose name means “he deceives”) manipulated the birthright from Esau (see Genesis 25:29-34). Then Jacob tricked the nearly blind Isaac into giving him his blessing instead of to Esau. When Esau returned home, he learned of the theft and vowed to kill Jacob, who ran away on foot more than 200 miles to his mother’s relatives in Harran (see Genesis Chapter 27).

In Harran, Jacob’s uncle Labam cheated him and treated him like a slave – making his work for 14 years to win the hand of his cousin Rachel (Jacob first married his cousin Leah, through Labam’s deceit; see Genesis 29:1-30). There was constant rivalry and conflict among Rachel and Leah regarding childbirth.

Jacob leaned no lessons from Isaac on the sin of showing favoritism and did the exact same thing with Joseph. After giving him the coat of many colors, Jacob failed to see how it affected his brothers. Nor did he see how Joseph’s proclamation that his brothers would serve him affected them. He unwisely sent Joseph to check on his brothers, while wearing the coat that they despised. His sin and blindness to his family’s pain resulted in his immediate family’s disfunction and in Joseph’s brothers first wanting to murder him but settling for selling him into slavery and telling their father the lie that a wild beast had killed him.

But Joseph’s dysfunctional family didn’t change God’s purpose for him – God just worked through Joseph’s circumstances. If Joseph hadn’t experienced the hole, he might not have developed the faith and character that saw him through many years of bondage as a slave, and as a prisoner later.

Eventually, by using his gift of interpreting dreams, Joseph interpreted Pharoah’s troubling dream. As a reward, Pharoah elevated Joseph to become his right-hand man. In his position, Joseph began stockpiling grain for the coming famine that God had warned Pharoah about in his dream. When the famine hit, Joseph’s planning saved Egypt, and his family, who came to Egypt to buy grain.

Romans 5:3-4 says, “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. When responded to correctly, suffering leads to perseverance, character, and hope.

Joseph is often compared to Jesus, who was also rejected, betrayed by one of his closest followers, and who brought salvation to many. God used the actions of Joseph’s brothers to further his good plan. God’s goodness and power are greater than man’s evil.

For me, the hole that I stepped in was an obstacle that I had to resolve. But for Joseph, the hole was a place of preparation to preserve the lives of many.