Perceptive Precautions Protect the Prudent

“Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.” (Pr 1:17 AV)

This may seem like an odd proverb, but actually, there is a bit of wisdom here.  The context is the efforts of the wicked to be successful.  Those that lay a trap are soon taken themselves.  Then there is this statement. Which, if one understands hunting birds, will quickly see the wisdom.  There is the futility of the obvious fowler.  But there is also the success of the foul.  Being a turkey hunter, I know how foolish it is to lay decoys in the sight of the gobbler I wish to add to my freezer.  The see everything far better than humans.  They see you in the dark.  They see you in the light.  Anything that is out of the ordinary, they will notice.  To successfully tag a gobbler, one must set up well out of the eyesight, preferably before daybreak. For the hunter to out smart their prey, they must be more cunning than the prey’s ability to detect it.  There is another way we can think about this.  We can think about this from the perspective of the prey.

The turkeys that fall to the shot of the hunter are, more than not, the less mature and less experienced.  They have not spent their time in the woods with the reality that threats abound.  They have spent little time running from coyotes.  They haven’t had to defend their nests from fox or possum.  For at least two years, they were relatively free from serious challenge to their lives.  But experience will teach them how to survive.  If they are wary enough to watch and learn.  One such incident reminds me of this learning experience.   I was hunting with my son and we had set up on a crossroads of dirt ATV roads.  We were up on a knoll where all these trails intersected.  We were facing each other.  I had called and called.  To which, I had gotten responses.  Then, all of a sudden, quiet.  So, I used soft feeding calls.  Two male turkeys had come up behind me and we silent.  Remaining still and not making a noise, I never knew they were there.  Less then ten feet from me, they were scoping out the setup.  Zack saw it all, but he couldn’t signal me.  These wary birds took the time to investigate before they jumped right in.  They overcame their natural and strong drive to procreated in favor of life.

The point is, for us to be less of a victim requires wisdom.  The proverb is written to those who make crime a life.  Most people are cautious; therefore, crime doesn’t pay.  That is the point of the proverb.  But we can look at it from the perspective of the victim.  More times than not, we open ourselves up to being the victim.  Sometimes, it cannot be helped.  This is not the case all of the time.  Being in the wrong place when we didn’t have to be; not taking precautions when we knew we were at risk; participating in behavior that would open ourselves up to be victimized.  All play a part in being another statistic.  The LORD has given us an entire book that helps to minimize the consequences of other men’s sins.  If we heed the wisdom found in the word of God, maybe we will be a little less victimize by those who take advantage.