Trail To Adventure

Our world has done its best to destroy authentic manhood and strong fatherhood. It might have started about when TVs first came into homes. When Jackie Gleason played Ralph Kramden on the Honeymooners, we saw husbands and fathers become buffoons instead of strong men and it has spiraled right up until today. In our country today, there are 15 million households without a full-time father caring for his kids. Worse is that 32% of boys don't have their biological father in the home. 12 million boys without their father  to teach them what it means to be a man. On today's show, we'll talk about what it means to be a real man in our  world.

There is an amazing beauty of a traditional bow being drawn back and releasing an arrow at a target. There is a great lesson in the shooting of bow and arrows.  It can be a photo of God often pulling us back and putting pressure on us before releasing us toward the target that He has in store for us.  Being drawn back can be painful at times, but when we've been released, it is freeing and exciting. The further back we're drawn and the longer we're held, the more powerful and stronger our flight towards what God wants us to hit.

There is something about the sight of an arrow released from a bow and watching it arc through the air on its path to a target. Most everyone who has shot arrows from a bow has been drawn in by the beauty and art of archery.   For many hunters, it is the challenge of archery that draws them in. Our host shot his first bow at about 5 years old and he has never lost the joy of the sight of an arrow in flight.  

The history of archery goes back to the beginning of time. It was first mentioned in the Bible in Genesis, when it mentioned that Ishmael became an archer. With that first mention of archery, 6000 years ago, the story began.   Today we will learn about the history of modern day bowhunting in North America.  From one man with a passion to shoot bows came a worldwide hunting craze today. Archery gear has evolved from a stick and string to a mechanical wonder today.

We live in a world today that is far from wise. The lack of wisdom is very evident.  The gibberish we hear passing for wisdom to some contains no real wisdom. On today's program, we will meet and visit with a man who has changed the world in many ways. He's a man who didn't have a lot of use for normal school type of learning, but God gave him a desire to create. Then one day he began praying for wisdom and God opened the doors to the things that changed the world of archery and even music!

There aren't any of us who hasn't made a bad decision from time to time in our life.  Some of us can look back and see that there were stretches where we made a long series of bad decisions that caused us to freefall into a deep pit. Many people have never found their way out of the depth of a pit, often living their entire lives there. Others didn't live through the effects of the freefall. Then there are some who grabbed ahold of the hand of God when He reached down to lift them out of the mess they had gotten themselves into. Today, we will meet a man who is a living testimony of 3 decades of bad decisions.  At one point he says, “I was the undisputed king of bad decisions.”  

Every family has it's struggles and problems. Some of more than others,  but there are occasionally those families who seem to deal with far more than their share. But through the struggles of life, God can help us get through them in better shape with better attitudes. On today's program, we will meet a family that has gone through what they call "The Peaceful storm." A storm is a good description, the peaceful part is often hard to grasp. But this family has found a way to allow God's leading and protection in their lives.

Many fishermen live their entire lives searching for one trophy that never gets caught. Hunters are the same and there are even things outside of fishing and hunting that drive people to strive for that one special goal.   Sometimes God uses those special things in our lives to draw us closer to Him. On today's show, we will meet a young fireman who had a dream of one day catching a very special fish and it wasn't until he gave into God's will that he was able to fulfill his dream.

Every one of us has a need for finances in our lives. It is all but impossible to make it through without some sort of available finances.   On today's program, we will learn a lot about the ways God supplies for our needs and sometimes for our wants as well. We'll talk to someone who has spent most of his life helping others to learn biblical financial management. We'll hear stories of some amazing hunts and how God works through the gifts of finance to bless us and others. God has given all of His children some amazing blessings and we need only to praise Him and enjoy them.  

As a radio program and podcast, we spend our lives as story tellers. The best time of the day while fishing and hunting is often the time spent around the table, fireplace or campfire telling stories. Many strong, long-term friendships are formed at these times and places.   Country people, we believe, are the best story tellers on earth. On today's program, we will spend the morning with two young Alabama boys who can spin a yarn with the best of them and bring out the best in the other southern story tellers.  

There is a special relationship between a father and a son. Often it's a bond that will carry far beyond the death of either one or the other. In our lives, we truly don't know how much of an impact we have on our children or others that we have come in contact with. We need to realize that people that we see and talk to on a daily basis are watching us closely to see if our words match our deeds. On today's program, we will hear from someone who had a father that had an impact on those around him, far more than he had realized and his life continues to impact others years after he's been gone.

Throughout life, all of us take falls.  Some are painless, some cause skinned knees, some break bones, some permanently cripple us and the worst can cause death.  While we all fall often, 1 out of 3 who  hunt from a tree stand will fall at some point in our hunting career.  For years, most of us climbed into trees without a thought of safety. We climbed and sat at the edge of disaster and did nothing about it. On this weeks program, we will meet with two brothers who were given a vision that changed not only their lives, but saved countless lives in the process. We'll hear stories from those who were saved from certain disaster and lived to tell about it.

Someone once said, “Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.” Jonathan Ive, a senior vice president of Apple Incorporated, modified the line of thinking in his famous quote, “good is the enemy of great.” The quote was used as the first sentence of the first chapter of the New York Times best-selling book “Good to Great” by Jim Collins. Today's guest exemplifies all of these thoughts and sayings. Not many hunters can say they've passed up 150 inch whitetails with their bow, hoping they will make it through another season and grow bigger if they do make it.  But he did and he learned in the process that sometimes our sacrifices pay off and occasionally they fulfill our biggest dreams. We'll hear in today's program that God's dreams for us are often far bigger than what we have for ourselves and when we find joy in all God gives us, and give him praise for the good and not so good, its then that God gives us what we desire.

At times, we all wonder what God is up to in our lives. He attempts to show us and somehow we can't see what it is He wants us to see. When we keep our hearts open to His leading, we can be led and it will change our lives. On today's program, we will hear how God moved, through a life of abundance, a young man who had lost his way from the path that God laid out for him. Then one day, God gave him vision; not for his own benefit but for those with a much bigger need for their families. Now years later, he has made a big difference in the lives of so many families and has been blessed in return. Listen closely as our host, Dean Hulce, brings out the story of a calling that not only changed the life of the one being called, but also of hundreds of others along the way. Let's join Dean on the trail to adventure in the woods and swamps of a gulf coast state.

Our nation has taken manhood and diminished it like it's a bad thing. The media has made strong men look like fools to take away the role of men in families, communities, and even churches. On last week's program, we met Ray Howell. Ray was abandoned by his father at 5 years old and then his grandfather took over his father figure role, just to pass away when Ray was just entering his teen years. These losses left him in a bad place emotionally. Today we'll hear from both Ray and His wife Krysta about how God showed Ray how He was looking out for him for years and preparing him for His service in leading children through archery on a walk that will change their lives for all eternity!

Many professional athletes can only dream of retiring at the top of their game.  A few have been able to do that but when they do go out, it is because they have reached an age where it is no longer possible to compete at the level they have in the past.  Most of us would stay at the top as long as we possibly could. We claw and scratch to do all we can to not lose our place at the top. But there are a few that could go on and maintain top production for a much longer time and they step down anyhow.  Today's guest is one of those who stepped down, still holding world records in archery and powerlifting as well his business career.  He has hunted all over the world and had collected nearly every species of big game with his bow and many of them scoring high in the record book. With all this, he walked away because of a new calling. A calling to serve children through archery, with an emphasis on teaching them the good news about Jesus Christ!

There are special places and times in our lives that mean a lot to us. We cherish memories spent with others throughout our personal or married life that will always bring us back to where God did something special. One such place, nestled into Northwest Ontario Canada on the  banks of Populus Lake… is called Rushing Wind Resort. This week we will meet a couple that first came to Rushing Wind Resort together 10 years ago on their honeymoon. The husband had been there  several times and he wanted to show his wife where his life had changed. Now they are back for their 10th anniversary celebration. We'll learn how God provided a father figure needed in the lives of some children and how that father figure later became a husband as well!

So many times in our lives we put restraints on ourselves for adulthood. For the male of our species, it is possibly the hardest to live up to what others think should be truly a man.   Having been raised in a Northern Michigan rural area, our host walked through trails to adventure that he felt showed him to be a man. The first time a boy catches a large fish or shoots a buck and brings it home to hear, "well done," it feels like a big step to being a man. But manhood is much more.   There are also self-imposed hurdles that all men and women set to feel successful. On today's program, we won't hear too much about hunting and fishing, but we'll hear a great story of a city boy who had finally made it in the music world, just to see that it was not all he had thought it was. He felt like there had to be more than the victories he had been striving for in life!

High country elk camps and the sounds of bugling bull elk draw 1000's of hunters to the mountains each fall. People are different when they're in the mountains.  They drop their guard and relax more than most any place on earth. Relationships grow in amazing ways when we allow God to move in our lives. God has used the mountains in the life of today's guest as well as the lives of those he has shared elk camps in the Colorado and Wyoming mountains. We'll hear of miracles that were the answers to prayer.

Every one of us has a calling in life. For many of us, our calling is self-directed and, if we allow, many are God given. Callings can change from year to year as we move into new places in life. On today's program, we will meet with a man who has been called to reach out to disciple men. He loves the outdoors and enjoys spending  time with others on the water and in the woods… especially in those times sharing what God is doing in his life and the lives of others. God is using this friend to get others to places where they can share their relationship with God and to others as well. He is stepping up in his calling and shares how you can as well!

To some, it might seem dangerous or foolish but to others, it's something they look forward to all year. People lose their trucks, their ATVs and occasionally even their lives doing it, yet each year they venture out on frozen lakes, ponds rivers and streams to pull a fish through a hole drilled through the ice.  It takes a tough person to sit all day on a bucket on a frozen body of water and stare into a hole in the ice. It makes you wonder about their sanity! Today, we'll meet such a man... a man with a passion for ice fishing. He's out on the ice every chance he gets. He'll share his passion for both ice fishing and for growing big whitetails.     

Deer hunting is probably the number one hunting sport in the world. In the 2021/2022 season alone, more than 6 million deer were harvested in the United States. Most of those deer were never scored and a small percentage of them were scored and entered into a record book of some kind. Today, we'll revisit a story of a world record whitetail buck that was taken in 2006 in Grant County, Wisconsin.  We will hear from the mouth of the lucky hunter who was lucky enough to pull the trigger and down the massive buck. Then we'll hear how that buck became one of the most important things in another man's life and how it caused strife in his life before it finally pointed him to Jesus Christ.

Many of us grew up going to hunting or fishing camps from our youth. For many, it's been a lifelong tradition to hunt with a bunch of others. Our host grew up where several hunters came together to work as a team to harvest deer. Then there are others who would much rather hunt and fish on their own. There are blessings and challenges in either style of hunting, But in  our daily lives, we need to understand that there are times to seek out God one on one…  digging into his word and spending time in prayer. On today's show, we meet up with a good friend of our host and the two of them talk about different ways of deer hunting, with a focus on tracking mature bucks in big woods settings.  This is a solitary sport that takes a lot of stamina and concentration… But is so very rewarding  in the end!

Hunters and fishermen have a serious passion for their sports. If you ask a deer hunter what their favorite day of the year is, most would say opening day of hunting season. If you ask a fisherman what their  favorite day of the years is, you'll hear opening day of fishing season. Many outdoors people also share another passion; riding motorcycles. When many of us think about bikers, we think about biker  “gangs” and all that goes along with that crowd. But there is a different side to bikers, and that is a giving side. On this program, you'll hear about how giving and caring the biking community can be!

Life is a series of new beginnings. Each morning when we wake up, it is a new opportunity to live for the Lord. This week we move from 2024 to 2025 and we don't know what the year will bring. It's often said that we don't know what the future holds, but we know who holds the future. The God that created everything… Is the one who we can count on to see us through whatever lies ahead for each of us. As we move into the new year, we thought it would be fun to bring our most listened to and most requested program back for an encore appearance. This program has more laughing than all of the rest of the programs combined. If you have never heard it, you will be greatly entertained and if you have heard it before… you will laugh even harder this time! More importantly with the laughter is the story of new beginnings with the two brothers who join us. They share how they went from a life of religion to a life of a relationship with Jesus Christ because of the boldness of a good friend and his persistence in sharing the Gospel!

Those of us who live in a time of immediate information have no idea what it would be like to live in a place or a time where we have no idea what is going on outside our little world. The Bible talks about how in end times, travel and knowledge will increase. If we look back over the last 100 years, travel has increased at amazing  rates. There was a time, not to long ago, when most people rarely traveled 100 miles from home.  Many of us travel across the country or around the world all the time. Today, we will learn about a chief from the deep jungles of South America and how he went from being filled with demons to becoming filled with the Holy Spirit. Most of us live in a sheltered atmosphere!

There is a great blessing in both the young and the old as we enjoy the outdoors together. One of the things that we have lost in recent times is the passing of wisdom from one generation to the next.  There are few places where it is easier to share in these times than in a fishing boat or hunting blind. We often fail to take advantage of the opportunities to share in these special times. On today's program, we will join a grandfather and grandson on a very special fishing trip in Northwest Ontario, at Rushing Winds Camp!

Our God is a God of new beginnings. He provided for so many people throughout the Bible, in the new and old testaments.  He restored so many individuals, including king David, Moses, Joseph and all of Joseph's family.  Many of our listeners are going through a tough time right now, having lost a loved one or maybe in the process of saying goodbye to someone. We understand that these are things that we will never get over…  But with God's help, we can get through them victoriously.

It seems that life at times is nothing more than a series of one loss after another, from beginning to end. That seems to be a given. It's how we respond to those losses that gets us through. For those who have their hope in Jesus Christ, we have the only chance for peace in the midst of life's losses. Today's guest has had to deal with some terrible losses in his life and he has gotten through them. As you will hear him say, we get through our losses, but we never get over them.

Someday, all of God's children will hear a trumpet call and we will rise up and join Him in the air for all eternity. The trumpet is used by the military to start the day and to end it…  as well as to honor those who have passed away. There is something very special about the trumpet call. Today's guest has played his trumpet in 37 countries all around the globe and it has opened many doors; not for entertainment, but to glorify God. Today he will share several adventures in the jungles and on the rivers of South America.

Old age might not be all it's cracked up to be… but for a few, it is an amazing trip. Today's guest has certainly outlived most, if not all, of our listeners. He has seen more changes in his 100 years than most of us will ever see. He has been blessed to live through a World War and many other  hardships. And still today, God sustains him!

There is an old saying that starts with, “Out of the mouths of babes." Kids are honest. At times, children will say things that adults often find embarrassing if it happens to be around other adults. Children notice things we often don't, or they are perhaps not as desensitized to the feelings and ideas of others. Come along today and learn about how God used a preschool girl to point her parents to a life lived for Jesus Christ!

Most people in America don't think of pastors as real guys. Often they  are thought of as someone who is unapproachable and stuffed shirt. On  today's show, you will meet a pastor who is anything but those things. He is an outdoorsman through and through and his passion for hunting and fishing are only surpassed by his passion for his Savior and his family. Come along now and join our host, Dean Hulce, share the life of a pastor and special Michigan outdoorsman as they talk about life in God's Great Outdoors and they travel together down the Trail To Adventure!

This week, our host visits with a man from deep in the heart of south Texas who has spent his life hunting and fishing in the hill country and brush country. He lived most of his life chasing the American dream in business and the outdoors. Losing his wife at a young age brought big changes in his life. Today, Jesus Christ is the most important part of his life. He has spent much of the last several years serving others, while serving the Lord through the outdoors. Today, you'll hear of how our guest has given up much of his hunting to not only share in the hunting and fishing experience, but also share in a hope and trust in Jesus Christ.

The leaves have changed colors in the North and many have fallen. Many  areas have had their first frost and the whitetail bucks have begun to look for does. Most every of the country has an open archery season. Groups of archery hunters are joining together to pursue a number of different species of big and small game. All with Bows and Arrows. There's another group of archers who gathered together earlier in the year. The Christian Bow Hunters Association gathered in Cadilac,  Michigan to celebrate their 40th anniversary. Today's guest is the head  of this great organization that not only shares a love for God's Great Outdoors, but for Jesus Christ as well!

All of us who are blessed enough to make it to an age where we can consider retirement will have to consider what we will do with the time that God has remaining for us before we leave this life. Most individuals who do retire say that they don't know how they had time to work before retirement, because they are so busy. On today's program, we will meet a gentleman who is just leaving the day to day working world and seeking out what God has for him and his wife in the future. They retired with the intention of spending more time serving the Lord and others.

There are few places that bring a father and son together like a hunting and fishing camp. Time in the woods or on the water make it all but impossible to grow closer together and closer to God. Come along now to NW Ontario as we learn about the painful disaster that brought our guests to seek God's healing hand.  We'll be on the water on Populus Lake in God's Great Outdoors! 

So many men and women have a draw towards the outdoors. Hunting and  fishing draw us into a life that affects us in amazing ways. Today's guest went through times in his youth where he wasn't sure whether he wanted to live any more. One of the things that you'll hear today is that he wasn't as afraid of dying as much as he was afraid to living… or at least living without a purpose. When God showed up and gave him a purpose, He changed his life. Through many years of learning how God wanted him to lead, he began a ministry that now serves so many in the outdoors and many souls are being changed.

They say that you can't just make “old friends”. But every once in a while, God sends someone into your life who becomes an old friend almost instantly.  These are people who you know will be a friend for the rest of your life. Today's guest, Bo Blackwell, is that kind of friend for our host. Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings sang a song years ago called "Old Friends."  In one of the verses, Willie sings…  "Lord, when all my work is done, bless my life and grant me one, old friend." Join us now with old friends!

Oh, the amazing sound of an elk in the mountains! There are few sounds more beautiful, more majestic in God's Great Outdoors. God filled the high places of this world with the most beautiful sights and sounds. The call of the elk and the screeching of a golden eagle as it floats on the updrafts of the Rocky Mountain peaks. There is something about those places. On today's program, we will climb to the highest peaks of the rockies in Wyoming.  Well, at least our stories and experiences will come from that part of the country. We will join our host and his guest as they share elk hunting and elk camp stories from days gone by.  

At a hunting lodge in the middle of central Michigan, a family gathers each year for two very special hunts. This family is not connected by human blood, but by something much stronger. A group of otherwise unconnected individuals are drawn for two reasons; to serve those who want to hunt and to share a special love for each one being served and for others.   Today's program shares a little history of a few of those who come from quite a distance to serve. We'll hear the stories of some of the special children who have come to this special place, Two Hats Ranch. For the last 25 years, the owners of Two Hats Ranch and Quest Ministries have offered these incredible deer hunts. For nearly 20 years there is an amazing family that has a “family reunion” of sorts.  Each one has a very special bond with the others.

We all hope to one day live a comfortable life. Many work for 40+ years with the intent to have all we need financially and with health to be very comfortable. But what does it mean to be comfortable and are we really called to be comfortable in life? I would question if we are ever called to be comfortable spiritually. Today's guest will speak of the need to move out of our comfort zone and look for ways to do something that will change how we live life. He will explain it in terms of hunting dangerous game around the world and being in and out of his comfort zone.

Every one of us is born with a heart issue and today's guest was born with both a spiritual and a physical condition. We will hear about his battle to stay alive and how God is using him despite his heart condition. He has had more than one physical test as well as other tests over the last 6 to 8 years and you'll hear him tell us that you can't have a testimony if you don't have a test.  He will also share that if we don't give up control and allow God to handle things, we will never have peace and joy.

There is something special about a relationship that has lasted over decades. Those friendships that may have been paused by miles or years seem even sweeter when they've been rekindled. Our Host, Dean Hulce, has been blessed with many friends all over the world. Today's guest started out as a hunting client for Dean 35 years ago. Many firsts were  shared between the two of them. Many species were hunted and harvested. All of these hunting memories were revisited on this week's program along  with laughter and tears. Join us now as we head down the Trail To Adventure with old friends in God's Great Outdoors!

All outdoorsmen and women go through spans of time in their outdoor career where no matter what they do, things seem to go wrong. Fishermen have many stories of the one that got away and hunters can tell you of the ones they've missed. Hunting, fishing, and even life are hard and seemingly unfair at times.   For most of us who have been through these tough spells of shooting or setting the hook, there comes a time of redemption; A time that brings to an end the series of failures that we have dealt with for what seems like a long, long time.    

From the farms and woods of Northern Michigan to the prairies of South  Dakota, today's guest has taken many trophy animals for being such a young lady. She faced an early death and God pulled her through. She was told she would never play competitive sports and she not only played, but she also thrived as a basketball player. God has blessed her with some great trophies, and she is humble and gives Him the credit. She knows that it is only because of God's favor that she has been able to not only fish, hunt, trap and play basketball, but just to be here at this time. We hope that through today's show you learn that listening to your guide, whether it be in the outdoors, or in life, is the most important choice you can make.

We all have dreams of what we would like to do someday in our lives. We desire things, some of which are selfish, and some are for God's glory. If we are dreaming and fighting for those things that are what we want for ourselves, we are wasting our time and energy. It's when our hearts align with God's heart that He fulfills our dreams. It's then that we see our dreams come true!

At some time in our lives, every one of us believes that we are facing something that is far too big to overcome. All too often we use these things as crutches to avoid facing the difficult things in life. We may say we'll do whatever it takes to get past our struggles, but will we really do it? On today's show, we'll meet a man who learned to cuss as a little boy working in the peanut fields of Georgia. He faced obstacles and one day, after losing his mother, he decided from that day forward, he would not want to do anything that would have disappointed her.   God took this boy to great and beautiful places around north America… but more importantly, He took him on a life of spiritual adventure and victory!  

In the wilds of far northern Ontario, there are places where a person could walk for many days without finding civilization.  In some areas you could be attacked by wolves before you ever made it out. Leaving a boy in these wild places will certainly bring him closer to manhood in a hurry! Around the world there are many different thoughts on when a boy becomes a man or a girl becomes a woman. In Jewish tradition, this happens at 12  or 13 years of age…  But does a ceremony and a party make a child an adult?  It's been said that a boy becomes a man when he learns that he is not the most important person in his life. This is the story on  today's program!

There are few places easier to share the things we are each facing in life than a fishing or hunting camp. Our personal guards are let down and we can easily talk about the good, the bad and the ugly in our lives. On today's show, we sit at a round table discussion about turkey hunting at our annual God's Great Outdoors Wisconsin Turkey Hunt. Our host is joined by 4 of his turkey hunting buddies in a western Wisconsin hunting camp. We'll hear discussions of calling turkeys as well as successes and failures in the turkey woods.  We will also look at the struggles and failures we all face in our everyday lives and how a relationship with Jesus Christ can turn the bad and ugly parts of life into good ones!

Many of us feel like we have no idea what it would be like to have an addiction. We look on and think, “that's what the alcoholic or drug user deals with."  Today's guest does a good job of describing what it is like to have an addiction…  He says, “Think about putting your phone away for a week or two with no contact with it”.  It makes you think. What is the first thing you reach for when you wake up? What is it that you do when you have a little free time most days?  I think that if we are honest we all have had or now have an addiction of some kind in our lives. What we learn today is that overcoming is a hard process and it takes more than worldly programs. It take the Lord and strong Christian men and women around you to get through the hard times.