Callers for Christ
Where were you born and raised and how did you discover your love and passion for waterfowl hunting?
ROSSEN
I was born in St.Paul, MN. I was introduced to hunting and fishing by my father, Vern Rossen. This introduction by my father set the stage for the calling on my life. A father’s influence is a powerful thing in a young persons life.
FLYWAY
What was the first duck you ever shot, where did you shoot it, and what kind of gun did you shoot it with?
ROSSEN
The first duck I shot myself was a wood duck just south of Hastings, MN on North Lake. This was when I was young and just starting out. No decoys. Just a duck call, my dads old hunting coat, some shells and his size 13 waders that did not come close to fitting! I wanted to go so bad that I did not care about the miss matched equipment, the passion was too strong…
FLYWAY
What is one duck you haven't shot but would really like to?
ROSSEN
Erasion Widgeon Drake and a Cinnamon Teal Drake
FLYWAY
What is your favorite duck (or goose) to hunt and why?
ROSSEN
Mallards and Giant Canada Geese because of their callability and their tablefare.
FLYWAY
Do you believe in strategizing your decoy placement or do you believe you can just throw them out there and still have success?
ROSSEN
Strategy is definitely apart of my game plan and I could talk for hours about that but the main thing I would stress is make sure the hunters are in the blind spot of the birds approach path to the pocket in your spread. You don’t want to give the birds a long look in the direction of your blind, which would give them full opportunity to pick you out. Therefore off to the side and slightly down wind of the pocket is where I tend to place the blinds (crosswind set up).
FLYWAY
What calls would we find on your lanyard right now?
ROSSEN
Well, Buck Gardner calls of course! I have the Acrylic Spitfire, Brad's Reactor, and the Baby Buck. For goose I have the working man series Grey Ghost and the Honker Hammer.
FLYWAY
What is your favorite gun to hunt with?
ROSSEN
My Benelli M1 Super 90 I have had since high school.
FLYWAY
If you were teaching a class or giving a seminar on calling ducks or geese, what are some tips, words of wisdom or advice would you offer?
ROSSEN
Biggest tip is you will get out of calling what you put into it...
Next would be compare yourself to your real judges, the ducks or geese! Let them teach you.
Then stop at nothing to achieve realism and duck or goose rhythms, not callers rhythms. CD's with recordings of live ducks or geese is an excellent tool that I personally use to stay on top of my game as far as calling. Stay teachable, ask questions, and then practice, practice, practice! Compare yourself to the real thing and then practice some more. As far as calling in the field, knowing when to call at birds is crucial. Next would be the tempo. The tempo at which you call at birds is dictated by which part of the season you are in- early, mid or late season.
Early Season- a relaxed tempo. Birds are coming off of their summer patterns.
Mid Season - The fall migration is usually on in most parts of the country I have hunted and the competition for food is fierce so the birds are going to be very vocal with their feed bag on. Therefore, if you are on the x, aggressive controlled calling while reading the birds is usually in order with the decoy #'s matching the calling tempo.
Late season- Birds at this point tend to be weary from hunting pressure so in most cases it goes back to more conservative calling giving them just what they need to hear in combination with motion in the spread. Although you might find situations where birds have discovered a new food source and the feed bag is on as well as the vocals, pick up for the situation if that’s the case. The tempo picks up again but you still have to read the birds as to what they want to hear as to not blow them out. In late season realism is crucial because they have heard everything down the flyway, therefore they are tougher on judging your calling. So, hopefully you put your practice opportunities to good use in the off season and it's time for a pay off!
FLYWAY
Your favorite movie of all time is.....
ROSSEN
"Jesus of Nazareth" with Robert Powell playing Jesus. I have gotten something new out of it just about every time I watch it.
FLYWAY
You get to go on a dream hunt with any 3 people, alive or deceased. Who will you be taking, where will you be going, and what will you be hunting for?
ROSSEN
Well, if I was bow hunting it would be Fred Bear for Elk or Moose and if it was waterfowl I would have to say it would be with my Dad on a world class flooded timber hunt for Mallards. I have not had the chance to hunt waterfowl along side my Dad with my sons because my Dad quit before I was old enough to shoot.
FLYWAY
What is your greatest hunting memory?
ROSSEN
Man, that’s a tough one! There are so many but if I had to choose it would be between the time I shot my first deer successfully with a bow in Pine City, MN with my Dad, or duck hunting on Spring Lake on the river bottoms of MN with my Dad and His best friend Joe Marquardt and his son, Bob Marquardt.
FLYWAY
Have you ever doubled or tripled?
ROSSEN
Yes, I have doubled on teal when I first started hunting ducks by myself. I was with my good buddy, John Seigel, and we had a big flock of teal swing in front of us taking us by surprise in the hacksaw hole and we jumped up and flock shot. When multiple birds fell with a shot we were so excited as very young inexperienced waterfowlers.
FLYWAY
Tell us about Callers for Christ and your involvement with it
ROSSEN
Callers For Christ is a ministry that preaches the Word of God and the message of salvation through Jesus Christ. We do this on and through the platform of the outdoors & game calling primarily in the hunting & waterfowling community . God had me found this ministry back in 2005 in MN and since then it has quickly grown with members as far away as New Zealand!We have had state chapters in MN, WI, MD, TN, WA, and SC (check website to see which are current).We have ministered at the World Duck Calling Championship, Easternshore of Easton Maryland with Tim Grounds at the annual Goose hunt, and the sportsmen’s luncheon put on by Bill Hughes. Rauhauges Shooting Festival in California with my buddy Craig Wilson, meetings with the Washington Waterfowl Association and many places in between. Our main thrust is to point the way to salvation and a living relationship with the one true God through Jesus Christ.
FLYWAY
I had the chance to read your personal testimony and found it to be very interesting and honest. Most people prefer to leave their ghosts in the closet, you were very open and honest about your past and some of your painful memories. Is it hard to open up like that and share those memories with the world?
ROSSEN
Well, when we come into a real relationship with Christ where it's more than religion or a denomination but instead an intimate two- way communicating relationship, shame for our past is removed. We have become a new creature spiritually and the old has passed away when we have this revelation. The past along with it’s emotions loses it's hold on us to keep us in bondage to it anymore. This is what has freed me inwardly to share these things. If God Almighty has seen it all anyway, why should we fear mans opinion over Gods? This has been my experience anyhow, and hopefully by being transparent folks may see themselves in my life story. My hope is that it will help people know that every saint has a past, but every sinner has a future in Jesus and your are not alone in your journey.
FLYWAY
Can you pinpoint the moment it all came together for you and you knew it was time to surrender it all and give your life to Jesus Christ? A lot of people say they "saw the light" or "heard a voice from above", others say they just "knew it was time", they had this unbelievable feeling that it was time to get saved. What was your moment, or was it a gradual process for you?
ROSSEN
Wow! Those are some loaded questions but good ones! The time came for me when I had had the best life has to offer concerning pleasure. Women, booze, hunting, fishing, hunting and fishing equiptment, or just material things! I still had no true authentic, unfabricated peace or sense of fulfillment. Therefore, my moment came when my mom and sister who had started their journey of faith before me, asked me to come to church when the relatives where in town. I said "Okay, but don’t touch me or make me introduce myself, or anything like that and I will go". I was Mr. Tough Guy on the outside running with the rodeo crowd and such. This was after a series of events where God was trying to reach me. I was in the church looking around then the service started and folks had their hands in the air as they worshipped, which was different from what I had seen growing up in the Catholic church. As I sat there I closed my eyes and began to think about my life and all that it entailed. I already had the best so I said, "if this is all life has to offer then I am done! If life is just work, eat, and consume things then I have had it!". I then opened my eyes, looked around then let my coat of pride hit the floor. I could not hold it back anymore. I reached up and said, “God, if you are real I want all that you are right now”, and I sobbed so hard. I felt this euphoric feeling come from the inside of me and it was really an unfabricated peace from heaven, coupled with the presence of God. This came from being forgiven of all my sin and the burden of it being lifted. I said "man, I feel weird" because it was so foreign to me, this sense of peace. I did not have to fabricate it and by the way, if you have to fabricate your happiness and peace it's not happiness and peace at all. Anyhow, I looked at my Dad who was not saved yet and said this is the best day of my life and he looked at me like a cow at a new gate and said that’s nice son. Later, I met my mom in the entrance hall and told my mom "I think I just accepted Jesus into my heart". Now, I did not know at the time, but in hindsight I was following the Holy Ghosts promptings. Here is why I say that, the Bible says:
Romans 10:9
If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Romans 10:10
For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
So you see, God was guiding me in. Man, He is so good even though I was lost in sin and the furthest from a relationship with Him one could possibly be. He loved me anyway and guided me home to the family of God in Christ Jesus.
FLYWAY
If you were made to choose one, what would your favorite Bible verse be and why?
ROSSEN
Well, it would have to be between :
Isaiah 40:31
31 But those who wait on the LORD
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.
AND
Proverbs 3:5
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;
I say these scriptures because so many times we seek to establish our own righteousness therefore not submitting to the rigthteousness of God. Instead of leaning on our limited understanding about God and things eternal and the way to God and eternal life, we must lay down our understanding and ways of justifying ourselves as merits for Gods acceptence of us. We must examine the facts and then submit our understanding to the findings concerning Jesus. An excellent example of this would be a book or video called "The Case For Christ" by Lee Strobel, an atheist who came to know Christ by God drawing Him to examine the facts and evidence. Jesus is always drawing us even if we don’t realize or acknowledge it. Now, even after being born again of the spirit we have a tendency to get out ahead of God and create our own misery. If we wait on Him, He has plans to bless us and to prosper us to give us a future and a hope. When we don’t wait we hinder this from coming forth in our lives.
FLYWAY
I have spent many nights trying to decipher the Book of Revelation. To be quite honest, it baffles and confuses me. I never understood why it had to be so hard to understand with all of the symbols and numbers and so forth. Do you understand it, and what would you say is the underlying message of that book is?
ROSSEN
I know one thing for sure. It says all that read this book will be blessed! Understanding numerology and Jewish symbology would serve you well in the Holy Ghost having a bed on which to reveal the understanding of this important book of the Bible concerning the end times.
FLYWAY
I had a young woman tell me one time that God frowns upon not only duck hunters, but all hunters. She said I was personally responsible for killing a part of Gods creation and that I should be ashamed of myself. Somehow I still had the audacity to go out later that afternoon and duck hunt after she verbally assaulted me. Do you believe God frowns upon us because we are hunters?
ROSSEN
Well, obviously this lady was confused about the order of life that God himself set in motion. God himself ordered how many animal sacrifices in Old Testament times and provided quail for the Hebrews in the desert after the exodus from Egypt. Plus, God mandated the taking of animals for food in:
Genesis 9:3
Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs.
Another example that God says its okay is:
Acts 10:13
13 And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter ; kill and eat.”
I think that young woman just doesn’t know the creator Himself, but these two scriptures paint a crystal clear picture about this subject.....
FLYWAY
I believe God loves us and wants us to be happy. I also believe that the afterlife will be awesome. I can't help but wonder if I will be able to duck hunt in Heaven? If God really loves me and wants to give me all that I desire in this life and the life to come, I have to believe that he has a boat and a nice honey hole full of ducks awaiting my arrival in Heaven. Your thoughts?
ROSSEN
I think we will be so enraptured by Gods presence that nothing of this world will even be on the radar. We will have to see when we get there. It will be like nothing we have ever known.
FLYWAY
Tell us how visitors to this website can find out more about Callers for Christ and how they can get involved with it
ROSSEN
Well you can first just come to the web-site www.callersforchrist.com then get registered on the forum which is the communication hub for the ministry members of C.F.C and source of strong intimate fellowship and sportsmanship. Then just plug in and get involved, look to see if your state has a chapter, then go to the meetings. Get involved where God leads. There is also calling instruction on the home page in callers corner which will be updated soon with advanced calling instruction so stay tuned!
FLYWAY
For your birthday I will be inviting 3 of your favorite bands or singers to perform for you at your party. Who will I be inviting?
ROSSEN
Merle Haggard, Clint Black and the Gaithers.
FLYWAY
Besides the Bible, what is your all time favorite book?
ROSSEN
I read more magazines than anything else. Delta Waterfowl, Duck unlimited, and NRA magazines.
FLYWAY
In closing, I give you this opportunity to tell everybody how a personal relationship with Jesus Christ has changed your life and what it can do for them.
ROSSEN
It will Grant them eternal life with our Christ. No man shall see heaven or enter it without faith in Him. You will have spiritual sight to carry out Gods will for your life on earth and the byproduct is real inner peace that surpasses all understanding. Joy and fulfillment and the ability to endure any hardships of life with God in your corner...
In closing, you will do well to believe Jesus's words:
John 14:6
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me”.
Minnesota Flyway would like to thank Shane Rossen for taking the time to answer our interview questions.
Top of page
Back to interview page
