Dave Hrbacek grew up hunting and fishing. He remembers fishing with his father and four brothers starting around age 5. Next came squirrel hunting and by the time he finished college, hunting wild turkeys. Eventually, Hrbacek began hunting deer during the firearms and archery seasons.
For Hrbacek, a big attraction is being in nature. “God created this wonderful, natural world that we live in, and it’s just nice to get out of the city … and get out into the outdoors and the beautiful world that God created,” he said. Hrbacek, photographer and writer for The Catholic Spirit, said a second attraction is “the supreme challenge” of archery deer hunting.
Dave Hrbacek
“I love the whole entire experience, right down to the cooking aspect because that’s one of my favorite parts,” said Hrbacek, a parishioner of St. Charles Borromeo in St. Anthony. Hrbacek recently joined “Practicing Catholic” radio show host Patrick Conley to discuss the connection between hunting, fishing, outdoor photography and being a practicing Catholic.
Asked how the hunting experience draws him closer to God, Hrbacek described a parallel to the concept of waiting, recalling how the Israelites needed to wait years, or even decades, for God’s help. “I think we’ve lost a lot of that sense of what I call ‘waiting upon the Lord,’” he said. But whether in a boat or a deer stand, inevitably he spends time waiting, Hrbacek said. “So, I think there’s a very strong spiritual connection to waiting on the Lord,” he said, “and I think that might be one of the strongest ways that I experience God.”
Hrbacek has sat in a deer stand for 10, 12 hours at a time, then all of a sudden, an animal appears. That happened in 2012 with five minutes left in the firearms season, when he saw a large buck walk into position.
In that type of situation, he believes God helps people learn patience and waiting on him. “I still have to remind myself that waiting is a very important part of the spiritual life,” he said.
Hrbacek also is a longtime nature photographer, which pairs well with his desire to explore the outdoors, including the North Shore, sometimes to see fall colors near Lake Superior. He has taken photos on trips to Glacier National Park in Montana several times, and in Banff, Canada’s oldest national park, in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains.
As with photographing flowers, “the more you zoom in, the more detail you see, … the more you realize, wow, there’s an artist behind all this,” Hrbacek said, knowing God created it all. “It’s just so powerful to see God at work creating all of this, and the sense of awe and wonder is just so powerful.”
Look for Hrbacek’s articles and photos in the print edition of The Catholic Spirit and online at TheCatholicSpirit.com.
To hear the complete interview, tune in to the 9 p.m. Aug. 5 “Practicing Catholic” show, which repeats at 1 p.m. Aug. 6 and 2 p.m. Aug. 7 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes an interview with Kenna and Pat Millea who discuss their new initiative to provide faith-filled mental health services for individuals, couples and organizations, and a reprised interview from Sept. 17 with Msgr. Jason Gray of the Diocese of Peoria, Illinois, who describes the process of becoming a canonized saint. Msgr. Gray had worked for the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints, which oversees the canonization process.
Listen to their interviews after they have aired at:
Practicing Catholic on Spotify
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