These prayers are for that hour, and for the day after it.
Historical Context
Hubert was a nobleman who, the story goes, was out hunting on Good Friday when he met a stag with a cross between its antlers and gave his life to God. He became a bishop and died in 727. His feast in early November falls right in the heart of waterfowl season, and in parts of Europe hunters still gather for a Mass of St Hubert at the start of the season.
A Prayer in the Blind at Dawn
Lord, it is still dark and the marsh is yours.
Thank you for this cold, this quiet, this water.
Keep every gun pointed safely
and every hunter in this blind clear-headed.
Send the birds if you will;
if not, thank you for the sunrise anyway.
St Hubert, pray for us.
Amen.
Thanks After the Hunt
Lord, thank you for the birds you gave us today.
Let us take them with respect,
waste nothing,
and remember that they were yours before they were ours.
Thank you for safe guns, warm hands,
and friends worth sitting in a cold blind with.
Amen.
A Blessing for the Retriever
Bless this dog, Lord,
who swims out into water we would never enter
and brings back what we could not reach.
Keep her from ice and current and stray shot.
Thank you for her nose, her loyalty and her joy.
Amen.
For a Hunting Partner Who Has Died
Lord, there is an empty spot in the blind this year.
He knew these marshes better than any of us.
Give him rest, and the best morning of all.
Be with those of us who still come out here,
and let us remember him every season.
Amen.
Best Times for This Prayer
- In the blind before legal shooting light.
- On opening day of the season.
- On 3 November, the feast of St Hubert.
- Over the birds before cleaning them, or at the meal afterwards.
- Taking a young hunter out for the first time.
Scripture Connection
“Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.” — Matthew 10:29
For a hunter this verse cuts both ways. It does not forbid the hunt, but it says no bird falls unnoticed by God. That is the root of the hunter’s old code: clean shots, no waste, and gratitude for what is taken.
Related prayers
For deer and upland hunting, see the Hunting Prayer. For the dog, the Dog Prayer. And for days on the water with a rod instead of a gun, the Fisherman Prayer.