Ron Brothers, who will be 75 years old shortly, was the keynote speaker at the Hope Community Church’s ninth annual sportsmen’s banquet.

He discussed various deer hunting strategies as well as his belief religion and hunting go hand-in-hand.

Brothers quoted a few Bible passages relating to hunting and his opinion is hunting is a legitimate pastime for Christian people.

Hunters can show the world they are good hunters and Christians.

As for hunting, he is an expert archer and hunts with bow, rifle, shotgun and muzzle loader.

He has been hunting for 63 years and has hunted in 20 states plus Canada, Africa and Mexico.

Brothers is retired from 45 years of service at Landis Super Markets.

He gave his views on certain hunting topics such as scents, wind direction and deer sign.

Brothers said that the hunter should have a strategy and plan in mind when going out in the field.

“If you find a spot where no one else goes, you increase your probability of harvesting a deer when the hunting pressure on the deer herd increases,” Brothers said. “Make sure all the conditions are right and pay attention to details.”

His three most important words of advice were patience, persistence and practice - patience to spend many hours in the field, persistence to continue to hunt even when it seems hopeless and practice with your equipment.

“You might not be successful all the time, but your odds of getting a deer will be improved by following these guidelines,” he explained.

Bill Van Artsdalen was the master of ceremonies for the evening.

After his welcome speech and announcements, dinner was served.

The menu consisted of, among other things, venison meatloaf, venison stroganoff, bear chili, roast turkey, bear kabobs, rabbit potpie, mac and cheese and lettuce with hot bacon dressing.

Several scrumptious desserts were also available.

Several wildlife mounts were on display.

The audience was enlisted to vote on which they thought was the best.

There were two categories - deer mounts and other mounts.

Winner of the best deer mount was Brad Diehl of Maxatawny, who got a nice whitetail in 2014 hunting near Lenhartsville.

In the other category, Justin Brown, of Alburtis, got the prize for his warthog which he harvested in South Africa in July 2014.

He spent two weeks hunting various wild life in the country.

He owns a taxidermy business and assists hunters in booking trips to South Africa.

Anyone wishing further information on him can visit his website at jbtaxidermy.com.