Have you ever stalked an antelope on open Wyoming plains and then dropped him with a perfect shot from a .270?

Have you ever talked to North Dakota farmers about the hunting and their experiences as kids while sipping coffee in a café during a blizzard?

Have you ever spoken to an old man about how he and his Dad hunted on the Platte River just before the First World War?

Have you ever watched caribou grazing in belly deep grass while your thumb took your gun off safe?

Have you ever read a book about lawyers and doctors going from Philadelphia to Chincoteague by train (all the way down the Eastern Shore through flooded woodlands) and by wagon to the edge of the marsh and then by boat over to Chincoteague to shoot ducks?

Have you ever mounted a deer rack or a bird and glanced at it 30 years later and smiled at the memories it evoked?

Have you ever tasted broiled deer steak or yellowfin tuna or backstraps out of a caribou that lived where no predators harassed them?

Have you ever roasted a mallard or tasted a Cassoulet de Toulouse with White Beans made with snow goose breasts? No finer dish ever enhanced a wine.

Have you ever spent the day hunting or fishing with a friend or an evening eating and drinking with friends after hunting or fishing?

Have you ever spent the afternoon with a trapper far from your home while he tells you about all the animals in his area and how he goes about outfoxing those he wants?

For these and so many more reasons that I can't even recall; hunting, fishing, and trapping are irreplaceable parts of what I am and who I am.

Today, these reasons are often hidden as we hunters are forced to defend ourselves. Large and rich organizations have specifically targeted hunting, fishing, and trapping for elimination. Government at both the State and Federal level increasingly caters to these organizations and their agendas. University professors, like the bureaucrats, often profit from enabling these groups to achieve their ends. Sadly, many politicians try to profit from the money and influence controlled by these organizations. Cries of animal "welfare" and animal "rights" ring in our ears. Lawsuits quoting "NEPA" and the "Endangered Species Act" and the "Wilderness Act" are being used to demolish fish and wildlife management for hunting and fishing while being disguised as "saving" the environment. We hunters and fishermen and trappers are being denied our rights and traditions and the economic fruits of the hunting, fishing, and trapping economy.