Photos show that even when I was too young to walk in the woods by my own effort, my parents carried me.  Our initials remain carved in the bark of a large beech tree at one of our favorite hunting spots.  Both of my parents encouraged me and helped me be successful in marksmanship contests such as those at the Louisiana State Fair.  Attending the local chapter banquets of the Union Longspurs and Corney Creek Longspurs is a family affair.  In fact, my younger sister Sarah Katherine (10), enjoys hunting and going to the banquets as much as I do. 

Our family has spent hours together in the field hunting and planting trees for wildlife.Because of school and football, most of my hunting now consists of spring turkey hunts with my father. 

 It was important to him to pass along his love of the outdoors and the shooting sports to me and it is something I wish to give to others as well. However, I do not take for granted that I will be able to do so.Both our hunting privileges and Second Amendment rights are under attack.  Maintaining our hunting and outdoor heritage is a responsibility each of us must assume and I intend to do my part. 

               I plan to major in economics with the expectation of eventually earning my Ph.d.I hope to be able to attend an Ivy League college.  Economics and wildlife management may not seem like they go together.  However, I believe that they do and that they must.  I intend to use my education and resulting professional opportunities to promote my hunting heritage and secure it for my future children. 

            Those of us who hunt have done a great job of articulating our shared values amongst ourselves.  The far left animal rights activists have also, with the help of celebrities and ad agencies, done the same thing.  Both sides have been very effective, within their respective core constituencies, of formulating their positions.   

The real battleground is what politicians call the “middle” or undecided voters.  In our case the middle is the vast number of Americans who do not hunt, but hold no deep convictions either for or against hunting.  It is incumbent on us to persuade them that we are correct and that our hunting heritage is valuable to them and society.  We must expand our important message to those who are not hunters.  They must be made to understand that they have an economic interest in the fact that other people hunt. 

What those of us who hunt and enjoy the outdoors do out of love, non-hunters can be encouraged to support in furtherance of their own vested economic interest. 

            The message of the far left is that our focus should be on preservation alone.  This is just another way of saying, “No hunting allowed.” 

            Management works, mere preservation does not.   No farmer or rancher would allow his fields to lie fallow or herds to go untended expecting a future harvest or return with no effort.  As we manage our natural resources, for hunting and other outdoor activities, their economic value will increase.  As their value increases so the collective will of the American people to insure their effective management through hunting will increase. 

            This has been proven to be correct in many areas of the world such as on the continent of Africa.  In those areas, such as South Africa, where the economic value of hunting and wildlife management are understood by the residents, hunting and game animals have both flourished.  In those areas where the animals are only viewed as an artifact to be “preserved” not only have animal populations declined precipitously, but the local economies have also suffered and languished. 

            Taxation is an area of importance to economists and should be to hunters as well.  While excise taxes, such as those of the Pittman-Robinson Act of 1937 aid in the management of wildlife, we must always be vigilant.  The ability to tax can be abused.  Some politicians and liberal special interests might use overly burdensome taxation as a means of suppressing our hunting and shooting rights.  Furthermore, while it may seem remote, we must be especially wary of the possibility of confiscatory taxes which would actually deprive us of the tools that we use to manage and harvest our natural resources.