Ihad a terrible dream the other night. Not a Stephen King-style horror that haunts you in the dark, but a different kind of nightmare. In it, hunting simply didn’t exist. No rifles, no bows, no shotguns. No hunters wandering the woods. A world without one of America’s oldest traditions.

I thought about how lucky we are to live in a country where, with few exceptions, nearly anyone can hunt. There are safety courses, age requirements and regulations to follow, but for most Americans, the freedom to hunt remains. It is a gift, one that many, including hunters themselves, often take for granted.

But what if we couldn’t? What would happen to wildlife populations and the millions of acres of habitat maintained today in large part because of hunting?

Hunting is not just a pastime. It is a maj

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