While our nation’s founders fought for freedom from tyranny and oppressive taxation, personal liberty was at the core of America’s origin story.

The foundation of our shooting and hunting industry is a population of Americans who know how to safely and responsibly use firearms, and happily, there has never been a better time to become a safe, knowledgeable, and proficient recreational shooter.

This Labor Day, as we salute the passing of another summer and celebrate the American workers who are the real heroes of our economy, pause to consider the economic and job- creation engine that the outdoor industry provides the nation.

In a previous OICC installment, we detailed the $80 billion annual contribution the firearms industry makes to the national economy. But the industry is composed of people, each contributing their skills, knowledge, and time to a particular task. We wanted to get to know one of the people whose work—and work ethic—is responsible for the industry's horsepower.

I just picked up a box of Remington upland game loads, 12 gauge #6 shot, high-base ounce- and-a-quarter shells that should take me through prairie grouse season and right up to the beginning of Montana's pheasant season in a couple weeks.

By Andrew McKean

Gwen and I have almost nothing in common, besides sharing a hometown and a love of words. She's maybe 20 years younger than I am, tattooed, and has spent most of her life indoors.

As the modularity, versatility, accessibility, and in many cases affordability, of AR-platform rifles has become more widely recognized over the past decade, so too has the popularity of the platform grown for hunting.

There’s a membership organization, or two, dedicated to the conservation of just about every species of North American wildlife you can imagine. Some examples; Wild turkeys? Yep, the National Wild Turkey Federation advocates for what some have called America’s bird. Mule deer? Sure, the Mule Deer Foundation looks out for this iconic Western deer species.

Natural-resource management is as polarized as the rest of our politics. History proves it doesn’t have to be that way.

Jimmy Bullock is a soft-spoken Southerner who seems more comfortable in a library or a classroom than the din and dust of a wood-pulp mill.