America’s First Heroes Were Hunters

As America celebrates 250 years of freedom, it’s worth asking a simple question:

Who really won our independence?

Most Americans immediately think of generals, politicians, and famous statesmen. Names like Washington, Jefferson, Adams, and Franklin rightly deserve their place in history. But there is another group of Americans whose contribution is often overlooked.

America’s hunters.

The men who carried the Revolution to victory were not professional soldiers. They were farmers, trappers, woodsmen, and frontiersmen. They were hunters.

When the first shots of the Revolution rang out at Lexington and Concord, many of the men answering the call had spent their entire lives hunting deer, turkey, squirrels, rabbits, and bear. These men HAD to hunt in order to feed their families. These rugged men knew how to survive in the wilderness. They knew how to track. They knew how to move silently through the woods. Most importantly, they knew how to shoot.

The British Army was the most powerful military on earth. Their soldiers were highly trained and disciplined. But they were accustomed to fighting in open fields and marching in formation.

American hunters fought differently.

From behind stone walls, trees, and brush, they used the skills they had learned pursuing game across the plains, forests, and mountains. Their marksmanship became legendary. British officers quickly learned that American riflemen could hit targets at distances they thought impossible.

In many ways, the American hunter became America’s first special forces soldier. The skills developed in the deer woods and on the frontier helped secure the liberties we enjoy today.

And it didn’t stop with the Revolution.

After independence was won, hunters and frontiersmen opened the American West.

No figure symbolizes that spirit more than Daniel Boone. Long before Kentucky became a state, Boone was exploring wilderness that few humans had ever seen. He hunted, trapped, mapped, and blazed trails that thousands of settlers would eventually follow.

Then came Meriwether Lewis and William Clark and their expedition across an unknown continent to the Pacific Ocean. The Corps of Discovery succeeded because the men were skilled outdoorsmen, they were hunters. Hunting provided much of the food that kept the expedition alive. Their ability to survive in harsh conditions, read the land, and adapt to the challenges of the frontier made one of the greatest explorations in human history possible.

A generation later, another hunter and frontiersman would capture the imagination of the nation. Davy Crockett. Crockett was a hunter, soldier, explorer, and patriot. His life represented the rugged independence that helped define America. Whether hunting in the Tennessee wilderness, arguing in the halls of Congress, or standing his ground at the Alamo, Crockett embodied the courage and self-reliance that have always characterized American hunters.

The story repeats itself throughout our history.

Time and again, when America has called, hunters have answered.

From the Revolutionary War to the Civil War.

From the World Wars to modern conflicts.

The men and women who spend their time outdoors learning marksmanship, discipline, patience, self-reliance, and responsibility often become some of our nation’s finest warriors.

One modern example sits on the Hunter Nation Board of Directors.

Mark “Oz” Geist is a retired U.S. Marine, a veteran of multiple combat deployments, and one of the heroes of Benghazi. When terrorists attacked the American compound in Libya on September 11, 2012, Oz and his fellow defenders fought against overwhelming odds to save American lives. And because of their courage and extraordinary marksmanship, those American lives were saved.

Like so many hunters before him, Oz represents a tradition that stretches back to the founding of our nation—a tradition of courage, service, and answering the call when freedom is threatened.

That is why Hunter Nation proudly celebrates America’s 250th Anniversary.

Not simply because of what happened 250 years ago.

But because the values that built America are still alive today.

Faith.

Family.

Freedom.

Self-reliance.

Personal responsibility.

Love of country.

These are the same values that define hunters and sportsmen across America.

As we commemorate our nation’s founding, let’s remember that America’s story is not just the story of presidents and politicians.

It is also the story of hunters.

The riflemen at Lexington.

The frontiersmen who crossed the mountains.

The explorers who opened the West.

The soldiers who defended freedom around the world.

And the millions of sportsmen and women who continue that legacy today.

Over the coming weeks, we’ll be bringing many of these stories to life in our new television series, Great American Tales, airing on Real America’s Voice and Pursuit Channel.

We’ll explore the dramatic events of the American Revolution, the remarkable life of George Washington, the adventures of Daniel Boone, the epic journey of Lewis and Clark, the legend of Davy Crockett, and many more stories that helped shape this great nation.

As America turns 250, we invite you to join us in celebrating the people, principles, and sacrifices that made our freedom possible.

Because the story of America is still being written.

And hunters remain an important part of that story.

God Bless America on Her 250th Birthday!