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45 Degrees North: 5 Things To Know About Hunter Safety Education [1]

['Donna Kallner', 'The Daily Yonder']

Date: 2024-04-05

Walk into a classroom or community center set up for a Hunter Education class, and it might seem like it’s all about the guns. But really, it’s all about helping kids become safe, responsible hunters who understand the ethics and etiquette of hunting as well as rules of firearm safety.

And in case you were wondering, all those Hunter Ed guns have had the firing pins removed. Non-functional dummy rounds are used instead of live ammunition. By the end of the class, students will be able to explain the difference between a pump-action shotgun and a bolt-action rifle, match a gun to the correct ammunition, safely load and unload ammo, maintain muzzle control while carrying a gun, and know the maximum projectile range for different firearms.

But they’ll also learn to pass up a shot that’s more likely to wound rather than fell an animal, to “plan the hunt and hunt the plan,” and how to ask a landowner’s permission to hunt. They’ll be able to identify that a firearm is unloaded, and find the safety and demonstrate how to work it. They’ll probably know a game warden and other trusted adults from their community who can answer questions and listen with pleasure to the stories of their hunts. They may even form lifelong friendships and hunting partnerships.

And there’s more. Here are five things you should know about hunter safety education.

It’s Required

To get a hunting license in Wisconsin, a Hunter Education certificate is required for anyone born on or after January 1, 1973. People older than age 18 can meet that requirement by successfully completing a 4- to 6-hour Hunter Safety online class. People younger than age 18 can take the online class, but must also complete a 6- to 8-hour in-person Field Day to get the Hunter Education certificate required for a hunting license. A Field Day was held here in 2021. But until this March there hasn’t been an in-person class here since 2019.

In-person classes take a minimum of 10 hours to complete. Here, that meant two 2-hour evening sessions and six hours on a Saturday, which ended with a written exam and a 20-part hand-on skills-based Field Test. It’s a serious commitment for the kids, and for their parents or grandparents. While most were local, some came from more than an hour away because they couldn’t get their kids into an in-person class closer to home.

To earn certification, Hunter Ed students must pass a written exam and a 20-part hand-on skills-based Field Test. (Photo by Donna Kallner)

Volunteer Instructors

More than 20,000 people a year take hunter education courses in Wisconsin, and finding enough volunteers to teach can be a challenge. The certified instructors who conduct in-person classes and Field Days must first pass a background check. Certification can be earned through apprenticeship or a 1- or 2-day training session. The maximum recommended instructors-to-student ratio is 1-to-10, but with more instructors students spend less time waiting their turn at training stations and for their one-on-one Field Test. The March class here had 24 students, three certified instructors, a formerly certified helper who stood in for the fourth certified instructor when he was unable to attend, and one apprentice. Seems like only yesterday when that apprentice was taking Hunter Ed himself, but he’s old enough to have two kids in the class. Time flies.

Motivated Learners

In youth activities, kids can find a passion and facility for learning that’s different from an academic classroom experience. Sports, band, theater, 4-H showmanship and other activities – including Hunter Ed – give kids a chance to discover how good they can be at something. It’s fun to see hands shoot up in response to Hunter Ed instructors’ questions. When the quiet kids who don’t wave their hands get called on, they too seem confident in their answers. A child who might struggle with reading on the written exam can ace the Field Test. The class is challenging, but also designed for success.

For example, students learn about leading a target and the safe zone-of-fire. Hunters younger than 14 must be supervised by an adult while hunting. So it’s important that they understand where they are in relation to others, and the limits on where they can aim and fire without risking injury to others. The DNR provides guns with lasers for an exercise where groups of three kids at a time can watch the light move on a wall to show where their muzzles are aimed and to practice not overlapping their safe zones of fire. Then they go outside for practice, with instructors lobbing fluorescent Frisbees (to simulate game birds) and softballs (rabbits). These exercises reinforce important lessons about muzzle control and self-control, and that it’s better to pass up a shot than to risk an unsafe one.

Broadening Horizons

There are kids (and adults) who come into Hunter Ed without previous experience or access to hunting equipment or places to hunt. But many of the kids have had some hunting experience. They’ve been mentored by parents and grandparents and participated in special Youth Hunts. Nevertheless, Hunter Ed offers them opportunities to learn about other ways of doing things. For example, one girl said she appreciated learning about hunting from tree stands, since she has mostly done still hunting. And she’s interested in hunting game birds, but has only shot rifles. I think my 20-gauge shotgun might fit her well enough to make that happen.

Volunteer instructors help students from their own communities become safe, responsible hunters. (Photo by Donna Kallner)

Hunter Ed also introduces students to responsibilities that will come with hunting independently. Even when hunting with a parent or mentor, it’s up to each individual to know and comply with hunting laws, to ensure landowner permission, to plan and prepare for a safe outdoor experience and be able to cope with changing weather conditions. Hunter Ed may be the first time some of these kids ever hear that there are ways to navigate that don’t rely on a cell phone.

Observation Skills

Years ago, a graphic artist friend showed me some of his young son’s drawings. I said something like, “What a lucky kid to have you teach him to draw.” He said he wasn’t teaching his son to draw: He was teaching him to observe. Hunting does that, too. Hunter Ed introduces animal characteristics like distinctive markings, sounds, movements, group behaviors, wildlife identification, basic wildlife management practices, and the hunter’s role in wildlife conservation. Those and lessons on firearm safety, ethics and etiquette can lay a strong foundation for future hunters. Hunting builds on that by encouraging thoughtful observation of how wildlife behave in their habitats.

Observation is the habit of a lifetime for hunters. And for many families, Hunter Ed is more than a cultural rite of passage. It’s a gateway to understanding a world that isn’t a water park or petting zoo.

Donna Kallner writes from Langlade County in rural northern Wisconsin. To sample Hunter Safety Education curriculum see this study guide.

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