Hunter's safety

[2ski]

Does anyone teach hunter's safety? It dawned on me yesterday that my buddy's son that I'm kind of an uncle to, will be old enough to hunt next year. I was talking to him last night about it, and surprisingly enough, there are no scheduled classes in this outdoor mecca I live in called Bozeman. I guess I always assumed that in Bozeman there would be a plethora of hunter's safety classes and instructors. I've wanted to find a way to give back for a while, but wanted to find something that "fit" me. I think this might be it. I looked into becoming an instructor and will be filling out the info and taking it into the FWP. Hopefully they can run the background check and I can get certified by the spring. I'm kind of pumped.

Any of you guys teach hunter's safety? What have your experiences been? I assume its pretty rewarding getting those little guys and girls started.

 

[larryschwartz]

Well aren't you lucky I checked this one out. He can take the course as a classroom session (which I would recommend) or do it online and then attend a field day for the hands on part.

The classroom style is normally a couple of evenings during a week followed by a half day on the weekend where he does the hands on and takes the written test.

For the online style he takes the instruction part online, gets a voucher showing he has completed that portion when he passes the online test, and then has to attend a field day (also normally a half day on the weekend) where he will do his hands on stuff.

For both styles of training he will need an adult to supervise him when in the classroom (not online obviously) so you should probably plan to attend with him, or his father should. I recommend the classroom style because he will get a lot more content than what they have in the online instruction plus you get to interact with the instructor which helps ensure he understands the points being made.

Here is a link for the classroom instruction in Montana: http://www.register-ed.com/programs/montana/32-montana-hunter-education-classroom-course

Here is a link for the online instruction in Montana: http://www.hunter-ed.com/montana/

Hope this helps.

Larry Schwartz
Hunter Safety Instructor in Maryland

 

[Snowcrest6]

I teach in Nebraska and would agree with Larry - kids (and mentors) get more out of the classroom & field day combo.

It's rewarding and fun, for sure.

Good luck.


- Brian