i agree with don that it is a little b.s., in the sense that, hunting should or at least could be taught to a newcomer by a seasoned hunter. i think more info would be retained if the person actually went hunting instaed of talking about it for 10 hours( 2 five hour courses normally) instaed these courses are taught by a volunteer, so who knows what you may or may not learn. BUT, at least the state is trying to do something to recruit more hunters, and this doesn't seem to bad of an idea. a newcomer gets to hunt and if he/she enjoys it then they have to take the course next year to hunt. one big drawback i see is that they just passed this law and if i read it correctly it is only for this year, so too bad for someone who wanted to try out deer hunting for the firearm deer season, unless they get lucky in a daily drawing