Anyone Taken A Bowhunter Education Course?
 

This weekend I completed the PA Bowhunter Education Course, passed with flying colors I might add. But what I was wondering was has anyone else taken a similar course in their state and what did you think of it? I know some states it is required, here in PA it is not required, I just took it to better myself and just in case some day I get to hunt in another state that requires you have a bowhunter certification. The PA course is designed for first time hunters and experienced hunters, and covers all aspects of bowhunting including ethics, history of bowhunting, equipment, shooting techniques, types of animals, shot placement, animal sign, tracking wounded animals, distance estimation, and treestand safetyplus much much more. Everything was easy to understand for a new hunter but indepth enough that someone who has been bowhunting 10+ years such as myself could still learn something. If you haven' t taken a course like this I would highly suggest it. Check with your wildlife dept to see if it is offered.

RE: Anyone Taken A Bowhunter Education Course?
 

No, I have never taken a bowhunting safety course. Never heard of it actually. I have taken the hunters safety course which covers all the areas of hutning. From Bow, to rifle, shotgun, muzzlloader, waterfowl, trailing deer and so on. It was very interesting, and also passed with missing only one question :p

RE: Anyone Taken A Bowhunter Education Course?
 

Here in PA you have to take the Hunter safety course to get a License when you turn 12, legal hunting age. I took that when I was twelve. It was a great course and highly suggest anyone who bowhunts take it. Heck it only cost $18 so it is not expensive. I do know that Bob Foulkrod holds a weekend long Bowhunter education class on his farm in southwestern PA, I know it is much more extensive than the regular PA course, but it is much more money to participate. He is a national certified hunter education instructor.

RE: Anyone Taken A Bowhunter Education Course?
 

Never offered in my area. I wish I had taken it when I first started bowhunting.
Then maybe I wouldnt have: Fallen out of a tree...3 times, (After the 2nd fall I made a homemade saftey harness which didnt hold causing fall number 3),:( cut myself while messing with my broadheads,[:o] shot the side of my moms new oldsmobile because I didnt have an adequate backstop, and shot an arrow in the air just to see how high it would go. (I was 13 at the time.)[:' (]

RE: Anyone Taken A Bowhunter Education Course?
 

In Jersey it' s mandatory to take a course/test before getting a license. There are all seperate courses for Muzzleloader, Shotgun and Bow. If you don' t pass your Bow test and course, you don' t get a license. The same goes for Muzzleloader and Shotgun. The course consist of about 3 hours in the field and then a written test at the end. Also, you need to do a home study guide with a workbook. You get a video for home too on everything to do with hunting. The course is free to all people interested in getting into the sport of hunting. The New Jersey Fish and Wildlife runs the courses.

RE: Anyone Taken A Bowhunter Education Course?
 

A bow safety course is mandatory in New York State I took one about 7- 8 years ago I learned alot about bowhunting the safety part is mostly common sense ( not something everybody has) ( no offense benhuntin):D;)[&:] I guess the class is good seeing that hunting accidents are way below what they used to be

RE: Anyone Taken A Bowhunter Education Course?
 

Yup, mandatory in NY, and best safety course ever took. Also required to take a hunter safety course on top of a bowhunters safety. If you want to trap furbearer' s have to take a trappers safety course. All require full attendance, which usually covers 2 evening courses of 3-4hrs, and a full 8hr day. Also a test at the end you need to pass to recieve your safety certificate to purchase a license. Some have you shoot now also. There is also a Waterfowl safety course that is required to have in order to hunt some special management areas like Montezuma refuge. I took that one also for heck of it.

RE: Anyone Taken A Bowhunter Education Course?
 

I took PA' s course and do not think its for " Experienced Bowhunters" . It sure wasn' t what I expected. If you can' t ace the test there' s something seriously wrong. I would much rather take a course by someone like Bob faulkrod or Chuck Adams. Maybe if your new to hunting or don' t have a clue you could learn something.

RE: Anyone Taken A Bowhunter Education Course?
 

None taken. Most of my common sense didnt kick in until I was 19. Been pretty good with it from there on out.:D:) With the exception of marrying my first wife. [X(][:' (]

RE: Anyone Taken A Bowhunter Education Course?
 

Required here in N.J.,but they should spend more time on subjects like hunters image,shot placement,and espesally blood trailing.I saw people at mine(many moons ago) that probably did' nt even own thier own bow and had never shot! The shooting part of the exam should be very stringent rather than as relaxed as it was.Hope this has changed.

RE: Anyone Taken A Bowhunter Education Course?
 

This is a funny thread for me, I never had to take the course in N.Y. moved from
another state, so the archery tag just carried over, but did sit through a class with
a kid I was getting started in bow, now I have 3 P&Y buck' s from n.y, the guy that' s teaching the class, had never really gotten a deer with a bow, he was the
shotgun instructor[:o] boy i thought this is going to be funny:) and it was, I just
kepted my mouth shut, and let this guy ramble on for hour' s about somthing he
knew nothing about, then I straightened the kid out, on the do' s and dont' s after
the class was over, :D

RE: Anyone Taken A Bowhunter Education Course?
 

no. i havent heard of one being in north dakota. but since i am just starting to bow hunt this yr i wish there was. all my information comes from this forum and some good friends that do alot of bowhunting. when i took my hunter safty class a couple years ago they talked about bowhunting but didnt get into it in real good detail. but i get all the information off here and if i have a question on anything i just ask it and these people on here are so nice that they all want to help the new hunters.

RE: Anyone Taken A Bowhunter Education Course?
 

Took my Bow hunter safty course in 75 or 76 at Buttz & Bows by Len Cardinale.

RE: Anyone Taken A Bowhunter Education Course?
 

Tennessee does not require an archery license, only the Hunter Safety course. My question to you is; if I were going to apply for a non-resident license in a state that requires Bowhunter safety am I waived of the course requirement?

Thanks and good hunting!!!
jt

RE: Anyone Taken A Bowhunter Education Course?
 

That depends on the state Mathewsbow 1, in SD you would be if you have held an archery license in another state. WY, MT both require that you have it if you are out of state. I believe Canada may require it also, help me out you guys from up north.

RE: Anyone Taken A Bowhunter Education Course?
 

Hey Mathewsbow1 the way I understand it is that some states will not give you a license if you haven' t passed some sort of bowhunter education course. And in fact one funny thing from my course is that they said some states want a number from the card you get when you passed the course, In fact they will not give you a license if you don' t give them a number. Well for some reason PA doesn' t put a number on their cards so they told us in our class to make up some sort of number and write it on our cards. isn' t that a hoot, the PA Game Commission at it' s finest again.

RE: Anyone Taken A Bowhunter Education Course?
 

We give 5 hunter education classes per year. 3 Hunter Education classes and 2 Bowhunter Education classes.

The Bowhunter course has to deal, many times, with experienced hunters who want to expand their education or hunt in a different State or on some Federal properties that require the course. It is tough to sit there though the ' known' phase of the course for some; but, it is required because we can' t separate the classes due to knowledge/experience. Since we are primarily an archery shop, we can teach with more tools available and can add a somewhat different perspective over some others teaching the course.

We highly recommend getting the course under ' your belt' just for the sake of possibly learning one thing that will help you. If you are ever going to hunt out-of-State, in Canada, or on certain Federal properties, you should take the course.

RE: Anyone Taken A Bowhunter Education Course?
 

i took mine at the ripe old age of 18 , same place as jerseyhunter ! that was many moons ago, how is len by the way? anyway the only thing i really remember was the written test was easy and you had to get three arrows in a paper plate and i think it was about 10 or 20 yards away.

RE: Anyone Taken A Bowhunter Education Course?
 

here in Minnesota its included in gun safety.... We had this guy come in.... he was pretty old.... but he had shot over a hundred deer and lots of otherr species... he decribed what it was like to hunt each kind and also told us of experiences he hadd with tracking them... an example is.... he had a bad shot on a deer once and it ran for miles bleeding... he said he would tie a strip of suveyors tape to a limb every few hundred feet to yards depending on the thickness of the area...he explained that he never found the deer and the reason is the blood trial slowly slakened till it disappeared. He explained the types of bows and that here in mn crossbows are onlly legal for handycapped...he showed us how to put a string on a recurve bow also... thats all i can really think of i took the couse 6 years ago so i' ve kinda forgot a lot of bow stuff from that.