What are some of your concerns?
 

HELLO!

I am working with a few hunters education programs this summer in Michigan, and would love to get some feed back on what areas of the educational program need improvements?

-for example: How do I clean my gun? or How do I prep my animal for a meal (i.e how to gut and skin etc..) ?
- How do I know where to hunt?

What questions do you continually find your self asking? How could we make the search for your answer easier for you?

Maybe more online resources? or the creation of a new educational class?

Thank you!

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CalHunter
Moderator

Since you subjects seem to be aimed at new hunters. I think you should aim to get this into a middle school class room projects.


:D Al

Unless things have changed over the last 10 years, hunter education curriculum for HE classes is standardized between most if not all states. The various state's hunter ed coordinators meet annually to discuss and initiate changes if needed. If there is a need for a change, the change extends to all the states. Instructors just don't make up their own subjects to add to the course. The hunter education course used to be called the hunter safety course when it initially began and was changed to hunter education when more things were added to the program. Hunter education curses are a basic introduction to hunting, safe gun handling, laws ethics etc. You cannot teach first time hunters a lifetime of experience in the length of time the course is given. Parents and other mentors must continue the hunter education once the new hunted is able to obtain a license and go hunting. Hunter education courses are designed to provide basic knowledge to form a foundation to build on, not create a finished hunter. Actually, a good hunter never stops learning.

Gun cleaning, care of game after the kill and preparation for the table, tracking learning where to look for game etc., are things that are learned as we go along. Many sportsmen's clubs and the PA Game Commission in my state do put on classes on how to care for game after the kill but it is not part of the hunter education formal program.

Hello,

Oldtimr I think you misunderstood my post. While it seems like you think my goal is to teach new found hunters all the information that is gained throughout a lifetime of hunting at once, it is not. In order to sustain the future of hunting, some things need to change. These days, the percent of hunters is on the decline and in order to change this we need to make it easier for people to become hunters. I do not want to change what it takes to get a hunters safety license. I rather focus on giving people who may not have a father, grandfather, or uncle (or any family member) that can teach them the immense amount of knowledge that is required to become a good hunter, a better chance of finding this information on their own. I know a few people who have had interest in hunting while not having a family connection with hunting and after going through hunter education, were very frustrated because they still didn't have a good idea on where and how to hunt. I would like to provide a easier gateway for people like this to get into hunting. Doing this by making certain information readily available such as; where to hunt, how to hunt, how to prepare wild game, equipment needs, etc. So hopefully I can get some valuable input on what would make a new hunters transition easier while assuming they don't have a good mentor to teach them all of this valuable information. The goal is to find new (or enhance) ideas to help hunters better their knowledge on hunting.

In the basic hunters saftey course I took years ago, it would have been nice to go over how to obtain and the difference between permits. They briefly went over field dressing and that's a topic that intimidates most new hunters. It would be nice to go over field dressing multiple species not just deer. Also, many new hunters are afraid of asking questions, let them know that most people are willing to give advice.

IMHO your OP leads us to believe that you want to incorporate a lot of what you mentioned into the traditional Hunter Safety Class even though you state it isn't. There are set standards like Oldtimr mentioned that all states require a person to pass in order to get their first hunting license. What you are talking about would be excellent for additional classes that a person could take AFTER they complete the basic course in their state and wish to learn more on what you're talking about. Good luck with your work!

The easiest way to do that would be to get some sportsman's clubs to sponsor classes on hunter skills, would provide a venue and probably knowledgeable people to help teach the class.