RE: Hunter Education class......worthless
 

IMO the classes are good, and are worth the time spent. Like someone else said if you can teach safety to even one person then it's worth it. I would talk to the instructer and tell him he is confussing people by skipping around so much, maybe he has a reason? Like some one else said You and your boy should find someplace quiet and go over any info. that they are teaching. I think that it is great that you are sitting threw the class with your son, it shows that you do care.

RE: Hunter Education class......worthless
 

I just took my shot at the course a couple of months ago at the ripe young age of 30. In the state of Florida, I was grandfathered in and did not have to take the class but in Kansas, where I was going to hunt, you have to have it if born after '57 I think.

Imagine my surprise walking into the class and there being 80 high school kids in the class. I believe there were only two or three parents accompaning there kids and it was disappointing to me. When my little girl is ready to go, I will be right there with her. I will get the chance to take my nephews before then and I am ready to go again.

The presenters in our class were volunteers as they are in many cases. But, they presented a well-rounded view of the good practices and laws and really stressed hunter's ethics. We were required to learn the ten commandments of hunter's safety and take a 100 question multiple choice test and I am proud to say I got 100% correct (much better than I ever did in college). The next day, we went to the range and shot skeet and bolt action 22's to make sure we could handle the weapons.

I was able to get friendly with some of the kids that were in the class and it was fun to be around the younger bunch for awhile and I thouroughly enjoyed the whole experience.

I have evn contacted the teachers and inquired about the possibility of volunteering myself to help teach the class. The pay isn't much but it would be a great time.

RE: Hunter Education class......worthless
 

During the summer I help out with the hunter safety class here. Ours is very well written out IMO. But there is no set rule for how the test is taught in most states, so it's all about the instructor. When I took the class it was an 11 hour coarse taken in one day. It was very good with lots of usefull information.

"Hey ya'll, watch this"

Edited by - Kodiakhuntmaster on 02/06/2003 21:45:25

RE: Hunter Education class......worthless
 

I have been teaching the class for about 5 years now and I can sympathize with you. We are all volunteers and it takes a lot of work to put on a class, way more than I expected. Even among our small group of instructors, there are bad ones. One comment that about stopped my heart was "Back when I was young, we used to bring our guns on the bus, keep them in our lockers and then hunt on our way home". Oh, great, just what we need to be telling kids. You can bet I had a talk with that instructor, asking him to keep that nugget of information to himself. Bottom line is this, since most instructors are volunteers and have no training in how to teach, some just arent very good. Coming from an instructor, I would be overjoyed if you asked to help out. Dont give up on the idea of the class just because of one bad experience though, the statistics are overwhelming on how many accidents they save from happening.

RE: Hunter Education class......worthless
 

Thanks for all the feeback folks. I have taken some advice and have been questioning him every so often. For example, last night on the way to baseball practice I was quizing him on some things that have been gone over in class and some stuff that has not, some common sense things. The little fart answered everything I threw at him. I was surprised and very happy and proud of him. Seems like maybe he is picking more up and studying more than his old man thought. We will see how he does, we have one more class tonight then the test is next Tuesday night. Wish him luck.

Thanks
Hack

RE: Hunter Education class......worthless
 

Hack
Right move on quizzing the kid yourself - the best teacher for his training should be you his father. Yes it is a requirement that he takes the state run class but ultimately he learns from you. He learns from watching you, talking with you, and hopefully emulating you.

Sounds to me like your little guy is very excited abouthunting this year and is taking some initiative to learn the material. Congrats on having a new hunting buddy. Teach him well and enjoy the extra time together.

After taking a neighbor's son through the class a few years ago I saw that the test was kind of a joke being that after they took it the teacher reviewed it with the whole class while other volunteers were scoring it. Anyone that didn't pass it got a one on one review of their test with the teachers and then they got their passing grade. Somewhat of a joke in my opinion, everyone passes it seemed a bit screwy to me. But the fact that they reviewed it individually told me that they want to make sure people understand the safety involved.

But the best lessons don't come from the state or the game commission they come from being taught first hand. I have friends who even though their kids pass the test not let them go hunting. Whether because of poor grades, bad tempers or other problems. Teach them well and make everyone else proud to share the woods with them. Let them know it is a privellege.

RE: Hunter Education class......worthless
 

A couple of people have already mentioned it, but I think first hand lessons are absolutely required for the message to sink in. I never had to take the course because I was grandfathered since I had my license before they were required in Maine, but my son will have to take one. And there is no way I'm relying on them to teach him everything he needs to know. He's getting his "safety education" walking the woods with me from this year for the next five years before he even gets to carry a gun.

Frankly, apart from the game identification (which is useful for things like bear ID and, much more difficult waterfowl ID), most of what they teach is common sense - be aware of your muzzle, never slip the safety off until you are ready to shoot, be sure of your target and background, etc. If you don't already have these kind of things in your head when you take the course, I don't think much is going to help you (or the guy you're eventually going to shoot).

RE: Hunter Education class......worthless
 

Not sure if anyone mentioned this because I am too lazy to read all the posts. Here in Kentucky you can go to a library and get 6 hours of tapes (3 tapes), watch them, on the last day of hunters education all you have to do is take the test, you can shoot the guns on the last day too if you want. All the questions here are common sense.

RE: Hunter Education class......worthless
 

Badluck,

I just got one thing for ya........A BIG THUMBS UP!

The boy's a little sharper than you might have thought , huh?

I sense that boys gonna tear at your heart a little next Tuesday night!

Then you can both..."Go Get Ya One!"



One Of The Boys In Illinois,

Uncle Matt

RE: Hunter Education class......worthless
 

Badluck,

I just got one thing for ya........A BIG THUMBS UP!

The boy's a little sharper than you might have thought , huh?

I sense that boys gonna tear at your heart a little next Tuesday night!

Then you can both..."Go Get Ya One!"



One Of The Boys In Illinois,

Uncle Matt