All benefit from hunter education

Last week, the Fish and Game Hunter Education Program held its 2012 annual instructor planning meeting for the Mat-Su Valley. The dinner meeting was held at the Grouse Ridge Shooting Facility north of Wasilla.

Prior to dinner, instructors were given the opportunity to test their shotgunning skills. I shoot shotguns so infrequently anymore that I don’t even know the name of the 25-shot shooting game we fired. I do know I came in dead last in the group I shot with (I only hit eight of 25).

I started shooting shotguns when I was a teenager. I didn’t think about what I was doing, I just reacted to the target and fired. I had several knowledgeable folks, including some coaches, tell me I was a natural with a shotgun (five minutes of coaching and I was breaking 25/25 on the skeet range). I was proud of that achievement and determined to learn more about shooting a shotgun. I started reading everything I could find about how-to and began analyzing every facet of my swing, leading the target, trigger control and follow-through.

That was my downfall.

The more I learned and analyzed what I was doing, the worse I shot. This is the only situation in my life where I would have been better off staying ignorant and just doing what seemed natural. Now I can tell you everything about how to shoot a shotgun, but I’m not the one to demonstrate how to hit the clay target. During the 25-shot round that evening, I “accidently” stopped thinking and just reacted to a surprise target and smoked it — the only one I hit all evening solidly enough to smoke. Now, if I could just stop thinking.

Enough about my shotgunning woes, let’s talk about the hunter education program in Alaska. Jerry Soukup heads up the Hunter Information and Training (HIT) Program for the state and attended the meeting (he was one of the guys shooting better than me in my relay). Hunter Education (HE) is one part of the HIT program. Jerry presented some statewide information for the HE program for 2011 and the specific results for the Mat-Su to let instructors know how the program is doing.

Statewide, there were a total of 274 HE classes held in 2011. The bowhunting discipline held 93 classes, basic hunter education presented 159 classes and the muzzleloading program offered 22 classes. There were 976 students enrolled in bowhunter education, with 956 receiving certification; 2,293 students in basic, with 2,108 successfully passing; and 195 students taking the muzzleloader program, with 193 being certified.

All HE instructors volunteer their time to prepare and instruct these classes. The HE program keeps track of the hours donated. The bowhunter education folks donated 1,367 hours statewide; the basic instructors donated 4,572 hours; and the muzzleloading folks donated 474 hours. A lot of effort goes into these classes each year.

For the Mat-Su Valley, there were 37 classes presented in 2011. The bowhunting instructors offered 10 classes with 134 students enrolled and 129 receiving certification. The basic course instructors presented 23 classes with 326 students enrolled and 322 earning certifications. The muzzleloaders held four classes with 26 students enrolled and all 26 passed the course.

Bowhunter education instructors donated 218 hours; basic instructors donated 619 hours; and muzzleloaders donated 58 hours for the Valley courses in 2011.

All three HE courses are now offered online and that is becoming a popular way to meet the HE requirement. These courses can be taken at your convenience after you have signed up for the online program. Once you have passed the online test for the course, you will receive a statement that you have completed the study portion of the class and need to sign up for the field class/shooting proficiency part of the course. Until you pass all parts of the course, you are not certified as completing the program. Separate field day/shooting proficiency classes are scheduled to accommodate the online program students.

Counting the online classes and regular instructional classes, 13 basic, 11 bowhunter and three muzzleloading HE classes are scheduled for the Mat-Su this year. As the need arises, additional classes can be added. You can sign up for a particular class by visiting the Fish and Game office in Palmer or you can participate in an online program. To find out the schedules and online class sign up information, as well as general information about the HIT Program, go to the Fish and Game homepage: adfg.alaska.gov. Under the education heading, click “for hunters” and you will be on the HIT program webpage.

Why am I going on about hunter education classes? If you’re not aware, to hunt in several game management units in the state, primarily along the road systems from Fairbanks to Homer, anyone born after 1986 and is 16 years old or older is required to have a basic HE course certification. If you plan to apply for any of the weapons restricted drawing permits, hunt in a weapons-restricted area or want to hunt on any military lands, you are required to have a hunter education certification.

Consult the current hunting regulations booklet for specifics, because what is mentioned above is just the tip of the iceberg. If your plans include doing some hunting while you’re Outside on vacation, virtually all the other 49 states require a hunter education certification before you can buy a hunting license. Even if you’re a geezer who has hunted your entire life, you’ll still learn something if you take a class. This is not the time to remain ignorant and hope for the best.

Howard Delo is a retired fisheries biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. You can leave him a message by emailing sports@frontiersman.com.