Observations from recent hunter education courses

Earlier this month, I spent two consecutive Saturday's teaching hunter education classes at the Elks Camp north of Palmer. The weather held both days. The second class was wrapping up when the drizzling rain was just beginning. That clear weather doesn't happen every year!

I want to mention two items about these two classes: in my mind, one is a negative and the other is an observation one of the students made in the second class. For the record, the first class was for the muzzleloading certification and was the "online" version which runs about a half-day. The second class was the "traditional" bowhunting class, lasting all day (8 to 10 hours).

The Hunter Education Program is administered by full-time Fish and Game staff located in Anchorage. They develop the class rosters, line up instructors, notify and remind the students who signed up, and process the paperwork the instructors submit after the class is complete. The successful students are issued a permanent card indicating their successful completion of the course within a couple of weeks following the class.

First, the negative comment. The muzzleloading class originally had six students registered. When the reminder calls were made a couple of days before the class, five confirmed they would be attending. We had three instructors scheduled, two "seasoned" guys and one first-time instructor, who would be getting his introduction to the program. On the day of the class, one student showed up for the course. The bowhunting course was a little better, with eight confirmed students but only five actually attending the class.

This is almost a normal trend for the Valley. In Anchorage, the classes are virtually always filled to capacity and every seat is taken when the classes are taught. I understand that things happen and one can't always make the class, but this chronic "no-show" attitude in the Valley is irresponsible and just plain rude to the instructors.

These instructors, who are volunteers, take time out of their lives to help folks learn safe and responsible hunting practices and also help students comply with legal requirements allowing them to hunt. The least a student can do is show up for the class they said they wanted and committed to take!

The second point was made on a course critic form after the bowhunter certification class. One student complained that the classroom material was merely a rehash of the student study booklet material he had already read. He was hoping for more "new" material.

I appreciate his comment and actually agree that, from an instructor's point of view, being able to actually teach beyond the book would be great. We used to do that back when the course was longer and more detailed. Back in the day, courses tended to run over a two-week period and totaled around 40 hours. That was called the "traditional" course. The one day course was the "shorty" version and the online curriculum didn't exist. We had more time to work with the students.

However, times change and students generally don't want to commit any more time than absolutely necessary to the hunter education course structure. Since the course is so time-constrained, instructors need to know that the students have mastered the basics as outlined in the student manual as a minimum. There just isn't enough time to go beyond this minimal approach. I've taught hunter education for 25 years and I've watched the course evolution. It's not a positive change in my estimation.

Memorial Day is next weekend. The "official" beginning of the Alaskan summer season will see all kinds of activities happening. One of those activities is the Mt. McKinley Mountain Man's Memorial Day Rendezvous held near Talkeetna. This event will start on Thursday and run through Memorial Day. Primitive mountainman-style camping and muzzleloading shooting events are the main activities. There will also be tomahawk and knife throwing competitions plus activities for the kids as well. The ladies usually compete in cooking contests and frying pan throwing competitions as well as the shooting events.

Participants are expected to wear period clothing (1800 – 1850); however visitors are free to wear more modern duds. I don't have the camping equipment but I do have "serviceable" clothing and accessories, so I usually go for the day to visit and watch.

This is a fun event, weather permitting. If you might like to stop by to visit, call the mountainmen club president, Calvin Pope, at 232-4651 for more details and directions to the rendezvous location.