Well, Hunter Education is not just worthwhile for training young people about gun safety, wildlife conservation and the importance of fish & wildlife laws, it is also a requirement to hunt in many states and Canadian provinces. It so happens that I have an elk hunt booked in Colorado next September and in order for me to get a license I must show proof of having completed a hunter safety course. Truth is, I took the course when I was twelve but that was over 40 years ago and nobody kept records of such things back then. I must admit to feeling a bit of anxiety as I took my seat, pencil and course manual in hand, among the other students, most of whom were a quarter of my age or younger. As I look back on it now, what I received for my investment of a couple of Sunday's in April was so much more than what I ever would have expected.

For starters the program is more than comprehensive; the manual, produced by the International Hunter Education Association, is 120 pages with 7 separate areas of study, one of which deals specifically with Firearms and Hunter Safety. The others cover an important range of topics from individual responsibilities to wildlife conservation. Did I mention that the course is free of charge? Yes and in fact, this may be an example of government actually getting something right. While there are several sources of funding a bulk of the financial resources come from the federal Wildlife Restoration Act of 1937. Also called the Pittman-Robertson Act after its sponsors, the legislation insures among other things that money derived from the sale of hunting licenses will be administered by state Fish & Wildlife agencies and may not be diverted to non-hunting related programs. Additional funding comes for excise taxes collected on the sale of guns, ammunition, archery equipment and related retail items.

The first thing you learn is that the course has two specific goals: To prevent hunting injuries and fatalities and to ensure the future of the hunting tradition. It is the emphasis on the latter that really surprised me. Not only are participants repeatedly exposed to the operation and safe handling techniques for all major types of firearms but a large portion of the curriculum tackles the issue of hunting's negative image among significant segments of the population. The importance of impressing these young minds to be an example of everything that is good about our sport cannot be understated. The words respect, ethics and responsibility come up often as do examples of what individuals can do to improve hunting's perception by non-hunters, landowners and others. Keith Gallant, our local central Vermont game warden came in and talked to the class about how hunting laws protect wildlife, protect people, ensure the principals of fair chase and help to maintain appropriate distribution of game. Keith is a pretty personable guy and he emphasized that young people should not be afraid of him or anyone involved in law enforcement but rather recognize the valuable job they do in protecting and promoting our right to hunt and fish. Great PR and targeted to the right audience.

The program I participated in was sponsored by the Randolph, Vermont Fish & Game Club and the two weekend sessions were conducted at their facilities. More than a dozen club members were involved on purely a volunteer basis. Course instructors Richard and Bunny Huntley were flanked by a host of others who discussed everything from tree stand safety to map and compass skills. Several adults were involved in the "live" fire requirements while others walked the outside course with students during the shoot or no shoot training on 3 D targets that had been set up in somewhat realistic surroundings. Every one of them giving up a part of their weekend to make a positive impression on a young (or not so young) hunter in the name of protecting our sport.

And then there are the kids themselves; impressionable, interested, excited. We wrapped up the Randolph program on the Sunday prior to youth turkey weekend and to be around this group, of whom almost half were girls, was to be affected by their anxious enthusiasm. These kids, with what they had learned from Hunter Education, are prepared to not only be life-long ambassadors of our sport, they are the insurance that hunting and fishing will always have a place in American culture.