Hunter Safety Class

Desert Boy wants to go hunting, and a requirement to get a hunting license is to take a hunter safety class. I decided to take it with him, as I never have before. A friend got us the books from the Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) office. You can also take hunter safety online for most states. Since Desert Boy is under 21, he was also required to take an in-person eight-hour hunter education class. Since I was going to be driving him and be there anyway, I signed up too. The class was initially full and we were on the wait list, but then we got in.

We had to either complete the 32-page booklet or the online class with quizzes before the in-person class. We had a study guide to help us complete the booklet, and I was impressed with how well written it was and engaging with lots of illustrations.

The study guide covered parts of various types of guns and bows, plus how to hold them for hunting.

When we went to the in-person class, we found 22 participants. Half were female, half male. There were only two adults in the class, me and another mom.

The class focused a lot on gun safety. We practiced how to clear and pass a gun from one person to another, how to load a gun into a vehicle, how to get in and out of a boat with a gun, how to go under a fence with a gun. We also practiced various gun carries, our zone-of-fire, and getting a safe shot (with a laser on a TV screen).

Our instructor was the county sheriff, who is an avid hunter. I thought it was very smart of him to be teaching this class, as he's instructing the newest gun users in the county how to be safe and getting to know them a little better in the process.

We also touched on staying safe while out hunting. Since the county sheriff's office oversees search and rescues, we heard some stories of things that had happened over the years. In fact, the class had lots of pertinent stories to illustrate different points. And lots of humor. 

We talked a bit about carrying capacity, and how the number of animals that can be hunted each year are determined. Because I'm an ecologist, I found this part especially engaging. We also covered conservation and ethics.

The study guide covered wildlife identification of various animals we might see.

Some interesting stats from the day: population of Nevada: 3.5 million. Percent of population who hunts: 13%. Percent of success for juvenile hunters: 15%; percent of success for adult hunters: 45%; percent of success for bow hunters: 12%. We also covered how hunters should interact with landowners and non-hunters. Respect was the main concept.

Desert Boy was not expecting that the class would be so much fun. The instructors used a nice dose of humor and there were lots of interactive components. We ended the day with a test that we both passed. Now we can apply for tags starting in mid-March. I probably won't this year, but Desert Boy is excited about it.

I highly recommend Hunter Safety Class to anyone who is interested in hunting, whether they think they might get a tag this year or not. It covers more topics than you might expect. I don't come from a hunting family, and my husband has limited time for it, so I got a lot out of the class, and I'm glad to see how comprehensive it is.