News – Sheridan Media
The Wyoming Game and Fish Sheridan region will host an instructor training for individuals who wish to become a certified hunter ed instructor. The training will be held Feb. 16-18.
Wyoming’s hunter ed program is led by volunteers. While appearing on Sheridan Media’s Public Pulse program, Wyoming Game and Fish Public Information Specialist Christina Schmidt emphasized the importance of these volunteer instructors.
C. Schmidt
Those volunteer instructors teach hunter safety to approximately 5,000 new students throughout the Cowboy State every year.
For those experienced hunters who would like to give instruction and preserve the tradition and culture of safe hunting, Schmidt said some paperwork needs to be completed. But a new instructor will not be forced to stumble in the dark or reinvent the wheel, there is a class structure in place.
C. Schmidt
For the upcoming training, the class will have a half day meeting, providing one on one instruction about policies and procedures and directions on the procedure to set up classes online (all class advertising and registrations are now completed online).
Once completed, the statewide hunter education coordinator will offer and teach a full class in Sheridan. Instructors in training will observe, learn class organization, help answer questions, help grade the tests, etc.
Afterwards, Game and Fish make an effort to pair newer instructors with another more experienced instructor or another instructor who is recently certified. According to Schmidt, having multiple people teach makes the whole process easier and divides the workload.
According to Schmidt, hunter education classes require a minimum of 12 hours, but up to 18 hours. Several topics are covered, from firearm safety and ethics, to wildlife management, wildlife identification and legal classifications of wildlife, proper care of game meat and much more.
Since instructors are volunteers, instructors set classes according to their work and personal schedules. Some instructors do several a year, others teach one or two. The Game and Fish has resources to help make the teaching process easier, from pre-created PowerPoints covering the many topics, to videos, inert firearms, furs and antlers and more.
To learn more, contact the Game and Fish Sheridan Region at 307-672-7418.
More Like this
Last modified: January 20, 2023