hunters education??????????

[pondscum2]

have any of you folks out there taken the hunters ed course in your state? i am taking it with my 2 sons ages 9 & 11. there is so little on safety & WAY too much BS in the one here in tennessee. nomenclature of various gun parts, etc, etc. i read ahead of the "instructor" tonight, & there are too many questions that honestly should be answered "maybe", "depends", or even "no F@#$%^%G way". BUT, if these kids don't put down what these people want to see, then "sorry kid, no hunter ed certificate for you. better luck next time". is this REALLY the best way to recruit more hunters into our ranks, or a stealth method of thinning the herd down to where someone wants it to be????? most children, upon failing at what is simple, refuse to try again & go back to Pokemon or whatever. game wardens in this state used to be friendly, outgoing gentlemen (& women), now they are wannabe state troopers with chips on their shoulder out looking to ruin someones day. they aren't interested in the resources they were hired to protect, they are looking for (mostly) minor infractions to write a summons for. even the county court clerks in my area of the state dislike them for the nit-picking weasels they have become. thanks for allowing me to vent. as always, i ask not that you agree with me, only that you think about it.....ps2

[BowDonkey]

About 20 years ago I took the WI gun safety course so I could carry a handgun on the trapline when I trapped out west. It was very good, all safety oriented. Many times the instructor tried to trip you up, you really had
to think. You weren't allowed to many wrong in the final exam or you flunked.

[tuffshot]

Ohio has two different courses. The Hunter Safety Course is pretty basic and is taught in a 2 day session 4hrs each day. I took it with my youngest son about 3 years ago. For anyone under the age of 18 or 21 to get a hunting liecence you have to go thru the course. After going thru it myself and have read about some of the bonehead stunts that even some of the older hunters have pulled I think it should be mandentory for any first time hunter no matter what the age.

We also have a Bowhunters education course that is not mandentory but is formated and taught well by a select few. I have heard that some states just to hunt with a bow they are requiring that if you are not a resident you have to have taken a Bowhunter Safety Course. Anyone know which states are trying to implement this rule? :sbrug:

[pondscum2]

after taking the final exam with my sons, i'll step up for a decent helping of the foul (pun intended) black bird. almost ALL of the questions on the exam were relevant to gun safety, & the safe use of tree stands, etc. BUT, given the small amount of time spent, a lot of what was gone over in class was useless. the vast majority of the material in the books was dumbed down to the point of ALMOST being incorrect, & some of it was blatantly false. thanks to the regular instructor, who taught the last 2 night & gave the shooting test, all but one of the young sportsmen passed & got their certificate. the one failing, of course, was my youngest son, whom, right in the middle of the last class looked at me & said "we need to eliminate hunting, it isn't fair to the animals". i guess his teachers in school think it is MORE fair for a chicken to be born & raised in captivity, never be free, have no chance of escape, & be slaughtered for this little @#$%^%$#'s McNuggets meal..... :sbrug: so here is my heart-felt apologies to all of the well-meaning, hard-working men & women who take time out from their own lives so that other peoples children may experience what us older generations have perhaps begun to take for granted. ps2, AKA mark king, kingsport tennessee