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EVENTS
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Hunter
Safety Certification Course
Sanctioned
By Texas Parks & Wildlife
 "A
mature hunter practices good hunting ethics. Hunter Education is a movement
to improve hunting." Jim Gardner.
Jim Gardner is one of Texas's finest Texas Hunter Safety Instructors as well as the pilot for the Texas Farm Bureau. Jim invited me to participate in the Texas Hunter Education certification program put on by the Texas Parks & Wildlife Dept. that is held in Waco, Texas. I know Jim from the Wildlife Alliance for Youth event and Texas Parks & Wildlife Department's Youth Shooting Sports Events. He is one of the hard working volunteer workers who does everything he can to help introduce wildlife conservation, the shooting sports, and hunting to tomorrow's hunters. My job at this event is to help out as needed and to cover the archery and bowhunting parts of the program. July 18 - First Session
This was a mixed group consisting of youth (both boys and girls) as well as adults (men and women). Jim Gardner welcomed everyone and distributed the Texas Hunter
Education Manual and the course materials. Jim introduced the topic of
Hunter Education and cited it as a movement to improve hunting. Today there
are Hunter Education programs in all 50 states and over 22 million people
have graduated from state programs since 1949. In Texas everyone who was
born after 1971 must have the certification so they can legally hunt.
A video was shown named "Our Hunting Heritage." It showed hunting and wildlife opportunities in the state and made several excellent points about our rich history of hunting and it's traditions and values. The sportsman's role as a Wildlife Management tool was introduced. During the early years of the U.S. there was an abundance of game and hunting was common and important to the american family. Once an animal was harvested nothing was wasted. It became food for the table and clothing as well as tools. In the early 1900's laws began to be passed with the intention of protecting wildlife. Deer and other animals were protected by law, people could not hunt them, but predators such as bears, wolves and mountain lions were annihilated by government hunters. Arizona soon saw their mule deer herd explode from 4,000 to over 100,000. In 1924 and 1925 heavy snows food shortages 50,000 deer died of starvation and disease. Similar die-offs occurred in Pennsylvania and many other states. Wildlife managers learned from these disasters. Nature's way is to produce surplus wildlife each year. That way enough of them will survive to reproduce the following year. More babies are born than will survive. And when excessive populations occur disease and starvation follow. Today the goals of wildlife management include by the "wise use of our natural resources." Wise wildlife management allows hunters to be a tool to control the harvest of the surplus and keep the herd healthy. Then Jim discussed Hunter Safety & Responsibility. One of the issues addressed was that we are in a new era for hunting. Today, only 10% of the population hunts, 80% are unconcerned or disinterested, and the remaining 10% is against it. The people who oppose hunting are led by groups which are well organized and funded. And they are aggressively working to ban hunting by legal means. Generally, hunters are not part of an organization but every hunter can still do their part by representing hunting positively when they are around the 80% that don't hunt. Hunter Safety & Responsibility was the final topic for the evening. Jim discussed hunters judgment. It is important to realize you are responsible for your own safety as well as those around you. The #1 leading cause of hunting incidents is due to a "Hunter's Lack Of Good Judgment". Responsible hunters always check every firearm to see if the chamber and magazine are empty and that the action is open until ready to be fired. Never point the muzzle at anyone or anything you don't intend to shoot. Handle firearms, arrows and ammunition carefully. Jim then discussed what the "zone of fire" is and two boys helped him demonstrate what each one's zone of fire was. Controlling your emotions is important. Don't drink alcohol or take medication when handling firearms or bows and arrows. Following the movie the first meeting ended. I return Thursday to do the Bowhunting part of the program. NEXT: Day 2, Archery, Bowhunting & Primitive Arms
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