 Until I actually took the bowhunter education class, I never understood why it was required in some states. My newly found opinion is that is should be required in all states. This article is about my first bowhunters safety class and its importance to the future of bowhunting.Greg, my husband, and I signed up for our bowhunters safety class as soon as we could. We currently live in Wyoming where the class is not required but plan to hunt in Montana, our state of residency, and it is required there. I was immediately stressed, how were we going to find somebody to watch a one and 3 year old for two long days. Calling everyone we could think of and getting constant no’s we finally found a sitter. Whew, that’s a relief, I was beginning to think I would have to miss the class and bag hunting this year and miss some valuable information. The class started at 9:00 am and Greg would miss the first part of the class, he had talked to the instructor before this to schedule a make up session. I was very nervous about this class, looking stupid just terrified me, so the night before I studied online. When I arrived I was the only female and didn’t know anybody. There were four other students in the class and immediately this wave of sheer terror set in. I thought to myself "I am going to look stupid compared to these guys".  The class began with introductions and we discussed reasons for taking the class. Safety is important for me, I wanted to learn how to bowhunt safely and accurately. This would be the common response I thought, but could not have been more wrong. Three of the four others were only there because they would be hunting in states that required the hunter’s safety card. These guys must have already know a lot and hunted before to have a response like this, but nope wrong again. Stu (not his real name), said he just bought a traditional bow off eBay, knew absolutely nothing, but would be hunting in MT in two weeks regardless if he actually thought he could kill something or not. My jaw must have hit the floor. Did he seriously believe that in two weeks with no help he would be able to hunt? The others had at least been involved in archery for several months.The presentation began and I soon realized I knew a lot more than I thought, even if I hadn’t studied online the night before. Where were these guys common sense? I personally loved the class, and the debates were a lot of fun. Finding I lost my shyness, I was able to really get into the class. Stupidity was definitely present in the room. One of the debates was with Stu about why you don’t hunt with dull or worn broad heads. Now I could clearly see why non-hunters and anti-hunters have formed such a low opinion about hunter’s ethics. I honestly hope that Stu DID learn something from the class and the animal he attempts to kill doesn’t suffer a terrible death. At one point he said that he needed to know if he could keep shooting to kill the animal, like for example when he was rifle hunting and had to shoot and animal 5 or 6 times to kill it. OH MY GOSH! I couldn’t believe that came out of his mouth. Personally I have a one shot, one kill goal, although I do realize that things can happen and a second shot may need to be taken to end an animals suffering. I have enough material to write a book on what type of hunter you shouldn’t be but I am hoping that most of the readers have enough common sense to know how to make a good ethical decision. The class now had new importance to me, and I hope that the states that don’t require a class change their minds, so maybe the other Stu’s have a chance of being instilled with some ethics and values. If we want people to view us as responsible hunters we need to make education a high priority. As difficult as it was to take the time off and find a babysitter, the class was completely worth it and I would take it again to make sure I am fresh on all the new information out there. My request to all of you reading this is to take the class, even if it is just reading the material online. The advantage of actually going to a class is you get personal experiences from the instructors and other students. For prior bowhunters there is still a good chance you will learn something new, our instructor who has been bow hunting over 20 years, says he still is learning new things. Let’s try and get all the Stu’s out there more educated and keep a good name for bowhunters. The class we took was one through the National Bowhunter Education Foundation or NBEF. The official website is www.nbef.org. |
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