The subject was conservation.
“It is the wise use of wildlife to insure healthy populations and habitats now and in the future,” said Hunter Education Course instructor Ben Jenkins of Baldwin, Md.
“Now this is something that I would definitely know if I was taking a test next Thursday,” Jenkins continued, as a pointed reminder.
The 71 students – many youngsters with parents ? were at the Loch Raven Skeet and Trap Center taking the required 12-hour course ? ending with a Thursday test ? before being allowed to get a hunting license.
Of course, safe hunting and gun handling are subject to constant vigilance, and learning about hunting is a lifelong experience.
“We could spend eight hours on tree stands alone,” an instructor said, regarding the tree-stand session that occupied about one hour of the 12-hour course.
The course emphasized the most important aspects of the 122-page Maryland Hunter Education Student Handbook that each student received. Jenkins had instruction, displays of equipment and discussions of everything, including bows (long, re-curved, compound, cross), modern firearms (rimfire and centerfire rifles), shotguns (pump-action, auto-load, over-and-under and side-by-side double barrel), primitive guns (flint lock, percussion cap and in-line muzzleloaders), handguns (revolver and semiautomatic), tree stands (and their accessories, such as the necessary full-body harness), traps (foothold, cage and body-gripping), telescopic and open sights, hunter ethics, and a whole lot more.
In addition, students were required to demonstrate safe gun handling, using shotguns at the Loch Raven range. They also had to pass with a grade of 80 on a 50-question test. All 71 students passed the course.
For the most part, the young students were attentive and studious, raising their hands to get called on by Jenkins. They were excited to learn about hunting and to answer hunting and gun-safety questions. And they had fun ? a tribute to Jenkins and his team in handling the group and teaching the traditions ofthe sport.
Ten-year-old Eddie Haile was taking the course for the first time. His sister Kayla, 14, was back for a refresher after passing the course two years ago. Both were with their father, hunter Lee Haile of Towson.
“I actually learned everything [about guns and hunting],” Kayla said. “I thought it was really neat.”
Eddie liked the course, especially the shooting part.
“I thought that it was fun and I learned a lot,” said 10-year- old Grady Hearn, who attended with his father, Bill, of Cockeysville.
“I liked the last day, when we took the test and shot,” Grady said in a comment echoed by many of the students.
Grady passed his test with flying colors, and with his bow-hunting father, he is well on his way to becoming a good hunter. He probably has his free license from the Department of Natural Resources by now and is ready for the deer season.
C. Boyd Pfeiffer is an internationally known sportsman and award-winning writer on fishing, hunting, and the outdoors, and he has more than 20 books to his credit. He can be reached at [email protected].
