Hundreds of thousands of young people become certified hunters each year. But you may be thinking … “Hunting requires us to use firearms. That can’t be safe, right?”

Hunting with a firearm is actually the 3^rd safest sport in the country according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation. This outdoor sport has lower injury rates than other popular sports like golf, volleyball, and football! Now how did that happen? Easy … in order to become a certified hunter, people are required to pass a hunter safety course.

The main goals of hunter education are to keep you and others safe in the field while hunting, and to reduce chances of accidents! For example, in a hunter safety course you can discover:

• Rules of firearm safety
• Parts of a firearm
• Six different action types of firearms
• Matching the correct ammunition
• Loading and unloading firearms
• Planning for hunts
• Hunting tactics
• Safe zones of fire
• Hunter ethics
• Survival techniques
• Wildlife conservation

Ahaaa! So really … hunter safety can give you all the knowledge and tools you need to have a safe and rewarding adventure out in the field. Now let’s get started!

1. Sign-up! Thanks to technology, enrolling in hunter safety is now easier than ever. Whew! Simply visit your state Department of Natural Resources’ website and search for “hunter safety”. The website will tell you all the state-approved courses the DNR offers. You can enroll in a:

• • Traditional Class. Learn all the hunter safety essentials with your peers in a classroom setting. Your class will dive into 10 different topics and gain hands-on experiences with a hunter safety instructor.
• • Online Course. Now you can take the entire course online! This is especially useful for students or working adults with busy schedules. In this course, you will surf through the 10 different topics and test your knowledge by taking the practice exam an unlimited amount of times.

Note: Some states have a minimum age requirement. Double check your state requirements before signing up! If you are too young to participate in hunter education, there are LOTS of ways you can still pursue this outdoor sport. Try sitting on a hunt with a family member who is a certified hunter, or participate in youth events held by your local sport clubs. Also, youth mentored hunts are great ways for you to go hunting with a hunting guide without even needing a hunter certification. Just contact your state DNR to find out more!

2. Pass the test.
3. Attend a Field Day. After passing the online course, you may be required to attend a hunter field day where you will gain hands-on experience with the firearms and then demonstrate what you have learned with safety experts. This is really useful … especially if you have never handled a firearm before! And remember: hunter safety instructors want you to succeed. So ask them lots of questions! You may even be able to find a future hunting partner in them.
4. Get your Certificate. Once you have successfully passed the written and field tests, you will receive a temporary hunting license and your certification! Well done.

 

Follow these simple steps and you will be well on your way to becoming a responsible hunter for your health, family, and planet! To get a head start on your hunter safety skills, watch the video and see how young people who have never handled firearms before do on their field day. Or unlock more firearm safety skills in the “Learn More” section below and download the lesson activity so your class can get a head start on firearm safety!

Ever peeked at the list of ingredients printed on your packaged foods and wonder, “What is THAT?!” Let’s take hotdogs, chicken nuggets, or deli meats for example …. You may read things like: BHA, Sodium Nitrite, Sodium Benzoate, TBHQ, or MSG. They sound pretty alien, right? But the truth may be even more unappetizing …

To reduce food waste and extend their “shelf life”, many packaged foods you buy are pumped with additives, preservatives, and hormones. These substances and chemicals help slow air, fungi, bacteria, mold, or yeast from decomposing our foods. Others enhance the appearance, flavors, and textures of foods so they look attractive to consumers.

UH OH … so if we’re actually consuming chemicals, what does that mean for our bodies? Studies have determined that digesting these preservatives and additives (even in small amounts) can increase our risk to heart disease and cancer while others can change behaviors or cause severe allergic reactions like asthma and nausea. Ok … YUCK! There’s gotta be something we can do about it? Health experts across the country recommend you reduce the amount of packaged food you consume, and instead eat organic foods and lean, fresh meats and poultry.

Oooo … Fresh veggies, fruits, breads, and other produce can easily be found at farmers markets and community gardens. Yum yum! But where does one even begin to find natural meat for their diet? Well have you ever thought of becoming a locavore? Locavores are people whose diets consist of foods and natural resources that come from their local area – such as wildlife! People have actually hunted and consumed wild game for thousands of years … ever since our species could walk! And for good reason. Harvesting wild game meat is as natural and healthy as it gets!

Not sure why? Well nibble on these health facts about harvesting wild game :

1. Chemical-free meat! This is a big one. Because you can find wild game right in your local environment, you can transport the meat right from your backwoods to your freezer or kitchen table. There is no need for chemical substances to keep your meat from spoiling. And if you do need to preserve the meat for long durations, you can use more natural methods: like freezing, salting, smoking, or pickling.
2. Less Fatty. Wildlife are constantly active and foraging in their habitats. Because wildlife are free-ranging, they have leaner meat compared to domesticated farm animals that are cooped up all day in pens or fenced in areas. Leaner meats have a greater source of protein that helps your organs and muscles function. They also contain less fat and less calories than domesticated animals.
3. Naturally Grown and Fed. Domesticated livestock are usually raised and harvested quickly to meet our high demands for grocery meat. So most industrial farm animals are injected with growth hormones and fed grains (like soy and corn) so they fatten rapidly. This means they are not eating their natural diet of food. Because of this, industrial meat is way higher in fatty acids called Omega 6’s, which can increase humans’ chances of diabetes and obesity. Meanwhile, hunters benefit from eating wild game because wildlife forage for natural foods and grow naturally in their habitat. And as a result, wild game meat contains no man-made hormones and has more essential fats (Omega-3s) that lower the risk of heart disease, arthritis, and depression. Now that’s a win-win!
4. Lots of flavor! When you eat wild game, your taste buds will have a party! Because wildlife is locally-sourced, you are likely to eat it closer to the date it was harvested. Aha! So therefore, the meat is fresher and has had less of a chance to decompose, which results in a higher nutritional quality. Plus, wildlife also eat a variety of foods when foraging the land (like grasses, nuts, fruits, insects, other prey), which means their meat is loaded with essential nutrients like iron and zinc.
5. You don’t have to second guess where it comes from anymore. When hunting, you can choose where you would like to harvest your meat from. Several hunters have said that when you harvest your first game, you know your food is a gift from nature.
6. Sustainable meat. We may use chemicals to reduce food waste … but did you know that 40% of all food is still wasted? But by hunting, you can create a smaller environmental footprint. That is because you are only taking what you need to sustain yourself and your family! You can also use other parts of the animal for food, clothing, and other objects. And by purchasing your hunting gear and licenses, you are actually funding the conservation of wildlife and habitats across the country. So really, you are giving back to Mother Earth! How cool is that?
7. Healthy exercise. Hunting is not always just standing still. You may have to walk into miles of backwoods and natural areas while carrying your hunting gear! That’s great cardio for your heart and blood circulation. Hunting also is an intimate connection to your land. You scout for wildlife tracks and signs, search for your perfect hunting spot in the trees or hillsides, and maybe even promote wildlife habitat (like building large brush piles). By spending time away from the bustle of everyday life, the stress we carry from school or work can melt away. And if you bring your family, you can exercise and experience the peace and beauty of nature together.

This all sounds like a pretty sweet deal, right? Start your journey to becoming a locavore by watching this video or checking out the “Learn More” tab below. You will be “stuffed” with hunter safety knowledge that locavores need to collect wild foods! And don’t forget to check out the lesson activity below to discover how locavores can take sustainable portions of wildlife by adhering to hunting laws and regulations.

What keeps the lights on? More like WHO! There are many people that play a part in keeping our electricity flowing throughout our cities, neighborhoods and homes! But who are they? Join our Adventure Team as they get the behind the scenes tour of the careers that maintain the transmission of electricity to your community.

Our educational partner, American Transmission Company (ATC), supported the video content above. To learn more about their role in reliable electric power, check out the link below.

We depend on electricity to power just about everything, but what would happen if we could no longer rely on electricity? That’s a reality that we can prevent by taking care of where our electricity comes from…the planet! Join our Adventure Team on their mission to learn about how we manage the environment to keep ourselves, our electricity and the planet safe!

Our educational partner, American Transmission Company (ATC), supported the video content above. To learn more about their environmental management system, check out the link below.

What is electricity? You may know what it powers, like the lights in your home or the battery in your phone! But do you know what it really is? Join our Adventure Team as they go undercover to get the REAL scoop on what electricity is and the many ways we can generate it!

Our educational partner, American Transmission Company (ATC), supported the video content above. To learn more about their role in electric reliability, check out the link below.

Eighty-seven percent of people in the world have access to electricity, but how do those electrons arrive at our homes? From the giant poles that hold the cables, to the cables themselves that carry the electricity, join our Adventure Team member as she explores the electrical transmission system and how it all works!

Our educational partner, American Transmission Company (ATC), supported the video content above. To learn more about their transmission of electrical power, check out the link below.

 

If you don't find enough excitement in other conservation careers, then maybe you should consider becoming a Conservation Officer. They are charged with protecting our natural resources, promoting recreational safety, and enforcing environmental protection regulations and laws. So the job covers a lot of outdoors and environmental areas. Admittedly, the job isn't for everyone. As you'll see in the video, the job can be physically demanding, and may even be dangerous at times. But on the flip side it can also be very rewarding protecting our fish and wildlife resources.

 

The terms conservation officer and game warden are often used interchangeably but a conservation officer does a lot more nowadays than just enforce "game laws". Today's conservation officer is a trained and licensed law enforcement officer who is charged with upholding all sorts of conservation and environmental laws, protecting nature, and helping people with wildlife interactions.

As you'll see in the video here, some conservation officers work for a state government (New Mexico) and patrol specific areas within the state, while others work for the federal government and may work in a larger, multi-state region. At the state level, most work under the Department of Natural Resources or a similarly named department such as the Division of Game & Fish. Conservation officers may also work in state parks and nature reserves or may patrol wetlands, lakes, rivers, beaches, and other areas.

Any job working with the public and those who break the law can be both exciting and demanding. Conservation officers are often outdoors in all types of weather, including heavy rains, snow, heat, and at night. Conservation officers often work alone, and depending on the needs of the department, may work overnight, on weekends, and on holidays when more people are interacting with natural resources.

The duty of a conservation officer is to uphold the law and to provide assistance to people in need. Though that's a broad description, here are some of main things conservation officers do in their jobs:

• A conservation officer is authorized to enforce all laws and regulations within the jurisdiction of their state in addition to the fish and game, conservation, and recreational regulations. As a certified law enforcement officer, they have the power to write citations, issue fines, and arrest people who violate the law.
• Conservation officers may conduct surveillance to identify violations and catch the violators who are breaking the law. This is especially true of situations involving wildlife poaching, or hunting and fishing in environmentally sensitive areas.
• They can also search vehicles with probable cause and seize evidence when necessary. Conservation officers are professionally trained how to preserve evidence, including how to handle biological evidence and how to use digital photography to record evidence from crime scenes.
• Conservation officers may also be asked to investigate complaints such as pollution, animal attacks, illegal hunting, and other conservation violations. Almost any issue that involves wildlife or nature can be handled by a state or federal conservation officer.
• Like game wardens, conservation officers are charged with conducting safety training courses for hunters. They also hold safety and training workshops on recreational vehicle use and other outdoor activities.
• Like many conservation professionals, conservation officers need to write reports and work with other professionals in implementing the various aspects of a state or regional conservation or wildlife management plan.

The final question is are YOU interested in a career as a Conservation Officer? To help answer that, watch this video, have your teacher use the free classroom lesson activities below and click on the Learn More tab below.

This wildlife education program is made possible with support of these key educational partners. You and your teachers can link to their websites for additional information and educational opportunities.

At SCI Foundation’s American Wilderness Leadership School location in Jackson, Wyoming, educators and students learn about conservation, wildlife management, and outdoor recreation through outdoor, hands-on activities. Their Hands on Wildlife (HOW) program provides educators with conservation education instructional tools they can use in hands-on instruction.

Okay, so if one of the key principles of the North American Wildlife Conservation Model is to manage wildlife using sound science, who are those scientists and what do they do? The answer is... they're wildlife biologists and they do all kinds of interesting and exciting stuff.

To get a sense for some of what they do and what it takes to become one, watch the video here of a real-life wildlife biologist in New Mexico. As  you'll see, wildlife biologists are professional scientists who study the behaviors of animals. They observe the lifestyles and life cycles of various wildlife to help determine the animal's role in specific ecosystems and how they interact with or how their populations are impacted by human beings. Plus, they will often perform various experiments (such as capturing and radio-collaring elk) to either increase our knowledge about a certain species or see how an individual animal influences their range and the overall ecosystem in an area.

As you can imagine, wildlife biologists are extremely important to preserving the wildlife populations and our natural environments along with increasing our understanding of the creatures that share our planet. Like Nicole in this video, many wildlife biologists specialize in certain areas of study that are often defined by ecosystem or species, or the agency that they work for. Some of these fields include: mammalogy, entomology, ornithology, marine biology, or limnology. In this video you'll see the study of mammalogy that deals specifically with the study and observation of big game mammals. This could include many different aspects of mammalian life, including evolution, biological function, management, and ecosystem impacts.

So becoming a wildlife biologist might be the ideal career for someone who enjoys spending time outdoors and traveling. Many wildlife biologists spend the majority of their time working in the field, observing wild animals in their natural habitats, and actively interacting with those species. Some of their time is spent working in labs or offices, and working with others in developing overall wildlife management plans for certain areas or regions. That's why many think that becoming a wildlife biologist is the perfect career for an adventurer who likes to work in a variety of outdoor environments.

The final question is are YOU interested in a career as a Wildlife Biologist? To help answer that, watch this video, have your teacher use the free classroom lesson activities below and click on the Learn More tab below.

This wildlife education program is made possible with support of these key educational partners. You and your teachers can link to their websites for additional information and educational opportunities.

At SCI Foundation’s American Wilderness Leadership School location in Jackson, Wyoming, educators and students learn about conservation, wildlife management, and outdoor recreation through outdoor, hands-on activities. Their Hands on Wildlife (HOW) program provides educators with conservation education instructional tools they can use in hands-on instruction.

 

Scientists now know that early Paleo-hunters played a lethal role in the extinction of many of North America's megafauna. Using flint-tipped spears and arrows over the past 15,000 years, they over-harvested many big game species to the point of extinction. The list of these creatures is pretty astounding and includes, North American horses, glyptodons, mastodons, mammoths, short-faced bear, dire-wolf, American cheetah, ground sloth, giant beaver, camels, and more. It's hard to believe, but explore the Internet to learn more about these long-lost animals of the American landscape.

Unfortunately, the waves of European immigrants that flooded to America in the 1700 and 1800's didn't know about America's past of hunting megafauna into extinction. So they shot and ate what was left of America's wildlife as if the herds would last forever. But of course they wouldn't last forever. Especially when the population of European immigrants doubled from 17 million to 32 million between 1840 and 1860. To feed the masses of humans invading America and reduce the food sources of Native Americans, buffalo hunters descended upon the 33 million buffalo that once spread across the west.  In 1870, market hunters killed an estimated 5 million buffalo that year alone. And by 1886, there were only 540 bison left in the entire United States, mostly in the Yellowstone area of Montana.

But thankfully for America's wildlife, things began to turn around in 1872, when the outcry of early conservationists prompted President Ulysses S. Grant to established our first national park, Yellowstone, that included over 3,300 square miles. Next, a politician, hunter, and conservationist named Theodore Roosevelt organized a group of hunters in New York to form the Boone & Crockett Club in 1887… with a mission of preserving the big game of North America. More and more people pushed for conservation of America’s wildlife and in 1900 Congress passed the Lacy Game and Wild Birds Preservation and Disposition Act, that made it illegal to transport wild game taken illegally across state borders.

Then in 1901, Teddy Roosevelt became President and spearheaded a new era of wildlife conservation. He strongly believed in protecting as much land as possible for wildlife and public use. During his presidency, Roosevelt helped protect wildlife and habitat by establishing 148 million acres of land in 16 national monuments, 51 wildlife refuges, and 5 national parks.

In the 1930’s, another hunter and pioneer in wildlife conservation emerged as “the father of wildlife management”. Aldo Leopold became the first professor of game management at the University of Wisconsin. He wrote the first book on Game Management where he said that a combination of ethics and science should be used in wildlife management and conservation. Leopold and his writings helped educate a nation about the importance of an environmental ethic, and the scientific principles of wildlife management that included things like the biological carrying capacity of species in a certain habitat.

To learn more about the story of America's Pioneers in Conservation, watch this video, have your teacher use the classroom lesson activities below and click on the Learn More tab below.

This wildlife education program is made possible with support of these key educational partners. You and your teachers can link to their websites for additional information and educational opportunities.

At SCI Foundation’s American Wilderness Leadership School location in Jackson, Wyoming, educators and students learn about conservation, wildlife management, and outdoor recreation through outdoor, hands-on activities. Their Hands on Wildlife (HOW) program provides educators with conservation education instructional tools they can use in hands-on instruction.

 

 

What's one way to hone your hand-eye coordination, sharpen your reflexes and quicken your reaction time? Nope, you don't have to try out for your school football quarterback position. Clay target shooting sports is a realistic option for anyone... even if you're not all that athletic.

So you're probably wondering, how challenging is it? Simply watch this video of two teens who have never handled a shotgun before to see how quickly you can learn with some proper instruction. To discover all the programs across the country where you can discover clay target shooting for yourself, check out the reference links at the bottom of this page.

For instance, the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation (SSSF link below), is one of the leaders in youth development shooting sports programs. Using a combination of education and athletics, they help the growth and personal development of student athletes throughout the nation through a variety of fun, team-based shooting tournaments. They offer both a Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) and a Scholastic Action Shooting Program (SASP), that offer student athletes from elementary through college age a supportive environment where shooting sports serve as catalysts for teaching life lessons and skills that emphasize positive character traits and citizenship values.

Clay target shooting, which comes in several defined types, can be done almost anywhere… where it’s safe. But before you try any type of clay target shooting, you’ll really need two things: 1) proper safety and gun handling training from a qualified instructor, and 2) you really should also take a certified hunter education course such as hunter-ed.com (see the bottom of this page).

Skeet shooting can either be recreational and/or competitive. Participants, using shotguns try to break clay targets that are mechanically flung into the air from two fixed stations at high speed from a variety of angles. Watch the video to get a better idea.

Then there's trap shooting where the clay targets are launched from a single "house" or machine, generally "flying" away from the shooter. Trapshooting was originally developed, in part, to augment bird hunting and to provide a method of practice for bird hunters. But now it's practiced all over the world with a number of varieties, including Olympic trap.

Finally, there's the super-fun Sporting clays. It's full of action and is the closest thing to actual field shooting of all shotgun sports. Rather than having clay birds thrown from standardized distances and angles as with skeet or trap, sporting clays courses are designed to simulate the situations a shooter might encounter when hunting ducks, pheasants, other upland birds, and even rabbits. Since there is no set season and it can be shot at any time, many hunters shoot sporting clays to further their wingshooting skills during the off-season. Targets may be thrown from literally any angle or distance to simulate wingshooting, and six different sizes of clay targets are used to further give the shooter the experience of actual hunting conditions.

To learn more, have your teacher download the lesson activity below, check out the "Learn More" tab and explore the helpful links provided below... and be safe while having fun or earning gold at the Olympics. So enjoy the journey of discovery in all of the content in our America’s Conservation & Hunting Heritage Series funded by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in partnership with Safari Club International Foundation, a nonprofit org dedicated to promoting wildlife conservation across the country. And even if you don't decide to try the challenge of shooting sports, consider the fact that everyone who participates in these sports helps fund conservation programs that all Americans enjoy.

 

More Lessons and Classroom Videos Coming Soon!

Official Hunter Safety Courses
for Today’s Hunter

https://www.hunter-ed.com