LNF150
Member
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2018
- Messages
- 84
"It is noble to teach oneself, but still nobler to teach others - and less trouble." ~ Mark Twain
I've taught Kansas hunter education with many instructors through the 1990's and into the early 2000's, mostly in western Kansas. I recertified when returning to Kansas in 2013 or 2014, joining a group of local instructors. Yet, never in all of that time have I actually hunted with one of 'our' H.E. students.
I took a friend's son hunting for his first time on opening day of the Kansas rifle deer season. In my 10 year absence from Kansas, the state changed the laws and now allow young hunters to participated in hunting, w/o taking hunter education first, as long as they are in the company of a licensed adult hunter. That is where a friend's 14 years son and I connected in a very short period of time. The simplest way to take a child hunting is by asking the parent if their child might be interested?
This is where another quote from Mark Twain is appropriate:
"I never let my schooling interfere with my education."
Nolan is a honor roll student in his high school spending a lot of his time taking advanced courses and doing extremely well. When I asked his Mom about him going hunting she thought it would be another good opportunity for him to expand his education outside of the brick and mortar. I have plenty of friends with children just like Nolan who spend countless hours afield; hunting, fishing and enjoying the outdoors surrounded by nature.
Nolan on his own accord, took and passed the internet portion of the Kansas hunter education course. He still needs to take the 'Field' portion and final exam of which I cannot officially teach or give outside of a state sanctioned course. But since he didn't need the certificate to hunt with me, I could still teach him the 'Field' portion w/o the final exam and all would be above board. So that is what we did and it worked beautifully! Spent a morning several weeks before deer season in the field giving him instruction to all the safe firearm handling aspects, different types of firearms, different hunting situations, shoot/don't shoot type scenarios, ethics, decision making, responsibilities and finally shooting the rifle he would be using on opening morning. This was all done to reinforce what Nolan had learned taking the internet portion which covers the whole student manual and he excelled at everything we did in the field training. Nolan to his credit, maybe one of the quietest 14 year olds you have ever met, but rest assure he is actively engaged in listening, understanding, remembering and comprehending the bigger picture of every word you say.
His mom then took him to get his Kansas youth deer hunting permits and the results of the morning of December 2nd 2020 speak for themselves. One of the safest, responsible, polite and conscientious young hunters I have had the privilege of being with while they hunted. But the #1 person who deserves the majority of credit for making this become a reality; isn't Nolan or I, it belongs to and is bestowed upon his Mother. Without her approval, understanding, trust and seeing another opportunity for her child to learn something outside the box, this could never have happened. Top honors go to her.
I've taught Kansas hunter education with many instructors through the 1990's and into the early 2000's, mostly in western Kansas. I recertified when returning to Kansas in 2013 or 2014, joining a group of local instructors. Yet, never in all of that time have I actually hunted with one of 'our' H.E. students.
I took a friend's son hunting for his first time on opening day of the Kansas rifle deer season. In my 10 year absence from Kansas, the state changed the laws and now allow young hunters to participated in hunting, w/o taking hunter education first, as long as they are in the company of a licensed adult hunter. That is where a friend's 14 years son and I connected in a very short period of time. The simplest way to take a child hunting is by asking the parent if their child might be interested?
This is where another quote from Mark Twain is appropriate:
"I never let my schooling interfere with my education."
Nolan is a honor roll student in his high school spending a lot of his time taking advanced courses and doing extremely well. When I asked his Mom about him going hunting she thought it would be another good opportunity for him to expand his education outside of the brick and mortar. I have plenty of friends with children just like Nolan who spend countless hours afield; hunting, fishing and enjoying the outdoors surrounded by nature.
Nolan on his own accord, took and passed the internet portion of the Kansas hunter education course. He still needs to take the 'Field' portion and final exam of which I cannot officially teach or give outside of a state sanctioned course. But since he didn't need the certificate to hunt with me, I could still teach him the 'Field' portion w/o the final exam and all would be above board. So that is what we did and it worked beautifully! Spent a morning several weeks before deer season in the field giving him instruction to all the safe firearm handling aspects, different types of firearms, different hunting situations, shoot/don't shoot type scenarios, ethics, decision making, responsibilities and finally shooting the rifle he would be using on opening morning. This was all done to reinforce what Nolan had learned taking the internet portion which covers the whole student manual and he excelled at everything we did in the field training. Nolan to his credit, maybe one of the quietest 14 year olds you have ever met, but rest assure he is actively engaged in listening, understanding, remembering and comprehending the bigger picture of every word you say.
His mom then took him to get his Kansas youth deer hunting permits and the results of the morning of December 2nd 2020 speak for themselves. One of the safest, responsible, polite and conscientious young hunters I have had the privilege of being with while they hunted. But the #1 person who deserves the majority of credit for making this become a reality; isn't Nolan or I, it belongs to and is bestowed upon his Mother. Without her approval, understanding, trust and seeing another opportunity for her child to learn something outside the box, this could never have happened. Top honors go to her.
