Hunters education class - shooting portion?

[Irving]

I wouldn't consider it a big deal as long as they are going out with an established hunter who can take responsibility for them. Scary if they are just planning on pulling off the road and going from there though.

[AAdvsr]

I found it amazing that people that can't hit a paper elk at 15ft pass the course. Many people in my class at the DOW headquarters couldn't hit the target. Not to mention, they check your test when you hand it in and if you miss any questions, they tell you which ones and send you back to your seat to change your answers...as many times as needed. It's multiple choice so you just have to change your answers 3 or 4 times to finally get it right and get your card.

If you miss 15-20 questions on a hunter's ed test, like many did in my class, you shouldn't pass. Scary to think these people might be hunting in the field near you...

I don't think the DOW cares. Give as many people hunter's ed cards as possible and that many more will spend money each year on tags.

Hollohas and ShooterChick,

I'm apprenticing to be a hunter's ed instructor and what you describe is NOT how instructors are supposed to treat "fails" on the test. If DOW found out, they would get reprimanded. DOW is serious about proper instruction and people really learning. If you want, call DOW and let them know what you saw.

[hollohas]

Hollohas and ShooterChick,

I'm apprenticing to be a hunter's ed instructor and what you describe is NOT how instructors are supposed to treat "fails" on the test. If DOW found out, they would get reprimanded. DOW is serious about proper instruction and people really learning. If you want, call DOW and let them know what you saw.

I could call them but the course I took was put on by the DOW at their headquarters so I think they already know. I’m not even exaggerating when I say I saw some individuals get their tests graded 3 times and were then given the opportunity to change their answers after each grading. At the time I thought I was witnessing the PC mentality that it’s “not fair for someone to fail.”

[AAdvsr]

Hollohas, just to be clear, this activity that you describe is against DOW policy:

Not to mention, they check your test when you hand it in and if you miss any questions, they tell you which ones and send you back to your seat to change your answers...as many times as needed. It's multiple choice so you just have to change your answers 3 or 4 times to finally get it right and get your card.

You would think they'd know, but I wouldn't assume that. There is a certain amount of trust placed in Hunters Ed instructors even when they use HQ facilities.

The Hunters Ed Coordinator's name is Mark Cousins. He's serious about clamping down on this type of stuff and keeping integrity in the Hunter's Ed program. If you want, you may email him at Mark.Cousins@state.co.us

It would at least give him a heads up on what to look out for among his cadre of volunteer instructors.

[rammit]

Just took a class in Longmont and the shooting portion was pretty much here's a 22, there's some dirt, shoot at the dirt and don't point the muzzle in an unsafe direction

[spqrzilla]

The point of the Hunter Education class is to get people to understand the material, not fail them. The Hunter Education class is supposed to be an education, not a barrier.

That's why people are given the opportunity to retake the written test.

The point of the shooting portion is safety, its not an accuracy test.

[hollohas]

The point of the Hunter Education class is to get people to understand the material, not fail them. The Hunter Education class is supposed to be an education, not a barrier.

That's why people are given the opportunity to retake the written test.

The point of the shooting portion is safety, its not an accuracy test.

If they need 3 chances to change their answer on a multiple choice question with 4 choices, they don't understand the material. They just ruled out all the wrong answers.

If someone fails they should have to go home, maybe do a little more learning on their own, come back another weekend, PAY ATTENTION in class and pass the test. Why even give a test if students don't have to get it right? Tests are not a barrier for people that learned the material. If a person fails, they didn't learn anything.

Hunter's Education is not "an education" as you put it if the students didn't even learn enough to get MOST of the questions right.

What's so wrong with failing students? It's starting to smell a little PC in here...

[theGinsue]

It's starting to smell a little PC in here...

Nope. Sorry. That's my breath... I had sardines and mustard on crackers for lunch.

[Pancho Villa]

All these instruction requirements seem a little silly to me.

You can provide wisdom but you can't make people absorb it. If public ranges are any indication there is an atrocious level of firearms handling all over the place. Making someone take a class won't turn them from an idiot into a competent rifleman, and the ones who care will read up on it anyway.