Safety courses will resume
Hunter education classes in Wisconsin will resume July 13 after a four-month suspension due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Department of Natural Resources.
The DNR, which sponsors the safety courses and certifies the teachers and students, announced the planned resumption last week.
To help prevent spread of COVID-19, the agency released a list of conditions for the classes, including a maximum of 50 participants, holding the events outdoors when possible, physical distancing of 6 feet between participants, availability and use of hand sanitizer and the recommendation for attendees to wear face covering.
The move comes as restrictions on gatherings are eased across the state, but also in the wake of a June 17 lawsuit filed against the DNR over its refusal to allow an Oneida County hunter safety class to proceed last month.
The legal action was filed by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty on behalf of Hunter Nation, Inc., a Kansas-based hunting advocacy group.
WILL and Hunter Nation contend in the complaint that the DNR’s cancellation of hunting courses wasn’t legally adopted and continued even after Gov. Tony Evers’ Safer-At-Home order was overturned May 13 by the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Jon King, DNR conservation warden and administrator of the state’s hunter education program, declined to comment on the lawsuit – including whether it spurred the agency to re-start the program – as it is still active.
But he said the suspension of the hunter education courses was based on the agency’s dedication to safety and provided time to establish classroom guidelines to keep students and instructors as safe as possible from COVID-19 exposure.
“We now feel we are ready to move forward with some additional precautions in place,” King said.
The DNR suspended hunter education and other recreational safety programs March 11.
King said the four-month suspension resulted in a 5,000-student backlog for hunter safety courses in the state.
Beginning Sunday, the agency allowed instructors to post upcoming classes on the state’s Go Wild website. Eleven courses were listed Wednesday.
They included an event planned for July 20-22 in Oneida County, site of the controversy that fueled the lawsuit.
Capt. Tyler Young of the Oneida County Sheriff’s Department said he and other local hunter education instructors were disappointed when told by the DNR to cancel two events they had planned for earlier this year.
“We’ve got a 40-acre range and a large community center where we hold the classes,” Young said. “We felt we were in a good position to do it safely.”
Young said they limit their classes to 30 participants and typically fill up in “a day and a half.”
“The demand for hunting courses here is way higher than the supply,” Young said.
He is hopeful they will be able to hold a total of four classes between now and the beginning of gun deer season.
Young refused to discuss allegations made against the DNR, but did say the dust-up was uncharacteristic of his 27-year relationship with the agency.
“Hunting safety is a priority for us,” Young said. “It’s a positive, and it can keep kids from getting into some other things I’d rather they not be doing. So we’ll continue to try to offer as many of these classes as we can to serve our constituents.”
Hunter Nation, the organization that initiated the lawsuit, said Tuesday that while it was “pleased to see the DNR’s announcement that in-person hunter safety courses can resume in July,” it hadn’t decided to drop the action.
“We intend to fully review the forthcoming DNR guidance and recommendations before determining any next steps in the litigation,” said Luke Hilgemann, president of Hunter Nation.
Hunters born after Jan. 1, 1973 are required to successfully complete a hunter safety course (with certain exceptions, such as mentored hunts and learn to hunt programs).
The course can be taken in person or online, but for those under the age of 18 the online class still requires a day of fieldwork, in which students learn about proper firearm handling and must take a written test.
Wisconsin has 4,086 WI volunteer hunter safety instructors, most of any state in the nation, according to King.
In 2019 Wisconsin certified 21,926 hunters through the program; 4,845 were adults.
King said the DNR had begun communicating with the network of instructors to get as many courses scheduled through the rest of the year as possible.
“Early indications are positive,” King said. “We have a very dedicated volunteer corps of instructors and I’m optimistic that they will respond to the opportunities we have ahead of us.”
Boating safety: Boaters and paddlers on Wisconsin’s waters during the Fourth of July weekend will see a heightened presence of state conservation wardens and local boat patrols as part of Operation Dry Water, a national program for education and enforcement of boating safety laws.
Launched in 2009, Operation Dry Water focuses on the dangers of boating under the influence of alcohol and other drugs.
It is illegal to operate a boat under the influence of drugs or alcohol.