An Internet-based hunters education course is being offered through the Kansas First Upland Pioneers.
Any hunter 11 or older is eligible for the training, which culminates with a daylong field day and testing session April 26 at Doug Strickler’s farm on the northwest edge of Iola.
Enrollees will complete much of the classwork online through the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks website — https://programs.ksoutdoors.com/prg/Programs/Hunter-Education-Certification (go to kdwpt.state.ks.us and follow the links) — prior to the April 26 field day, said Jennifer Foster, a First Upland Pioneers member.
The online session streamlines the instruction more quickly than in a traditional classroom setting.
The online course features several chapters with quizzes that must be passed in order to progress to the next chapter, Foster said. All of the quizzes must be completed and printed off prior to April 26.
A final classroom session the morning of April 26 will precede the field test, Foster said, “primarily so we can be sure the students are the ones who completed the online work. We’ll also cover things not in the online portion, such as ethics.”
The firearms field test will include a clay pigeon shoot.
“As soon as they’re done, they’ll be hunters education certified,” Foster said.
Plans also are in the works for participants to purchase hunting licenses on-site.
“I know some of them want to go turkey hunting the next day,” she said.
Registration will be capped at 50 students. Nine were enrolled as of Thursday.
For more information, contact Foster at (620) 496-8062 or via email at [email protected].
While students traditionally are youth just getting their first taste of hunting, Foster noted one 55-year-old hunter is from Bonner Springs.
“To come here all the way from Bonner Springs tells you just how few and far between these courses are,” Foster said.
Strickler’s farm is at 1380 1300 St., west of the Russell Stover Candies plant.
Based in Iola, the First Upland Pioneers is the first ever upland game bird chapter, formed through the National Wild Turkey Federation.
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