Blaze Orange - How and When

This short hunter safety video provides tips about how wearing the right amount and kind of blaze orange can keep you safe in the field. Courtesy of www.hunter-ed.com.

 

With hunting seasons fast approaching and Nathaniel and I having just taken a hunter education course, I wanted to share a cool video about blaze orange. The is one of 14 in a new series produced by www.hunter-ed.com as part of their hunter safety materials, which can be studied on-line or even on your smart phone. The videos are short, to the point, well done and worthwhile for any hunter (new or experienced) to watch. Studying materials at www.hunter-ed.com is free. A one-time fee is involved only if you need to gain hunter safety certification.

Safety & Much More in Hunter Education

"It would suit me if I never had to knock on another door to tell someone about a hunting accident," said Ryan Bass, speaking to 70 or so mostly young Hunter Education students at Mt. Airy Baptist Church in Easley, South Carolina.

A conservation officer for the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, Bass has had to knock on too many of those doors through the years, and he's had to be on the scene far too many times after incidents that could have been prevented. He's also heard first-hand the complaints of countless landowners and members of the public whose views of hunting had been badly shaped by some hunter's lack of consideration for the game, the land or other peole. Therefore, he spoke directly throughout the day, ever-blending practical information and strong messages about safety, conservations and ethics.

Like many in the room, I suspect, my attendance had been motivated at least in part by legal requirements. I did want to learn things together with Nathaniel before he and I chose to go afield, but whether or not we would have committed a whole Saturday had we not needed to in order to meet licensing requirements, I cannot say for sure.

Either way, we were there, and I'm glad. Bass did a great job with the class, and we came away not only with certification but with a much better understanding of many things we need to know. I was also very impressed by the materials we were given to take home. Today's Hunter - A Guide to Hunting Responsibly and Safely, which is published by Kalkomey Enterprises, is an illustration-intensive 100-page guidebook to hunting equipment, skills, safety and ethics, complete with study questions for each chapter and far more detail than can be covered even in a full day in the classroom. Nathaniel and I are reading a chapter per day as an immediate follow-up to the class.

Of course, I know that the Hunter Education class and the book only form a foundation for our hunting education. Most learning will occur in real life as we prepare for and participate in hunts and invest time learning from others who can share from a deep pool of experience. I'm thankful to work in an industry where I am surrounded by so many great teachers!

Hunter Education

Just a quick note this morning as Nathaniel and I will leave here in a short while to drive to South Carolina for a full day of hunter education. Maybe I'll add a photo or some type of note some time during the day. We chose a South Carolina class because most of the Georgia offerings in the near future were in other parts of the state and farther from us than Easley, SC, which is only about 75 miles from home, and because South Carolina offered classes in a single full-day block instead of spreading them across two or three evenings. I'm looking forward to a day of shared learning -- with Nathaniel and with the other students. Even more so, I'm looking forward to shared hunting experiences with Nathaniel and most likely with some of my other children some time down the road.

Full Day of Learning

August 4 promises to be a day filled with learning for Nathaniel and me because I just registered us for a full-day hunter education class. I actually took hunter education once before, but it was 25 years ago and the course was somewhat broken and distracted as Hurricane Hugo was fast approaching the South Carolina coast, and the Class was in Charleston. I've not really hunted much since then, and things have changed substantially in a quarter of a century. Therefore, much of the learning will be as new to me as it will be to Nathaniel.

I've fished for as long as I can as I can remember, but I never hunted as a boy. In college I spent occasional fall Saturdays in doves fields with friends, and my first job out of school was for a waterfowl conservation organization, which led to a few duck hunting trips. While working as an editor for Game & Fish Publications I took a few writer trips that involved time in the deer or turkey woods or in a dove field.

That's about it. Hunting just hasn't had the same appeal to me as fishing, and between the great fishing that occurs during fall and winter and the fact that my established writing markets are virtually all fishing oriented, I've just never taken the time to do more hunting.

The renewed interest comes through Nathaniel, my 14-year-old son. Last year's Southeastern Outdoor Press Association conference sparked a significant shooting/hunting interest in him so we're ready to start learning together. The hunter education class, which is in Spartanburg, S.C., will be the first important step. At this year's SEOPA conference, which is in late September, I look forward to lots of good learning for both of us from friends on the shooting/hunting side of the outdoor writing industry.

The next step will be to plan a few forays for this fall and winter where we can get out in the woods for squirrels or sit together in a duck blind. Maybe I can figure out some cast-and-blast plans!