thehuman element · on the cover: alabama chief instructor lee brown assists alyssa middlebrooks in...

For Distribution in Canada, El Salvador, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, South Africa and the United States of America.

Volume 12, No. 2 - Summer 2012

Walk The Walk, InstillingEthical StandardsEnding Class With A Bang2012 IHEA Conference Highlights

HumanElement

Hunter Education’s FormulaFor Success

The

The international Hunter Education Association – UnitedStates of America (IHEA-USA) is an organization involvingsome 53,000 instructors across the United States ofAmerica. The IHEA-USA is affiliated with the Associationof Fish and Wildlife Agencies.

The Hunter & Shooting Sports Education Journal is theofficial publication of the International Hunter EducationAssociation-United States of America. It is published fourtimes annually (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter) and distrib-uted to more than 70,000 administrators and volunteerinstructors in Canada, El Salvador, Mexico, New Zealand,Peru, South Africa and the United States of America, thatare responsible for education programs that total 600,000hunters annually. The purpose of the publication is toincrease the skill and effectiveness of hunter education inadministrators and instructors so they can improve theenthusiasm, safety, ethics and proficiency of their studentsas they embark on lifetime enjoyment of hunting and theshooting sports.

The articles and stories contained herein are theopinions of the authors and not necessarily those of theIHEA-USA, its personnel or publishers. Material containedherein cannot be copied or reproduced in any form withoutthe express permission of the IHEA-USA.

Neither the IHEA-USA, nor its Publisher, sponsors, oradvisors assume any responsibility or liability for theaccuracy of the information and/or articles publishedherein. Under no circumstance will the IHEA-USA, nor itsPublisher, its sponsors or advisors be liable for any formof loss, damage or expense arising or resulting fromreliance upon the information contained herein, whetherthe same is based upon strict liability, tort or otherwise.

Send all advertising materials to:Focus Group, Inc.

2201 SW 152nd St., Suite #3Burien, WA 98166

206-281-8520

Publisher: Focus Group, Inc.Brian Thurston

Editor: Susie Kiefer

Graphic Design & Production:Craig Robinson • Bill Dance Publishing, Inc.

International Hunter Education Association-United States of America

Mission Statement:

To continue the heritage of huntingworldwide by developing safe, responsible

and knowledgeable hunters.

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On the Cover: Alabama Chief Instructor LeeBrown assists Alyssa Middlebrooks in gettingon target with the .243 rifle.Photo By Trudy Brown, Courtesy of Joel GloverFeatures

Departments

Vol. 12 No. 2, Summer 2012

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This issue of the Journalmade possible by:

www.IHEA.com 3

www.outdooredge.com

Ending ClassWith A BangBy Roger Schara, SD HunterEducation Instructor

4 President’s CornerIHEA Is Now IHEA-USABy John McKay President IHEA-USA

6 Executive Director’s CommentsChanging With The TimesBy Wayne East, Executive Director IHEA-USA

12 NSSF NotesSummer Safety ReminderBy Bill Brassard, NSSF, Director, Communications

16 USFWS UpdateWhat Is There To Hunt In Hawaii?By Andrew W. Choy, Hunter EducationSpecialist and Volunteer Instructor

26 My TurnAre There Age Limits InYour Classroom?By Darin Fossum, CO Instructor

Getting To Know The New Administrators

2012 IHEA ConferenceHighlights

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4 Hunter & Shooting Sports Education Journal • Summer 2012

I f you read my President’s Cornercolumn in the Spring 2012 Journalyou are aware the IHEA Executive

Board has been busy over the last yearcrafting a restructuring of IHEA. Thislong, at times difficult, effort culminatedat the annual conference this past Junewhen membership voted overwhelm-ingly to adopt the proposed reorganiza-tion as presented and the accompanyingrevised constitution and bylaws. As aresult IHEA has now been renamedIHEA-USA. In addition to the renamingand bylaws revision, several otherimportant elements of the reorganizationwere implemented or set in motion.

The IHEA Canada Board has beenbusy rewriting their bylaws to reflect thenew organizational structure. TheIHEAC board is also working throughday-to-day operational details such asthe creation/location of an office, admin-istrative staffing, member annual duesamount and collection, etc. Throughoutthis process and into the future ourfriends to the north can count on supportand close cooperation from IHEA-USA.

Work has already begun on creatingthe new IHEA. A steering committee isbeing formed that will guide the discus-sion of what the new organization willlook like and how it will function. Thecommittee with members from U.S.,Canadian and international HunterEducation programs, conservationorganizations, industry and NGOs willbe gathering input from interestedstakeholders as they complete theirwork on board make-up and draftbylaws. Look for communications inthe Journal and through your jurisdic-tion’s Hunter Ed program for youropportunity to weigh in as the processmoves forward.

The Instructor Advisory Committee(IAC) has become reality. The commit-tee needs two instructor representativesfrom each of the four new regions ofIHEA-USA (western, mid-western,northeastern and southeastern; yourstate’s region is outlined in the revisedby-laws which are posted on the IHEA-USA website) for a total of eightmembers. Committee members willelect a chair who will sit on theIHEA-USA Board and bring forthinstructor proposals and issues. Servingon the committee will involve a fairlysignificant time commitment, as well assome travel for the chair. Please contactyour state Hunter Ed Administrator formore information or if you’re interestedin serving.

So now what does this reorganizationmean to you, the instructor? In additionto broader, I believe more effectiverepresentation from the IAC, we wouldlike to create and fund an instructor serv-ices position that would deal exclusivelywith instructor related issues and assiststate program administrators with train-ing, materials and incentives. To find outwhat instructors want and need we planon conducting regular surveys (see page28 for more information) and improvingcommunications in general. These arejust of a few initiatives we have in mindto start and they illustrate that through-out this restructuring process the Boardhas worked diligently to meet the needsof our volunteer instructors who are vitalto the implementation of HunterEducation programs. The Board has alsostrived to preserve and protect theimportant collaborative ties that havebeen established over the last 40 yearsbetween the Canadian, U.S. and interna-tional Hunter Education programs.

This is an exciting andimportant time for the IHEA andthe Board’s collective goal hasalways been to create anorganization that is betterpositioned to effectively supportour Hunter Education programsand deliver the hunter safetymessage. We will be moreclosely aligned and in bettercommunication with Associationof Fish and Wildlife Agenciesand the Canadian WildlifeDirector’s Committee; essentiallythe bosses of our respectivewildlife agencies. We willincrease communication andservices with/for instructors andengage industry partners in newand innovative ways that bothmatch our priorities and adhereto the fiduciary restraintsinherent in government-fundedorganizations.

This has been a huge endeavor thathas required a tremendous amount ofmeetings, travel and discussion.Throughout there have been numerousbumps in the road and we can reason-ably expect a few more before we fullyimplement all aspects of the reorganiza-tion. But while most of the heavy liftingis behind us, we’ll be looking for anassist from everyone with a stake inHunter Education as we seek to collec-tively chart the course of IHEA-USAfor the foreseeable future.■

By John McKay, President IHEA-USA • [email protected]

President’s Corner

IHEA IS NOW IHEA-USA

Disclaimer: The Hunter & Shooting Sports Education Journal welcomes article submissions expressing individual or organizationviews and opinions. Articles submitted do not necessarily reflect those of the IHEA-USA, IHEA-USA board of directors, IHEA-USAmanagement, the editor or publisher. The IHEA-USA will continue to support the safety aspect of all hunting activities and methods.In addition, we encourage anyone who wishes to submit a rebuttal to published articles to send them to [email protected].

I magine if a startup company didn’tembrace modern technology(website, e-mail, social media,

mobile phones, etc.). Chances are thatcompany wouldn’t last very long. TheIHEA is no exception in that it had tolook at changes in order to be success-ful in the 21st century. The organizationturns 40 this year, and it has also under-gone what is probably the greatestchange in its history. At the annualBusiness Meeting on May 31st inKansas City, Missouri, the membershipvoted overwhelmingly to a namechange and reorganization. What hasbeen known as the IHEA is now knownas the IHEA-USA. While membershipis still open to any individual, agency ororganization, the IHEA-USA will be

focused primarily on issues in theUnited States. Our neighbors to thenorth have had an IHEA-Canada forseveral years now which enabled themto concentrate on Canadian issues. TheUSA has now followed suit.

However, this doesn’t mean thatinternational issues aren’t important. Infact, with modern technology and theglobal industry of hunting, I wouldargue that they are more important thanever. This is why the next big changewill be the creation of a new organiza-tion that is global in scope. This will beknown as the IHEA. The countryspecific branches (IHEA-Canada,IHEA-USA, etc.) will all belong to thisnew IHEA where issues like reciprocity,international standards and uniformity

will be addressed. Future editions of theJournal will include additional updateson the reorganization.

Another change you will see this yearis a new IHEA-USA website. We areembracing modern technology andupgrading the site, as well as utilizingTwitter and Facebook. I will have moreinformation about the website status inthe Fall edition of the Journal. In themeantime, don’t forget to check out theinstructor discount offers on the websiteat www.ihea.com. We have added severalnew discount programs recently and ifyou are not taking advantage of theseoffers, you are missing out on significantsavings. There are discounts on optics,firearms, clothing, training aids, knives,fall arrest systems and more.■

By Wayne East, Executive Director IHEA-USA, [email protected]

Executive Director’s Comments

Changing With The Times


Ben Franklin missed something in his famous quote, “!in this world nothing can be saidto be certain, except death and taxes". I would add that change is certain as well. In orderto survive, people, corporations, and organizations must change with the times.

Born in 1918 in Elberon,New Jersey, Ed studiedwildlife management at

the University of Maine andPennsylvania State University(PSU). He enlisted in the U.S.Army 10th Mountain Division

in 1943 and was discharged as aFirst Lieutenant in ChemicalWarfare in 1946. Ed received hisPhD from PSU in wildlifemanagement in 1948. He thenspent eight years at Iowa StateUniversity as the Leader of theIowa Cooperative WildlifeResearch Unit. Ed went to workfor John Olin in 1956 as theDirector of the WildlifeConservation Department forWinchester with the main taskof aiding and abetting the hunt-

ing preserve concept through theoperation of a demonstration andexperimental hunting preserve. UponJohn Olin’s death in 1982, Ed retiredfrom Olin and became the firstExecutive Vice-President of theNAAHSC. Ed is a past president of

The Wildlife Society and a formerdirector of the OrthopedicFoundation for Animals.

In 1987 the IHEA created theKozicky award, named in Ed’s honor,and presented by the IHEA’sPresident to “an individual or organi-zation that assists the President of theIHEA in a manner that exceeds ageneral effort and is above andbeyond the call of duty.”

I was fortunate to have met Ed in2008 at the IHEA Annual Conference,where he was able to personallypresent the Kozicky Award to mypredecessor, Gary Berlin. Later in2008, Ed created an endowment withthe IHEA. Ed will be sorely missedby the hunter education community.

Ed died Saturday, July 21, 2012.He was 94 years old.■

Kozicky PassesIt is with great sadness that Iannounce the passing of EdwardL. Kozicky. Ed was the firstExecutive Vice President of theNorth American Association ofHunter Safety Coordinators(NAAHSC), now known asInternational Hunter EducationAssociation — United States ofAmerica (IHEA-USA).


hen I joined the hunt safeteam in Rapid City, SouthDakota, I helped out where I

could. It was the team’s desire tocontinue to improve the program andseveral times the group would havebrainstorming sessions to do just that. Itwas after one of these brainstormingsessions that I came up with the idea of ahunting skit for the students to watch. Iconvinced my friend and hunting partnerGreg Forstner, to join me and we beganto develop the skit into what it is today.

I usually begin the skit by explainingthat the realistic looking guns we useare made of dowels, 2x4s, and paint. Ilet the class know that it is difficult to dothe things that we do during the skit, aspart of our skit involves pointing themock guns in an unsafe direction. Iexplain to the class that they need towatch for things that we do wrong. Imention that we may also do somethings correctly. In our skit we also usea variety of other props including:chairs, a steering wheel cover, a cordedphone, various stuffed toy birds, plasticwater bottles, spent shotgun shells, aduck call, the classic plucked chickens,cotton balls, various vests, hats, and thestar of the show, Timber the black lab.

The first skit is titled “The DuckHunt”. When the skit gets underway, I

stand in one front corner of the roomwhile my partner, Greg, is situated inthe other corner. I grab the phone anddial an exaggerated number of buttons.I verbally call out “ring, ring” whileGreg ignores me on the other side of theroom. Eventually he will answer, and Igo about asking him if he would like tojoin me on the opener of duck seasonthe next morning. He agrees, and asksme to supply some shells for him. I tellhim I will throw some in. This is thefirst of many mistakes that the studentswill hopefully catch.

For this imaginary hunting adventurewe do a wide variety of wrongdoings.We have guns loaded and pointing at ourheads in the vehicle. We hunt on land thatwe had permission from last year. Weshoot a duck that is sitting on the waterwhile standing across from each other.We tell the class we are unable to retrieveit and end up leaving the duck, hopingthe wind will blow it into shore. I slip inthe mud next to the pond and look intothe barrel. Greg will grab the gun andtell me to not do that. He tells me toempty the gun and then he looks downthe barrel himself. He says that anythingin the barrel will come out the next timeI shoot. We cross a fence wrong and tres-pass on someone else’s property. Wedecide to set up and do some calling.

While I’m using a duck call, anotherinstructor will throw a “stuffed penguin”into the air. I will swing the barrel pastGreg’s head and take the shot. Timberwill make the retrieve and laughter willerupt as they get a good look at the“Northern Mallard”.

Once this hunting scenario is finishedwe go about the answer section. It isevident, from all of the hands in the air,that the students really do pick up on the“duck hunt” mistakes. Students willcatch most of the things that we dowrong and sometimes we deliver a prizefor some of the tougher answers theymight get. They will mention the factthat I just threw in shells for my partnerwithout asking about what gun he mightbe using. This is when I would elaborateon the proper ammunition for the gunthey are shooting. I will also ask themabout proper shot shells for waterfowl,so that they know steel shot is required.They often catch the fact that we hadpermission to hunt last year. Onestudent will usually mention that I shota penguin and I use that as a reminderthat they need to make sure of theirtarget and that waterfowl identificationis very important. Students in the classwill remember that we left a duck on thewater, which creates an opening fortalking about wanton waste. We occa-

By Roger Schara,SD Hunter Education Instructor

A stuffed toy pheasant flies through the air in front of the classroom full ofattentive eyes. The barrel of the realistic looking wooden shotgun swingspast my hunting partner’s head while aiming at the flying rooster. Animatedvocal sounds of gunfire erupt. My black lab Timber, who was in hot pursuitof the falling bird, brings the bird back to me. We continue down theimaginary stretch of private land shooting several more birds, and makingseveral mistakes along the way.

www.IHEA.com 9

sionally have to elicit some answersfrom the students, such as a huntinglicense or stamp since we decided to gothe night before. The students usuallydo a really good job of catching all ofour mistakes. We then head into the nextskit “The Pheasant Hunt”.

According to Jason Kool, theHuntSAFE Coordinator and ProgramSpecialist for South Dakota Game, Fish,and Parks, the most common huntingaccidents occur when hunting smallgame. Pheasant hunting accidents arethe most common. The South DakotaHunting Incidents Report states thatthere were 38 pheasant hunting accidentsduring the 2011 season. The pheasanthunting scenario gives us a chance tomake students aware of the safetyfactors while hunting South Dakota’streasured bird.

The stage is set once again for thebeginning of the hunt. I am now dressed

with a fluorescent orange hat and vest,while Greg is dressed in drab clothing. Idraw a “No Hunting” sign on the white-board and stand in the front and begin todial and Greg will answer before I haveeven finished dialing. The use of humoris part of the fun in presenting. We havea discussion on when we should leavein the morning; we go back and forthand eventually end up with a time.Since it is opening morning, we decideto leave pretty early in the morning. Wetalk about where we should go anddecide on a place that we usually hunt.

I sit in the chair, grab the steeringwheel, and “drive” to pick up Greg, Ihonk the horn, and he will usually enterthe “vehicle” with the muzzle pointed atmy head. Timber, my lab, is usually visit-ing students in the room when we “startdriving”. We reach our destination, andone of us will get out and ask the farmer,“Charlie” if we can hunt. Charlie Abel isa long time hunt safe instructor that

usually plays the farmer role for our skit.Charlie will give us directions to a spotthat we can hunt, as well as specificthings that he wants us to do, like shutgates, stay out of certain fields, stop backwhen we finish hunting etc…and some-times he will not let us hunt on his prop-erty and we have to hunt elsewhere, sowe have to go into impromptu mode. Weleave the farmhouse and talk about therainfall from the previous night. I willusually spot a rooster right by the barnand try to convince Greg to get out andshoot him, but he usually says no. This isone of the “correct “things that we do.We use this as an example of how manyfeet you need to be away from a buildingor livestock before you can safely shoot.

We “think” we arrive at the correctspot, but are unsure. In our anxiousdesire to hunt, we did not follow thelandowner’s directions very carefully.Greg will get out and “open” the gate. Iwill drive through and tell him to get inand we will shut the gate on the way

Roger Schara holdingthe little rubber chicken.Greg with his son, Henry,and dog Timber.


out. We proceed into unknown territory,tearing up land as we drive through themuddy field. We spot some roosters andget out to hunt. I have my vest over-flowing with “stuffed pheasants”, as webegin our walk. My dog Timber, at thispoint, is bouncing around in front of us.She has been doing the skit for severalyears and she knows she will get toretrieve birds for us. We mention to theaudience that she is acting “birdie”. Iwill throw a bird into the air and yell“bang”. Timber will retrieve the birdand we continue walking and shootingbirds. We decide to have Greg post onone end of the field and Timber and Iwill walk towards him. Greg is notwearing any orange clothing. A bird willsail in the air and Greg will mention thesun is in his eyes and he can’t tell if it isa hen or a rooster. Gunshots erupt as weboth fire and the bird falls. We shoot ata No Hunting sign and talk about howwe are expert marksmen. We get severalmore birds and then head back to thevehicle. We place our guns against the

“vehicle” while Timber is bouncingaround trying to grab a bird that weplaced on the “vehicle”. She will some-times knock a gun to the ground and wenonchalantly reach down and place itback against the vehicle. We have abeverage, throw the empties on theground and proceed to clean the birds.Our backs are to the audience as wethrow the “cotton ball feathers” to theground. We turn around and hold up the“plucked chickens”. I will then displaya miniature plucked chicken andmention that we don’t want to forget the“other” bird that Greg shot. Laughteragain will erupt. We get back into thevehicle and drive back towards the gate.I will stop at the gate and Greg will getout and close it. I will comment on thenumber of the cows we see on the roadas we head back towards home. I tellGreg that we should be proud ofourselves by harvesting all of thesebirds before noon. We must be “reallygood hunters”. Greg will tell me to keepall of the birds that we harvested and we

finish up the hunt.The student’s hands are once again

waving in the air. I begin calling onstudents to see what they saw us doingwrong. The students do an amazing jobat catching all the mistakes that we madethroughout the skit. They will even catchsome of the subtle things that we do.Once they mention what we have donewrong, I usually elaborate on whatshould have been done. They will notethe time that we began hunting. In SouthDakota for example, the season opens atnoon on opening day. The students willoften note that we should have acquiredpermission well before the seasonbegins and that we did not follow thelandowner’s directions and requests.They tell us that we were trespassing,that we shot at a No Hunting sign, we leftthe gate open and cattle escaped, we shotat a bird that we could not identify, wedrove through a muddy field, we crossedfences wrong, we littered, we placedloaded guns against the vehicle and oneof us had an over limit of birds. Theywill mention that Greg did not havefluorescent orange clothing on. This isan opportunity to clarify South Dakotahunting regulations, since orange is notrequired. I usually explain the safetyfactor that orange clothing provides.

We cover a wide variety of huntingincidents in the half-hour skit. We try toinclude many things that the studentshave learned during their classroomexperience. Some aspects of the skitwill reinforce the questions that willshow up on their exam, while others aremore ethical in nature. We are nearingour tenth year of doing this skit forstudents in Rapid City. We feel that thestudents have a good time and we defi-nitely have a blast doing this skit. Wehave to give a big thanks to the RapidCity team of very dedicated individualsthat teach all of the facets of huntersafety before we even arrive. Weperform the skit on the last night ofclass and the students’ knowledge ofour mistakes is a tribute to the class-room instructors before us. It is becauseof these instructors that the students areable to give us the confident answerspertaining to the mistakes found in ourhunting skit and that is how we go outwith a bang.■

W ith target-shooting activitypeaking during summermonths and youngsters off

from school, now is a good time for gunowners to review procedures for storingtheir firearms safely at home, says theNational Shooting Sports Foundation®.

NSSF® urges hunter educationinstructors to stress to their students thaton returning home after spending a funday at the shooting range or huntingafield they must immediately securefirearms so that a child or other unau-thorized person cannot access a gun.

Nearly all firearm accidents can beprevented by following a few simplesafe-storage steps. Accidental firearmfatalities are at historic low levels thanks

By Bill Brassard, NSSF, Director, Communications

NSSF Notes

Summer Safety ReminderNSSF® Urges Gun Owners To Store TheirFirearms Securely at Home

Photo Courtesy of NSSF

to the precautions taken by responsiblefirearms owners and because of safetyreminders promoted by NSSF, byIHEA-USA through instructors such asyou and by other concerned groups. Wethank you in advance for continuing to bea leader in helping to continue this trend.

Putting firearms away unloaded andstoring ammunition separately—both inlocked locations—can prevent a tragicaccident from happening. Gun cabinetsand gun safes are excellent locked-stor-age options, and adding a gun lock to afirearm provides an extra level of safety.

Taking such precautions is particu-larly important during summer, not onlybecause people use their firearms moreoften for target shooting, but alsobecause youngsters are home fromschool and sometimes left unsuper-vised. Children are naturally curious.They have a knack for finding thingsadults don’t want them to find, andhiding a firearm in a drawer or a closetis not a substitute for locked storage.

Those who keep a firearm for homeprotection must develop their own

safety precautions to create a situationin which the firearm is available to themand not to an unauthorized person.Quick-access lock boxes are one solu-tion for the person who keeps a firearmfor home defense and also has childrenin the home. It’s one of the most impor-tant responsibilities of every gun ownerto prevent a child from accessing aloaded firearm.

Safe gun handling and safe storage gohand-in-hand. It’s second nature to youand an important part of your trainingprogram, but the four basic rules offirearms safety are always worthmentioning. Please emphasize to yourstudents to…

…Always keep the gun’s muzzlepointed in a safe direction.

…Treat every gun as if it wereloaded.

…Keep your finger off the triggeruntil you are ready to shoot.

…Know your target and what liesbeyond it.

The National Shooting SportsFoundation provides a number of educa-




tional materials that help gun ownersand non-owners make informed deci-sions when it comes to firearms safety.

These include:● The safety brochures “Firearms

Safety Depends on You,” “FirearmsResponsibility in the Home,”“A Parents Guide to RecreationalShooting For Youngsters” and theProject ChildSafe® safety booklet.View the brochures at nssf.org/safetyand projectchildsafe.org. Spanish-language versions are available online.

● NSSF’s Firearm Safety DVD, whichincludes three videos: “McGruff theCrime Dog on Gun Safety” foryoungsters in grades K-6, “It’s YourCall: Playing it Safe Around Guns”for grades 6-9 and “Firearms SafetyDepends on You” for generalaudiences. The youth videos teachyoungsters how to make fast, correctdecisions if they should encounter afirearm in an unsupervised situationat home, at a friend’s home or atschool. Learn more atnssf.org/safety/video.

● Also, encourage the viewing ofNSSF’s range safety video andwingshooting safety video. Considerplaying them for your class.

● Through its Project ChildSafeprogram, NSSF provides firearmsafety kits that include a gun lockingdevice and safety education brochureavailable free of charge to gunowners through law enforcementdepartments. Check atprojectchildsafe.org to see if yourlocal law enforcement agency haskits available. Only law enforcementdepartments can request shipmentsof the safety kits.As the trade association for the

firearms, ammunition, hunting andshooting sports industry, NSSF is dedi-cated in its mission which is to promote,protect and preserve hunting and theshooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSFhas a membership of more than 7,000manufacturers, distributors, firearmsretailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen’sorganizations and publishers. For moreinformation, log on to www.nssf.org.■

Sharing knowledge about ourhunting heritage is as critical a

step for our sport’s future as any thatsportsmen and women can take. Thatis why the SCI Foundation had highschool age students spend sevendays gaining new knowledge andengaging in new experiences in awilderness setting 35 miles south of

Jackson, Wyoming. The focus of theprogram is conservation and thepositive role of hunting.

A field trip to Pinedale, Wyoming toview the wintering grounds for antelopeand mule deer, to walk within a sagegrouse lek as well as view the impactof gas fields in the area was a first-hand demonstration of the issues

about wildlife habitat needsand human demands onthat habitat.

The students researched“to list or not to list” the sagegrouse as an endangeredspecies. Each studentassumed one of the manyperspectives in the sagegrouse debate in a roundtable discussion. The experi-ence presented students

with learning about how complexwildlife management issues can be.

The students hiked 2.5 miles up amountain to experience a wildernessovernight camping trip and to learnmore about the plants and animalsthat live in the Bridger TetonNational Forest.

Their instructors included wildlifebiologists, limnologist, conservationofficer and middle and high schoolscience and math teachers who areall experts in their field and hunters.

Each year SCI Foundation offers aseven day conservation workshop for16 – 18 year olds at the AmericanWilderness Leadership School locatedin the Bridger Teton National Forest.To learn more and to register for thiswilderness experience contact SCIFEducation at 520-620-1220 ext. 231.

Tomorrow’s Conservation Leaders;SCI Foundation Youth Program

Teaching TipBy Robbie Briggs,MA Hunter Safety Instructor

When starting my talk aboutfirearm safety I like to place

three items on the table in every-one’s view. I use things such as awater bottle, a pen or pencil, abook, a doughnut...you get it, anyinanimate object. Then I askeveryone what these things havein common with a firearm. I getmany different answers but fewever guess the one I’m looking for:Nothing happens until someonepicks the item up!

This always helps drive homethe fact that they are responsiblefor firearm safety.

I hope this simple idea helpssome other instructors. My masterinstructor thought it was veryclever and has encouraged me touse it all the time.


L ike many of our state agencycounterparts in the continentalU.S., Hunter Education in the

islands faces challenges. While HawaiiHunter Education courses book well inadvance, we all know that “a huntercertified does not mean a license sold”.Like other states, Hawaii huntinglicense sales are down. Also, Hawaiihas only two public shooting ranges,one of which is the Koko HeadShooting Complex, which servicesOahu where 85% of the state’s popula-tion lives; the other is UkumehameShooting Range on Maui.

Booked courses and packed rangeswould make it seem that hunting is onthe rise in Hawaii. Not so. Hawaii statelaw recognizes the certification obtainedthrough Hunter Education as sufficientto obtain a permit to acquire a handgun.It’s no secret that Hawaii firearms lawsare more stringent compared with thoseof other states. Nevertheless, firearms

sales are on the rise inHawaii like the rest of thenation. As a volunteerinstructor, I can attest thaton the average, 20% ofstudents attending theHawaii Hunter Educationcourses are there to meetthe requirements to obtain apermit to acquire a hand-gun. In a state which certi-fies roughly 2,200 studentsannually, 20% is a substan-tial figure. But I wonderhow many of these first-time target shooters makethe transition to hunting?

Access to public huntingareas in Hawaii is limited.All told, it’s really a pitysince hunting license ratesare $10 for residents and$95 for non-residents,

making it one of the best deals in thenation. And Hawaii is under-recognizedwhen it comes to the variety of speciesavailable to hunt, with six gamemammals and a myriad of game birds,including both upland and springgobbler seasons.

I was given the opportunity to volun-teer with the Hawaii Hunter EducationProgram at a young age. Even thoughmy initial job description consistedentirely of shredding and filing papers, Iwas thrilled to be entrusted with theprivilege of volunteering with theprogram and learning from old-timersand well-seasoned instructors. Theseresponsibilities gradually gave way toteaching opportunities, and ultimatelyto my position as Hunter EducationAssistant Coordinator.

Unlike many other Coordinatorsacross the nation, my education andtraining is not in wildlife managementor natural science. And while my degree

is not completely outside the ballpark, Ithink that that is precisely the point ofthis personal success story. What madethe difference in my life is the follow-through efforts by countless mentorswho entrusted me with responsibilityand kept me involved. As a high schoolvolunteer, I could have never imaginedworking in the Hunter EducationProgram. Now I am blessed to be whereI am.

If the Hunter Education Program hasmade such a positive impact on my life,what are we as Hunter Educationadministrative professionals, instruc-tors, and staff doing to follow-throughwith the youth and non-hunters whowalk through our doors? I would arguethat one-time events or activities are notenough: our efforts must focus onsustained human interaction, whichreinforces learning.

Yes, funding for our work can be aproblem. We would do well to remem-ber that our state Hunter EducationProgram is supported by annually-apportioned funds from the U.S. Fishand Wildlife Service. This federalagency exists to enable conservation inour state and throughout the U.S.—much of what we do would be impossi-ble without their help.

In a national culture that is less inter-ested in hunting than it once was, ourprograms must target the growingconstituency of non-hunters. We targetthem through education on conserva-tion—an idea that is palatable to bothhunters and non-hunters. We help themtransition from non-hunters to sports-men with follow-through. With the helpof our many dedicated volunteers, we’renot bad at what we do. Perhaps it’s abouttime to recognize that the humanelement—mentorship, personal interac-tion, and learning through service—isthe foundation of our success.■

By Andrew W. Choy, Hunter Education Specialist and Volunteer Instructor

USFWS Update

What Is There To Hunt In Hawaii?The Future of Hunter Education and Hunting in Paradise

Photo Courtesy of Hawaii Hunter Education Program


Walter Lane — Walter (Walt) is the HunterDevelopment Program Manager for theGeorgia Department of Natural Resources(GDNR). He graduated from North CarolinaState University in 1996 with a B.S., and againin 1999 with an M.S., degree in Fisheries andWildlife Science.

He began working as a wildlife biologist with theGA-DNR in 1999 and worked on a habitat restoration

project for northern bobwhite quail and other grasslandsongbirds. In 2001, Walter became the Project WILDCoordinator for Georgia and held that position for sevenyears before taking over as Program Manager of theCharlie Elliott Wildlife Center in 2007. Walt became theHunter Development Program Manager for GA-DNR onJune 1, 2010.

Walt began hunting squirrels, doves and deer with hisuncles when he was a boy and has retained a passion forhunting, fishing and other outdoor sports. He began huntingwaterfowl and turkeys after moving to Georgia in 1999.

In 2004, the Lord blessed Walt with his wonderful wifeKim. A second blessing was their son, George Walter Lane,born in 2007 and Samuel Gibson Lane, born in 2010.George and Samuel have red hair, like their Dad (minusthe latter’s gray) and they are already displaying a love ofthe outdoors.

Walter LaneGeorgia Dept. of Natural Resources,Hunter Development Program Manager 2065 U.S. Hwy 278Social Circle, GA 30025Phone: 770-388-0045Fax: (706) 557-3042Email: [email protected]

Marisa Lee Futral — Alabama — An Ohionative, she went to college at Auburn Universityin Alabama, where she earned a bachelor’sdegree in wildlife biology and a master’sdegree in education. Marisa is a certifiedwildlife biologist and FBI firearms instructor.She is committed to introducing others to the

outdoor sports.

While working for theAlabama Wildlife

Federation she co-foundedthe Outdoor Women’sNetwork, a program thatprovides direct hunting andangling opportunities forwomen. Before that, as acounty extension agent, shecoached local 4-H shootingsports teams in rifle, pistoland shotgun. She alsocurrently serves on thepro-staff of a local Bass Pro

shop. She is an avid hunter as well as a competitive sportingclays shooter and archer, winning four state championshipsin sporting clays and two state championships in archery.

Marisa’s favorite species to hunt is the turkey, but shewelcomes the opportunity to hunt anything new. She hashunted Nilgai in Texas, tundra swans in North Carolina,common rails in Virginia, pheasants in Kansas, ducks inOhio, as well as deer, turkeys, quail and doves in Alabama.However, she will tell you that her most rewarding hunts arethose where she has introduced someone new to the sport.

Marisa is currently the hunter safety coordinator for theDivision of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries in Alabama aswell as the coordinator of their National Archery in theSchools Program. She has been with the Department since2005, but has been a hunter education instructor since 1995.

Anytime she is needed, please contact her via theinformation below.

Marisa Lee FutralAlabama Department of Conservation andNatural Resources64 North Union StreetMontgomery, AL 36130Phone: 334-242-3620Fax: 334-242-3032Email: [email protected]

Getting To Know The New Administrators

– Part One in a Series –

www.IHEA.com 19

Josh Mackay — New Hampshire — Josh hasbeen with the New Hampshire Fish and GameDepartment for a little over four years. He hasbeen the hunter education coordinator forapproximately a year and a half. Josh went tothe University of Vermont and got hisBachelor’s Degree in mathematics thenstarted his career out teaching junior high andhigh school math before the opportunitypresented itself to work with hunter education.

He enjoys hunting and fishing year round, and stays in theoutdoors as much as possible. He ice fishes for anything

that will bite in the winter and bass fishes in the summer.He has been married for nearly five years and he and his

wife, Jenn, have twin three-and-a-half year old boys. Theyare getting into outdooractivities as much aspossible, so fishingmeans, “it is anything thatwill bite for a while.”They will “specialize”when they get a littleolder, and will probablybe able to show dad athing or two.

Josh loves to varminthunt and goes after

coyotes a lot of the time. He likes snowshoe hares in thewinter, turkey in the spring and turkey, deer, bear, and if heis lucky in the lottery, he goes after moose in the fall.

He was lucky enough to be chosen last year hence thepicture above. Bet he will have some fine steaks and stew.

He would like to try his hand at upland birds and waterfowl,but said he has never been much of a shot with a shotgun.How about some of your fellow coordinators taking himunder your wing and giving him a hand? I bet Kansas,Nebraska or Iowa could provide some keen pheasant hunting.

Josh really enjoys his job and said, “I can’t think of abetter group to work with than the instructor volunteers andthe rest of the hunter education staff here and around thecountry.” Make Josh feel welcome and contact him via theinformation below.

Joshua MackayNew Hampshire Fish and Game Department,Hunter Education Coordinator11 Hazen DriveConcord, NH 03301Phone: (603) 271-0459Email: [email protected]

Carl Klein — Washington — Carl is the newHunter Education Manager for WashingtonState Department of Fish and Wildlife. Carlcame to the Department after receivingBachelor Degrees in Law Enforcement andCriminalistics from Weber State University inOgden, Utah.

He has been with the Enforcement Program since 2004when he was assigned a patrol district in Thurston

County where he proved himself to be a hard working andeffective officer. Carl was promoted to the rank of Sergeantin 2011 when he was asked to coordinate enforcementefforts dealing with Aquatic Invasive Species.

He took over the responsibility of the Hunter EducationProgram in December of that year. Prior to becoming themanager of the program, Carl was always very active inHunter Education even taking additional steps to become acertified instructor in 2006.

When not busy with work you can most commonly findCarl enjoying the multiple recreational opportunitiesWashington has to offer with his wife and their two children,a daughter, Emily age 7 and a son, Archer, age 5. In additionto his family, Carl has three labs (two black and one yellow),and two cats. He also stays busy during the summer monthspursuing salmon on the coast and in Puget Sound.

During the fall months Carl can often be found in thedense vegetation of western Washington seeking an elusiveblack-tailed deer with his Hawken Muzzleloader. When notin the woods or on the water, Carl has been known to spendnumerous hours working in his garden at home.

If you need any additional information please let him know.

Carl Klein, Sergeant,Hunter Education Program,Master Hunter Permit Program,Aquatic Invasive Species Program,Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife,Law Enforcement ProgramPhone: 360-902-2426Cell: 360-790-8006Email: [email protected]

W hen I was 7, I started trompingaround behind my dad whenhe hunted pheasants in Russell

County, Kansas. I thought everyonehunted back then and thought huntingwas everyone’s ‘right’, but now, over40 years later, we all understand whatchallenges and attacks sport huntingfaces every day.

I can’t imagine my life without hunt-ing; however, this privilege that we allenjoy is in the crosshairs of anti-hunters,animal rights groups, and every otherspecial interest group that considerswhat we enjoy as being barbaric.

Just as careless gun handling can havefatal consequences, a careless disregardto ethics could be the death knell tohunting as you and I know it. You mightask why I am ‘preaching to the choir’with these words. Obviously, ethicalstandards start with the instructor andhow we impart that to the students thatwe teach. We usually can’t make some-one an ethical person in the short timethat we are in contact with them, nor canwe change their preconceived notions ofwhat is right or wrong.

What we can do as instructors is totake the lead in showing the non-hunt-ing community that we are not afraid topolice our own ranks. In a world where

the norm of the day is ‘don’t ask, don’ttell’, or ‘it’s legal as long as I don’t getcaught’, we have to walk the walk ofwhat we teach.

Part of my teaching exercise involvesgiving students situations that areperfectly legal, but not ethical, andasking why it might offend a non-hunter. Examples would be wearing fullcamo and face paint into Wal-Mart, ornot cleaning the blood off of ourselvesor our clothing after field dressing ananimal, and then going to the grocerystore to shop!

I know these are extreme examples,but are real situations I have actually seenduring the time I have been an instructor.

We have to be able to tactfullyconfront the person involved, because Ican guarantee you that if it offends youas an instructor and hunter, it willoffend the non-hunting public as well!

I also challenge you as instructors tomentor a young person and instill inthem what is right, wrong, and in somecases, where the gray areas are in regardto ethics.

We all are responsible to try our bestin making sure that what I considered a‘right’ over 40 years ago, continues tobe an important part of our heritage inthe future!■

By Tim Boxberger, Kansas Hunter Education Instructor’s Association Liaison

Instructor Insight

Walk The Walk

One of the main goals of the Journal is to provide a platform for the exchange of ideas andteaching experience that can help improve the education process of the more than

700,000 new hunters annually.In order to fulfill that goal we need the input of instructors in the field. Please submit

your stories and/or photos about teaching techniques that work for you, thoughts about thestate of our hunting heritage today, anecdotal stories about “it happened to me” in class, visualtraining aids, etc... Don’t worry about spelling or grammar.

Every submission that is chosen for print receives a gift fromsupporting manufacturers.

Send your submission to Susie Kiefer at [email protected]. No computer? You canmail your submission to: IHEA-USA Journal, PO Box 432, Wellington, CO 80549.■

Send Us Your Stories!


P remium USA, manufacturer ofdiamond products for sharpen-ing knives and tools, has forged

a relationship with The InternationalHunter Education Association-UnitedStates of America. EZE-LAP DiamondProducts recently stepped up tosupport the 70,000 volunteer CertifiedHunter’s Education instructors with adiscount off their peerless line ofsharpeners.

According to EZE-LAP’s VicePresident and General Manager RalphJohnson, they’re pleased to share a25% discount on any EZE-LAPproduct beginning summer of 2012.“We’re honored to be associated withthese Certified Instructors as they aretruly the force at the front lines and

ones who are so influential to theshooting careers of those 750,000Hunter Education students theyinstruct each and every year.” Ralph

goes on to remark, “It’s really our wayof being able to give back to thesededicated individuals who not onlyteach the ethics of hunting and shoot-ing but do so in a fun, safe, andinformative way. Hats off to them all!”

EZE-LAP Products was foundedback in the early 1970s and stillcontinues to manufacture innovativeand state-of-the-art diamond sharpen-ers right here on our soil. Theirunique process of heat treatment thatbonds the highest quality industrialgrade diamond particles in a stainlessalloy to a precision matched metalsubstrate has been imitated but neverduplicated. The sharpening surfacethat is created by EZE-LAP works oncarbide, ceramics, tool steel, hard-ened materials, and newer stainlesssteels that are utilized by most majorknife manufacturers today. Fortyyears of Made In America means asmuch to the company today as it doesto its consumers.

“A sharp blade is by far a saferblade. We hunters need to realize thata sharper knife leads to less self-imposed injuries in the field. When ablade is dull, we tend to press harderwhen we cut and thus increase theopportunity to slip and cut ourselves.There is no argument that a sharperblade makes processing much moreefficient as well.” More wise wordsfrom Ralph and those we should allpay close attention to.

EZE-LAP Products are availablefor hunters, anglers, general outdoor,lawn and garden, and culinary uses.For more information on getting theirproducts at a 25% discount as aCertified Hunter Education Instructor,call the order desk at 800-843-4815 orsend an email to [email protected], check them out online atwww.eze-lap.com, you’ll be glad youdid. Great products for hunters, andall who enjoy the outdoors.■

EZE-LAP Diamond Products ForgesRelationship With IHEA-USA

“It’s really our way ofbeing able to give backto these dedicatedindividuals who notonly teach the ethics ofhunting and shootingbut do so in a fun, safe,and informative way.Hats off to them all!”— Ralph Johnson

Columbia SportswearOffers Discounts To HunterEducation Instructors

Columbia Sportswear in Portland, Oregon is pleased to offer HunterEducation instructors a discount through their Pro Purchase program for 2012.

Interested instructors should go to www.columbia.com/propurchase.■

S pringTac Holsters is only a year and a half inthe making but their design and simplicityare leading the way in the holster market.

The design enables one to wear the holster insidepants for the ultimate in concealment or on the outside ofpants harnessed securely by a belt. It does not look like atraditional holster and is designed to accommodate anysemi-automatic with a tac light or laser sight.

“Our product is unlike anything else on the market-period.” says SpringTac’s owner and president Mike Detry.

A SpringTac Holster can be worn on the left or right hip.When you go to www.springtacholsters.com you can quickly see that theopen top and bottom design make it unique. Two secrets behind the func-tionality of the holster would be its full-grain cowhide shell and inner spring-loaded feature. When Mike designed it, his only consideration for the shellmaterial was leather. The leather he uses is extra thick and durable andultimately takes to the shape of the gun and shape of where the holster rides

on the hip. The interior spring grabs the width of the gun’s slideand holds it firmly in place. It also allows for both tac lightsand laser sights. A gun is super easy to conceal with this

holster and can be drawn with little tono effort at all.

SpringTac offers a 10% discountto certified instructors. Go to

www.holstercollection.com and enterpromo code HE2012. This discount

and promo code can also be offered to yourstudents. There’s black or brown in three styles:standard, mini, and pocket-mini. This product isproudly made in the U.S.A. with the finest materialsand craftsmanship available. An extremely uniqueproduct designed for every day use.■

SpringTac Holsters CarriesConcealed Handguns In AMost Innovative Way


D on’t disregard the “Little Guys”out there. They just may inspireyou to be a better instructor.

Their personalities and innocence makeus want to see things from their perspec-tive and truly validate the reason that weteach Hunter Education.

Case in point — 7 year old JonathanVanderford. From the moment thisyoung man walked into the classroom,you felt the atmosphere change. Hisdesire to learn and his excitement fortaking Hunter Education were evidentin everything he did and said.

Jonathan was diagnosed with a condi-tion called Hypoplastic Left Heart

Syndrome when he was born. For younon-doctors out there like myself, thatmeans he was born with half of a heart.Physically at age 7, this young man hasthe body of a 4 or 5 year old and hasonly half a heart, but that half is twicethe size of any adult’s heart that I haveever met. Even after multiple surgerieswith uncertain outcome, he will neverhave the endurance of other kids his age.

Jonathan was very excited to get hishunters education card, along with oneof his older siblings. His parents and 7of his other siblings have all gotten theircards over the past several years. Heloves the outdoors and wants to huntlike his brothers and sisters. This will bechallenging, but with help he willaccomplish his goal.

My point is this. If a young child hasthe determination and desire to learnHunter Education along with the abilityto retain the material, why excludethem? We, as instructors, have theOBLIGATION to teach in a manner thatthese youngsters can learn and retain thematerial no matter what their age.

Some of these youngsters may not bearound until their 12th birthday andhaving a standard that excludes themfor any reason other than comprehen-sion and retention does a major disserv-ice to our instructor ranks and ourhunting fraternity as a whole. Many ofus have been teaching for many years,and learning some new techniques justmay make your instruction fun andinspiring again.■

My Turn—Are There Age LimitsIn Your Classroom?Come On - Have Half a Heart

By Darin Fossum,CO Instructor

Darin Fossum with HE student, JonathanVanderford, and instructor Bob Aguiar

Planned GivingBy providing for the IHEA-USA in your

will or trust you will help to ensurethat future generations experience thesame kind of outdoor experiences thatyou hold so dearly. Please read:

"The mission of the InternationalHunter Education Association-UnitedStates of America is so pure that forthose of us that hunt and believe ineducation first and legislation last, Ipersonally have included in my Last Willand Testament 1/2 of my estate beawarded to the IHEA-USA. Hunting forme has been one of life's greatdisciplines and made me a betterperson in so many ways. Having anunderstanding of our connection withthe land, how we both collectively andindividually influence our naturalresources and the opportunity toactively participate in the managementof those resources is key to the future ofour hunting heritage." –Tim Lawhern

You can set aside:• A specific dollar amount • A percentage of your estate's value • All or part of the remainder of your

estate in your will or trust • All or part of the proceeds of a Life

Insurance policy or Retirement PlanAll donations received from this

program will be deposited into ourPlanned Giving Endowment and will beutilized for long-term funding of theorganization. The interest earned fromthis Endowment will be used for generaloperations for the IHEA-USA.

We urge you to consult your attorneyin preparing your will or trust and hopethat the following language will be helpfulin providing a bequest to IHEA-USA:

"I give, devise and bequeath____% ofwhat remains of my estate (or $_______)to the International Hunter EducationAssociation-United States of America(Tax ID # 37-1145157), a charitablecorporation presently having offices at2727 W. 92nd Ave., Suite 103, FederalHeights, CO 80260."

IHEA-USA is a non-profit 501(c)3corporation organized and existingunder the laws of the State of Colorado.

Bequests of any size are gratefullyaccepted and sincerely appreciated.However, while IHEA-USA can acceptgifts of land, we are not in a position tohold property for any reason. Any landgiven outright or bequeathed toIHEA-USA will be immediately sold. Theproceeds of which will be used to fundour programs.■


The Hunter & Shooting Sports Education Journal andthe IHEA-USA want to know more about instructors inorder to support your needs as well as assemble muchneeded data on instructors throughout North America.

The survey will take you less than 5 minutes.

We offer better odds than Las Vegas on winning some

pretty cool prizes too, just for taking the survey.

Grand Prize will be a Yamaha Grizzly 450 and there

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LaCrosseFootwearDiscount

A s we head into the fall huntingseason, LaCrosse Footwearwould like to remind Hunter

Education Instructors that they areeligible to purchase one LaCrosseproduct (boot or wader) eachseason along with up to 10 pairs ofsocks and/or accessories at adiscounted price. To apply for yourannual purchase, head towww.lacrossefootwear.com/pros.

Additional Instructordiscounts are availablefrom these companies:

Alpen OpticsATSKOBuck

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ThermacellTruckVault

Zeiss

For more information on thesespecial discounts and offers forInstructors, go to: http://ihea.com/instructors/special-offers-for-instructors.php.■

EZE-LAP Diamond Products was the first to offerconsumers diamond coated sharpening tools. Wehave been manufacturing and selling qualityproducts for almost 40 years. Our patenteddiamond coating process and modern technologyallow us to produce the finest quality diamondsharpening products at an affordable price.

• Sharpens carbide, tool steel, ceramic and anyof hardened or super hard material used byknife and tool manufacturers.

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SPECIAL INSTRUCTOR OFFER: 25% OFFMSRP for ALL CERTIFIED INSTRUCTORSGo to www.eze-lap.com, pick your productand fax your order along with your name,address, phone number and credit cardinformation to (775) 888-9555

Sometimes necessity is mostcertainly the mother of invention.Back in 1991, a deer hunter

from the northern woods of Minnesota

accidentally killed himself while evis-cerating a deer. He severed hisfemoral artery when his knife slippedand punctured his leg. From this mostunfortunate event, the FieldTorqViscerator® knife was invented.

FieldTorq Knives® founder andowner Chris Stuckel heard of this

tragedy around the kitchen table. As anavid outdoorsman, Chris saw the needto develop a hunting knife that wouldget the job done faster, easier and muchsafer. “When I heard what hadhappened to this guy, I knew a knifeneeded to be developed that wouldwork like a champ for any hunter and

get the job done, but most impor-tantly be the safest knife for cleaninga deer on the market. In addition tothe safest design possible, I wantedto develop a knife that would speedup the entire process.” This is onetool a deer hunter needs in his bag.

With safety being paramount, theknife has no exterior sharp edges;only the inside radius of the knifehas a cutting edge. Unique indesign, the Viscerator® features asmall blade that is essential forsevering the pelvic bone and a largeblade that performs normal knifeduties; together they quickly cutthrough hide and bone withoutharming the intestines. Hand-ground and individually inspected,the blades are a 58 Rockwell hard-ness that keeps them hard enoughto stay sharp, yet tough enough tomanage applied torque.

“A typical deer hunter who takesa deer every year or every otheryear should be able to eviscerate itin 5 minutes. This is about 80%faster than what it normally takes,”reports Chris. The knife shouldeasily clean three deer before itneeds to be sharpened and has aresin infused weather resistanthandle. This is not a typical lookinghunting knife and certainly doesnot perform like one either.

FieldTorq® offers a 10%discount to all certified HunterEducation instructors. To takeadvantage of this terrific offer, go tofieldtorqknives.com and entercoupon code: 10FTKV9456. Youpay via credit card and the discountwill be applied at checkout. If youbuy three or more of the knives,your shipping is free!■

FieldTorq Discount


For more information, visit www.springtacholsters.comor email [email protected]

See how Springtac Holstersmakes concealed carry oflaser-sighted or tac-lighted

firearms possible.

Finding a holster for a firearm with laser sight or tac lightattached used to be almost impossible.

Springtac HolstersThat was before

Springtac Holsters

Instructor Accessto IHEA-USAWebsite

Hunter Education Instructors canaccess many free resources and servicesat the “Instructor’s Only” section of theIHEA-USA website! For your exclusiveaccess go to www.ihea.com/instructors/instructor-resources/index.php andenter “instructor” as your username and“gohunt” as your password. These areboth lower case with no space.■

www.IHEA.com 33

W hen setting your sights onhunting any dangerous gameanimal, especially if it happens

to be one that’s coming for you at fullspeed, is not the time to determine thatyour riflescope wasn’t the best choicefor the task at hand.

One very simple rule to rememberwhen outfitting a heavy caliber rifledesigned to quickly dispatch large critterswith an attitude, is fast target acquisition.You need to be able to come up fast andget on target accurately. Therefore theimportance of low magnification and awide field of view must be emphasized.Try to select a scope and a rifle that are

fast handling — that usually means shortlength. Neither necessarily has to belight weight as a bit of heft is often help-ful for both balance and with tamingheavy recoil.

Select a scope with a generous eyerelief of at least 3.5 inches to avoidunwanted eyebrow scars that will oneday leave you resembling a heavyweight prize fighter. Make no conces-sion when it comes to quality as heavyrecoil will ultimately do dastardly deedsto a riflescope, sometimes ruining ahunt or worse.

Lastly don’t overlook the benefits ofillumination. If hunting black bear or a

dark object like cape buffalo in densecover, I wouldn’t even consider headingto camp without an illuminated rifle-scope. Some red dots can even be seenin the brightest of sunlight conditionsand during the last moments of twilight.Keep in mind — a black crosshair on ablack bear in the last fading moment ofshooting light in deep timber is almostimpossible to see to make a well placedand ethical shot. But an illuminated reddot tucked just behind the shoulder of amonster bear will bring a smile to yourface from both the confident shot and aquick recovery of your next trophy.

Shoot straight, be safe and get out there.■

Dangerous Game, NoPlace Or Time For TheWrong ScopeBy Robert J. Kaleta, Director of Communications and TechnicalOperations, Carl Zeiss Sports Optics, LLC.

T he 2012 IHEA Conference washeld at the Intercontinental KansasCity at the Plaza hotel in Kansas

City, Missouri, May 30 – June 2nd. Theconference kicked off with members ofthe U.S. Air Force Drill Team displayingtheir highly practiced skills, and awelcome by Missouri Department ofConservation Director, Bob Ziehmer.Conference topics included Managingfor Exceptional Customer Service inHunter Education; VolunteerManagement: Answers Right Now;Hunting Participation, Recruitment,Retention and Hunter Education — AnOverview of 25 Years of Research;Lyme Disease Awareness; EffectiveWingshooting for the Hunter Program;Program and Instructor ManagementApplications; A Virginia Study of the

Impact of Hunter Education onFall-Arrest-System Use; ChangeManagement; and a Diversity Workshop.Guest appearances included Jim Shockey(sponsored by Huntercourse.com), TomKnapp, Leroy Van Dyke and LarryPotterfield. The IHEA wishes to extenda heartfelt thank you to the MissouriDepartment of Conservation for hostingthis year’s conference.

Next year’s conference will be held atthe Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resortin San Antonio, Texas, April 2-6, 2013.

2012 IHEA Conference Highlights


Larry Potterfield,CEO, Midway

Leroy Van Dyke,auctioneer at theBanquet

Zac Cooper,Browning Pro Staff

Photos Courtesy of Bill Graham, Missouri Department of Conservation

Robert Ziehmer,Director, MissouriDepartment ofConservation

Bud Carpenter, Louisiana, received theHall of Fame Award.

Ryan Bronson, Federal PremiumAmmunition, presents Michael Groomsof Colorado with the Instructor of theYear Award.

Paulette Lubkereceives the ExecutiveDirector’s Award fromWayne East.

Melissa Neely receives the KozickyAward from IHEA Board President,John McKay.

Above: Eric Morris, Black Wolf HuntingClub; Donny Adair, African AmericanHunting Association; and Jim Curcuruto,National Shooting Sports Federation atthe Banquet Reception.

Left: Tim Lawhern (right), Past President,receives the Hunter Education InstructorsLeadership Award, from current andformer instructors who served on theIHEA Board including Bill Blackwell (left).

Pam Bradford, BoytHarness Company, atthe Vendor’s Reception

Don Johnson,Chairman,ConservationCommission

Tom Knapp

Jim Kellenberger (right), Kansas, ispresented with the Professional Hall ofFame Award from Kent Barrett (left),KS Hunter Education Coordinator

Mark Cousins, Colorado HunterEducation Coordinator, tries Atlatlat the Field Day

W yatt is the grandson of Leroyand Gladys Van Dyke, ofSmithton, Missouri. Leroy is

the iconic classic country music recordingartist and performer who is known forsuch recordings as “Auctioneer” and“Walk On By,” and is a world famousHall of Fame auctioneer. Gladys isgeneral manager of Leroy Van DykeEnterprises.

The Missouri Department ofConservation, for International HunterEducation Association (IHEA), retainedLeroy as their auctioneer for the organi-zation’s fundraiser auction June 2,2012, in Kansas City, Missouri. Duringthe proceedings, Gladys purchased tworaffle tickets on the Henry Golden Boyrifle drawing…and won!!!

The next day, on June 3, in a private,informal Van Dyke living room cere-mony, Wyatt was presented with thisHenry collectible rifle. The dialoguewent something like this:

Leroy (Granddad): Wyatt, do youlike guns?

Wyatt: Yes.Granddad: Do you think all little

boys should learn about guns?

Wyatt: Yes.Granddad: Do you think you would

like to have your own rifle someday?Wyatt: Yes.Leroy then picked up a Henry

Repeating Arms Company catalog,handed it to Wyatt and asked him to findthe picture of the rifle he liked the best.Wyatt stopped turning pages when hesaw the Henry Golden Boy pictures,then pointed to the one at the top of thepage. He said, “That’s the one I like.”

Then Leroy (Granddad) asked Gladys(Granny) to go to the bedroom to get thewhite cardboard box from the bed. Shebrought it and Wyatt was asked to openthe box.

Granddad: Wyatt, what is that?Wyatt: A rifle!Granddad: Do you know whose it is?Wyatt: Daddy’s?Granddad: No.Wyatt: Granddad’s?Granddad: No. By this time, Wyatt was somewhat

confused until Leroy pronouncedsolemnly, “Wyatt, you are looking at thevery first rifle belonging to Wyatt JosephVan Dyke! This is your rifle!!” Wyatt’s

eyes got as big as saucers and a hugesmile came to his face. To say he wasdelighted was a major understatement.

He was meticulously informed that theGolden Boy was his rifle, to be available,upon request, for his familiarity train-ing, but only under the supervision ofhis “Daddy,” his “Granny” or his“Granddad.” At all other times the riflewas to be locked up in the vault until hereached a proper level of expertise andresponsibility for unsupervised firearmuse. Wyatt understood…he alreadyknows how to check the receiver tomake sure the firearm is not loaded; heknows the name and function of everyexternal part of the firearm and he hasalready mastered the procedure ofsafely cocking and de-cocking the firingmechanism.

Wyatt’s parents are Ben and Jenn VanDyke, Smithton. Ben (B.S., University ofMissouri-Columbia-2005) is the leadguitarist and sound technician for “TheLeroy Van Dyke Show,” but when he isnot on the road playing gigs across NorthAmerica with his father, he is a gunsmithunder the banner of Ron Power, PowerCustom, of Morgan County, Missouri.Ben builds long-range precision rifles,customizes all manner of firearms andworks with Power Custom in productdevelopment and fulfillment.

Wyatt Van Dyke’s introduction tofirearm-related sports is not a newrevelation for the family. Leroylearned to shoot at age five withhis father’s Stevens Favorite, andshooting and hunting has alwaysbeen a part of his life.

Ben also learned to shoot at agefive with that same old StevensFavorite, and has taken shooting,hunting and firearms expertise tonew heights in the family.

Jenn, since becoming a VanDyke, has her own firearms andhas been introduced to shootingsports, participates in the annualVan Dyke deer hunt, and helpscontrol unwanted varmints.

Gladys comes from a family ofconsummate hunters in MorganCounty, Missouri, has her ownfirearms, and hunts on the VanDyke ranch.■


A Golden Boy For WyattBy Leroy Van Dyke

Wyatt Joseph Van Dyke,4-1/2 years old, of Smithton,Missouri, holding his firstfirearm, a hex-barrel HenryRepeatig Golden Boy .22caliber rifle

B eing an MDC (MissouriDepartment of Conservation)employee, I not only got to work

at the conference, but I also was able toattend and bring Jada Griffin, an 11 yearold recent graduate of Missouri’s HEDprogram. Jada’s background did notprovide hunting experiences or shootingopportunities. During the field day atMDC’s Lake City Shooting Range, shemade the decision on her own that she’dlike to shoot a shotgun.

Mr. Ed Augustine provided excellentinstruction for the eager student at theshotgun station. Ed placed her in the“footprints” for correct stance, got herto signal a touchdown and then properlyplaced the 20 gauge youth model shot-

gun for the correct gun mount and grip.Jada proceeded to break the incomingclay target the very first time she pulledthe trigger. The look on her face waspriceless. The second shot met with thesame success; and after rubbing herright shoulder, she announced, “I wantto shoot one more time”. Once again, abroken bird fell to the ground. Jada wasbeaming as she handed the shotgun toEd. For an instructor, it doesn’t get anybetter than this!

Hats off to Ed and the many thou-sands of instructors like him as similarscenarios are played out repeatedly on adaily basis. Your efforts are greatlyappreciated and are precisely what isneeded to recruit more hunters.

Thanks also to Mr. Wayne East,IHEA’s Executive Director. Heacknowledged Jada’s accomplishmentsduring the banquet by introducing Jada,allowing her to be recognized and reliveher success in front of everyone. Shewill cherish her immeasurable 2012shooting experience for a lifetime.Heartfelt thanks to Brian Thurston,Wayne East, Ed Augustine, PauletteLubke, Tony Legg, Maggie Loethen,Shelli Cannon, and to all that made thisa very special memorable event for notonly her, but for her Nana, DonnaGriffin, and myself.■

Range Day SuccessLarry R. Lindeman, Outreach & Education Division,Missouri Department of Conservation

I wanted to share my observations regarding the 2012 IHEAConference held in Kansas City, Missouri.

Jada withHE InstructorEd Augustine

&

Cut along dotten line.

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