Since when do they...

[Woodjr55]

Shoot at hunter safety courses? I'm taking my cousin to his now and they get to shoot at the next class when did that start

[Zag]

pretty sure we shot skeet at my course 20+ yrs ago

[stubby68]

we had to shoot at mine 34 years but they were not allowed to at my sons 10 years ago must have started again

[Woodjr55]

I took mine around 10 years ago and did not shoot that's why I was surprised

[PREDATE]

19 yrs ago we had to bring our own shotguns.

I helped out with a course last year that my buddy was attending and they supplied the guns.

[ny hunter]

I went to the class with my son 6 years ago.there was no shooting...I did not shoot when I took my almost 35 years back..

[Doc]

Lol ..... About 56 years ago when I took my gun hunter safety course, we did have to shoot. And here's something you never hear of anymore .... The course was conducted in the back of the school bus garage. Funny how attitudes toward guns in the schools have changed over the years.

 

So maybe that is not a mandated part of the course anymore. In fact who knows, maybe it wasn't mandated back then either but was optional. I don't know.

[nyantler]

40 years ago I went to a class on a week night in a small room upstairs over a restaurant... the class lasted about 2 1/2 hours... passed a written test.. and that was it. There wasn't even a gun of any kind present.

[Lawdwaz]

You guys have pretty darn good memories.

 

 

I have zero recall of the where/when of my hunter safety course.  I'd guess it was sometime in 1975 for me as I would have turned 14 in August of that year.

 

 

[wooly]

I remember when I took mine maybe 25yrs ago it was just a written test.

The instructors were giving out the answers, not guns!

If you didn't understand the question, you'd raise your hand and he would come over and help you rule out "A,C, and D".

[First-light]

30+ years ago we (8 guys) sat on a porch at the older gentleman's house. He just told us hunting stories for about 2 hrs. As far as I know all 8 are alive:)

Edited April 15, 2014 by First-light

[moog5050]

We shot a .22 at my course, but the course was held at a range.

[stubby68]

      The High school science teacher at our school was an instructor. I took my course in his class room after school 2 days during the week. After the class on the last day we took test and went out back of school to shoot guns that we brought with us. Some people would have a mental brake down over something like that today. 

[WNYBuckHunter]

We shot skeet at mine, that was around 25 years ago

[blackradio]

Took mine in 2010.

 

Everyone had to shoot a .22. 

 

3 rounds into target and if you his anywhere close, you were good.

 

Had to shoot 3 arrows for archery course too.

[ants]

I took mine in 1979. No shooting. Its just as well. The #1 instructor was a big, old, grizzled ,mean loud ex DEC officer. I don't think a single one of us would have survived a day on the firing line with that guy….

[PWGUNNY]

I took my course when I was 16, that was 34 years ago.  I remember my Mom picking me up at the Sportsman's club.  When I got in the car, she asked if I had been smoking.  Not me, but the room was filled with smokers, puffing away.  No guns at the course.

 

I have zero recollection of taking my Bowhunting Safety course.  I have the certificate somewhere, but I don't remember the class or location at all.

[NFA-ADK]

1988 at Campsite I was 18 and was now old enough to go hunting.  No shooting to pass the class.  (I had no mentor so I had to wait until I could buy a gun, afford vacation and the cost that go with it.) 

[Doc]

Geeze, wouldn't you think that somebody might want to watch the student handle the gun just to see if they have a clue about gun use and safety? Marksmanship is something that they can work on once they have a gun of their own to shoot, but just to check for such things as where they point the thing, and other things that might indicate a problem like looking down the muzzle ... lol.

 

Some of this might sound intuitive or just plain old horse-sense that supposedly everyone was born with. BUT .... I have had hunters walk up to me with the gun cradled in their elbow while the muzzle was pointed straight at my mid-section. I saw another one yakking away leaning on the butt with the muzzle resting on top his foot. Not everyone has that thing called common sense, and it would be interesting to put a gun (even if it is empty) in the hands of a student just to observe what he does with it and see that he handles it respectfully and responsibly.

[G-Man]

Doc you ever see this test??? the kids find a gun in toy box test 2 sets of kids... kids who's parents had guns immediately got an adult and told them there was a real gun in the toy box.. kids with no guns allowed parents picked it up and shot it at each other( was non firing but real hand gun)

[Mustang51js]

I know it's nj but we had to shoot 3 out of 5 clay birds, that was 23 years ago and they still shoot today,I went with my friend to get his. I also had to load and shoot a muzzloader when I took that test. Bow had to hit the vitals 3 times

[catskillkid]

I took my test about 40 years ago in the basement of a bar with dirt floors. The instructors gave us all the answers to the test then had us shoot a couple of rounds in the back yard as all the shloshed drinkers watched from the inside of the tavern above.

 

I remember it like it was yesterday

[PREDATE]

I have had hunters walk up to me with the gun cradled in their elbow while the muzzle was pointed straight at my mid-section. 

 I had the same exact scenario happen to me. It was an oriental guy who didn't speak a lick of English. I gave him the WTF gesture and kept on walking

[coonhunter]

We shot a lot 32 years ago when I took mine. .22's, single shot, pump, side by sides, and semi shotguns of several guages. It was one Saturday afternoon, and there were a lot of kids taking it.

 

This was in the country, and almost all of us were already familiar and proficient with firearms. The best thing in the course was when one of the instructors didn't feel the safety aspect was getting through to us young bucks. He stood us all in a line, took a head of cabbage, and boinked it on our foreheads. He hollered, "Did that hurt?" And it did because he thumped us pretty solid. He took that head of cabbage and put it on a fence post. He stepped back 10 yards and blew it up with a 12 guage. Talk about making an impression.

[noahmstone]

I took my hunter safety course 17 years ago. It was an entire weekend. All day Saturday and the first half of the Sunday was all test preparation and taking the written test. Sunday afternoon we all went a 1/4 mile down the road to the shooting range and went through at least 3-4 bricks of .22 shells between all of us (10-15 people) then we all had the opportunity to try out an antique double barrel 12 gauge if we were brave enough.