Tennessee’s Hunter Education Program began in 1972, that’s 40 years ago! Since then, over 26,000 classes have been taught and over 630,000 students have been certified. Undoubtedly, many lives have been saved by what was taught during a hunter education course.
In order to provide a quality course of instruction to the citizens of Tennessee, we have recruited approximately 1,200 Volunteer Hunter Education instructors throughout the state of Tennessee. This highly dedicated corps of volunteer instructors teaches approximately 500 classes a year around the state. The program is dependent upon the volunteer instructor. We simply would not have the manpower to teach all the classes that we offer if not for the volunteer. The service they provide the state is invaluable.
There are two ways to become a Certified Hunter Education graduate in Tennessee. The first way is the time tested traditional classroom course. The traditional course is a slower paced, hands-on course. The traditional course typically spans four class periods and takes at least 11 hours to complete.
The other certification option is the CD/Online course. In 2003, in an effort to make classes more accessible to the public, we began offering a CD/Online version of the Hunter Education course. Students may take the majority of the classroom portion at home using either the internet course or the CD course. After completion of the online or CD portion, students must locate a field day. At the field day, students will be given a brief course review, participate in a live-fire and take a final test in order to complete their certification. Our Hunter Education Centers schedule and conduct at least one field day each month out of the year. We have four Hunter Education Centers and they are located in Knoxville, Nashville, Clarksville and Memphis.
In 2006, the Hunter Education deferral, known as the Apprentice Hunting License became available. This license was developed with the hopes of removing some of the limitations upon first time hunters and providing new hunters the opportunity to try the sport. The Apprentice Hunting License exempts the license holder from the requirements of hunter education for a period of one year. The hunter must still purchase all required hunting licenses and permits before hunting.
Tennessee now offers a live-fire exemption for law enforcement officers and military personnel. The law enforcement/military exemption allows law enforcement officers and military personnel the option to take the CD/Online course at home. Law enforcement and military personnel must send in a successfully completed final test from the CD/Online course along with documentation showing completion of firearms training.
Tennessee has set a high standard for our Hunter Education Program and because of that, Tennessee’s Hunter Education certification is recognized in all 50 states. A Tennessee Hunter Education graduate may hunt anywhere in the United States knowing that his/her certification is recognized and reciprocal with all other states.
Hunter Education works! Hunting incidents have declined dramatically from an average of 22.4 incidents a year in the 80s to an average of 11.7 a year in the 2000s. The graph below displays the number of hunting incidents per 100,000 licensed hunters. The number of incidents has decreased steadily since the inception of the Hunter Education Program in 1972.
The number one goal of Hunter Education is to save lives and we are continually striving to make hunting a safer outdoor activity. For more information on a Hunter Education class or information on how to become an instructor visit our website at www.tnwildlife.org.
