Fourth installment in the Beginner's Hunting Series.
If you were born after 1968 and you want to hunt in Arkansas, you must complete a hunter education course and carry a valid hunter education card to hunt.
For people born into and raised in a hunting tradition, "Hunter Ed" is a rite, a requirement to establish your place in the community. It's a time investment and can be a bit of an inconvenience, but the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission has required hunter education since 1985, so it is ingrained in our hunting culture.
If you are a new hunter, look at it as a refined extension of the things you've already been doing to protect yourself and others during the coronavirus pandemic. Hunting is the ultimate social distancing recreational activity, and hunter education is like a virtual mask. We've been practicing our own version of coronavirus protocols for decades, and we've gotten really good at minimizing hunting accidents.
Joe Huggins, hunter education coordinator for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, said covid-19 limitations have actually made it easier to become hunter education certified. Traditional hunter education classes are no longer practical, Huggins said, so the AGFC has eased requirements for taking the course online.
"In-person classes are pretty limited, so we've lowered the age from 16 to 10 on who can take course in its entirety online," Huggins said. "We contacted several states that offer it to 10- and 12-year-olds. Some of them have been offering it for five or six years, and we wanted to check with them as far as numbers of hunting incidents for youths of that age. They said they're not seeing increases of incidents in youths of that age."
The online course has 10 chapters. You must score at least 80% on each chapter to advance to the next chapter. You must also score at least 80% on a final exam. The course is written at a sixth-grade reading level, which is usually about 12 years old, Huggins said. If a child is not able to comprehend the text, Arkansas regulations allow youngsters to hunt without hunter education certification if they are under the direct supervision of another hunter who is at least 21 years old.
Adults who are interested in hunting but aren't sure if they want to commit to getting hunter education certified can buy a Deferred Hunter Education Hunting License. It's a one-time buy that allows those 16 and older to hunt under the direct supervision of a hunter education certified hunter that's ages 21 and older.
Hunting accidents and injuries related to hunting are much lower than injuries related to other sports. Roughly half of them result from hunters falling out of tree stands, Huggins said, and most of them are adults.
With dove season starting on Sept. 5, Huggins said hunters should be careful about preventing mishaps in dove fields. These often happen when hunters shoot at low-flying birds or fail to respect individual shooting zones. That is why every dove hunter should wear protective eyewear.
"A bird might have flown across, and somebody didn't realize that somebody else walked across their zone of fire," Huggins said. "They fired at a bird, and their pellets struck their hunting companions. We've had at least one of those the last couple of years."
Both situations occurred when hunters walked into hot fields to retrieve wounded doves, Huggins said. The birds got aloft and the hunters fired without accounting for other hunters in their lines of fire. In a well-organized dove field, hunters only enter a field when an appointed supervisor calls for a ceasefire to allow hunters to collect dead and wounded doves.
"It happens with duck hunting, too, and sometimes with rabbit hunting," Huggins said. "Try not to get too excited, and don't forget safety."
Deer hunting accidents tend to be more freakish. Sometimes hunters put their faces too close to their scopes and suffer significant injuries. Sometimes wounded deer attack hunters who get too close.
"That's happened twice within the past four years," Huggins said. "Somebody shot a deer and when approached it, the survival instinct kicked in. The deer jumped up and attacked the hunter. During the 2016 season, we had one where an individual tried to locate a deer in a thick area. When he got to it, the deer charged him and gored him with its antlers."
Hunting dogs also have shot their owners on occasion.
"That has happened in our state," Huggins said. "People have put down loaded firearms and their dog came along and stepped on it and discharged the firearm and actually shot somebody. That's really something you've got to be aware of."
Falling from treestands is the prevalent cause of injury among deer hunters. It usually happens when hunters enter neglected stands. It will most likely happen over the next month when hunters check on stands they haven't visited since winter. Straps that hold platforms to trees rot, or squirrels eat through them. Sometimes vandals loosen ratchets or cut straps. You can avoid these accidents by inspecting straps and braces before putting your weight on a platform.
"A lot of those accidents occur this time of year," Huggins said. "Do your maintenance with somebody else so in case an accident does occur, you can have somebody there that can lend assistance. If nothing else, they can go get some help if you are injured."
Huggins said hunters should tell family and friends where they are going and when to expect them back.
Like golf, hunter safety is on the honor system. It is an individual's responsibility to take care of himself and his neighbor.
"In football, basketball and baseball, you've got a bunch of referees making sure everyone's following the rules," Huggins said. "You don't have that in hunting."
Only Arkansas residents are allowed to take the Arkansas hunter education course online. Each state has different requirements, but Arkansas honors hunter education cards from other states. The online course costs $19.95. For more information or to sign up for a course, visit www.agfc.com. Click the Hunting menu. Hunter education is the last item in the menu.