Hunters education ...needs more instructors !

[BOWHUNTER45]

A friend of mine just stopped by and told me he needs to take his son to eastern washington to finish his field test ..WTH !
That is way off the chart ...they claim that all the classes in our area are booked solid and if he wants to finish his class he needs to go to Ephrata this weekend ...How can they exspect a person to spend $ 200 in fuel cost just so your son can complete the course ...if there is that many youth waiting to take hunters ed then they should get more instructors to carry the load ....I would be peeeeeeesed ! what if he failed the course 

[bigtex]

Why don't you be a solution to the problem and become an instructor 

[Bob33]

Registration for our May class opened yesterday, April 1. It was full by 2:30 in the morning.

[Skyvalhunter]

The shortage of instructors is why they are encouraging Master Hunters to step up.

[jrebel]

Why don't you be a solution to the problem and become an instructor 

Let me give you one reason.....to become an instructor is a pain in the butt!!  I completed the mentor program a couple years ago and just needed to be evaluated.  I was told the only place to be evaluated was north of Spokane and I had to be there for the entire class.  I don't understand that logic....drive 3 hours and stay for 2-3 days to be evaluated on 1-2 hours of instruction.  Complete BS if ask me.  I have been teaching for the last 15 years and have been hunting for the last 25-30 years.   There are multiple classes in my area with senior instructors, why do I need to travel so a certain person can evaluate me.  Needless to say I wasted a ton of time and never came away with my instructors liscense.   

[stevemiller]

And it is volunteer also,so who exactly is who gonna get to do it? lol

[h2ofowlr]

Why don't you be a solution to the problem and become an instructor 

Let me give you one reason.....to become an instructor is a pain in the butt!!  I completed the mentor program a couple years ago and just needed to be evaluated.  I was told the only place to be evaluated was north of Spokane and I had to be there for the entire class.  I don't understand that logic....drive 3 hours and stay for 2-3 days to be evaluated on 1-2 hours of instruction.  Complete BS if ask me.  I have been teaching for the last 15 years and have been hunting for the last 25-30 years.   There are multiple classes in my area with senior instructors, why do I need to travel so a certain person can evaluate me.  Needless to say I wasted a ton of time and never came away with my instructors liscense.   

I helped out in these classes for about 18 years and you have to spend a lot of your personal time to be trained.  This is all out of pocket like mentioned.  Being an instructor is a thankless job.  As you have seen, some guys bash instructors for not letting them in due to being late or missing a class ect.  Then you have to deal with all the new rule changes, legal follow through etc.  I am surprised anyone wants to do it anymore.

[ghosthunter]

There are several issues.
Every time the state puts more requirements on instructors they loose instructors.

There are a lot of instructors who never put on a class. They just help with a class.
In my county there are 25 instructors, I know of only five that set up classes. I am one.

The other problem is that many instructors see the Internet class as watered down or a poor excuse for training new hunters so they do not support the online sessions as field evaluators . I do not do on line class evaluations.

Every time the state puts more regulation on volunteer instructors a little bit of the fire is dampened.

The instructor base is aging and younger instructors just are not willing to take on the Responsibilities  and jump through the hoops.

April 2012 new polices slayed many instructors.

The public wants a class on their terms, their time,their dates. I often get people calling for a class and want me to call them back when I have a class. I like most instructors do not have the time to call back 50 -75 people for a class that has 25 seats.

I tell folks they really need to take the bull by the horns and do what they need to do to get in a class. Now days kids have so much going on that often a choice has to be made, sports or Hunter Ed.

Anyone who thinks these comments are unfounded should step up and get certified. If you are unwilling for whatever reason , than sit down.

[elk247]

Ive suggested to a few of my friends to try to find a class near them. It just seems difficult as many classes are 5-6 evenings spread out over two weeks. Online seems better suited for people with familys. In the day, you just found a quick friday evening/saturday course and were done. Ghosthunter, do you know any instructors near you that will do the evaluation?

[ghosthunter]

Pm sent

[NoImpactNoIdea]

The shortage of instructors is why they are encouraging Master Hunters to step up.

I hope they do since there won't be any new master hunters any time soon.

[KFhunter]

The shortage of instructors is why they are encouraging Master Hunters to step up.

I hope they do since there won't be any new master hunters any time soon.

ya, I looked into MH and dang what a pile of suck that program is.

[elk247]

Pm sent

Thanks Ghosthunter!

[h2ofowlr]

My father does the field course in SW Washington along with the standard course which I believe he holds 2 a year then the womens self defense class.  He also hold training courses for the Boy Scouts and tries to teach gun saftey to those guys.

[NoImpactNoIdea]

The shortage of instructors is why they are encouraging Master Hunters to step up.

I hope they do since there won't be any new master hunters any time soon.

ya, I looked into MH and dang what a pile of suck that program is.

The program is actually closed to new applicants.  I agree with you that it seems like a lot of work...for a patch basically.