A large group of students completed the Minnesota DNR youth firearms and hunter education safety class in April and May, completing three hours of field exercises on May 5. The 27 students, with their volunteer instructors, are pictured here after the field test.
In Minnesota, anyone born after Dec. 31, 1979, must have a Firearms Safety Certificate in order to buy a license to take wild animals with a firearm. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Division of Enforcement, offers courses and testing to certify students.
An online course and a workbook-oriented independent study course are available to students aged 16 or older. A classroom course is designed for youth under age 16, but may be taken by older students and adults.
The Youth Firearms Safety and Hunter Education Course covers safe and responsible use of firearms and tree stands, hunting laws and regulations, and wildlife management. Also covered are fundamentals of shooting, hunting ethics, landowner relations, survival, and wildlife identification. Students must be at least 11 years old to participate. The course is conducted by certified volunteer instructors statewide, with assistance from DNR conservation officers.
The course is offered each spring in Grand Marais, and includes six two-hour classroom sessions after school. Cook County Community Education advertises the course and collects registration forms and administration fees from students. The Cook County Community Center provides free classroom space. The DNR provides registration and test materials, student workbooks, instructional handouts and videos, ammunition, targets, and eye and ear protection.
Rob Staples generously makes his property available for the Saturday morning field exercises that are the course’s final event. Firearms and range accessories have been paid for by donations from local residents and The Sons of The American Legion.
The 2012 course began on April 11. Following a written test on May 2, students participated in three hours of field exercises on Saturday morning, May 5. Gray skies and cool damp breezes prevailed, but failed to dampen the enthusiasm of students and instructors. Students fired a rifle at targets, practiced handling rifles and shotguns safely in simulated hunting situations, learned how to safely use a tree stand, and reviewed hunting ethics and regulations. All shot well, including many students who fired a rifle for the first time.
Volunteer instructors were Paul Eiler, Dave Ingebrigtsen, Rick Johnson, Doug Klein, Eric Nelms, Dick Parker, and Bob Sopoci.
Conservation Officers were Darin Fagerman, Mary Manning, and Thomas Wahlstrom. Jon Baumann, an intern with Officer Fagerman, was one of two gun-handling instructors.
Students participating in this year’s course were Leif Anderson,
Logan Backstrom, Wyatt
Baker, Jacob Bilben, David
Blackburn, Karl Bottorff,
Klaus Bottorff, Michael
Burton, Chance Finke,
Connor Franks, Linnea
Gesch, Emily Jacobsen,
Andrew Kern, Daphne Lacina,
Erik Lawler, Harleigh Lindquist, Ezra Lunde, Madysen McKeever, Harvey Parker, Caleb Phillips, Mikala Schliep, Riley Somnis, Brent Sorenson, Isak Terrill, Sarah Toftey, Jade Wilson, and Noah Works.
Each received a compass from The Sons of The American Legion and a blaze-orange vest from Superior Lumber and Sports.
Another firearms safety course was held in Grand Portage earlier this year. Taking part in that class were Chad Spry, Jacob Carr, Arne Hoyem, Beckley Rumph, Dava Hoyem, Patricia Reilly, Kim Crawford, and Sheldon Faulconer.
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