AUSTIN – Proposed changes to the state’s hunter education
certification program would streamline the process for the tens of
thousands of Texans who take the course annually, according to Texas
Parks and Wildlife Department officials.
Anyone born after Sept. 1, 1971, must successfully complete a Hunter Education Training Course to hunt in Texas.
Under current rules, hunters can take the traditional two-day course
that must be spread over a minimum of 10 hours, or they can opt to take
the self-paced knowledge-based portion online home study. Students must
then complete a four-hour field training class for certification.
TPWD is proposing a suite of options that could reduce the time
commitment for completion of the course by half. By streamlining the
curriculum, officials suggest the classroom portion of the process could
be reduced to five hours. The field training class length would remain
unchanged. Nothing in the proposed changes prohibits students from
taking advanced workshops on hunter education topics of special interest
or more extensive curriculum offered in high school and college
courses. This doesn’t prohibit any one from receiving an extended hunter education course in a school, camp, or club setting.
For students 16 years of age and older, TPWD is proposing the option
of an online instruction only certification that would eliminate the
required field training component. Active duty military and certain
veterans are already exempted by law from the field training component
of the course.
“Our hunter education courses serve a wide variety of students,” said
Nancy Herron, TPWD Outreach and Education Director. “One may be a
nine-year-old with a parent in tow, another a teenager taking a class in
school, and then an experienced 60-year-old preparing for big game
hunting in another state. Providing additional course options will make
getting hunter certification more convenient and better fit our
students’ needs.”
To pass the current course options, students must take a 50-question
written exam and get 70 percent correct if they take the traditional
two-day course or 80 percent if they take the course online. TPWD is
proposing to standardize the passing grade for all options to a minimum
score of 75.
The certification is valid for life and is honored in all other states.
Public comment on the proposed changes can be made online at http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/business/feedback/public_comment/ or to Nancy Herron, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 4200 Smith School Road, Austin, Texas, 78744; (512) 389-4362 (e-mail: nancy.herron@tpwd.state.tx.us).
If adopted by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission at its August 22
public meeting, students could begin taking advantage of the new process
this fall.
