Spring 2020 issue Backcountry Journal

Photos courtesy of Fisher Neal
to remove most of the barriers, few have the time and foresight to
take a hunter education course months in advance of the season.
Most people spend their spring and summer busy with their lives
and only think of trying out hunting in the fall and winter when
they know the season is happening. Inspiration comes, then they
hit a wall and forget about it.
By allowing new hunters the opportunity to try out hunting
under a mentor before taking hunter education, we are taking a
critical step in the direction of preserving our heritage and our
model of participation-based conservation. According to Families
Afield, more than a million people have bought apprentice licenses,
and a majority end up taking hunter education and buying
again. If we want this momentum to grow, states need to remove
as many barriers to entry as possible.
College students in every state should be able to buy licenses at
resident prices. Arbitrary rules like Sunday hunting bans should
be phased out. Hunting licenses should be able to be purchased
online and printed at home. Most importantly, every state should
have a version of the apprentice license. What better way for
someone to learn about hunting than one on one from an experienced
mentor? If states can learn from this success and do more
to ease barriers to entry, the futures of our great tradition and our
wildlife are bright.
They also encounter a great scarcity of hunter education courses.
In all of New York City, there is only one class offered on a
regular basis, and it’s way out in the Bronx and always full! There
are thousands and thousands of people in the city who would love
the chance to try hunting, but the barriers to entry are so high
that they never give it a try. Even for people who have the money
BHA member Fisher Neal is a professional actor trained at the
famed Yale School of Drama and the owner of Learn to Hunt NYC,
which offers lessons and fully outfitted hunting trips for deer, turkey
and small game on public land in northern New Jersey.
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