Hunter, bowhunter education instructors needed

JEROME - With the growing demand for hunter and bow hunter education in the Magic Valley, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game is looking for new volunteer instructors in Wood River Valley, Twin Falls, Wendell, Gooding, Burley, Filer, Carey, Bliss, Jerome, and Hanson. Part of the criteria for being a volunteer instructor includes: Enjoying hunting, desiring to perpetuate the sport of hunting by working with youth, passing a background check and department interview, attending an instructor workshop, and practice-teaching with a trained instructor. "It's a big job, but it can be very rewarding," said Clayton Nielson, Idaho Fish and Game Regional Hunter Education Coordinator. "We generally ask the instructors to teach two classes a year, but some teachers have been handling as many as four classes a year." "Our goal of recruiting new instructors is to help lighten the load of the current volunteers and provide the additional classes needed in the valley to satisfy the student demand," he said. The Department will be holding an instructor workshop March 18, at the Idaho Department of Fish and Game Regional Office. Anyone interested in becoming part of the Hunter Education program should call Nielson, at 324-4359.