June & July Hunter Education Class Registration Begins May 17

LEWISTON - The Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) will conduct a registration for upcoming hunter education classes scheduled in the Lewiston area during June and July. The signup will start at 8:00 a.m. on May 17 at the IDFG office located at 1540 Warner Avenue in Lewiston. "Although we are trying to provide enough course to meet student demand, classes do fill quickly, and there is limited space available in each. I would strongly urge prospective student to sign up early," says Kent Henderson, hunter education coordinator. "We plan to offer additional courses throughout the summer, but these are not yet scheduled. Scheduling is limited by the availability of our volunteer instructors." Currently, there are two classes being offered. The first, scheduled for June 19, is an Online Course Completion Day. This class is available to students age 14 and over who have completed the International Hunter Education Association (IHEA) Introduction to Hunter Education course or one of the Idaho Hunter Education Independent Study courses. To complete the Independent Study option, students must complete a 40-page workbook to the satisfaction of an approved Hunter Education instructor to be eligible to attend the Field Day required for certification. Student manuals, workbooks and materials may be obtained from Henderson at IDFG. To receive credit for completing the online course option as a prerequisite to attending the Field Day, students must complete the IHEA Introduction to Hunter Education course available at www.IHEA.com, or Today's Hunter, a nine-chapter course and the online Pre-Certification Exam available through the Idaho Fish and Game Website at http://fishandgame.idaho.gov or at http://hunter-ed.com/id/. Upon successful completion of this exam, students will be able to print a certificate of course completion. This certificate is required for admittance to the field day. There is a $15.00 examination fee for the Pre-Certification Exam and certificate, which is paid directly online to the Internet Option provider. This will be the last class for which completion of the IHEA course will be accepted as a prerequisite to the course completion day. In the future, students must first complete the Today's Hunter course and present their certificate of course completion before they will be admitted to the Field Day. The next traditional classroom course open to students who will reach the age of 10 or older prior to the next general hunting season will be taught weeknights from 6-8 p.m., July 19-24. Students, or parent of students wishing to enroll in one of these classes my do so at the Fish and Game offices during normal working hours beginning May 17. A registration fee of $8.00 will be collected at the time of enrollment. Those for whom a visit to the office is inconvenient may register by phone and send their payment in by mail. Those for whom payment is not received by 10 days after registration will be removed from the list and their space offered to another student. For further information on Idaho's hunter education program, contact Kent Henderson at 799-5010.