September 5, 2004 in Outdoors

Jamboree-style hunter education class offered

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Washington is trying a new approach this month to satisfy the annual fall crush of interest in hunter education courses.

A special jamboree-style course designed to handle up to 200 students has been scheduled for Sept. 24-26 at Camp Cowles. The Boy Scouts of America facility is on the north shore of Diamond Lake, 10 miles west of Newport.

No overnight accommodations will be available at Camp Cowles. Students will have to be picked up and returned for the 2 1/2-day session.

“Every year it seems like I get about a thousand calls this time of year from people looking to get their kids into a hunter education course before the hunting seasons,” said Chuck Ray, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife hunter education program coordinator in Ephrata. “I thought this approach might help the situation a bit.”

Similar to most states, Washington law requires that anyone born after 1971 must pass a certified hunter education course before they are eligible to purchase a hunting license.

The courses traditionally have been taught in small courses by certified instructors scattered throughout the states cities and towns. Enrollment for the courses often is filled far in advance.

After checking out the jamboree-style courses offered in Arizona, Fish and Wildlife officials put on the first jamboree course in Western Washington in June.

“We had some problems with the registration, but everything else seemed to go well,” Ray said. “I wanted to have 30 instructors for the Spokane jamboree. I got 20, but I think that will be enough.”

Students will be organized into groups and rotated through sessions covering all the course requirements for hunter education, including wildlife identification and management, hunting rules, safe gun handling and live-fire shooting skills.

Each student will have to show he can handle at least a 20-gauge shotgun and a .243-cal. rifle, Ray said.

Students must pre-register this week for the jamboree starting Tuesday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Fish and Wildlife Department office, 8702 N. Division St.

Additional registration will be taken Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and next Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., at Sportsman’s Warehouse at the Spokane Valley Mall.

The course will start the evening of Sept. 24 and continue Sept. 25 with an 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. session and on Sept. 26 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Registrants under age 18 must have a parent’s or legal guardian’s signature. No late registrations will be allowed. Student manuals and reading assignments will be provided at registration.

The jamboree is free but donations to the Washington Hunter Education Instructors Association will be accepted to help defray costs, Ray said.

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