Tougher criteria in new program

At least one of the two “master hunters” recently cited for hunting elk within a state park would not have been eligible for Washington’s Advanced Hunter Education program under new standards.

The background check that’s part of the new Master Hunter certification process would have disqualified him.

Steve Rogers, Washington Fish and Wildlife Department enforcement officer, ran a check of one of the two West Side hunters he cited for hunting at Gingko State Park and turned up two 2005 citations. One was for hunting without wearing hunter orange, an infraction that would have meant a five-year suspension from the program; the other was for having a loaded firearm in his vehicle, which would permanently bar him from the program.

“That’s the kind of stuff that Master Hunters do not do,” Rogers says. “That’s why we’ve reworked the system to weed out that element.”

Unlike the Basic Hunter Education program, AHE is voluntary and is not required for purchase of a hunting license. Since its inception in 1991, roughly 2,900 hunters have completed the AHE program and nearly 1,900 are currently active. The program typically receives approximately 1,000 applicants annually, with about 25 percent of enrollees successfully completing the course, officials said.

The AHE program was suspended in April while state officials upgraded the rules and requirements. Scrutiny of the program began in 2002 when two Spokane County men crossed ethical hunting boundaries but retained their Advanced Hunter Education privileges by fighting the legal citations in court.

In addition to the background check, the new Master Hunter program requires participants to:

• Register between Jan. 1 and March 31. (Enrollment is extended into April this year only.) Previously registration was year-round. The shorter enrollment periods seeks people who are a little more serious, said John Wisner, program coordinator, noting that “You’ve got to get on top of it and get it done.”

• Complete pre-approved wildlife-related work project of 20 hours within the first year for new enrollees or, for previously-certified hunters, 40 hours over the next five years.

• Demonstrate shooting proficiency standards at a shooting range, witnessed by a range master or Master Hunter.

• Complete crime observation and reporting training in the state’s “Eyes in the Woods” program.

• Complete a comprehensive independent study course, followed by passage of the Master Hunter exam with a score of at least 80 percent.

• Sign a code of conduct.

Dave Pittman, Yakima hunter education instructor, calls the newer, more stringent Master Hunter qualifications “something that has been needed.”

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife officials revised the program – and continue to entertain revisions – based on years of discussions with a focus group of Advanced Hunter Education participants, Wisner said.

“We’ve streamlined the course material and given more emphasis to ethics,” he said. “And the 13-member focus group is being transformed into a peer group to review ethical violations. If somebody in the program is caught shooting two boxes of shells at an elk 1,000 yards away, he’ll probably be suspended from the program until he comes before the peer review group to explain his actions.

The bottom line, Wisner said, is that getting dispensation for unethical hunting behavior may be harder to get from other hunters than it is from a judge.