ALABAMA HUNTER EDUCATION
INSTRUCTORS
NEWSLETTER
August 2013
Chuck Sykes, Director
Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division
Gary H. Moody, Chief
Wildlife Section
Marisa Lee Futral
Hunter Education Coordinator
ALABAMA HUNTER EDUCATION
ASSOCIATION ANNUAL BANQUET
The annual Hunter Education Association
Banquet was held on Saturday June 8th at
the Bass Pro Shop in Prattville. Attendees
enjoyed a great family lunch at Islamorada
Restaurant, a board meeting with updates on
new hunter education policies, plans for the
coming year and awards for those in
attendance. The meeting was followed by
some free time to shop and to explore the
Riverwalk area in Montgomery.
That evening at the Biscuits baseball game,
our own AHEA member Gary Moss was
invited to throw out the first pitch! The
evening concluded with a fantastic fireworks
display following an impressive win by the
home team.
This year’s banquet was free to all
attendees
thanks
to
sponsors
who
appreciate the hard work you do for the
youth of this state. Thanks to The Alabama
Conservation
Enforcement
Officers
Association and the Alabama Conservation
Natural Resources Foundation for making
this possible! Stay tuned for details about
next year’s event which is slated to be held
at Point Mallard Park in Decatur.
“Give the world the best you have and
the best will come back to you.”
……Madeline Bridges
1
ALABAMA UPDATE
There are some major changes for the
2013-2014 hunting season that you should
be aware of and share with students in your
hunter education classes. The main changes
are:
* A mandatory reporting system for Deer
and Turkey. The system is called Game
Check. Hunters are still required to keep a
harvest record in their possession when
hunting. Need to record BOTH antlered and
unantlered deer, as well as turkeys. Must
enter into the DCNR database within 24
hours of harvest.
The public will have
access to the harvest totals as well so they
can see what is harvested each season. The
Game Check system promises to provide
critical information to help better manage
our resources for future generations.
*Changes in dove planting guidelines. The
Alabama Cooperative Extension System has
amended some of their recommendations for
fall wheat planning. These recommendations
may prove beneficial to some dove hunters
who wish to hunt over agricultural fields.
The new recommendations replace the
previous recognized planting zones and
dates.
They
can
be
found
at
www.outdooralabama.com/hunting/game
*A February deer season in portions of
southwest Alabama.
*Restricted doe harvest in portions on north
Alabama.
*Fall turkey season dates changed in the six
counties that have a fall season.
* Allowances for legally blind hunters
* Air rifles allowed for deer hunting, .30
caliber or larger.
For more detailed information on these and
other regulations see the 2013-2014
Hunting and Fishing Digest.
ONLINE HUNTER
EDUCATION
The online hunter education course option is
set to go live by September 1st. Those that
take the online class before September 1st
will still need to attend a field day. If the
field day is not taken before September 1st,
the student will need to retake the online
portion. They will be allowed to log back into
their previous class to finish without being
charged an additional fee. The CD version
will no longer be available. However the Be
A Safe Hunter course will now be offerd for
a small fee of $9.95. This course will be
upgraded and time managed by the
September 1st date.
INSTRUCTIONAL
RESOURCES
I recently came across a very good on-line
basic instructor course that is free for
anyone who would like to improve their
presentation skills. It is located at the
following link : "Basic Instructional Skills" .
Upon completion and successfully taking the
on-line exam you will be able to print out a
certificate.
It is part of FEMA's
Emergency Management Institute on-line
training and has some references to
emergency management but not a lot. The
course takes about an hour and a half to
complete. This is not a requirement and I do
not need copies of your certificate. If you
do decide to take the course I would be
interested in know if you found it useful.
2
IHEA-USA JOURNAL
education class. The survey revealed that a
significant percentage of hunter education
students do not buy a license after
graduating.
Twelve state wildlife agencies supplied data
for the survey, which profiled the
subsequent hunting license buying habits of
hunter education graduates from 20062011.

the Hunter &
Shooting Sports Education Journal has now
been posted to the Hunter's Handbook
website for access by Alabama hunter
education instructors. The login information
is below:
The
Spring
edition
of
Huntershandbook.com/al
Name: instructor
Password: alabama
NSSF STUDY SHOWS
LOWER-THANEXPECTED RATES OF
HUNTING AMONG
RECENT HUNTER ED
GRADUATES
Filled classrooms at Hunter Safety courses
are a good thing, but perhaps more
important is the number of students that
actually participate in hunting after they
graduate. A recent survey, funded by the
National
Shooting
Sports
Foundation
(NSSF) and conducted by Southwick
Associates, focused on participation levels
of students in the years immediately
following their graduation from hunter





Just 67.7 % of graduates over the sixyear period purchased at least one
license.
While some graduates took hunter
education with no intention of hunting,
others needed assistance to make the
leap to become an avid hunter.
After six years, only 44 % of graduates
still bought licenses.
Graduates from highly urbanized areas
showed the greatest dropout rates
indicating
a
greater
need
for
intervention efforts.
People graduating in warmer months
represented the greatest percentage of
graduates who never purchased a
license.
In most states, graduates between the
ages of 16 to 24 were less likely to buy
a license six years after graduating,
which showed the transient nature of
young people. This held true for college
students and those in the military.
“This shows us that simply encouraging
people to obtain their hunter safety
certificate is not enough,” said Rob
Southwick,
president
of
Southwick
Associates, which designs and conducts
surveys. “The hunting community needs
ways to encourage new graduates to buy a
license and go hunting. Whether that means
more programs for state agencies to get
people out hunting, private industry
intervention, or simply more hunters taking
3
their neighbor’s kid into the woods, remains
to be seen. “
It is the belief of the NSSF that the
results from this study will help the hunting
community determine where intervention is
needed to maintain hunting participation
among newer hunters. The full results from
the survey can been seen in greater depth at
click here
CROSMAN
ANNOUNCES
DISCOUNT PROGRAM
Crosman Corporation, long known for
creating innovative, high quality products for
the shooting sports, announced a special
instructor discount program directed toward
70,000 International Hunter Education
Association (IHEA) Instructors at the
recent
2013
IHEA-USA
Conference.
According to Jennifer Lambert, Crosman
Vice President of Marketing, "Crosman and
the IHEA share a common goal of providing
a foundation to safely and responsibly
introduce future generations to the joys of
hunting. We're excited to provide the
volunteers who teach Hunter Education with
the means to achieve that goal," she said.
"For 90 years Crosman has supported the
efforts of beginning shooters," says IHEAUSA Executive Director, Steve Hall. "So it
makes sense they're continuing that
commitment by collaborating with hunting
education instructors to do the same."
"With the shortage of traditional firearm
ammunition, it's the perfect time for
Crosman to support the shooting sports and
hunter education with special pricing on
airguns and airgun ammunition. Crosman
airgun ammo is readily available and provides
an economical alternative for instructors,"
she said. "We offer a range of Crosman and
Benjamin airguns that provide options for
everyone from the beginning shooter to the
most experienced hunter."
Crosman's new discount program supports
the dedicated instructors who teach Hunter
Education in North America, "and take on
the vital responsibility of mentoring and
communicating safe and responsible hunting
to almost three-quarter of a million students
per
year,"
Lambert
said.
IHEA Instructors may take advantage of
the Crosman discount by visiting iheausa.org/instructor/special-offers-forinstructors, clicking on Crosman, and
entering
their
instructor
password.
(Password is “gohunt”).
For additional information on any Crosman,
Benjamin, CenterPoint product, Crosman
Archery, or Game Face Airsoft products,
visit the company's Web sites at
crosman.com,
centerpointhunting.com,
gamefaceairsoft.com, or write to Laura
Evans, Marketing Coordinator, Crosman
Corporation, 7629 Routes 5 & 20,
Bloomfield, NY 14469, email her at
[email protected], or call her at (800) 7 AIRGUN (724-7486).
ZEISS CONTINUES
HUNTER ED SUPPORT
Seattle, WA-Carl Zeiss Sports Optics has
renewed and increased their long-time
4
commitment to Hunter Education through
their dedicated sponsorship of Hunter's
Handbook and support of The IHEA Hunter
and Shooting Sports Education Journal.
In addition to this support, which helps to
fund and offer tools to Hunter Education,
Zeiss also offers instructors critical tips on
effective optics use giving them much
needed information to pass along to
students for a successful experience in the
field. Qualified instructors can also take
advantage
of
product
discounts
in
appreciation for all they contribute to the
future of hunting.
"Carl Zeiss Sports Optics is proud of our
long-standing partnership with Hunter
Education,"
said
Marketing
and
Communications Manager Joel Harris.
"Educating new hunters is what keeps this
sport alive and thriving, and we know we are
making a positive impact on the future of
hunting in America through this program."
Hunter's Handbook is the informational
primer that all Hunter Education students
receive upon attending their Hunter
Education course. It provides students with
a "how-to" guide that takes all Hunter
Education students beyond mandatory
general safety guidelines and offers them
additional information on everything from
firearms to targets and gear as well as an
added emphasis on safety in the field.
All support of the IHEA Hunter & Shooting
Sports Education Journal and Hunter's
Handbook help fund the International
Hunter Education Association and the future
of safe and responsible hunting. For more
information on this release, please contact
Leaha Wirth, Vice President of Sales at
[email protected] or (206) 2811977.
THOMPSON/CENTER
ARMS ISSUES
SAFETY RECALL
Thompson/Center Arms™ has identified a
condition that may cause the safety lever on
certain
ICON®,
VENTURE™
and
DIMENSION® rifles to bind, preventing
the safety from becoming fully engaged. In
this situation, closing the bolt may move the
safety to the fire position. The rifle will not
fire unless the trigger is pulled. However,
out of an abundance of caution, we are
taking this action to recall the rifles so that
the firearm can be inspected by our
technicians to ensure that the safety lever
functions as designed.
This recall applies to all ICON, VENTURE
and DIMENSION rifles manufactured by
Thompson/Center Arms prior to June 13,
2013.
STOP USING YOUR RIFLE AND RETURN
IT TO THOMPSON/CENTER AT ONCE.
Because the safety of our customers is our
utmost concern, we ask that you stop using
your rifle until we have an opportunity to
inspect the safety lever to ensure its proper
function.
To facilitate the inspection and repair, if
necessary, of your rifle safety lever, please
contact
Thompson/Center's
customer
service department to receive instructions
and a pre-paid shipping label for the return
of
your
rifle
to
Thompson/Center.
Thompson/Center will repair the rifle at no
cost to you, and return it to you as quickly
and efficiently as possible.
5
Additional information will be available
shortly on our website at www.tcarms.com.
In the meantime, if you have any questions
about
this
recall,
please
contact
Thompson/Center at (800) 713-0355.
EASTON, CPSC ISSUE
RECALL FOR AXIS
ARROWS
Recall date: JUNE 19, 2013 Recall number:
13-220. ConsumerContact: Easton Technical
Products; toll-free at (888) 380-6234 from
8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET Monday through Friday
or online at www.eastonarchery.com and click
on Axis Recall for more information or go to
www.axisrecall.com.
SHOOTING RANGE
UPDATE
Consumers should stop using Easton Axis
arrows unless otherwise instructed. The
arrows can break when fired and hit
unintended targets, including the user and
bystanders. It is illegal to resell or attempt
to resell a recalled consumer product.
This recall involves Easton Axis arrows in
four different sizes and batch numbers,
including size 300 with batch number
13169686, size 340 with batch number
13170143, size 400 with batch number
13170142 and size 500 with batch number
13169487. The carbon composite arrows are
used for hunting and target archery. They
are black with green and gray-colored
graphics. Axis, Focused Energy, Easton, the
size number and the batch number are
printed on the arrows.
Consumers should stop using the recalled
arrows immediately and contact Easton to
receive free replacement arrows.
Sold at Archery specialty stores and
Academy Sports, Bass Pro, Cabela's, Gander
Mountain and Scheels stores nationwide
from February 2013 through May 2013 for
about $154 per dozen.
The Conecuh National Forest shooting range
near the Dixie Community in Escambia
County is almost finished. Plans are to have
the grand opening this Fall once the grass
has had a chance to take hold. The range
has ten covered shooting benches on the 100
yard berm and ten on the 50 as well. There
is a 25 yard berm for pistol shooting and a
shotgun pad as well. This will be our 12th
shooting range developed by the Wildlife
and Freshwater Fisheries Division.
CALL US FOR HELP!
Forgot your username or need help with the
class completions form on your instructor
web page? We are here to help! Give us a
call and we will walk you through it. Easy as
that!
6
WFF Hunter Education Staff
Marisa Lee Futral – Hunter Education Coordinator
Phone: (334) 242-3620
[email protected]
Stuart Goldsby – Regional Hunter Education Coordinator
(North Alabama)
Phone: (256) 737-8732
[email protected]
Michael Bloxom – Regional Hunter Education Coordinator
(Central Alabama)
Phone: (334) 242-3620
[email protected]
James Altiere – Regional Hunter Education Coordinator
(South Alabama)
Phone: (334) 850-5908
[email protected]
Brett Abbott – Biologist Aide
(Montgomery Office)
Phone: 1-800-245-2740
[email protected]
“Hope works in these ways: it
looks for the good in people
instead of harping on the worst;
it discovers what can be done
instead of grumbling about what
cannot; it regards problems,
large or small, as opportunities;
it pushes ahead when it would be
easy to quit; it lights the candle
instead of cursing the darkness.”
……..Anonymous
Cynthia Gilliam – Administrative Support Assistant
(Montgomery Office)
Phone: 1-800-245-2740
[email protected]
“In a moment of decision the best thing you can do is the
right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing.”
…..Theodore Roosevelt
7