Nebraskaland

August-September 2024 • Nebraskaland 37 Joe Bober – 50 Years and 10,000 Safe Hunters "Dead is dead." "Just because it's legal doesn't mean it's right." "I almost killed one of my friends." The quotes roll off volunteer Hunter Education instructor Joe Bober's tongue like he has said them a time or two before. A good guess would say that's probably true since this is Bober's 50th consecutive year as a Hunter Education instructor and he has certified more than 10,000 students and 100 future instructors. Having taught that many students, another fair assumption would be that Joe simply likes to give back. But it's more than that. "I'm a very selfish person," he said. "I want them to be safe and knowledgeable. I do it for me. It makes me feel so good when I turn off the light at night because I know that the people I taught are going to be safe, responsible hunters." A not-so-safe situation is one of the main reasons Bober became an instructor in the first place. In his early 20s, during a pheasant hunting trip with his friends, it started pouring rain. Bober and his buddies quickly climbed into their vehicle, guns still loaded. Bober attempted to unload his shotgun, but his wet hand slipped and the gun went off when he closed its action. He blew a hole through the roof of the car, and powder burns covered his friends in the back seat. It scared Bober so much that he almost quit hunting, but it did trigger a desire to help educate others around him. Over the next few years, Bober began running AKC field trials. He met a number of people, many of them affiliated with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. Among them was Dick Turpin, the first coordinator of Nebraska's Hunter Safety program. "He was just starting to get the program off the ground and, in December of 1974, he certified me to teach," said Bober, who hasn't missed a year since. "After I taught my first class, I figured out I wasn't as smart as I thought I was," Bober said. He also admitted he learned something new from every class he has instructed. "It's not about hunting. It's about right and wrong," Bober said. "If you got a covey of quail and it's 3:30 in the afternoon on a really cold day, is it right to break them up when they might not be able to get back together before nightfall? It's not illegal. But is it right?" His classes are a mix of hands-on instruction and videos, a reminder of how some things have changed through the years. "When I started, we were using 16mm reel-to-reel film. I got really used to fixing it. Then we went to the VCR. Then the DVD. Now it's the iPad and laptop." Technology has changed the way classes are taught. "When someone didn't understand something in 1974, they asked Uncle Jake or Aunt Sally," Bober said. "In 2024, they type it in the iPad. That's a great thing. But there's also a drawback because people go to YouTube and learn the wrong way. But students do come in more prepared." Bober has also adapted to online Hunter Education classes, something he vehemently opposed initially. "I teach with passion," he said. "I explain why I teach. How you can never bring a person back." He tells a story about a young girl he knew who was accidentally shot in the spine with a pistol and spent the rest of her life unable to take care of herself. He asks his classes: What would it be like if they had done this to their brother, sister or best friend? How would they feel? "This is when I see the class turn," he said. "The light bulb comes on. This just isn't about hunter safety." Bober learned that, even with the online course, his passion would come out when he got those students in an in-person Hunt Safe session. "One of my prize moments," he said, "was when I had four University of Nebraska- Omaha students show up to class. But they had no desire to get their Hunter Education certificate. 'Our professor had his son take your class,' they said. 'How you teach with passion was why we were sent here.'" Because of his passion, Bober has no plans to stop teaching anytime soon, and the quotes keep coming with each lesson he provides. "The only person I've ever seen with eyes in the back of their head was my mother. And that is why you have to have proper shooting zones." "Hunting is the only sport you play with no referees. You have to know right from wrong." "Whether you're 11 or 73 years old, you are an adult when you have a gun in your hand. So you and your buddies need to act like adults." Every once in a while, even after thousands of hours in the field and in front of students, Bober runs across a question he can't answer. "No problem," he said. "If I can't answer it, I know someone who can." by Jeff Kurrus J , JEFF KURRUS, NEBRASKALAND

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