August-September 2024 • Nebraskaland 39
safety, and includes shoot/don't shoot scenarios.
"Here in Nebraska, we felt kids still needed to get in front
of an instructor and handle fi rearms," Rawlinson said. "That
was a very radical way of looking at Hunter Education."
Some states have gone entirely to online classes. Studies
have shown that even with fewer hours in the classroom,
the goal of the program — producing safe hunters — is being
met. The IHEA has a set of minimum standards each state
meets, but the states develop their own courses and methods
of delivery. Since the 1970s, states have informally agreed
to honor certifi cates issued in other states. This reciprocity,
important to those wanting to travel, is now being formalized.
A Vital Component
The key to the success of the Hunter Education program
has been the volunteers who teach the classes, giving up their
free time during evenings or weekends to do so. Throughout
its history, there have been thousands of instructors, coming
from all walks of life. Twenty-nine of them have been at it for
40 or more years.
"They're dedicated and passionate and give back to the
system, and we couldn't do it without them," Rawlinson said.
"They're the most important part of the whole deal because
they give thousands of hours every year of their time and
talent."
The involvement of the instructors stretches well beyond
the classroom. "The cool thing was when we started Hunter
Education, you all of a sudden started getting these volunteer
instructors that had incredible hunting and outdoorsman-
type skills," Rawlinson said. "They became part of the
hunter ed family and are an integral part of all of our outreach
programs." The volunteers have always been among the fi rst
to step up and help out at shooting ranges at the Nebraska
Justin Herbig and his mentor, Tony Morrow, both of Elba, scan the countryside in Boyd County for turkeys during a mentored
hunt for recent Hunter Education graduates sponsored by the Central Nebraska Chapter of the National Wild Turkey
Federation in 2001. ERIC FOWLER, NEBRASKALAND
Visitors stop at the Hunter Safety booth at the Nebraska
State Fair in Lincoln in 1978. DICK TURPIN, NGPC PHOTO LIBRARY
