It must be Spring since my home in Western Montana has snow mixed with sun interwoven with temperatures ranging from below-freezing to 50 in the late afternoons. While my two boys may be confused about how to dress properly for school, there is no mystery that Winter is on the way out, and that means it’s time to pick up the year’s hunting and fishing licenses!
Thank you for joining us again for this edition of the IHEA-USA Newsletter. Reflecting on Spring and all that the season embodies, we have messages of team growth, partnership growth, new products and services, and an invitation to join us this year for our Annual International Conference. Below you will find new monthly columns kicked off from both our new staff members - Jae Ellison as our Director of Education and Megan Fedrick as our Director of Partnerships and Development.
Our season of travel continues as we encourage partners to adopt our new LearnHunting.org educational platform and learn about partner successes from around the industry. Our team recently returned from the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference in St. Louis, MO, where we met with industry leaders, including Agency Directors, non-profit executives, R3 practitioners, and a variety of professionals in the conservation space. Each day we attended, it became clearer that education is foundational to the solutions and challenges of recruiting, retaining, and reactivating (R3) new hunters. We feel optimistic about this as our community of educators has never been stronger and more united. Communication and collaboration will remain key to our success in serving the hunter education community. Please take a little time to continue reading this edition of our newsletter, check out our current educator contest designed to share classroom ideas, and we hope you consider joining us either in-person or online during our Conference this June.
The 2023 IHEA-USA Conference Registration is Now Open!🎉
Join us live in Boise or virtually for free as an IHEA-USA Member!
We Welcome Conference Keynote Speaker: Buddy Huffaker, President & Executive Director, Aldo Leopold Foundation, Baraboo, Wisconsin
Enjoy a fun excursion prior to the conference white-water rafting, wine-tasting, or checking out birds of prey in beautiful Boise, Idaho for the 2023 IHEA-USA Annual Conference. The conference promises great networking, and a variety of workshops from Administering a Shooting Range Grant Program to sessions on Meeting Modern Student Expectations to a variety of Instructor Education Sessions. Learn the latest techniques and tactics for Hunter Education and see what the IHEA-USA is up to in support of R3 efforts in the hunting community!
New Course Launched on Learnhunting.org - Creating Inclusive Environments
The “Creating Inclusive Environments” course was created to help instructors effectively teach Hunter Education to diverse audiences. This course was created in partnership with the AFWA Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Working Group. Click below to login or create your account on LearnHunting.org to view the course.
Teaching Hunter Education requires major educational skills from the instructor. Courses include students from a wide range of age, social, and cultural demographics. This can make creating “buy-in” for each student tricky as we all have our own motivations for learning. That “buy-in” for a student is critical; it allows a student to engage, retain, and create a mental picture of how they will use the knowledge being conveyed. This is what makes an attentive student. A good way to think about this is that the role of the instructor is to help “illuminate the need” of the information for the student. If the student doesn’t understand how your teaching content will benefit them directly, then learning and retention are hindered. So, how do you “illuminate the need” for the content when everyone has their own perspective? Let’s look at a couple of strategies:
Engage the Learner: Ask questions that may help the student recognize their need to pay attention and learn your content. For example, if you asked, “Let’s say that you squeezed the trigger of your firearm, but it did not fire. What do you do now!?”; allow time for your students to wrestle with the question and allow a few to report their answers. This situation can be scary for new hunters; some may not have even known that was a possibility! By asking this question, you have enabled the student to view themselves in the situation, possibly illuminating a gap in knowledge. Now, you’ll have students eager to learn how to deal with firearm misfires.
Allow for Exploration: One of the greatest tools we carry in our back pocket as educators is experience. Our experiences allow us to give context to learning through telling stories, sharing the judgment we’ve developed over the years, and providing the basis for which we can educate new hunters. If experience is such a powerful educational tool, how can we use it to illuminate the need? Here’s an example: teaching students how to cross a fence with a partner while hunting. This is a regimented practice with specific steps to be performed correctly, but before you jump into listing the appropriate steps, allow your students to try it out first. Place a long piece of tape on the floor to act as a fence and allow the students to split into pairs, give them a simulated firearm (could just be a wooden stick) and ask them to cross the “fence” with their partner while keeping in mind that they need to perform the action as safely as possible. Allow them to practice and, once completed, ask each pair to explain the steps they implemented to ensure it was a safe crossing. Once you’ve heard from each group, highlight correct actions by students and ask, “Can I show you a few more steps that would make crossing a fence with your hunting partner even safer?”. With this, you’ll have an engaged class. Their experimentation allowed them to think critically about safety in the field, play a role in their education, and recognize the need to pay attention to ensure they get it right.
These are just a few strategies you can implement within your classes to ensure that students stay engaged by recognizing the importance of the information being taught. I encourage you to give them a try and create your own way of gaining the undivided attention of your students. Want to learn more about “illuminating the need” and other strategies for teaching hunter education? Click below to log in or create your account on LearnHunting.org and check out the “Teaching Strategies for Hunter Education” course.
Speaking of Teaching Tactics...HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT OUR SPRING CONTEST???
Do you have a teaching technique or tactic that is a slam dunk in your Hunter Education class? Have you found innovative ways to teach specific Hunter Education topics?
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To take advantage of these and other valuable offers to instructors, head over to the IHEA Instructor Discount Page today!
I am really excited to work towards strengthening existing and building new partnerships with IHEA-USA. The relationships we build with other organizations strengthen the work that we do and expand the possibilities of what we can offer to the states and territories. We are grateful for our partners that support the hunting and shooting sports and the safety mission of IHEA. Our mission is one of great importance. We do not take that responsibility lightly, and we believe that only with the support of partners will we find success. State administrators, Agency staff, and our incredible volunteer membership are the most crucial partnerships we have in order to move forward and protect our hunting heritage. Our relationships with the states keep our purpose viable and relevant.
My question to you - do you share our belief in partnership with the other states in your region? I encourage you to reach out to your neighboring state educators to compare plans and ideas. Are you holding a regional meeting each year so that you can network with those around you? Are you attending the IHEA-USA Annual Conference to see what strides are being made nationally? I want each state to have information on all available programs from our organization and others that can benefit their staff, volunteers, and constituents. I understand that good fences make good neighbors, but I urge you to open the gate to work together to promote hunting and shooting sports education.
I’m here to help, and I look forward to working with you to advance hunter education as a community. Check back each future newsletter edition for my recurring column on IHEA-USA strategic partner developments and how these will impact volunteers and professionals alike.
Megan Fedrick
Director of Partnerships and Development
mfedrick@ihea-usa.org
FROM THE DESK OF KEVIN LOCKWOOD
IHEA-USA Instructor Advisory Committee Chair
I received a paycheck this last weekend for volunteering !!!
Due to something that happened to me, and perhaps to my Editor’s chagrin, I decided to change topics while putting pen to paper for this newsletter. Over the last few years, the pandemic and rapid implementation of online courses has led many volunteer instructors to “hang it up” and no longer teach. Recruiting, Retaining, and Reactivating (R3) is not only essential in the hunting community but also in the volunteer Hunter Education instructor ranks. Many states have seen instructor numbers drop off for various reasons. Though I’m happy to discuss it, I will forego that larger discussion here.
For those volunteers that have seen online courses as a threat to them and traditional classes, I would beg to differ. Despite all the online options, this year is as busy for me as any previous year of Hunter Ed instruction, maybe even busier. People still want the opportunity to learn in a live class setting from talented instructors. There is great joy from seeing “repeat customers” bringing their younger kids to our classes a few years after older siblings have taken it with us. I’ve had parents reaffirm their appreciation that we still do live classes. Often while smiling broadly, they share fond memories of taking it as a kid and how they are glad their son or daughter can have the same experience.
A student this last weekend was leaving with their dad but went around to each instructor, stopped, and handed each of us an envelope. We said goodbye and then packed up two days of teaching gear. I was exhausted and happened upon the envelope in my pocket as I sat in my truck preparing for the drive home. As I read it, my energy magically returned, along with a big smile. I kept thinking on my way home, “…this is why I do what I do.”
When talking to somebody about becoming an instructor, share your stories of why you teach. I often tell them that the pay isn’t so great, but the rewards are worth it. Pass it on!
The Association Applauds the New Partnership of the Native American Fish & Wildlife Society and IHEA-World
Washington D.C. (March 28, 2023)-The Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies is excited to see the Native American Fish & Wildlife Society (NAFWS) partner with the International Hunter Education Association (IHEA), allowing Native American tribes to become certified to teach Hunter Education. This announcement was made last week during the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference in St. Louis, MO.
“The Association is thrilled to see the inclusion of NAFWS in partnership with the Hunter Education community,” said Curt Melcher, Director of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and President of the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies. “This new partnership will provide the opportunity for Native Americans to provide hunter education training to their members and lawfully participate in hunts all over the world.”
This partnership allows for NAFWS associated tribes to teach Hunter Education and issue valuable official Hunter Education cards certifying new hunters to buy licenses anywhere in the United States, Mexico, Canada, Australia, South Africa, and other IHEA-WORLD partner countries. Continuing education training for Hunter Educators in the tribes is already available through the IHEA-USA’s Learnhunting.org portal, and Hunter Education classes are expected to launch in tribal territories in the summer of 2023.
“Kwak kway (Thank you) to the International Hunters Education Association and the Native American Fish and Wildlife Society for collaborating together to accomplish the Hunt Safe Program under the Native American Fish and Wildlife Society,” stated Darren Talayumptewa, Program Manager for the Hopi Tribe Department of Natural Resources and Southeast Regional Director for the Native American Fish & Wildlife Society. “This program will allow tribes to use their sovereignty to implement the same hunter's education curriculum taught within each state game and fish agency, however, will allow tribes to incorporate their own respective traditional and cultural hunting ethics and practices for our people and the general public. It is our hopes tribes and state agencies will honor the certification and continue with our collaborative efforts to teach hunter education values and ethics for all.”
"At the IHEA, we work with partners to create safe, responsible, and ethical hunters in the field,” stated Alex Baer, Executive Director of IHEA. “The NAFWS has the potential to reach thousands of new students each year with these ideals through this professional relationship. We are excited to work together and we welcome their engagement and contributions to the IHEA-WORLD community."
About the Native American Fish & Wildlife Society (NAFWS): The Native American Fish & Wildlife Society (NAFWS) is a national tribal organization established informally during the early 1980's. NAFWS was incorporated in 1983 to develop a national communications network for the exchange of information and management techniques related to self-determined tribal fish and wildlife management.
The IHEA-USA is excited to welcome Magpul as an official partner to Hunter Education!
Get the latest news and contest information by following the IHEA-USA on social media!
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Send us a check payable to “IHEA-USA” at our new address: PO Box 1320, Lolo, MT 59847.
