California
Hunter Education
A
Hunter Education class is required by the State of California
(and many others) in order to purchase a hunting license.
To fulfill this requirement, volunteer Hunter Education Instructors
hold classes
throughout the state at
various
times. The classes in Goleta are
held
at the Goleta Valley Community Center. Due
to time constraints, there is
no live fire with this course. However, the course still meets the
state requirements for the issuance of a Hunter Education Certificate.
A 100 question test is administered at the end of class, and
certificates are given out
upon successful completion of the test (80%). This
is an intense class,
which means it is sometimes hard for people to stay focused throughout
the day, especially younger people. It is not unusual for
students
fail to pass the first time. This, however, is not necessarily
a problem, since
there is only a
one-time fee and a student can come back and retake the test at the
next scheduled class. There is no requirement to sit through the entire
class to
retake the
test, however it never hurts to
do so. We strongly suggest parents attend the class with their
young
child, although it
is not a requirement.
Hunting
accidents of all
types have declined substantially since the start of the program. The
National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) compared hunting with a
firearm to other sports and found that data shows hunting ranks third
in safety when compared with 28 other recreational pursuits. Only
camping and billiards ranked higher. To put hunting safety into
perspective, compared to hunting a person is...
- 11 times more likely to be injured playing volleyball
- 19 times more likely to be injured snowboarding
- 25 times more likely to be injured cheerleading or bicycle riding
- 34 times more likely to be injured playing soccer or skateboarding
- 105
times more likely to be injured playing tackle football
The California Hunter Safety Program began on January 1, 1954 with the passage of the Davis-Abshire Hunter Safety Training Law. The initial law required all junior hunters to take a Hunter Safety Class prior to obtaining their first hunting license and has now been expanded to all first time hunters.