This is in the 2016 Big Game brochure. New way for CPW to make more money.

» CHANGES TO HUNTER EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS WILL BEGIN APRIL 2016... New changes to hunter education requirements in Colorado will begin on April 6, 2016. There will be a new test-out option available for the hunter education certification requirement as well as an apprentice license for new hunters. Hunters age 50 or older or U.S. military personnel defined as active-duty, reserve-duty, veteran and National Guard can test out of the hunter education requirements by creating a customer identification number and taking a one-time, online test that must be completed in a single session with a 90 percent pass rate. Hunters age 50 and older must wait 24 hours after successfully passing to purchase a license. Military personnel must take certificate of completion and their military ID to a CPW office for verification and/or license purchase. The cost of the online test is $25. Hunters who do not score 90 percent or higher on their test must attend a hunter education class.

I just read the Big Game Brochure section on-line regarding hunter education. The new option which saddlesore mentions is there. The exclusion for people born before 1/1/1949 is still there too. Whew! So no real change for us old fogies.

Coincidentally, after fifty-five years of hunting safely, I finally (just last week) took a hunter safety course. I wanted to enjoy the experience with my grand-son and it was fun, just as I had hoped. BTW I aced the test. Anything less would have been a disappointment.

KC

Did not see the pre 1949 section. That is good to know

I haven't gotten the new regs yet. If you've already done a Hunter's Safety and gotten it verified, do you still have to go through this?

No, it's just a method for people who need the course to test out of sitting through it.

Good for you!

I took my first hunter safety course with my daughter ten years ago, when she decided she wanted to become an active hunter. I would encourage any older guy who's never taken hunter safety to consider doing so, and use it as an excuse to take one of your younger relations to the class while you do it. You might learn something, and you might help a new hunter get into our sport who otherwise might never get the start s/he needs.

smokepole,

While I'll grant you the revenue bit of it, the money made is trivial. The impact on hunter safety, though, can be substantial. If you take a look at the hunter accident incident reports put out by each state, the bulk of the accidents and injuries aren't from newbies. It's those of us that have been hunting a long time that just get careless, or lazy, or frankly have been damned lucky for too long that end up getting hurt or killed.

If you are a fool at 50, that stupid test will not change that.

You might just learn a few tips that change the way you do things, or one or two that might just save your ass.

The only real fools are the ones that don't think there's anything else for them to learn.

I miss the cut by a year but I've already got a Colorado CID and a hunter safety certificate tied to it so I'm good to go.

Lots of guides I've hunted with say similar things, that the younger hunters have far better gun safety than the seasoned vets.

I think you probably meant to direct your comments to Saddlesore (that cantankerous SOB), since I didn't say anything about revenue.

PS, no need to convince me on the benefits of hunter education, I volunteer my time to teach the class here in CO.

When you get to be my age,you are granted a "Cantankerous SOB Card" so you don't have to suffer fools such as this forum seems to have a generous allotment of. Smokepole excepted of course.

My sons and wife tell me that I already play that card too much.....

One can also get an accepted card from another state via an online course. Oregon has an online course for adults and I think it runs $25. One need not be a resident.

Sound wisdom here.

smokepole,

You are correct; it was intended for saddlesore. I aspire to "Cantankerous SOB"dom one day. He sets a good standard.

He sets the bar high, and sets the standard.

After 40 plus years of hunting safely, being a NRA certified marksmanship instructor, I still haven't taken that hunter safety test. I refuse to take it too. [bleep]-em. I hunt states and parts of Canada where I don't need it.

Good for you, that's showin' 'em.

As a pre 1/1/49er I have taken the Hunter ED twice. First time with my youngest son. Just to see what they were teaching them. And again when I got a CCW, the first HE had "expired" (10 years) 1 month before I applied for the CCW. I would suggest that no matter how much experience one has it is a useful course to take. Still working on that cantankerous moniker. Wife thinks I getting too close.

I assume they take Hunter Ed cards from other states? It's been a long time, but I seem to remember getting one.

Yep.

I am open to mentoring or tutoring if needed.

First lesson.Expect everyone you meet to be an a$$hole. Then if they prove you wrong, it is rewarding. If not,you won't be very disappointed. You will find that the rewarding part does not happen often.

Glad to see that they kept the 1949 and older exemption.

I do not have a hunter safety card, but took the course with my oldest son and then became a certified instructor in Washington State and taught my two younger sons along with others.

But I have no desire to pay $25.00 to take an on-line test.

As a 10 year HS instructor, I would be more than willing to help out our older campfire brothers. Just say the word. Nearly all states have reciprocity

I got mine years ago when KY first began requiring one even though I was exempt because of age. I actually think this is a very good idea in a day when a large % of young people are raised by urbanites and or single mothers who may or may not have exposed them to firearms and training. Actually I wouldn't oppose owning a hunter safety or firearms safety card before being eligible to purchase or own a firearm.

.

The right to own a firearm has nothing to do with hunting. Talk to people in IL that have to have a FOIDs card before they can purchase a firearm and see how they feel about that and then check how many people are murdered in Chicago every day

True but if it makes you feel better call it a firearms safety card but I'm just saying it isn't a bad idea to have someone learn a bit about firearm safety before selling them a firearm.

I'm not saying that I couldn't learn something and I agree that there is good info in these classes, especially for young hunters or someone who hasn't spent very much time in the woods.

About 35 years ago I sat in one of the classes with my son. The instructor for that portion of the class wasn't as well trained as he should have been. I remember several things that he taught that were wrong. Like when he told the kids that a .308 was larger than a .30-06 because 8 was larger than 6. I had a little discussion with him after the class.

Having just turned 70, I guess I'm entitled to one of Saddlesore's "Cantankerous SOB cards. I started hunting deer in Colorado in 1965 and have hunted almost every year since in a half dozen states along with multiple hunts in Africa, Canada, and New Zealand without having ever taken a Hunter Education Class.

Then a few years ago I was looking into a hunt in Hawaii, where they require everyone to have a Hunters Ed certificate. So I found an on line Hunter Education Class, and without reading the class material, I just took the test, aced it, paid the fee, and a couple weeks later got a certificate in the mail.

Why, the nerve of that guy. You know what really would've taught him a lesson?

If you'd signed up and volunteered your time to teach the class so that kids like your son could get their cards and go hunting. Like he was doing.

That would've showed him.

Took the test in 1967 and had a hunters lic every year in ca. Lost my card with no proof as no computers at that time. To hunt Colorado 3 years ago one needed a physical copy of HST. Did an online course and finished up with a 4 hr class, oldest guy in class @58 . Proof now recorded with Ca F and G in case I lose my card again. All in all just several hrs of my life.
In Ca now you have to have a firearms safety card to purchase a long gun. $25.00 or have a hunting lic. Hand gun card $25.00 . Both renew every 5 years. Just another way to raise money no doubt.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciated him volunteering his time and teaching the class. My concern was the mis-information or wrong information that he was telling the class.

Don't believe I did.

I took hunter safety as a kid in Wyoming, even though I made the year cut. Took it again with my son a few years ago.

Same here, took 3 young ones not to long ago to class. I thought may as well go through myself, since I had to keep an eye on them anyway.

I kinda wanted to get in the modern system anyway. I have an old card from MI, which could of worked for most.

I may of learned a thing or two. Some crazy accidents out there. If one just followed the basic safety rules they wouldn't happen.

Got my hunter safety card years ago and verified. Then went with my kids. After that I went with grand-kids.

What's it take to join the Cantankerous SOB club? I'm a card-carrying member of the Grouchy Old Bastards club and this one sounds right up my alley.

I've taken Hunters Education in 2 states. Once as an 11 year old kid, and twice as an adult with my children.

I could produce certificates of completion from both states, and to what avail? Still gotta take Colo's test if I want to hunt there.

I guess it's their state, and their rules.

Where exactly does it state that your out of state certificate ain't valid?

Colorado accepts Hunter Ed from every state. In fact, every state has an agreement through IHEA to accept any state's HE card. But proof of a previous license in some states is proof of Hunter Ed for some states. That doesn't cut it here. But doesn't mean you have to take Colorado's hunter ed either.

Are you sure? I have mixed feelings about it..... still, I save $25!

I understand Jack O'Conner once shot a toe off. I took my CO hunting class back in 1980. I still remember most of the stuff.

However I don't always follow the theoretical advice. I remember running with a loaded gun one time. I had just shot an elephant at 30 yards and I ran up to about 15 yards and pumped in two more shots to topple the animal. With 60 lbs a side ivory, I didn't want to lose it, training be damned!

BH63

Probably not in Colorado.

The speed im able to move with rifle and pack at elevation these days may not be accurately called running anymore but many years elk hunting still drives me to do it - as safely as possible of course.

Hunter education is a great thing and only has a positive influence on our sport. As an old guy who lost his certificate in CA before going to Colorado my local Fish and game office issued me a new one once they verified hunting licenses back as far as their computer went. My grandson is taking the course on line before he goes in person at 10 it was nice to hear him say "papa this is all the stuff you already told me" about 1/3 of the way through.

A refresher is valuable when you hunt in multiple states with slightly different rules, common sense and safe behavior will prevent an accident but might not prevent a ticket.

You might be right. I remember about 15 guys with machetes hacking about half a mile through the brush to make a temp road so a heavy duty tractor with a flat bed could haul out the ellie!

In CO, many places don't even allow you to use a wheeled game hauler to get your deer/elk/bear out.

BH63

That's right. And besides the fact that those restrictions are federal (not from Colorado), those are the best places to hunt, with the fewest hunters.

That is only Colorado, but any designated Wilderness areas in the U.S.

Thank God!!

What, you don't hunt with your own flat bed and contingent of machete-wielding coolies?

How uncouth.

Agreed!

Keep legislating to the lowest common denominator and you end up with zero freedoms/rights.

This is the nicest way I can reply "f--k you" to your sentiment.



Dave

Yes. The tire on a game hauler causes a lot of damage to the trails.

As opposed to horses which leave no trace.



Dave

The tire on a game hauler might not, but the tires on mountain bikes sure do. You couldn't allow one without the other.

The vast majority of NF is open to the use of wheels. So it's pretty hard to make the case that wheel users are being shut out.

I don't use them at all.

I just think it's funny that a single wheeled cart can't be used to retrieve meat/game but a string of five horses can.



Dave

There's a few reasons for that. If you take the time to educate yourself on the background, then you'd understand.

It's not the fact that a game cart tire causes damage.It's the fact that if permitted, bicycles, off road motorcycles, ATV's etc would then also be permitted which really do cause damage. Wilderness areas are designated for primitive areas where the the areas are suppose to be void of modern day man made devices and structures. Live stock were in those areas long before Wilderness areas were designated and 99& of the trails were made with the use of horses or mules.Even today, trail maintenance and materials are still done and/or brought in using horses or mules.

People go into wilderness areas for the solitude,not to listen to the whine of motor vehicle, chain saws,etc. There are trails and locals ,all over the west,and probably the east that are so designated for other uses where livestock is not permitted.

If you want to complain about something,complain abut Wyoming's regulation that you must use a licensed guide or resident to act as a guide for any hunting in wilderness area , but not to hike in the same wilderness area

That, and a ban on livestock would put outfitters (who'd been operating in those areas for decades prior to wilderness designation) out of business.

I've always wanted to do a pack-string hunt up in the wilds of WY or MT (or maybe even CO), and maybe I will some day.

But I do believe 4 or 5 horses spending a week up in the high country do make a bigger environmental impact on wilderness land then a couple of ATVs that stay on recognized trails. But that is JMO.

Just as there are bad ATV riders, there are bad people (including some outfitters) with horses.

Last year an outfitter set up his base camp at a popular trailhead in Colorado. He set up a big canvas wall tent, parked his horse trailers to prevent others from parking in the normal spots, and then put an electric fence around an overflow parking area, so he could use it for a corral!

I could only hope his clients went away empty-handed!

BH63

It really doesn't require any form of educating to see the end result of a tire on a game cart vs. a string of horses.

One tears up a ton of schit, the other doesn't. I don't give a fugk that horses are allowed in wilderness areas.

I just don't find it extraordinarily complex to draft an addendum in 2016 that states a person can use the wheel to move a dead animal.



Dave

Yeah.

Because they're all the exact same thing.



Dave

That certainly explains why they make so much sense.




Dave

Everybody or Nobody...anything else is Unconstitutional classified discrimination of age or past employment.

I think most every state has a cutoff date for when the Hunter's Ed class is/isn't required. I know in IL my dad never had to take one.

For Montana it's anybody born after January 1, 1985.




Dave

No, but is does correct the previous poster's mistaken impression that the restrctions are specific to Colorado.

Try to keep up with the discussion.

Then why did you bring it up on the first place and why continue to talk about it?

Because the exclusion of the super modern invention known as the "wheel" was mentioned and I took the opportunity to point out how idiotic that exclusion is when compared to a string of horses.

I hope that's ok.



Dave

It's pretty tough when so many ultra-high IQ's are involved in a conversation.



Clark

I understand. But if you don't use wilderness areas, why are you so overwrought about whether people can use game carts in them?

I do use designated wilderness areas.



Dave

Excellent. When you load up the game cart, don't forget to bring your cough silencer and butt-out tool. And barrel de-resonator.

I don't use game carts.



Dave

I know. I was just being a dick

Did the de-resonator shrink your groups?

I just saw this post. A couple of things for you to ponder:

First, wilderness wasn't designated based on which methods of travel damage trails the most or least, so that's irrelevant. It was designated to keep motorized vehicles and other trappings of "civilization" out of a small portion of federal land so that people who want peace and quiet can find it in a few places.

Second, the presence of ATV trails no matter how well-maintained runs counter to the reason wilderness areas were designated. They ruin the peace and solitude not only for humans but for species like elk. Lots of studies have shown that elk move away from areas with vehicle access including ATVs. So wilderness areas are great places to hunt without getting the game spooked by ATVs if you're willing to walk or ride in.

Third, there are ATV trails and roads on the vast majority of federal land. The vast majority is enough.

Fourth, in general, there's no way you can make the case that horses are more destructive than ATVs. That's just nonsense. The width of the trails alone is not comparable. And ATV drivers have a way of getting off trails and making new ones; I've seen it in a lot of places and it's not an isolated thing. An isolated anecdote about an a-hole outfitter is irrelevant.

I enjoy my peace and quiet without all the horseshit in the trail.

Also I find while hiking that people on 4-wheelers often have beer to share, while those on horseback only have disdain to share.

YMMV.

Without that horse$hit on the trail you wouldn't have all the nice little bridges, water bars, gravel, and culverts that are packed in to walk on so you don't get you nice boots muddy.

Horses were making and using those trails before you were even born probably.

I know you said that in jest but that would explain some of the really stupid sh** they do.

And I've never run into anyone on horseback who wasn't friendly. A few years ago it was a rancher who gave me some good tips on where he'd been seeing some big bulls.

I see no need for bridges, culverts, or gravel in the wilderness, kinda defeats the whole purpose. Boots are made to get muddy.

Man used the wheel on those same trails long before "wilderness" designation.

I need to hike wilderness down by you, not many ranchers on horseback where I go.

Mostly outfitters with tourons.

Tourists don't count. I had one woman on horseback tell me my rifle was scaring her horse. The wrangler rode up and said "it's not the rifle, he's just a stupid SOB."