Hunters ed classes beginning Feb. 23 in Havre

Havre Daily News staff

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is hosting another year of Hunters Safety in Havre with the first of three sessions set to start next week.

For youth, to be eligible to hunt and be fully certified during the 2017 season, hunters must be 12 years old by Jan. 16, 2018. Students aged 10 and 11 can take the course and hunt as an apprentice, but will not be fully certified until the year they turn 12. All registrants for this event must be 10 years of age by the first day of class.

Hunter education manuals are available for the students at the Havre Fish, Wildlife and Parks office at 2165 U.S. Highway 2 East, at North 40 Outfitters in the Holiday Village Mall, at Bing ’N’ Bob’s at 316 Third St. and at Stromberg Sinclair at 1200 First Street.

Instructor Rick Harman said the first class of each session, Thursday, Feb. 23, for this session, will be an orientation with parents attending. That session will let the students know what they need to bring and what they need to do for each class. It will run from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

The regular classes run from 6 to 9 p.m.

Each session includes seven Thursday classes including the orientation with the final class a field day.

Harman said the field day includes going out to the Rookery on the Milk River on Badlands Road and to the shooting range there to actually fire rifles, the only time the students will have functioning rifles with life ammunition. Other times when they use rifles the firing pins will be removed, Harman said.

The field day includes going through the Rookery and actually using the skills taught in the class as if in a live hunting experience, he said.

The other classes will be held in Room 112 in Hagener Science Center on the Montana State University-Northern campus.

The second session will start with an orientation Thursday, March 23 and run through the field day Thursday, April 1, with the third session’s orientation Thursday, May 4, and running through the field day Thursday, May 13.

For more information, people can contact Harman at 390-0556 or the FWP office at 265-6177.