Proposed changes to hunter education program cause concern

Proposed changes for earning a Hunter Education Class Certification, up for a vote in the next Texas Parks & Wildlife Commission meeting  Aug. 22, may simplify the process for thousands of Texans, but may also come at dangerous price in more ways than one. The proposed changes would reduce the “traditional” class time from 10-hours, to five-hours—completed all in one day.

The online study plus “field day” option would be virtually the same as done since 1999, except the “field day” portion would be limited to no more than five hours, including a required hunter skills trail- and live-fire exercise. However, on the agency’s website, a third option included in the proposed changes would allow citizens aged 16-years and older to complete: “an online instruction-only certification that eliminates the required field training component.” Read more in the Cross Timbers Gazette.