Hunter Education-How to get certified-ANY Age or Residency
There are several reasons you or child may want to take hunter education, but your state isn’t meeting your needs. Reasons could include:
- Apply your children for out of state big game tags
- Your state requires a hunter safety course, but quit offering the field day due to COVID-19
- Your child is ready to take hunter education and your state isn’t offering it due to their age
- You want to take a hunter safety course without a field day
How to Take Hunter Education Completely online
You or your child can complete hunter safety entirely online. It doesn’t matter there age or state of residence. It can also be done without a field day. But how? Well, when it comes to rules and regulations, California is the last state you’d expect to have less requirements. But, California was the first state I came across that actually has no age limit or residency requirement to take their hunter education course. There is also no field day requirement to complete. After further digging, North Carolina and Wisconsin also offer full online certification without age, residency requirement or a mandatory field day.
Well, what good does North Carolina or California Hunter Education do for you in Mississippi, Vermont or Idaho? Reciprocity! “All U.S. states, provinces, and countries that have mandatory hunter education requirements will accept the National Hunter Education Certificate. Likewise, National will accept Hunter Education certifications that are issued by other jurisdictions that meet official IHEA-USA requirements. This is known as “reciprocity.”” Reference https://www.hunter-ed.com/national/hunting_law/
Note: Call your state wildlife agency to confirm Reciprocity with the state course you choose to take. My research hasn’t identified any states that doesn’t honor other states certificates, but I haven’t called every single state specifically.
You can take your hunter safety course completely online in one of the mentioned states. Then acquire your certificate and hunter education number. You can use your hunter education certificate to buy a hunting license in your home state. You can apply your kids for big game tags like elk, mule deer, and other species in states that offer non resident tags. Some states still require minimum ages to hunt, so check out each state you plan to apply for or hunt.
State Hunter Safety Course Material
The material in each states course is generally the same. Some states have their own unique requirements, so you will find subtle differences, but to meet the IHEA-USA Requirements the course must teach hunters to become:
- Safe (by following all hunting safety rules)
- Responsible (about hunting, wildlife, conservation, and hunting laws)
- Knowledgeable (by knowing and demonstrating acceptable behavior and attitudes while hunting)
- Involved (in joining and participating in hunting and conservation organizations)
You can read more on the IHEA-USA standards here.
Why would you want to take another states hunter safety course?
- Your child is below the minimum age requirement to take your resident state hunter safety course
- You have an 8,9,10, or 11 year old that needs a hunter safety course to apply for big game tags in other states.
- States like New Mexico offer youth specific big game opportunities to non-residents but require hunter education. While youth can hunt as young as 10 in New Mexico, states like Mississippi are currently offering Hunter safety courses only to children 12 years old or older.
- To avoid the field day requirement due to Covid or other concerns (this is only recommended if you have experience with firearms, otherwise, you should do a field day)
How to take Hunter Education completely online
To take hunter education completely online go to https://www.hunter-ed.com/#select-your-course click on California, North Carolina, or Wisconsin. California cost $24.95, North Carolina is $28.95 and Wisconsin cost $34.95(includes a $10 state fee). I opted for California for my 9 year old son, because it was the first one I came across.
If you choose California, you’ll first need a GO ID, a CDFW requirement for online registration. You can follow the steps here to get your GO ID.
If you or your child has been through the Wisconsin or North Carolina online hunter ed, please share your experience in the comments below.
Hopefully now, you have the information needed to get hunter education completed without any headache. I know my 10 year old is looking forward to trying for a New Mexico Elk tag this coming year. He wouldn’t have been able to if we were to wait for Mississippi’s 12 year old minimum age requirement or for field days to come back after Covid.
Useful Links
- International Hunter Education Association http://www.ihea-usa.org/
- Take your hunter education online course at https://www.hunter-ed.com/
Check out our other Youth Hunting Post
