Ever since I started bowhunting a few years ago, I’ve researched everything I could about techniques, skills and equipment. Not satisfied with reading dozens of books and magazines, I looked around for bowhunter education classes but found them rare compared to all the other outdoors education opportunities available.

Instructor Jan Morris explains how to properly use a climbing stand.

So when I noticed that the Missouri Department of Conservation was offering a class at Jay Henges Education Center near St. Louis, figured I had to make the time.

It was worth every minute of the 8 hours.

Three instructors, Jan and Gwen Morris and Jake Hindman, covered topics including the history of archery, shot placement, archery safety, conservation and wilderness preparedness. Some of the material was basic review for any archer with a few years of experience and some was new material for even the most experienced bow hunters. The curriculum is based on the International Bowhunter Education Program, created by the National Bowhunter Education Foundation. The IBEPs standards are have been adopted by most states that offer bowhunter education.

What really impressed me was the amount of time spent on conservation and ethics, important topics that are being taught more but went unattended for far too long. “It’s what will save hunting,” explained Jan Morris, who has hunted all over the country for almost every game animal one can think of. Safety and gear are great, but if we can’t convince people that hunting is good as for the environment as it is for the soul, we’ll lose the battle against the anti-hunting zealots.

Students in the bowhunter education class follow a blood trail in a tracking exercise.

Bowhunter education is not required in Missouri, but 12 states and 3 Canadian provinces have some requirement for a bowhunter education certification to obtain a bowhunting permit. Popular big-game destinations Alaska, Idaho, Maine and Montana are among those areas.

There were about a dozen of us in the class, including two women. We learned things such as:

• Evidence suggests that archery was used by hunters 50,000 years ago.
• Archery was first an Olympic event in 1904 at the World’s Fair in St. Louis.
• The compound bow was invented by Holless Wilbur Allen of Billings, Mo.
• A grunt-bleat-grunt sequence, mimicking the “classic high-school fight,” as Jake Hindman described it, can be an effective call during the rut.
• The peak of the rut in Missouri is usually November 12.
• The best archers consider where the broadhead will exit, not where it will enter.
• The average kill shot with archery in Missouri is 18 yards.

Considering the increase of popularity of archery in Missouri — the state has seen a 45 percent increase in archery permit sales in the last 30 years — I’m surprised that the bowhunter education class isn’t more popular. Of course, if more bowhunters expressed interest in the class, the state would probably provide more.

There are two more classes offered this year in the eastern part of the state: Aug. 8 at the August A. Busch Memorial Conservation Area in St. Charles and another Aug. 21 at Missouri Gun and Quail Club in Wright City. For information, click this link or contact the Missouri Department of Conservation St. Louis Region office at (636) 441-4554.

If you’re interested in a website with similar curriculum, visit www.bowhunter-ed.com.

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