How to take the PA Hunters Safety Course.

**R.W.J** · January 2nd, 2013, 06:02 PM

Classes are held all spring, summer and fall up to October/November. With at least one class a month per county.

**crh19425** · January 10th, 2013, 08:37 AM

Thanks for the info, ill keep an eye out

**freesoul** · January 10th, 2013, 10:58 AM

the website is not up to date, the club I belong to has one in March which was decided some time ago and its not on there, not sure what the problem is with the PGC....

**armyrecon** · June 15th, 2013, 07:14 AM

It looks like all Hunter Safety Courses now require the online course prior to showing up? I had my 11yo son scheduled for a course today but had to cancel his registration because I didn't know he had to do this self study course first. Does everything have to be on a danged computer? Come on now. From the course registration website:

Overview

Important You must complete the online Today's Hunter & Trapper in PA course before attending your class.
Details
This is a six-hour training class required by law for all first-time hunters and trappers before they can buy a license. You must pass a certification exam at the end of the class to complete this training.

Prior to attending this class, you must complete the online independent study part of this training. This independent study will require about 4 hours to complete.

**archer1214** · June 15th, 2013, 07:38 AM

Originally Posted by armyrecon

It looks like all Hunter Safety Courses now require the online course prior to showing up? I had my 11yo son scheduled for a course today but had to cancel his registration because I didn't know he had to do this self study course first. Does everything have to be on a danged computer? Come on now. From the course registration website:

Overview

Important You must complete the online Today's Hunter & Trapper in PA course before attending your class.
Details
This is a six-hour training class required by law for all first-time hunters and trappers before they can buy a license. You must pass a certification exam at the end of the class to complete this training.

Prior to attending this class, you must complete the online independent study part of this training. This independent study will require about 4 hours to complete.

As an instructor myself, I can say that most of the instr. I know, myself included, weren't too thrilled about the new set up. We don't get enough time to give the "personal touch" or to stress the enjoyment that can be had after a good, safe day in the field. Actually, we were even told by either the parent or student, that they hadn't done the online portion.

At our recent class, which was our 1st with the "new way", we were expecting a higher than normal failure rate due to this new procedure, but we were pleasantly surprised at the contrary! While there were some close calls, all of our class of 70 passed .

Now I'm not telling anyone not to worry about the online part, you should still take the time to do it, but if you have some common sense, and PAY ATTENTION to the instructors ( who do this as volunteers, we're not paid), you stand a good chance of passing.

**ettorment1916** · June 15th, 2013, 09:00 AM

Originally Posted by armyrecon

This independent study will require about 4 hours to complete.

I believe the stated 4 hour independent study time is over-estimated. My son and I reviewed the online portion back in March prior to his class and it took about 1.5 hours.

A cursory review of the online information and paying attention in the class will get you a passing grade.

**harty** · June 15th, 2013, 10:51 AM

Man o Man. You have to love our governments local, state and federal. These knuckleheads are figuring out some way to little roadblock up. Just reminds of when they changed the rules for those people who wanted to claim bankruptcy. Those who wanted to claim bankruptcy had to take a course on the computer regarding it. There will always be people who just say forgert it or just wont do it and they know it. Not me I went online and took that little prep class. This will be mine and my two sons first year hunting and they arent gonna take that from us. Cant wait and thank you to the volunteers who help with the hunting classes, I didnt realize you were all volunteers.

**R.W.J** · June 15th, 2013, 01:17 PM

Originally Posted by harty

Man o Man. You have to love our governments local, state and federal. These knuckleheads are figuring out some way to little roadblock up. Just reminds of when they changed the rules for those people who wanted to claim bankruptcy. Those who wanted to claim bankruptcy had to take a course on the computer regarding it. There will always be people who just say forgert it or just wont do it and they know it. Not me I went online and took that little prep class. This will be mine and my two sons first year hunting and they arent gonna take that from us. Cant wait and thank you to the volunteers who help with the hunting classes, I didnt realize you were all volunteers.

The class used to be 12 hours, They cut it in half because the survey showed that people didn't have the time. Now they get more customer friendly and there are still complaints. There is no roadblock!

**BrowningBoy** · June 15th, 2013, 06:06 PM

I just took my daughter to the class. She did read the 34 pages on the PGC website. If you don't have time to read 34 pages, you don't have time to hunt. I think that the one day class is much more convient than a two day class. There was enough time to cover the material that was in the test. All in all it was a good day. Kudos to Kunkletown Rod and Gun Club.

**armyrecon** · June 15th, 2013, 09:21 PM

I'm sure it was a good day. I have no problem reading 34 pages with my son, in fact, i have no problem attending a 12 hour course. Just didnt realize until 5 am this morning that there was a new online course. I registered a few months ago and that wasnt a pre-requisite at the time. I still thought about going but figured i wouldn't put him, at 11 years old, in that situation cold. We'll do the online course together with no issue, but again, i had no issue sitting through twelve hours once myself and then a second time with my wife, nor a third time with my son. Thanks to those who volunteer their time.