Woods & Water: Hunter safety courses offered

With fall approaching fast and hunting season in full swing, it’s about time to start thinking about hunter safety. If you have a son or daughter you will be hunting with you this fall or if you are planning a hunting trip out of state, now is the time to register for the last hunting safety course this year.

To take the course you must be at least 9 years of age on the day of the course. Since more and more people are traveling out west each year on hunting trips, we encourage parents to attend the course with their child. Many states require completion of a hunter safety course for all ages, whereas Tennessee only requires it for those hunters born after Jan. 1st, 1969.

The course consists of training in areas such as wildlife management, home firearm safety, first aid, and knowledge of firearms and archery, muzzleloaders and other useful information. The course is free of charge and students need to bring a pencil and their social security number to the first night of class. For more information, you can e-mail me at [email protected].

Classes in this area include:

WARREN COUNTY – Traditional Class. This class is not compatible with a CD/Online Field Day. Warren County Administrative Building. October 10, 11, 13, 14 (6:00 – 8:30 p.m.) and October 15 (will shoot). MUST ATTEND ALL CLASSES. No pre-registration required. Joey Wray & Roy Cannon, instructors.

WHITE COUNTY – Traditional Class. This class is not compatible with a CD/Online Field Day. White County Rescue Squad Building. October 17, 18, 20, 21 (6:00 – 9:00 p.m.) and October 22 (will shoot). MUST ATTEND ALL 5 CLASSES. Register first night of class. Jon Ryan, instructor.

PUTNAM COUNTY – Traditional Class. This class is not compatible with a CD/Online Field Day. TN Tech Pennebaker Hall, Biology Building. October 20, 21 (6:00 – 9:00 p.m.), and Saturday, October 22 (7:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.); must pre-register by calling Cookeville Leisure Services @ 931-520-4386. Alfred Ballinger, instructor.

Crossbows legal this year for archery season
As Archery-only season gets underway, hunters are being reminded that it is legal for the first time to utilize crossbows across Tennessee without having to obtain a special permit from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.

At its season setting meeting earlier this year, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commission passed this new regulation. Previously, only qualified handicapped individuals could use crossbows during the archery-only seasons.

Arrow (or bolt as it is called for crossbows) requirements for crossbows are the same as longbows and compound bows. Bolts shall be of a barbless design and shall have sharpened blades.

A Big Game Archery License is required to use a crossbow (except holders of sportsman license, Junior Hunt/Trap/Fish license, Permanent Senior Citizen license, and those legally hunting without a license).

For more information about rules and regulations regarding hunting, visit the agency’s website at www.tnwildlife.org.

NEW CHECK OUT SYSTEM BEGINS WITH DEER SEASON
With the beginning of the archery deer season, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) will be updating the check out system for big game. The new system will post information directly to a computer system instead of recording on paper.

For more than 30 years, check station attendants have recorded information about the hunter and animal harvested on paper tags, with one copy going to the hunter and the other copy going to the TWRA Nashville Office.

Once the tags reached Nashville, sometimes weeks after the animal was checked out, the information had to be keypunched into the computer.

With the new system that begins this year, the data will be recorded by the check station attendant on the REAL System computer. This will give TWRA biologists instant access to the data on the harvest of bear, boar, deer, and wild turkey.

Tennessee’s big game check out system is one of the best in the nation, and this change will make that system work even better.