Instructor says hunter safety course helps

By TOM LAVENTURE

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Hurley — After 20 years of teaching an Iron County hunter safety course for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, instructor David Vuorenmaa said the lack of hunting accidents in the area shows that the mandated class has helped hunters with prevention.

“We’ve had a very successful rate, and have never had any serious injuries,” Vuorenmaa said of the spring and fall classes. “We’ve taught hundreds of kids so far.”

The DNR requires all individuals born after Jan. 1, 1988 to successfully pass the 12 hour course in order to apply for a hunting license in Wisconsin. The classes run 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 22, 24, 29, 31, and Nov. 1, at the Iron County Courthouse, 300 Taconite St., in Hurley. There is also a three-hour shooting range class on Oct. 26.

“There are two phases of the class, the written and the field,” Vuorenmaa said. “You need to pass both to pass the course.”

The class size limit is 25 students and students must attend all classes. There is no age requirement but older students receive preference. Kids under age 11 must be accompanied by an adult during all classes.

“That gives the parent and legal guardian a little education while they are there,” Vuorenmaa said. “We had a grandfather say that he had to go through it but leaned something he never knew before after 40 years of hunting.”

Kids are required to take the course if they want to hunt past the age of 12, he said. Kids who are 12 or 13 years old and pass the course can hunt with a licensed adult hunter within visual and voice contact. Kids ages 14 and older who pass the course and receive their hunting license can legally hunt alone, Vuorenmaa said.

Because parents or guardians are required to go through the course with their children, the number of hunters who have taken the course in Hurley over the past 20 years adds up to the thousands, he said.

“Basically, my course runs through the Wisconsin DNR booklets and covers all the basics,” Vuorenmaa said. “We really emphasize the TAB-K formula.”

The TAB-K formula is

(T) Treat every firearm as if it is loaded.

(A) Always point the muzzle in a safe direction.

(B) Be certain of your target and what’s beyond it.

(K) Keep your finger outside the trigger guard until ready to shoot.

“These four rules of safety can answer probably half of the questions I get in class,” Vuorenmaa said.

The classroom is also largely hands-on, he said. A PowerPoint presentation provides the instruction materials in a much more interesting way than a lecturer.

“We take it seriously but we still like have to have fun in class,” he said. “There is a time to be serious and a time to have fun.”

In one scenario we show how a 20 gauge shell drops further in the chamber of a 12 gauge shotgun. A video shows in a controlled environment how the firearm can explode and possibly cause injury.

Starting from the second-day the students will be handling unloaded firearms to identify the working components and safety features, along with dummy ammunition to observe many different shell gauge and cartridge markings.

“You need to identify where on the firearm it says what the gauge is and what shell,” Vuorenmaa said.

The class breaks into groups to talk about the scenarios and then talk about what went wrong and what could have prevented the situation. The course also talks about safely handling guns at home.

A girl who went through the class found herself in a situation where she was alone with a younger child who walked out of a bedroom carrying a shotgun, he said. She had the confidence to know how to take away the gun safely away from the child and make sure the safety was on, he said.

“The shotgun was loaded with a shell in the chamber,” Vuorenmaa said.

Vuorenmaa and three other volunteer instructors ensure that each of the 25 students in the class get enough one-on-one time in the classroom and in the field. After students pass the written course, they have a range day and put their learning to practical use with a live fire exercise.

Vuorenmaa said three fellow instructors and strong community support through raffle donations and discounts from area stores on shooting range supplies are what makes the course go above and beyond the mere requirements.

Applying what is learned in class is important in every scenario, he said. The course teaches a hunter how to temper excitement in the field that can lead to mistakes, how to create a safe zone fire, and to know when and when not to shoot, in groups, hunting alone, or even with a dog, he said.

“The last thing you want to do is shoot your dog,” Vuorenmaa said. “Once you pull the trigger you will never get that bullet back.”

The vision for the program is simple, he said. The more people who take the course, even if they aren’t hunters, is going to create a more positive perception for firearms in a region where it is an important part of the culture.

For information on the course, contact Vuorenmaa at 906-285-3110.