 We as hunters can never get too much information on our sport. Look around your house, chances are you subscribe to several hunting magazines and perhaps one of the outdoor channels is on continually in your home. These are excellent resources for us hunting enthusiasts; however, wouldn’t it make sense to educate you as much as possible?The National Bowhunter Education Foundation (NBEF) offers an excellent course for bowhunters of any level and should be considered a must for every archer. This course is also a great resource for gun hunters as well. By enrolling and participating in an NBEF class, where discussions and hands-on instruction are the foundation of its national curriculum, you will gain valuable insight to safety concerns and tips on hunting. We spend so much of our free time and pour so much of our money into hunting that we should not think twice about spending a day going through a course to improve our odds of taking game and increase our knowledge of safety concerns. Recently my family of hunters participated in this course in hopes of learning one or two new things about bowhunting. We are a group of novice, beginner, and veteran bowhunters. Designed for all ages and experience, even our youngest hunter, a ten-year-old, was able to follow along and learn valuable lifelong lessons while participating in the course. She gleaned an amazing amount of information from these top notch, dedicated instructors and the well-rounded course the NBEF has developed. To say that the NBEF course is a ‘safety’ course would not be totally accurate, it is a complete course that looks at many aspects of hunting from proper tree stand placement, the importance of safe climbing, field dressing your deer, shot placement, equipment instruction and more are taught, all of this with a strong emphasis on SAFETY while out in the field. Hunting accidents happen each and every year and unfortunately many of these accidents may have been prevented with just a little knowledge and preparation prior to the hunt. Proper safety harness selection and instruction is thoroughly covered in this course. Being able to view side by side the many types of harnesses available to the consumer is very helpful. The instructors show you how to properly fit and wear a harness, how to tie safety knots and demonstrate the importance of a guide rope while you’re climbing in and out of your stand or hanging your stand are seriously covered in this program. By providing actual demonstrations it is much easier for hunters to see and understand the proper use of the harnesses and stands. Many hunters think that once they get in their stands and throw the tether strap around the tree that they have covered all the safety bases. However just the act of climbing a tree is dangerous. If you factor in the risks that most of the climbing we hunters do up to our stand is done in the chilly darkness of morning or climbing down from the stand after a long day of sitting only increases our level of risk. This is where the importance of a good guideline is vital and this is covered in detail in this course. After completing this course many hunters, including me realized that we were taking unnecessary risks each season. This section of the course did more than just talk about safety and proper stand placement. The hands-on demonstrations really drove home the point of this critical but often overlooked aspect of hunting. Have you ever thought of what would happen if you did fall from your stand? Even if you have your harness properly attached and fits you correctly you are still in danger of serious injury or death. Carrying the proper equipment in your pack can increase your chances of surviving such a fall. Again, this course stressed several situations that hunters may find themselves in. In addition to the obvious safety overtones of this course, most of the participants walked away with an increased ability to actually harvest a deer should they get fortunate enough to get a shot. According to NBEF information, the average success rate for the general bowhunting population is about 11%; for graduates of this course, the average success rate climbs to about 25%. It is the little tips and tidbits the instructors provide throughout the day that help increase your chances of harvesting a deer. These tips include examples of how to properly call a deer, which attractants work best in which situation and proper shot placement. All add up to a more knowledgeably hunter. Understanding the anatomy of the animal you are pursuing is vital and should be considered an important factor in your hunt regardless of the weapon you carry. The whitetail deer for example has more nerve endings closer to the skin and not as many in its vital organs. Animals harvested with the use of a bow die from hemorrhage rather than shock or blunt trauma associated with a firearm. So knowing where the vitals are on your prey and where to put that shot is extremely important for both the hunter and the animal. It should always be a top priority to harvest the animal in the most humane way possible regardless of your weapon. In addition to studying the anatomy of the animal and making sure your tree stand is as safe as possible, judging distance is another important aspect of bowhunting. Unlike gun hunting where shots can be taken at long range, bowhunters must be able to get up close and personal with their prey. Most shots are taken at less than 40 yards. It is critical for an archer to know their personal limitations and the limitations of their equipment. The NBEF instructors do an excellent job creating situations where the participants can range the distances of the targets, helping the hunter gain more confidence of this often difficult task. Stressing the importance of practice throughout the year is another message the NBEF instructors pass along to the class. This course was not about proper shooting techniques; the instructors will leave that to the Pro Shops. In fact no participates even shot a bow in the classroom. NBEF instructors also help the class in the art of the trailing a shot animal. Reading about proper techniques and splatter patterns are important but actually looking for a blood trail among the leaves, sticks, and briars and learning from the experts as well as full class participation provides a wealth of knowledge for the beginner, novice or expert bowhunter and this is an area that is shown and explained. This daylong seminar is choked full of how-to and hands-on segments. This class seemed to fly by with the frequent breaks and the insightful information provided by the NBEF and their knowledgeably volunteers. The NBEF staff of volunteers was genuinely interested in helping all of us to become safer and better hunters. Combining all their years of bowhunting experiences and interesting class demonstrations makes this class worth taking. The NBEF bowhunter safety classes are a valuable resource available to us all and I guarantee that you will walk away having learning something. The National Bowhunters Education Foundation can be found on the Internet at www.NBEF.org or contact your state bowhunting association. |
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