The Crookston Gun Club’s DNR Hunter Safety Training classes will begin this upcoming week at the Crookston Gun Club, located at 26251 240th Street SW, Crookston. The August class session has filled up earlier this week and will be held throughout the first two weeks of the month, with the field and test day on Saturday, August 14.
Lead Instructor & Youth Activities Coordinator Steve Videen talked about the busy upcoming couple of weeks around the Gun Club. “This is probably the biggest event that we have now in the Firearms Safety class, which will start up on August 3rd,” said Videen. “The first night will be an orientation for the students, I have a couple of videos to show them, and then from there, we will go into the different modules of the courses.”
The Club has at least 15 different certified instructors and will be helping over the course of the next couple of weeks. The class is for anyone over the age of 11 and will feature more than just kids, as it is meant for anyone looking to obtain a firearms safety certificate. The class will cover various topics, including the exchanging and handling of firearms, the different ways to carry a gun and how to do so safely, and the different rules and regulations of being in the field hunting.
Videen explained a misconception people have about the class and what it truly is meant for. “One of the biggest issues that we have, is that people believe this is a “teach me how to shoot and hunt” class,” said Videen. “We will give you the theories to steps to go through, but at the end of the class, it is up to the individual to get out on the range and practice the skill and learn how to do it safely.”
The second week of the course will cover storing the guns properly, taking care of them, and the legal aspects of hunting with DNR regulations. The second week will also include handguns and archery hunting and the limits of the game while hunting.
Videen said the best part of the training is the field day. “On Saturday, everything culminates together at the field day,” said Videen. “The kids get there at 9 a.m., and then we go through everything we’ve learned in class up to that point. We take them out the range to do live fire, they have the chance to climb up and down three different types of tree stands, and then we put them through situations of if they should “shoot or not shoot.”
The course will also offer the students to cover specific types of hunting such as turkey and blood-tracking an animal after you’ve shot it. The students will also be put into different scenarios to see how they will carry their firearms going up and down hills and people around them.
Videen was sure to put everyone at ease and make sure they’re aware the students won’t be handling real guns in these situations. “To put everyone’s mind at ease, they won’t be carrying real guns, but they’ve taught to treat them like they’re real,” said Videen. “They’ll go on a pheasant walk and will throw frisbees in front of them so they can learn who should talk what shot when. We also go over a boat duck hunting scenario, and then they get to do what I call their favorite part of the class, and that’s clean the equipment we used.”
The class offers and provides a wide range of skills for the students to take with them when they leave. A student’s grade will be determined by how they do on the written test and how they perform during the field day. Their grade will be 50% on the field day and 50% on the written exam from time spent in the classroom.
Everything will happen at the Crookston Gun Club, and the field day will take place Saturday, August 14, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. with COVID-19 starting to flare up again and being back in the news Videen wanted to speak briefly on it before the class starts. “With COVID-19 being back in the picture, the clubhouse is being sprayed at least an hour in advance before it’s being used,” said Videen. “I’m going to leave it up to the students and parents as far as if they want to mask or not; I recommend having a mask, just because we aren’t sure what other peoples’ outlying conditions are, and I don’t want anyone getting sick. We’re not here to get sick, and if you are sick, please stay home”.
The Safety Training Class is sponsored and conducted by the Crookston Gun Club, West Polk County Deer Hunters Association, Bingham Construction, B&F Investments, Northern Sky Bank, Swanson Law, Adams Heating & Cooling, Eagles Club, Crookston VFW & Legion, Longtin Insurance Agency, and Noah Insurance Agency.
