Sponsored by The Outdoor Campus. Cover Photo by Travel South Dakota
Hunting is a time-honored tradition here is South Dakota. Many families have fond memories of spending time walking a field together waiting for a pheasant to flush or sitting in a blind trying to call in a wild turkey. Moments such as these are ones that allow children to bond with their parents in a natural setting.
Learning to Hunt:
For many families hunting is something they look forward to doing every year with their family. For some families, this may be an experience they have never taken part in and have never considered how to get started.
The Outdoor Campus Sioux Falls is here to help!
We offer a variety of free programming that is geared to meeting you where you are in your expertise level. From beginner classes focused on animal identification, understanding the ethics of hunting, and practice shooting BB guns to more advanced classes focused on where to go hunting and learning how to bow hunt, we will come alongside you to make your next adventure a quality one.
To learn more about all the Outdoor Campus class offerings, visit our website at gfp.sd.gov/toc-east/ or swing by our building (4500 S. Oxbow Ave., Sioux Falls, SD 57106) and pick up a program booklet.
Hunter Safety:
The biggest priority when it comes to having a quality hunt with your family is safety. The Outdoor Campus has a variety of Hunter Safety courses that are available for youth and adults to learn safety.
When it comes to HuntSAFE (ie Hunter Safety) participants have a couple of different options of how they can become certified:
- Students can sign up to take an in-person class at the Outdoor Campus. These are typically 2 nights during the week and 1 Saturday morning. This program is completely free and simply requires registration.
- Students can take an online course that can be found on the Game, Fish and Parks Hunter Education webpage (gfp.sd.gov/hunter-education/). There are a variety of options ranging in price from free to $50. Students that are younger then 16 will be required to attend a Field Day class as well to complete their HuntSAFE Certification.
- Students can participate in HuntSAFE in the Schools, which is a unique program that is currently offered in select schools in their afterschool program. To learn more about these opportunities, give us a call at 605-362-2777.
Students who take HuntSAFE can expect to gain knowledge on proper safety around a firearm, hunting ethics, and a better understanding of rules and regulations. The Field Day portion of this program also provides students with an opportunity to spend time with a qualified instructor learning proper gun handling technique and spend time shooting some clay targets.
Hunter Safety is open to anyone and is not just for those folks interested in going hunting. It is available to those who just want a better understanding of how to stay safe when they encounter a firearm.
To learn more, visit: gfp.sd.gov/hunter-education/ or give us a call at 605-362-2777.
Taking the next step:
If you were to ask a group of folks how they were introduced to hunting, likely they would say a family member such as a parent or grandparent. However, for many folks they never had a family member to introduce them to hunting. The Outdoor Campus has worked to create a unique program that can help those in this situation: Hunting 101.
Hunting 101 is a comprehensive approach to hunting, where the Outdoor Campus will teach you everything you need to know to become a confident hunter. This program is tailored towards hunting deer in the fall or turkey in the spring. Students spend time learning how to fire a gun or bow (depending on the class) at the range, then students are taken out into the field to experience an actual hunt, and finally if the participants harvests an animal, then they are taught how to process that animal as well. The Outdoor Campus provides all the equipment needed for the program (fire arm, ammo, processing equipment, etc.) with the only requirement from the participant being that they are willing to put in the time the class requires as well as be willing to purchase the required tag (typically a $5 Mentor/Youth/Apprentice Tag – depending upon the season).
To learn more about this program, visit our website at gfp.sd.gov/toc-east/ or give us a call at 605-362-2777.
Enjoying time outdoors with your family can range from playing at a park to hiking to fishing, but it can also include hunting. Though the idea of hunting can be daunting, the Outdoor Campus is here to help you learn how to get started, be successful, and most importantly be safe.
