Reams conducts first hunter safety course at CCHS

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

Floyd County Naturalist Heidi Reams doesn’t fool around when it comes to guns and hunter safety.

“It’s really important to me, especially with all the issues right now about guns being in the hands of the wrong people,” Reams said. “I take this seriously.”

Reams taught her first hunter safety class at Charles City High School Tuesday, but she’s not new to the subject.

“I’ve been doing this for 15 years, and I was raised in a hunting family,” said Reams, who came forward last December when she heard that nearby school districts in North Butler and Clarksville were offering a similar course, and told district officials she would be willing to teach a course at CCHS.

After some discussion, Charles City High School agreed to offer a hunter-safety course starting this fall for students in grades 9-12.

The class is optional for those students who want it. Students will not earn school credit for taking the class, but if they pass they will receive their state hunter certification.

To pass the course, students will have to pass a 50-question exam with at least 70 percent correct.

Students in both the seventh and eighth grades in the North Butler and Clarksville districts began taking part in similar classes this school year.

One major difference between the course taught in Charles City and the courses taught in the other school districts is that the other districts offer a required class which students can opt out of, while Charles City is offering an optional class for students to opt into.

“I like it, and I need to get it done, so I’m happy there’s an option,” said junior J.J. Ritter, one of the students.

Just three students opted into the class in Charles City this year, but Reams said she won’t let that discourage her.

“I was hoping for a bigger class, but these guys will kind of be my guinea pigs, to help me work out the kinks,” she said.

Reams said that she hopes the course will be an ongoing thing, every year, because there are always young hunters who slip through the cracks and haven’t been able to earn their required hunter safety credentials.

“Most kids take hunter safety when they’re 11 or 12, but schedules keep getting busier, so it’s not possible all the time,” she said.

The class will consist of 13 sessions, to be finished in early November.

All three of the students in the class said they have hunted before, but for various reasons haven’t yet earned their hunter certification.

“I want to be able to go hunting with my friends. Most of them already have taken the hunter safety class,” said junior D.J. Deboest. “I want to be able to go duck hunting and goose hunting with them.”

“I want to learn what I should do and what I shouldn’t do in some situations,” added sophomore Sofia Nelson.

Reams said the course covers things like respect for landowners, species identification and hunting and shooting rules and regulations. A conservation officer with the DNR will come into one of the classes and talk about hunting rules and regulations.

“It’s important to meet a DNR officer on a positive level, rather than on a negative level,” she said.

The class will have a gun-handling component that includes knowing how to tell when a gun is loaded, and how to safely pass a gun from one person to another. The class will use dummy firearms and blank ammunition — there will no working guns or live ammo in the school.

Reams said that hunter’s ed is about more than just firearms, it’s also about the ethics and the responsibility involved.

Tuesday’s class was mostly an explanation to the students of what they can expect, and Reams said that future classes will have more hands-on, interactive lessons.

As Floyd County Conservation naturalist, Reams provides programs for all public schools within the county. She also offers a variety of public programs and family opportunities to interact and appreciate the local natural resources.

She said one of the goals of hunter education is to develop ethically responsible hunters.

“There are always going to be non-hunters,” Reams said. “Being a responsible hunter and going through hunter’s education helps you to interact with them, as well as to carry yourself in a positive way.”

She paraphrased Aldo Leopold, who is known as one of the fathers of conservation:

“Do the right thing, even when no one else is watching.”