ST. IGNATIUS — Anyone in the local community who takes to the woods during hunting season can probably thank Bob Larsson for showing them how to do it safely. The Mission minister and director of the Pinehaven Christian Children’s Ranch was honored by the state of Montana recently for his 55 years of instructing hunter safety.

“It started when they passed a law that made it a requirement for hunter safety certification in 1957,” Larsson said.

Larsson was a member of the local gun club, and when the state reached out through these clubs, he started instructing and never looked back. There are an estimated 1,600 hunters certified every year and over 300 instructors state-wide. Larsson is just one of four instructors to be honored with an engraved rifle for teaching hunter safety since the program’s inception.

“It’s just a service to the community,” Larsson said. “Some people will stop me and say ‘I got my buck this year and my grandfather sends his greetings, he was in your class.’”

To think of the thousands of people Larrson has taught is staggering. Even more impressive is that he says not one of his students has ever been in a hunting accident in all these years.

“Over the years it’s gotten less technical and more practical,” Larsson said of the change in the program. “It’s important that people don’t use a gun in the wrong way.”

Each hunter safety course is 12 hours a week, once a year.

“How many hours has he contributed over 55 years?” Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesperson John Fraley asked. “He got a standing ovation by more than 100 instructors at this ceremony.”

Larsson’s son and grandson are also instructors in hunter safety so the public service looks to continue in the Mission Valley for many years to come.

“His whole family teaches,” Fraley said. “And that’s very, very rare.”