PINEHURST — Pinehurst Elementary School will play host to a hunter education course next month.

Ben Allen, Shoshone County’s prosecuting attorney and only active certified Hunter and Bowhunter Education instructor, said this is the second opportunity to take the course over the past two years. The gap in available classes has been due to a shortage of volunteer instructors.  

“The state of Idaho has pushed to continue providing in-person instruction in the wake of many surrounding states moving solely to online certification programs, in large part due to input from constituents that many students learn more from in-person instruction than online self-study programs,” Allen said. 

He said volunteers from the community are needed to step up and donate their time in order for youth to receive this instruction.

According to Allen, Osburn Mayor Kip McGillivray will shadow him during the upcoming class in order to finish his certification.  

Allen has been an advocate for in-person hunter education courses for years, but this has proved challenging due to the lack of certified instructors. 

“At young ages, children are often moldable and receptive to instruction on topics they may not be familiar with,” Allen said. “As such, we often find that children go home at the end of a course and can take the information they received to facilitate healthy discussions with their parents or guardians about topics in the home such as responsible storage of firearms or resource management and conservation.” 

The upcoming class is scheduled for April 21-25 and has 30 available spots.,

For more information or to register for the class visit www.idfg.idaho.gov and search in the education tab. Or contact the Panhandle Regional office at 208-769-1414.