There is something about hunting in Montana that goes far beyond a season on the calendar. For generations, families have passed down the knowledge of landowner permission, public hunting, reading beds and sign, understanding the woods, respecting wildlife and knowing when it is time to squeeze the trigger, and when it isn't.

Fourteen students signed up for this year's Montana’s Hunters Education class, with 12 completing the program during Saturday's Field Day at the Mineral County Shooting Sportsmen's Association building and property. 

The students had already spent five evenings in class the previous week, learning the rules, responsibilities, ethics and safety that come with becoming a Montana hunter. And Saturday? That's when the classroom lessons got real. The students headed into the field for hands-on instruction in blood tracking, rifle and shotgun safety, wildlife identification, live firing on the range and even bear spray.

Ken Quitt has been teaching this portion of Hunters Education for 15 years and is also an archery instructor. One of his lessons involved a piece of equipment that has become an increasingly important part of Montana's outdoor safety curriculum, bear spray. Each student received a practice canister and had the opportunity to learn how to deploy it properly. 

“You aim it low and make a cloud in front of you,” Quitt explained. 

The students also learned that becoming a hunter isn't simply about knowing how to shoot a firearm or finding an animal. 

“We teach them safety and ethics,” Quitt said. “Ethics is a word that a lot of people don't understand.” 

Quitt pointed out that these young students are entering the early stages of adulthood and, after completing the course, will be given the legal ability to harvest wildlife. 

“That might be scary to some people, which is a big reason we teach them that they have to be responsible,” he said. 

For Quitt and the other instructors, responsible hunting also means understanding the important role hunters play in wildlife management. Without hunting, Quitt explained, wildlife populations can become too large, leading to disease, starvation and other problems. But perhaps just as important, he said, these young hunters will become ambassadors for the sport. 

“There are anti-hunters, and we'd like to be able to change their mind about hunting,” Quitt said. “These people will be ambassadors when they get into the fields and have conversations about hunting.”

For 10-year-old Brock Feasel, a fifth grader at Superior Elementary, hunting is already a family tradition. With a big smile, Feasel explained one of the things he had learned during the class. 

“I know how to track now,” Feasel said. 

That lesson was taking place just a few feet away, where Quitt was working with four students at a time in the trees on the MCSSA property. The youngsters followed a simulated blood trail, learning to slow down, pay attention and interpret the clues left behind. Most of the students have already spent time in the field with parents, grandparents or other family members. They may know how to handle a firearm, recognize wildlife or follow a trail, but Hunters Education reinforces those lessons and adds plenty of new ones. 

At 10, Feasel will enter Montana's Apprentice Hunter program. After completing the required certification and obtaining the appropriate license, apprentice hunters can participate in certain hunts under the program's rules, including deer for big game.

For these young hunters, it is another step toward eventually joining their families in the woods. Thirteen-year-old Rhiannon Smith, an eighth-grader, already knows what she hopes to pursue.

“Deer, elk and grouse,” she said, explaining that she plans to hunt the same animals her dad does. 

Smith hasn't been out hunting with him for about a year, and she hasn't yet experienced the excitement of harvesting a big-game animal. But she has already learned one of the basic realities of Montana's outdoors, sometimes hunting means waiting, watching and learning.

She enjoys fishing so the idea of harvesting an animal isn't entirely new. When asked what she took away from Saturday morning's field training, Smith didn't hesitate. 

“Tracking and how to use bear spray.”

The instructors bringing the lessons to these students aren't newcomers to the program. Tom McCloskey has been a Hunters Education instructor for 36 years. He said today's students aren't all that different from the youngsters he's taught throughout the decades. 

“They're all about the same,” McCloskey said. “They're excited because they want to go hunting, even though some of them have hunted on the Mentor Program. Now they get a chance to buy an elk tag once they pass this course.”

Debra Regan has been teaching Hunters Education for an impressive 39 years. One thing that continues to impress her is how motivated the students can be when the subject is something they genuinely care about. 

“The kids are very motivated in Hunters Ed classes,” Regan said. “Maybe even more so than at school.” 

She recalled students whose parents told her they weren't particularly strong in school, only to see them excel in Hunters Education. 

“One of them got 100% on the written test,” she said. “So, they are very interested in the subject matter. They're eager and enthusiastic.” 

That enthusiasm is especially important because the written test isn't a breeze. Students must answer at least 85 of 100 questions correctly to pass. And attendance matters, too. The five evening classes and Saturday Field Day are all part of completing the program. Regan said the annual class is scheduled the week after the Mineral County Fair because finding a time that works for local families can be challenging. 

“During school, they're just too busy,” she explained. “Then when school gets out, so many have sports camps they attend.” 

Two weeks after the fair, sports practices begin, leaving a narrow window to squeeze in the course. This year, the class even attracted two students from Kalispell. Their local classes, they said, were consistently booked, so they came to Mineral County to get their opportunity.

Inside the classroom, the lessons weren't simply about memorizing regulations, they were about learning how to make good decisions in the field. Regan held up a rag-horn antler. 

“Can anyone tell me what this belongs to?” Four hands went up. A bull elk. Then came the next question. “Would this be a legal bull?” 

Again, the students knew the answer. Yes. The antler had a brow tine measuring more than four inches, making it legal under the example being discussed.

It may have looked like a simple question, but that is exactly the kind of knowledge Hunters Education is designed to provide. Because when these students eventually step into Montana's woods carrying a hunting license, they will be carrying something else, too. The responsibility that comes with it.

They'll be following tracks, watching the timber, listening for movement and hopefully sharing a few memorable experiences with family and friends. They'll also be carrying forward a Montana tradition. Hunters Education makes sure that tradition doesn't simply continue; it continues safely, ethically and responsibly.

    Debra Regan has been a Hunters Education Instructor for 39 years. She said that at times they had 35 to 35 students per class where today the average is around 15. (Monte Turner/Mineral Independent)
  

    Tom McCloskey takes students into the field to practice muzzle direction and firearms safety. (Monte Turner/Mineral Independent)
  

    Hunters Education Instructor Tom McCloskey coaches a student on the proper and safe usage of a lever action rifle. (Monte Turner/Mineral Independent)
  

    Students became familiar with pump shotguns and lever action rifles during the Field Day of Hunters Education last Saturday at the Mineral County Shooting Sports Association facility. (Monte Turner/Mineral Independent)
  

    Hunters Education Instructor Ken Quitt teaches the proper technique of using bear spray. This is a relatively new part of the curriculum. (Monte Turner/Mineral Independent)