Unique field day for hunting course

For the Iola Middle School hunter’s education class, a “field day” is a bit more than playing tug-of-war or touch-football.
On Tuesday morning, 35 middle school students, along with six game wardens, spent several hours learning about hunting safety with a little hands-on experience. They traveled southeast of Iola, to a field off of Nebraska Road.
Their instructor, John Wilson, also a science teacher, has spent nine weeks instructing the students during the course — giving them an in-depth view of what it means to hunt responsibly.
“I wish I could have had this when I was little,” Wilson said as he watched his students practice handling rifles and shotguns.
There were four stations for the students to participate in different activities — an archery range, skeet shooting, rifle handling and maintenance and a hike that put the students in “real-life” hunting situations.
A normal hunting-safety course takes place over a weekend, through the game warden’s office. Wilson’s course leads to the same goal — a safety certification — but also gives students a chance for more repetition and practice in their learning.
“There’s a big difference between getting through this course in a weekend, rather than nine weeks,” Wilson said. The course is an elective offered through Iola Middle School.

WILSON SAID while hunting safety is a big concern in southeast Kansas, his course also covers a lot of the conservation and management involved in a hunter’s life.
“I am very concerned about our wildlife in southeast Kansas,” Wilson said. The quail population that once flourished in the area for the most part has been reduced to nothing.
He said the course emphasizes tracking the amount taken in during a season, and paying attention to current populations in the field — because, as he said, hunting is “much more than killing something and bringing it back.”
“There is an effort to bring back different populations,” he said. “It’s all about management.”
He said seeing the students get involved in hunter’s education is important to him as a teacher.
“If this sparks an interest in hunting and wildlife, that’s great,” he said.
He was contacted by several in the community to offer a longer course through the schools, and has had a substantial response from the community. This is the first year the course has been taught at IMS — the first nine-week session had 12 students, and the second session almost tripled that amount.
He contacted the game warden’s office in Pratt, and they sent the six wardens to help officiate and instruct during the field day.
He expressed his contentment with a smile as he surveyed the students scattered around the field.
“All of the kids are focused and on-task,” he said. “This is what teaching is all about, this is rewarding.