The Department of Natural Resources places a high priority on the safety education programs offered to Wisconsinites. With the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the department has been working closely with the Department of Health Services to ensure proper protocols were in place to ensure the safety of our students. This entailed temporarily suspending in-person classes to prevent social gatherings.
The DNR has not suspended hunter safety courses for the remainder of 2020. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 public health emergency and the need to properly social distance, Wisconsin’s Hunter Education classes are still on pause. Moving forward the Department will continue to look to health officials for guidance when the safety class program can be resumed, while ensuring our students are learning in a safe environment.
The DNR is proud to have been able to keep all hunting seasons open as scheduled with appropriate licensing during COVID-19. Preliminary totals show Wisconsin turkey hunters registered 44,963 birds during the 2020 spring turkey hunting season, nearly a 17% increase from the 2019 season. The 2020 youth season resulted in a total of 2,880 birds registered, up 47% from 2019. Harvest increased significantly across all zones and time periods compared to 2019 levels. More information about Wisconsin’s 2020 spring turkey season is available here.
Wisconsin’s hunting legacy runs deep. To help keep Wisconsin’s hunting heritage strong, Hunter Education certification may be completed online by customers of age 18 and older. Additionally, the Mentor Hunt Program is also available for those who are not yet age 18 and who would need hunter education certification.
A person of any age can obtain a mentored only hunting license and hunt without first completing a hunter education course through the Mentor Hunt Program. He or she must be accompanied by a licensed hunter (mentor), hunt within arm’s reach of the mentor and follow other rules. Such mentored hunts remove barriers to hunting yet still allow people to safely experience hunting in a highly controlled manner. This one-on-one mentoring opportunity gives first-time hunters a chance to try hunting and enables veteran hunters to pass on their passion for the outdoors.
Beginning in March, the DNR has canceled, adjusted and postponed an array of in-person public events, meetings and operations consistent with guidance provided by the Wisconsin Department of Health and Department of Administration. The DNR continues to receive the most up-to-date information and will adjust operations as conditions change. Learn more about Wisconsin DNR operations and offerings during COVID-19 here.
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Jon King
Hunter Education Administrator
Conservation Warden
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
1500 North Johns Street, Dodgeville, WI 53533
Phone: (608) 575-2294
email: jon.king@wisconsin.gov