DOVER, DE – With fall hunting seasons approaching, DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife Hunter Education Program reminds hunters born on or after Jan. 1, 1967 that they must successfully complete the Basic Hunter Education Course to obtain a Delaware Hunting License. Early pre-registration is advised due to limited class seating, with classes filling quickly as the hunting season approaches.
Course dates, times, and locations are available on DNREC’s Hunter Education Course Calendar, with additional classes to be scheduled based on class demand. Students must be 10 years of age or older to be able to take any Hunter Education Program course.
The Basic Hunter Education Course teaches students safety, ethics, firearm types, safe gun handling, marksmanship techniques, specialty hunting techniques, wildlife management, wildlife identification, survival, and Delaware hunting laws and regulations, as well as many other hunter safety-related topics. All Basic Hunter Education Course participants must participate in a live firearm firing session with a trained instructor.
Two options are available for the Basic Hunter Education Course:
· Traditional, in-person course offered at one of the classroom locations throughout the state. The in-person course is free of charge to all students.
· Online hunter education course with one of three private vendors, listed on the Hunter Education Course website, combined with a one-day in-person field course to complete the live firearm firing requirement. A fee is charged for taking the course online; the field day course is free.
The Delaware Hunter Education Program was first established in the early 1970s to help educate the public in safe hunting and to reduce hunting-related accidents. Since 1967, more than 35,000 hunters have received their hunter safety cards in Delaware, with a substantial decrease in hunting-related accidents.
To register for the program, click Hunter Education Online Access and select one of the options listed. For the required live-fire liability release, click Delaware Hunter Education. For more information, contact the Division of Fish & Wildlife Hunter Education Office at 302-735-3600, ext. 1.