my oldest did the class room but my two other did the online and field day they all turned out to be just fine but they all have had the watch full eye of dad to let them know if they did right or wrong in the field i do not see anything wrong with the online classes just my 2 cents.
As with any class, they cover the basics and bases. Years of hands on experience are where one learns.
My son also did the online course. It was great that he could work at his own pace throughout the summer to get this completed. I didn’t have to spend another week night running him to training classes. He then had a 6 hour field day at the local gun club to get certified. I thought it was great and he seem to learn what he needed.
As long as there is still some hands on training with a certified instructor I have no problem with it. BUT, if you can just take the class online and have no hands on that is BAD NEWS in my opinion.
A buddy of mine who is 51 years old had to get his to hunt in Canada this year. I was surprised to hear he did it ALL online with zero hands on. I don’t like that at all. Now this guy has hunted all his life and only needed it to get a Canada hunting license, so in that case I have no issue, but a newby with no experience with guns I hate the idea.
Think of how many horrible drivers there are on the road everyday, and they all get in person trainig. As with all things those who want to learn and want to be safe will pay attention and learn, those who don’t will slack off whether on line or in person.
I’ve had bullets whiz by me way to close for comfort 5 times in my hunting career, all 4 of the responsible parties had in classroom safety training (yep, 2 incidents by the same person a neighbor). The scariest one was by the two time offender and wasn’t even during the gun season. I was bow hunting when he decided our woods was a good enough backdrop for his bullets while he target practiced. I heard all 5 rounds whiz through the tree 5 feet to my right at about head level. We had some words that morning, but bottom line is the guy pulling the trigger has to think safety and no dnr required training class online or otherwise will change that.
I had to take the online course even with my combat experience in the Marines. My impression is that it’s better to require a basic course like this, than to not require a course at all. It covers a broad range key safety practices for most hunting weapons; even with my experience I was able to take some things away from the course.
Like poomunk, the least safe hunters I’ve been with took the classroom course. Not to say it was less efficient, but I think the classroom setting allows more room for distraction.
First, I am a firearm safety instructor. There are a few reasons the MN DNR have opted to online courses as an option. The most overlooked reason is the lack of instructors. You do not make a dime being a firearm safety instructor. It is tough to convince someone to take 20 hours out of their week to teach a course, let alone find someone who even has 20 extra hours to teach one…I prefer the classroom method but it has been slowly phased out. Its a shame that more people aren’t interested in volunteering to teach the youth proper hunting etiquette and regulations. If any fellow instructors on the board are teaching a course anytime soon and need help, let me know. I live in the south metro.
glad to see that there are still some instutors out there 
Hammy you seem so surprised by an online course. Not a big deal at all and a lot better than nothing, which is what they’ve had for the majority of the state’s history. Plus you didn’t mention the minimum age requirement to go online versus take the class in person.
Hammy you seem so surprised by an online course. Not a big deal at all and a lot better than nothing, which is what they’ve had for the majority of the state’s history. Plus you didn’t mention the minimum age requirement to go online versus take the class in person.
I can’t really say what my opinion is one way or the other BC of lack of experience of what is good or bad when it comes to handling firearms. As I stated in the OP the class covered alot, and was quite thorough and did a good job on covering the main points IMO.
The DNR site has all ages (11-17) available to take online course, with those being under 18 to have a mandatory field day.
The states history was quite loose in past years, but the course was implemented BC of the gun accidents rising. I would assume back in the day guns were much more familiar for most people. Heck even the general public it seemed was more chill. My Grandpa on one side said as a kid he’d hitchhike out into the country to shoot some birds, then hitchhike back home with his gun and birds on him. And this crazy place he had to travel to was Robbinsdale. Mind blown, for me at least.
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