Ben Garbacz/Daily Mining Gazette Calumet-Keweenaw Outdoorsmen's Club Secretary Richard Marsh oversees 5-year-old Miranda Walker firing a Savage .22 caliber bolt action rifle on the club's firing range in this August 2024 photo. Miranda's father Randy Walker looks on.

If you plan to take part in Michigan’s spring turkey season (April 19 through June 7) and you still need to take a hunter safety class, sign up soon. These classes are commonly offered ahead of the spring turkey season or in the fall before the start of firearm deer season.

To purchase a hunting license in Michigan, anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 1960, is required to successfully complete an approved hunter safety education course.

“We don’t want to see people wait until the week before they want to hunt to try locating a hunter safety class, at which point classes often are full,” said Lt. Tom Wanless, recreational safety, education and enforcement supervisor with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

There are four options for completing hunter safety education in Michigan, all of which require at least four hours of in-person instruction:

• Traditional classroom-based course.

• Online course followed by an in-person field day.

• Interactive online course (with animations and videos that put students in virtual real-life scenarios) followed by an in-person field day.

• Take-home study course followed by an in-person field day.

Wanless said the DNR-managed hunter safety education program helps the next generation of hunters learn how to safely, responsibly enjoy hunting and understand the importance of wildlife management and conservation. Wanless said the DNR-managed hunter safety education program helps the next generation of

hunters learn how to safely, responsibly enjoy hunting and understand the importance of wildlife management and conservation.

“These classes build confidence and teach lifelong skills, such as firearm safety, wildlife and habitat management, and how to use a map and compass, to an average of 15,000 students every year,” Wanless said. Once you successfully complete the hunter education course and receive your certificate, it is valid for life.

Learn more about the program and register for a class at Michigan.gov/HunterEducation.