Des Moines, Iowa – More than 200 hunter education and shooting sports professionals will be in Des Moines for the International Hunter Education Association – USA conference May 18-21, at the Des Moines Marriott Downtown Hotel.
Participants are coming from nearly every state, Canada, Mexico, Guam, New Zealand and Kyrgyzstan. This is the second time the conference will be held in Iowa; the first was in 1994.
“We have 57,000 hunter education instructors, most of whom are volunteers, who train more than 700,000 students annually. This conference provides a valuable opportunity for hunter education program administrators to discuss their program needs, standards and reciprocity,” said Steve Hall, executive director for the International Hunter Education Association – USA.
The International Hunter Education Association – USA is the professional hunter education association affiliated with the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and the 50 state fish and hunter education programs.
Since 1949, nearly 40 million students have completed hunter education courses that cover firearm safety, bowhunting, wildlife management, caring for game in the field, responsible hunting, landowner relations, wildlife identification and more.
“Hunting is a safe activity that’s getting even safer because of hunter education,” Hall said. “Hunter education teaches responsibility while hunting and combined with our expanding shooting sports programs has significantly elevated the image of hunters and hunting.”
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is hosting the conference. Kalkomey Enterprises, Inc., of Dallas, is the title sponsor.
