The Saskatchewan Association for Firearm Education (SAFE) was at the Yorkton Gun and Collectibles Show again this year. The organization delivers the hunter safety program and oversees firearms safety programs for the province, explains exhibitor Shawna Aufner.
The program aims at training youth to become responsible hunters. It also works with landowners to make the use of firearms safe for everyone involved, Aufner adds.
In order to hunt in Saskatchewan all persons must have completed a hunter safety course, Aufner points out. Youth must be 11 years of age to take the course but cannot hunt until they turn 12 years of age.
The courses are not restricted to young people. Participants range in age right from 11 year olds up to grandparents, says Aufner. Many have competed the course previously but go through the course with their grandchildren as a refresher.
While SAFE is a provincial organization, funded by the provincial government through the ministry of the environment, most of the instructors associated with it are also federal instructors who can deliver federal firearms possession courses. says Aufner. "Other than having our instructors doing both, we really don't have anything to do with the federal instruction," she notes.
Anyone who would like to register for a hunter safety course can do so by contacting the Saskatchewan Association for Firearm Education in Regina at 306-352-6730, email safee@sasktel.net or go to www.saskhuntered.ca. They will direct callers to any of the 450 active instructors in the province.
Often the organization puts notices in local schools notifying people of courses offered and who to contact, Aufner states.
The fee for the in-class or online program is $50 per individual. The fee provides the course, examination and certificate. Anyone who doesn't have access to the internet or can't attend a course can complete a home study course which costs $70.
Aufner urges everyone to hunt safely.
