SIMI VALLEY : Class Offered for Beginning Hunters

The Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District is offering a two-day course for beginning hunters who need certification to get a state hunting license.

The course, which will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 22 and Saturday, Sept. 26 in Oak Park, will cover such subjects as firearm safety, wilderness survival, hunters’ ethics and the role they play in wildlife management.

Completion of the course satisfies the state’s education requirement for hunters applying for their first hunting licenses, said Bruce Freeman, the course instructor.

The animal rights movement together with offensive behavior by some hunters have given hunters “a bad rap,” he said. Freeman, who has taught the course about a dozen times, tells his students to change out of bloody clothing before going in public after their hunt and not to openly display their guns or gun racks.

And, he teaches, “don’t display a dead deer draped across the fender of a car.”

In addition, Freeman stresses to his classes the importance of firing to kill when shooting dove, quail, deer or other wildlife that are commonly hunted in California.

“We don’t want to leave crippled animals out there,” he said.

Like all instructors in the state-sponsored hunter’s education program, Freeman, 43, an Oak Park resident and stockbroker, is not paid for his teaching, he said.

“There’s a rather substantial population of hunters like myself who want to make sure the sport continues and the best way we can do it is to make sure future hunters get trained and educated properly,” he said.

There is no age limit on the course, but youths under age 16 need Freeman’s permission to enroll.

The course fee is $15. It will be held at Oak Hills School, 1010 Kanan Road. For information and class times, call the park district at 584-4400.