Basic Hunter Education instructor manual

Here are the lessons required to meet the basic hunter education curriculum standards adopted by the IHEA-USA and the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies

These 22 lessons cover all 54 student learning objectives outlined in the IHEA-USA Hunter Education Standards document. 

The lessons provided below have been revised as of February 2017 based on Instructor feedback staff experience. Thank you to all the instructors who responded to the survey; we incorporated most if not all suggestions while maintaining curriculum standards. 

Please discard any version of the lessons marked earlier than February 2017.

To our volunteer instructors: If you are having trouble accessing any of the files below or need hard copies, please call the Hunter Education program at [phone] or send us an email at [e-mail]

Note: Many of these documents are in PDF format and require the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view them.

Basic Hunter Education Agendas

Blended Learning Format

• Blended Format: Field Day Agenda (updated 11/30/2023)
• Blended Format: TWO DAY Agenda (added 1/26/24)

Traditional (In Person) Format

• Traditional 3 Day Agenda (added 11/30/2023)

Lessons and Materials

#	Lesson	Exercise/Worksheet	Slideshows
1	Intro to Hunter Education		Slideshow: Intro to Hunter Education
2	2A: Firearms Basics 2B: Firearms Basics
3	Firearms Safety	Firearms Safety Incident Cards (Student's Exercise) Firearms Safety Incident Cards (Instructor's Copy)
4	Laws & Regulations updated 3/25/2024	Laws & Regulations (Student's Worksheet) updated 3/22/2024 Laws & Regulations (Answer Key) updated 3/22/2024	Slideshow: Laws & Regulations updated 3/22/2024
5	Ethics & Responsibility	Dilemma Cards (Student's Exercise) Dilemma Cards (Instructor's Copy)
6	Hunting Opportunities	Landowner User Agreement Card
7	Firearms Action Handling Station
8	Intro to Blackpowder
9	Fundamentals of Shooting
10	Personal Preparedness	Personal Preparedness Hunting Trip Plan
11	Field Carries	Instructor Clue Card
12	Crossing Obstacles
13	Zones of Fire
14	Gun Cleaning, Storage, & Transportation
15	Wildlife Conservation		Slideshow: Wildlife Conservation
16	Judgement and Shot Placement
17	Big Game Recovery	Big Game Recovery & Lost in the Woods (Student Handout) Added 03/27/2024 Instructor Cheat Card Added 04/17/2024
18	Treestand Safety
19	Introduction to Archery
20	Wildlife ID	Wildlife ID (Student's Worksheet)	Slideshow: Wildlife ID
21	Game Care

Additional Resources

Universal class materials for Instructors

Resources for Volunteer Instructors

Basic Hunter Education courses

Massachusetts Hunter Education Program