Please Contact Your State Representative Today!
On Tuesday, April 27, the Vermont Senate passed House Bill 243 by a vote of 28-1. The bill now heads back to the House for concurrence.H. 243, introduced by State Representative Steve Adams (R-Windsor-4), would establish a mentored hunting license that would allow prospective hunters to try their hand at hunting before completing a hunter education course. Apprentice hunters would have to be directly supervised in the field by a mentor who is at least 21 years-old and who holds a valid hunting license. Experience in more than two-dozen other states with these laws shows that this kind of mentored hunting program is exceptionally safe and will bring many new hunters into the field. There is no reason to believe that the citizens of
Hunter recruitment is critical to the long-term preservation of our hunting heritage. Hunter numbers are declining and radical anti-hunting organizations like the Humane Society of the
Research shows that overly-burdensome regulations deter citizens from trying hunting for the first time. This includes the current requirement that virtually all prospective hunters complete hunter education. An apprentice hunting program allows people a “try it before they buy it” opportunity. Ultimately, many will want to complete a hunter education course in order to hunt on their own. In the end, more citizens will complete hunter education and join the hunting ranks as a result.
Please contact your State Representative and respectfully urge them to support H. 243. Contact information for the Vermont State House of Representatives can be found by clicking here.