Nevada: Apprentice Hunting Bill Scheduled to be Heard in Committee!

Assembly Bill 246, introduced by Assemblyman David Bobzien (D-24), is slated to be heard before the Assembly Ways and Means Committee on Monday, May 4. 

AB246 would establish an apprentice hunting license that would allow prospective hunters 12 years old and older to try their hand at hunting before completing a hunter education course.  Apprentice hunters would be required to be directly supervised in the field by a mentor who is at least 18 years old and who holds a valid Nevada hunting license.  Experience in more than two dozen other states shows that this apprentice hunting program is exceptionally safe and will bring many new hunters into the field. 

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 United States are doing everything they can to keep people from hunting.  Nevada currently ranks 49th among the states in hunter recruitment.  For every 100 Nevada hunters who permanently quit hunting, only 30 new hunters replace them.  This slide must be reversed, and AB246 will help in this effort. 

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 and pursue game that requires special tags.  In the end, more citizens will complete hunter education and join the hunter ranks as a result.

If you can attend the committee hearing and testify on behalf of AB246, the committee meets at 3:30 p.m. in Room 3137 in the Legislative Building at 401 S. Carson Street in Carson City or it will be videoconferenced in Las Vegas at the Grant Sawyer State Office Building in Room 4401.

Please contact the members of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee TODAY and respectfully ask them to support AB246.  Contact information for the committee can be found below. 

Assemblymember Morse Arberry, Chair                        
(775) 684-8587                       
[email protected] 

Assemblymember Sheila Leslie, Vice-Chair                              
(775) 684-8845                       
[email protected]

Assemblymember Barbara Buckley                                           
(775) 684-8537                       
[email protected]

Assemblymember Marcus Conklin                                              
(775) 684-8505                      
[email protected]

Assemblymember Moises Denis                                                
(775) 684-8593                      
[email protected]

Assemblymember Joe Hogan                                                     
(775) 684-8541                      
[email protected]

Assemblymember Ellen Koivisto                                                 
(775) 684-8597                      
[email protected]

Assemblymember Kathy McClain                                               
(775) 684-8835                      
[email protected]

Assemblymember John Oceguera                                             
(775) 684-8595                      
[email protected]

Assemblymember Debbie Smith                                                  
(775) 684-8841                      
[email protected]

Assemblymember Heidi Gansert                                                
(775) 684-8837                      
[email protected]

Assemblymember Tom Grady                                                     
(775) 684-8507                     
[email protected]

Assemblymember Joseph Hardy                                                  
(775) 684-8857                    
[email protected]

Assemblymember Pete Goicoechea                                           
(775) 684-8573                   
[email protected]