Lake County - DNR Hunter Safety Field Day

We offer an official State of Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Field day. This is a 4-hour outdoor, hands-on, training and testing session, for hunters who have already learned the written or "book" knowledge, either online or using the printed textbook.

Our Hunter Safety field days comply with state law and DNR regulations¹. These require/mandate:

The pre-scheduled field day shall be a minimum of 4 hours.

1. Students arrive
2. Materials Review
3. Laws and Ethics
4. Exam
5. Hands-on Portion (Explain, Demonstrate, Teach/Coach)

We confirm knowledge of material already studied before the field day, and augment it with hands-on practice. Our goal is to promote safe behavior including the safe handling of firearms. Most students pass, but a student who is not ready or able, will not receive a Hunter Safety certificate. This happens in cases of failure to complete the prior study or pass the exam, or, based on an instructor's judgment.

Points 1 through 4 above, are kind of self-explanatory. The hands-on portion involves the following²:

• Walking in groups while carrying firearms safely.
• Practice handling and operating special/custom non-firing training weapons.
• Getting dirty! We kneel, sit, and crawl in the dirt, mud, grass, leaves, and/or snow.
• General outdoor health and safety such as appropriate dress, footwear, nutrition, and hydration.
• Crossing over and under fences with firearms.
• Climbing into and out of raised blinds, tree stands, and/or boats, with firearms.
• Shooting live firearms: .22 rifle, light shotgun/skeet (.410 and/or 20 gauge), and deer rifle (.30-30).
• Sometimes (depending on conditions, demand, time and staff availability), shooting crossbow and bow and arrow.

Our goal isn't to train expert shooters nor to teach hunters to hunt - those things take more than 4 hours. We train and ensure safe firearm and bow behavior, and accustom students to live ammunition and a representative variety of bows, firearms and actions. Also it's fun.

Our ideal field day is active from start to finish. Our chapter reviews, question-and-answer sessions, and instruction occur in-field, on-station and/or during activities; for example while walking, during exercises, or between rounds of shooting. Students may (logistics permitting) complete the written exam while standing, or at a shooting station. Snacks typically consist of pocketable, in-field fodder such as venison sausage, cheese sticks, and bagel quarters.

To attend and succeed in a field day, and get their Hunter Safety certificate, students must:

• Apply for the field day online.
• Complete either
• the Hunter Home Study course (no charge for this, study materials provided by us), answer the review questions, and bring them to the field day, or,
• the approved online course (there is a charge for this), and bring the "Hunter Education Card" (this is not the same as the "Orange Card" which hunters will get after completing the Field Day).
• Participate fully in the field day and fulfill all the requirements. This includes:
• Dress appropriately! Students dressed inappropriately for the weather will not be allowed to participate. If for reasons of cost or recalcitrance this may be a problem, contact an instructor.
• Be able to sign their name - state law/DNR regulations require that they sign their certificate.

Students who successfully meet the requirements and complete the field day will receive their Hunter Safety Certificate ("Orange Card") on the spot. With this you may buy a hunting license in Michigan, also in many other states.

Author: Leo Hesting
Revision: April 1, 2025