Wisconsin DNR Seeks Volunteers to Teach Hunter Education

   We hear often how Wisconsin’s hunting population keeps dwindling as baby-boomers grow older, and leave the woods and fields forever.

   Wisconsin’s hunter-education program faces similar challenges as senior instructors step aside, hoping and trusting younger folks to step forward to teach firearms safety and hunting ethics to beginners.

   To help recruit this year’s class of new instructors, the Department of Natural Resources put out the call for volunteers to teach its four safety classes: boating, snowmobiling, ATV/UTV and hunter/bowhunter education (Become a Volunteer Safety Instructor).

   The need for instructors is greatest in northern Wisconsin, but no part of the state will turn away qualified candidates.

   The DNR’s hunter education administrator, Lt. Renee Thok, said the DNR had over 2,800 active hunter-ed instructors and apprentices in 2025, which includes 2,700 qualified to teach the state’s gun-safety course in person, and 1,600 certified to teach the field-day portion of the online course. The 2025 hunter-ed group included 386 new instructors.

   “Our volunteer instructors leave a lasting impression on their students, and help create a safe hunting environment,” Thok said. “We take great pride in our instructor corps, and we’re always looking for exceptional individuals to help keep hunting safe in Wisconsin.”

     The Wisconsin DNR recruited nearly 400 hunter-education instructors in 2025, but its statewide group hovers around 3,000, down nearly 1,000 from a decade ago.

     — Patrick Durkin photo

   The DNR must actively recruit instructors because their numbers have fallen over 25% from 3,800 in 2016. The average age of active instructors is 54, and the average age of new instructors is 42.

   “Instructors usually first volunteer once their own kids reach ages when they start taking care of themselves and need less hands-on attention,” Thok said. “Plus, most instructors have settled into a career about then, and feel they can afford to volunteer time to something that matters to them.”

   On average, Wisconsin’s hunter-ed instructors teach classes 12 years, but Thok said many of them have taught 35, 40, 45 and even 50 years. The DNR honors instructors annually for their years of dedication. Recently, five instructors received awards for 50 years of service to hunter education.

   Thok said the awards honor actual years of service; not simply a span of time with intermittent instructor work.

   Among the 2025 honorees are …

   -- Tom Chandler, 66, of Gordon, the hunter education instructor of the year. Chandler taught six hunter-ed classes the past year, certifying over 100 students in the process. He has taught nearly 1,300 students during his time in hunter education.

   -- Richard Netzinger, 81, of Lake Geneva, the archery instructor of the year. Netzinger has been a certified instructor since 1997, and teaches several hunter-ed classes each year. He also mentors deaf students through the Big Foot Archers, teaches archery to kids with cancer at the One Step Camp, and offers BB-gun and archery lessons at Midwest Outdoor Heritage Education Expos.

   -- The TJ Walker Middle School Safety Education instructors of Sturgeon Bay were the hunter-education group of the year. Their members are Matt Propson, Mark Smullen, Dan Tjernagel, Derek Jennerjohn, David LaBott, Jonathan Meacham, Nick Nault, Scott Richard and Clint Henry. The group includes school staff, community volunteers and others certified to teach the hunter-ed, boating, snowmobiling, and ATV/UTV safety programs.

   Thok said the DNR also receives help from 167 junior instructors (under age 18) who shadow fully certified instructors, assisting where needed. The DNR tries to get junior instructors interested in the safety programs, hoping they’ll return in a larger role after graduating high school or college.

   Many instructors also bring their own volunteers to help. Typically, that means their spouse, teenage children or grandchildren. “We see many examples where families make hunter-ed a tradition passed down to the next generation, starting with their dad or grandpa,” Thok said. “Maybe their father belonged to the sportsmen’s club, or a family friend wanted to plant that seed with them so they’ll think about returning when they’re older. In other cases it’s a wife who volunteers her help by handling all the paperwork and scheduling.”

   Thok said the demographics of Wisconsin’s hunter-ed instructors basically reflect the state’s hunting population, which is roughly 89% male and 11% female. Girls have been common in hunter-ed classrooms since the 1990s, and earlier this year a hunter-ed class in Iola ended up being entirely female when 12 girls and no boys signed up.

   “That was just a random occurrence, but we do have groups that offer female-only classes,” Thok said.

   Despite the program’s reliance on volunteer instructors, Wisconsin has crafted a highly successful hunter-safety program the past 60 years, as seen in its annual incident reports. For example, consider the state’s spring turkey season, which began Saturday, April 11, with the two-day youth-only season, and ends May 26 after six Wednesday-Tuesday hunting periods. Turkey hunting is generally safe and accident-free. During the past 10 seasons, 2016 through 2025, the DNR reported 11 shooting incidents, none fatal, with no incidents three of the past four seasons: 2022, 2023 and 2025.

   Likewise, no one died in a shooting incident during six of the past 10 firearms deer seasons. That’s in stark contrast to the 1966 hunting seasons, when 26 shooting fatalities and 264 accidental shootings inspired Wisconsin to offer its first voluntary hunter-education classes in 1967. Soon after, hunter education became mandatory for everyone born on or after Jan. 1, 1973.

   “When we investigate incidents, nearly every case involved someone violating one of the four TAB-K rules of basic firearms safety,” Thok said. “Treat every firearm as if it’s loaded. Always point the muzzle in a safe direction. Be sure of your target, and what’s before and beyond it. Keep your finger outside the trigger guard until ready to shoot.”

   Hunter-education instructors must be at least 18, pass a background check, and have some hunting experience (https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/newsroom/release/119596). They must also have graduated the course, demonstrated the skills they’re expected to teach, and shown a sincere interest in teaching the ethics, respect and responsibilities inherent to the program’s long-term success.