By Cory Boothe
Coryboothe@hotmail.com
The West Virginia Department of Natural Resources hit the ball out of the park for 2013. This year, the DNR will be offering an apprentice licenses for possible sportsmen. Before this year, anyone wishing to purchase a license first had to complete a hunters education course.
The hunters education course takes an average of twelve hours to complete. Unfortunately, these courses are only offered at two times during the year. Typically one before the spring turkey season and one before the fall hunting season. If a possible sportsman missed the course, they had to wait a minimum of 6 months to take the course.
Today, an individual interested in hunting can buy an apprentice license and hunt with a licensed sportsman without getting the hunters education card. A prospective hunter can buy an apprentice license for 3 years and then they must complete a hunters education course. Anyone who has previously purchased a license is not eligible for the apprentice license.
This license allows the person interested in hunting to see if it is what they want to do without having to take a 12 hour course to decide. The future hunter must be accompanied and directly supervised by a licensed adult. The youth apprentice license is $16 for youth age 15-17. For adults, the apprentice license is $19. It is of note that these licenses can only be purchased at www.wvhunt.com
A special thanks goes out to our DNR for allowing prospective hunters to enjoy the outdoors without being hampered. The apprentice license is comparable to being able to test drive a car before purchase. Hopefully, the apprentice license will create a boost in the recruitment of future hunters.
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