New Hampshire: New Way to “Make a Hunter”

© By Othmar Vohringer

New Hampshire has a new opportunity this year for participating in the hunting experience. The Apprentice Hunting License allows people to hunt, under the guidance of an experienced hunter age 18 or older, without first having to take a Hunter Education course. In instituting the program, New Hampshire followed the lead of thirty states that have established apprentice hunting programs over the past five years.

For New Hampshire it is the first year of having this the new license and so far it looks promising as a tool to recruit more hunters. During the spring turkey hunting season, 93 new hunters bought Apprentice Hunting Licenses. Of these, more than half were women, and many were in the 16-25 age group. Some 23% of these hunters (21 in all) were successful – better than the overall success rate for spring turkey hunters the previous year. No safety incidents were reported.

You can find tips for apprentice hunters, and those who accompany them, at http://www.huntnh.com/Hunting/apprentice.html.

Here’s how the Apprentice License works:

• ACCOMPANIED: The licensed apprentice hunter is allowed to hunt only when accompanied by a properly licensed hunter age 18 or older. “Accompanied” means maintaining physical direction and control (keeping the apprentice within sight and hearing at all times, without the use of electronic devices).
• COST: The apprentice hunting license is the same price as a regular resident or nonresident hunting license. It can be purchased only at N.H. Fish and Game headquarters, 11 Hazen Drive in Concord, N.H., or by mail (visit: http://www.wildnh.com/Licensing/license_forms.htm for an application.)
• ONE-TIME OPPORTUNITY: You can purchase an Apprentice Hunting License only once in your lifetime. If you want to hunt in a future year, you must first complete a hunter education or bowhunter education course, then buy a regular New Hampshire hunting license.

“The Apprentice Hunting License is an exciting new opportunity for sharing the hunting experience,” said Mark Ellingwood, Chief of the N.H. Fish and Game Wildlife Division. ”Like our successful youth hunting program, in which youngsters go afield under the supervision of an adult mentor, this program is a great way to provide a positive first-time experience for adults who never had the chance to go hunting as a youth.”

The Apprentice License is valid from the date of purchase through the end of the calendar year. It may not be used to hunt moose and does not apply to the three-day small game license. Learn more at http://www.huntnh.com/Hunting/apprentice_FAQs.htm.