Media advisory issued April 29, 2002, effective immediately.
For media inquiries, contact Caroline Booth Lara, Communications Specialist, (580) 224-6379.
  email: cblara@noble.org.

Note: This event occurred in 2002. Please see our news releases section for upcoming events.

Hunter education course scheduled for May 18
Many hunters must take class before purchasing licenses or permits

ARDMORE, Okla. — A Noble Foundation-sponsored Oklahoma Hunter Education Course is set for Saturday, May 18, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Southern Oklahoma Technology Center's conference auditorium.

All Oklahoma hunters born on or after Jan. 1, 1972, must take the course before they can purchase a hunting license, deer gun permit, or deer primitive firearms permit. A similar course is required for most hunters in the United States — and the Oklahoma hunter education certification is accepted in all 50 states.

"As wildlife biologists, we believe it is important to help foster interest and ethical conduct in hunting, because it directly benefits wildlife management," said Mike Porter, Noble Foundation wildlife specialist. "We are hunters, and like most hunters, we care deeply for the sport and the species hunted."

To receive a hunter education certificate, a person must attend the entire course and pass the written exam. Course topics will include firearms, hunter ethics, safety, specialty hunting, laws, survival, wildlife management and conservation, and special concerns.

"Most people in the United States are not hunters, and non-hunters' perceptions of hunting is primarily shaped by their observations of, and communications with, hunters," Porter said. "We want to influence these perceptions by helping to develop safe and ethical hunters."

Three of the five course instructors are Noble Foundation wildlife specialists, and three are certified Oklahoma hunter education instructors. One is also certified by the Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training (CLEET) and by the National Rifle Association (NRA).

Anyone may attend the course. Call Melissa Castleman at the Noble Foundation at (580) 223-5810 to reserve a seat.

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The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, headquartered in Ardmore, Okla., is a non-profit organization conducting agricultural, forage biotechnological, and plant biology research; providing grants to numerous non-profit charitable, educational and health organizations; and assisting farmers and ranchers through educational and consultative agricultural programs.

To learn more, visit the Noble Foundation Web site at http://www.noble.org.

More news releases available at www.noble.org/Press_Release