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High school students across the NWT can now get credits for participating in a course that offers “fundamental knowledge and basic skills to become responsible and safe hunters.”
The course will count as three credits for Grade 10 students and is adapted from the hunter education program offered by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
NWT schools can participate in a pilot program starting in January. The full course won’t be available until the 2022-2023 school year.
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“The purpose of the course is to increase awareness and respect, reduce wounding and wastage of wildlife, encourage full use of hunted animals, and increase hunter safety,” the territorial government said in a news release on Tuesday.
“It encourages Indigenous and non-Indigenous hunters to be guided by the wisdom of past generations. It is important for hunters to follow traditional practices and a code of conduct that has served NWT harvesters for centuries: showing respect for wildlife, the environment, people, and self.”
The course will include safe hunting practices and techniques, an overview of the Wildlife Act, traditional harvesting values and practices, information about wildlife ecology and management, and on-the-land survival skills.
Since January 2020, updated Wildlife Act regulations have required that new resident hunters must pass a hunter education course before receiving a licence. That does not apply to Indigenous hunters, who have traditional hunting rights in the NWT for which a licence is not required.
