Coordinator’s Comments

I just returned from my annual Colorado elk bow hunt and, once again, I came home empty-handed when putting delicious, choice meat in the freezer; however, I never come back dissatisfied for many reasons:

• Physical exercise —  Elk hunting demands that I be in good shape to hike the 8 to 14 miles per day in elevations at 9.500 ft. +.
• Family & friends – This time I joined my son, his college buddy and my best friend from childhood — my 2nd such hunt with Ryan who harvested an elk last year on his first CO bow hunt. Proud of him!  Hope to take my daughter after she graduates from TX A&M — Whoop!
• My “naturalist” roots – I love bird watching and observing other wildlife & habitat — trying to remember all I learned as a budding wildlife biologist in CO.
• Close encounters – I had close ups of a bear, dusky grouse, a cow moose and her playful calf, countless mule deer — from fawns to big bucks (I could not magically turn them into elk, however), other birds & squirrels, of course.
•  Roughing it – This was the first time in a long time I spent the week in a primitive camp/tent.  Ohhh to get older with achier joints from a tough day’s hike, extremely cold mornings and hot afternoons — and rainy days where good socks and a camp stove were my best friends.

I hope you all get to go out hunting dove, hogs, deer or even get to go to a western state yourself this year.  BE SAFE and have FUN experiencing what we PASS ON to others!

The Texas Hunter Education Instructor’s Association (THEIA) is accepting nominations for the following Board and Officers positions: Vice President, Treasurer & Board of Directors for regions 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9.  For information on THEIA and a map of the regions, please visit https://txheia.org/ .  A person must be a voting member and an active Texas Hunter Education Instructor in good standing to be eligible to run for office. Nominees should submit a resume or personal statement of less than 1000 words to the online forum or email located at https://txheia.org/theia-elections-2016/ .  Nominations will be accepted until September 30, 2016.  Candidate resumes and personal statements will be posted from October 5 to October 31st, 2016. Elections shall take place from November 1st until November 15th, 2016.  Office terms shall start January 1, 2017 with installation of Officers occurring at the next Annual Members Meeting.  For more information please email th*************@gm***.com

SE and N TX Hunter Education Specialists, Heidi Rao and Monica Bickerstaff, respectively, hosted Dove Hunting 101s in Houston and Dallas in August, and there are upcoming workshops in San Antonio and San Angelo this September.  A big THANKS goes out to Gil & Vicki Ash, Optimum Shotgun Performance (OSP), Jim & Kitty Haynes, Houston Area Chiefs,  the Grand Prairie Gun Club, in particular, Jim Shultz and the HE Instructor members at the club for assisting with the two workshops that were well received by the public. These “pilot” efforts will pave the way for a full-fledged program in 2017 in which YOU, the instructor, will be empowered to deliver seminars, workshops and even mentored hunts as part of hunter education coursework throughout Texas!

ABOVE PHOTO: Dove 101 Houston Participants – American Shooting Centers

ABOVE: Shotgun 101 Houston Participants – American Shooting Centers

RIGHT: Dove 101 Dallas Participants – Grand Prairie Gun Club – Thanks also goes to TPWD Game Wardens, Jamie Sanchez and Sergio Bazaldua

Many of you are actively teaching hunter education courses and conducting outreach events at this –the busiest — time of year.  Hopefully you are getting supplies in time and I would like to personally THANK all of you for passing along safe, responsible outdoor, firearm and hunting habits to all Texans.

RIGHT: Area Chief Brent Heath sent in this photo of his course in Waco on August 27th.

LEFT:  Hunter Ed Student Course at Corpus Christi Pistol and Rifle Club; on August 27, 2016.  Instructors were Area Chief Gilbert Graves, and Martin Tunon.  Brock Minton, S TX Hunter Ed Specialist assisted with the course.

The major outdoor retailers are supporting hunter education this busy season, and we would like to THANK all retailers that work with instructors locally to teach our mission to thousands of their/our customers! Dean Nunciato with Academy has launched a campaign to teach hunter education in their stores throughout TX.  Courses are scheduled in Arlington, Austin, El Paso, Ft. Worth, Laredo, Lubbock (TBA), McAllen, The Woodlands, Tomball, Webster and Weslaco.

Courses also are being taught statewide at all Bass Pro Shops (e.g. Houston, Georgetown, San Antonio) and Cabela’s (e.g. Ft. Worth, Allen, Buda) stores. Cabela’s recently assisted the Texas Hunter Education Instructor Association (THEIA) in obtaining gift cards for the Hunter Education Instructor INCENTIVE AWARDS program. Both allow hunter education instructors and TPWD to set up meetings at their locations, too!

Again, thanks to all retailers for their support of the TX HE Program!

The new launch date for the Online Registration System is December 1st –after the “busy season.”

A list of instructors stand ready to ‘test’ the new system which will take the place of Scantron registration and check submittal to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department via snail mail.

Final ‘bugs’ are being worked out as we speak, mostly those dealing with the electronic transfer of funds to the State of TX directly from instructors that collect the funds during the classroom and field courses themselves.  Also, the transfer of funds from the online vendors is also being fine tuned so that record keeping will be accurate and the 1.3 million student and instructor database records are secure.

THANKS for your patience!  2017 will officially represent a new era in database and registration for the TX HE Program!