Hunting in Iowa: Are Safety Courses Required to Hunt in Iowa? How Do I Pass Classes?

Often activities with the highest stakes tend to be the most enjoyable. Hunting is no exception to this rule. All methods that may be used to hunt, whether guns, bows, snares, or other traps have one thing in common: they are all extremely risky.

However, in Iowa there are many safety tests and rules in place to ensure safety for all hunters and nearby citizens. Iowa's Department of Natural Resources announces that these courses aim to educate hunters about safety and ethics, first aid skills, water safety, hunting laws, firearm/archery safety, and rudimentary wildlife management.

So far in 2015 there have been zero hunting incidents.

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Here is the information you need to find and ace any safety course you will have to take in order to hunt in Iowa:

1. All persons born after January 1, 1972 must obtain certification in a hunter education course before they may purchase an Iowa hunting license.

2. The course takes a minimum of 10 hours to complete.

3. Iowa acknowledges many other states as well as several international hunting safety certifications.

4. Most courses are free, unless there is a lunch charge or a room rental fee.

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5. Classes typically run March 1 – Nov. 15.

6. There is more than one way to take an Iowa Hunter Education course.

Option one: Classroom Instruction. Register online for the nearest class.

Option two: Online course and a field day. This option is for any person who is too busy to attend a classroom instruction period. There are two approved websites that offer online courses.

Option three: Online only hunter education course for adults only. Only adults that have previous hunting and/or firearms handling are eligible for this option. Just as in the online course and field day option, the courses information is available at two websites.

This article is for information only. Please check current regulations before hunting.

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