Hunter Education Courses

The Club’s TRM Ranch and Rasmuson Wildlife Conservation Center paired with the on-site Palmer Shooting Sports Complex offer tremendous opportunities for all ages to complete practical, hands-on hunter education skills and field day certifications. Find the course that is right for you and you will be sure to walk away with newfound knowledge of hunting preparation, field dressing game, bear awareness, butchering and meal preparation, laws and ethics and much more.

Women's Hunter Education 

This course is organized and taught by Montana Hunter Education Instructors and is cosponsored with Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks. All course equipment and Montana Hunter Education manual is provided. Participants are required to read the entire Hunter Education manual and take each chapter quiz online before taking the course. 

Topics for the course include:

• Wildlife Conservation and Hunting Ethics
• Hunting Laws and Regulations
• Firearms and Firearms Instruction
• Preparing for a Hunt
• Target Shoot with a shotgun and rifle
• Identify Montana Wildlife

Participants take the hunter education test at the end of the course to receive certification. The test for certification as a Hunter in Montana and test review is included at the closing of the day. 

DETAILS:

Who: Women 18 years and older

Course Limit: 25 women 

Course Cost: Free (all course materials, equipment and ammunition)

NRA Youth Hunter Education Course

Do you enjoy shooting sports, hunting, or just like being outdoors? Would you like the opportunity to enhance your shooting skills and learn more about wildlife, survival skills and hunter responsibility? If you answered YES, then the MONTANA YOUTH HUNTER EDUCATION CHALLENGE is for YOU!!

The Youth Hunter Education Challenge is an advanced hunter education program designed to build and further develop skills taught in basic hunter education courses. For more information about the program visit: http://yhec.nra.org

The challenge is conducted under simulated hunting conditions to provide the best practical environment for reinforcing and testing a young hunter’s skill. This event will feature: Archery, .22 Rifle, Shotgun, Orienteering, Hunter Responsibility Exam and Wildlife Identification.

Participants must be 18 years old or younger and have completed a State Hunter Education Course. Parent or guardian permission is required. Volunteers are typically in high demand for this event so if you are interested or have experience in any of the offered skill sets, please let us know.

DETAILS:

When: June (dates to be determined)

Who: Youth up to the age of 18

Event Limit: 30 youth

Cost: $450

Hunting for Sustainability

Learn Hunting Skills to Bring Wild Game from Field to Plate

Have you been interested in hunting but haven’t had the opportunity to learn? In collaboration with other conservation groups, the Boone and Crockett Club has developed a 3-day program to help students overcome some of the unknowns and prepare you to hunt for local, free-range meat in an ethical and responsible manner.

The program has been conducted since 2017 at the Boone and Crockett Club’s Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Ranch on Montana’s Rocky Mountain Front. The program explores hunter ethics, motivations, fears, the role of hunting in wildlife management, the history of conservation, hunting regulations, firearm safety, selection, and practice, and field dressing, processing, storing, and cooking harvested wildlife.

Breakout sessions provide hands-on opportunities for program participants in areas of upland bird hunting, scouting for wildlife, deer hunting basics, and cooking. A substantial portion of the program is devoted to food. Participants eat wild game all weekend prepared by a professional chef who discusses tips for preparing and cooking game.

If you would like to learn more about this program or have interest in developing a similar program, contact:

Joshua Millspaugh
University of Montana
Boone and Crockett Professor of Wildlife Conservation

First Hunt on the Front

Lilly's Letters

The TRM Ranch is a perfect venue for hosting first-time hunters alongside First Hunt Foundation trained mentors. This program began in 2019 with a plan to bring in five first-time hunters, their parents and First Hunt Foundation mentors for five-days of action-packed, family-focused, hunting camp-style instruction. Participants learned about Fair Chase hunting, ethics, how to stay safe hunting in grizzly country, and of course, zeroing in rifles at the Palmer shooting range.

For a detailed account of from one of the 2019 participants, download Lily’s Letter from the Fall issue of Fair Chase magazine.

Note: The TRM ranch is enrolled in the state’s Block Management Program. While open to public hunting those wishing to access the property must call (406)472-3380 in order to obtain a reservation.

Call 406-472-3311 for more information.

Scholarship opportunities for these programs are proudly supported by Vortex Optics.