Alicia Meehan, Campus Carrier deputy news editor

Georgia’s General Assembly recently passed legislation allowing public schools to teach courses on outdoor and hunter safety starting in the 2026-2027 school year. Should the legislation be signed by Gov. Brian Kemp, the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) will be required to establish standards and a curriculum before April 1, 2026. Certified Hunter Education (HE) instructors will be able to teach sixth- through twelfth-grade students in public schools. 

Superintendent of Floyd County Schools Glenn White said that the areas of Georgia with a smaller population, such as Rome, could benefit from outdoor and hunting education classes because it is a part of rural culture.

“These classes could be useful, especially in a rural community like we have here in Floyd County, because a lot of our kids and their parents hunt and fish,” White said. 

White said that some areas in Georgia would have no real use for this course. Schools in Atlanta and the surrounding areas do not have much access to hunting grounds or wilderness, and students there may not have an interest in learning about these things.

“It depends on the area you live in,” White said. “Here in northwest Georgia, we have a lot of students who are interested in hunting, but in highly populated areas like metro Atlanta, schools might not be interested in teaching these courses because their students really don’t have the opportunity to hunt.”

Overall, White guessed that at least half of the schools in Georgia would be willing to include Hunting Education in their curriculum. 

White said that the 1985 Quality Basic Education (QBE) Act might be able to provide funding to schools for the hunting education course, should the course meet the requirements under the QBE’s formula. According to the GaDOE, QBE uses a formula to determine state funding based on variables such as the costs of instructional programs and instructor training. If the course fails to meet the requirements, schools will have to fund the courses and teacher payrolls.

“If the law goes through, [GaDOE] may consider the course something that could be funded through QBE,” White said. “In other words, certain classes have to meet certain criteria before we can get funding for them.”

The most important factor in outdoors and hunting education in schools is that it should not interfere with required academic classes. White affirmed that he would never allow hunting classes to take precedence over core topics like mathematics and history. 

“We’re not going to take time out of our instructional day and academics to teach about hunting,” White said.

Joshua Wilburn, a recreational hunter and resident of Homer, Ga., said that as a child he benefited from an outdoor and hunting class at Woodville Elementary in Habersham County. He believes the students of today would benefit from learning about the outdoors and the practice of hunting as well.

“I think it’s important for everyone to understand safety when it comes to hunting, or just carrying weapons in general,” Wilburn said.

Wilburn said that the courses can help the general public better understand hunting and its benefits. He said that those with a negative opinion on hunting may not be educated enough on the subject. 

“I think a lot of the people that are against [hunting] just aren’t educated enough to understand it,” Wilburn said. 

According to Hunter Development Program Manager Walter Lane, the Hunter Education curriculum has existed for 55 years in some form in all 50 states. Over the 55 years, certified HE instructors taught the course intermittently at schools.  

“The Hunter Education courses have been taught in Georgia since the early 1970s,” Lane said. “There is a hunter education program in all 50 states, and it adheres to a curriculum that is agreed upon and prescribed by the International Hunter Education Association.”

The changes enacted by Senate Bill 148 authorize teaching the pre-existing curriculum. 

“The bill authorizes the Board of Education to establish a curriculum for hunter education and it should be based on the curriculum that’s already part of the DNR hunter education course,” Lane said.

Lane said that most of the course is taught in a classroom. The course includes hunting and firearm safety, field preparation, wilderness survival and wildlife management information. 

“Most of our Hunter Education Instructors are DNR staff so the course is often taught by game wardens and some of our Hunter Development Program staff,” Lane said. “We do also have volunteers and most of those are just passionate hunters who go through a training program.”

Assistant Vice President for Campus Safety and Land Management Gary Will said that any collaboration between local schools and Berry’s hunting grounds would be arranged by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR). 

“There is nothing in the agreement about [Berry] cooperating with education,” Will said. “I’m not saying it’s not possible, but it would have to be discussed with the DNR.”

Instructors for hunting education courses would undergo a three-step education plan to be certified according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. Those planning on becoming a HE instructor must take an online course and receive their course completion certificate. Next, they participate in a basic online hunter education course. This course is meant to mirror what students will experience in their classrooms to ensure that instructors understand the standards for hunter’s education.  

The final step for certification is attending an in-person Hunter Education Academy within 10 months after completing the previous step of the process. At the academy, instructors will look at policy and administrative procedures. Instructors will also participate in hands-on activities such as a live fire exercise and tree stand safety. The Hunter Education Academy is held twice a year in April and August. 

To complete the certification, instructors will make and present a presentation and complete a written test. As a part of the Hunter Education Instructor Professional Development Program, HE instructors are required to attend a professional development event once a year. The DNR’s website includes helpful information for HE instructors including set-up guidelines, student information forms and a pass/fail roster.

Another benefit of the classes is teaching students about the importance of the outdoors and how to preserve the environment. Wilburn said that making children knowledgeable and interested in the wilderness can keep the students and the environment safe.  

“A good thing about this program is it’s going to get the youth involved, which is important to keep things going in the right direction for conservation,” Wilburn said. “I know a lot of people who are against hunting are environmentalists, but hunters are environmentalists as well.”

According to Lane the long-standing tradition of hunting in Georgia brings in $11.8 billion in taxes that fund wildlife conservation. 

“You’ve got about 800,000 people a year that hunt in Georgia,” Lane said. “The excise tax on guns, ammunition and archery equipment is part of the wildlife restoration program and brings tens of millions of dollars a year in conservation funding in the state of Georgia.”