Greg Steele of Brandon has taught over 2,000 students Hunter Safety since January of 2000, and has taught over 4,000 students the CFSC since 2003. He has been teaching classes in Virden for almost a decade, and will be offering both courses through Prairie West Recreation in Virden on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1.
Steele has owned a firearms and gunsmithing business in Brandon for over 30 years. As customers kept coming to him looking for training, he received all the pertainant background checks and training to teach Hunter Safety and CFSC. He has taught in numerous communities such as Reston, Melita, and Oak Lake.
The Hunter Safety has recently been made available to children ages ten and older, as opposed to the previous age of 12 and older. Students age ten and eleven can attend the Hunter Safety course and receive an apprentice card.
The Hunter Safety Education Apprentice card allows the young hunters to hunt small game, such as grouse, geese or ducks, with a properly licensed adult (with constant and at an-arms-length supervision). Any game shot by the youth will be applied to the supervising adult’s bag limit.
Hunter Safety teaches first aid, game identification, game laws, equipment, and preparedness for hunting trips.
The CFSC is offered to hunters age 12 and up, who already possess a valid Hunters Safety card. This course offers a more in depth look at handling firearms, as well as legal obligations for storing, transporting, and displaying firearms.
There are two stages to this course, the first is for rifles, which is the class being taught in Virden; the second is for handguns and prohibited firearms, which Steele offers in Brandon at least once a month.
Both Hunter Safety and CFSC are a full eight hour day course, followed by a written and a practical exam.
The courses are limited in size and early registration is recommended. Registration can be done at the Prairie West Recreation office in the Virden CPR Historic Centre Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. For more information about the courses email gsteele4570@gmail.com.
