Why It Matters: Our time-honored hunting traditions remain alive and well with today’s hunters, but will rely on the next generation to carry them into the future. In doing so, today’s youth will eventually be license buyers and, in turn, the primary funders of conservation through the “user pays – public benefits” structure that is the American System of Conservation Funding. By supporting legislative efforts geared at introducing today’s youth to hunting, we are proactively protecting our time-honored traditions for future generations.
Highlights:
- In February 2025, Georgia Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus (Caucus) Co-Chairs Representatives Chas Cannon and Matt Dubnik, among other Caucus members, introduced House Bill 451, which would allow public schools to offer hunter safety education courses in grades six through twelve.
- On the last day of the 2025 legislative session, the hunter safety education course language from HB 451 was included in Senate Bill 148 (SB 148) but fell short of the Sine Die deadline in the Georgia State Senate.
- Fast forward to January 28, 2026, SB 148 received a unanimous agreement vote to the House Changes from 2025 and was subsequently signed into law by Governors Sportsmen’s Caucus Member Governor Brian Kemp on May 5.
Following a two-year effort spearheaded by the Georgia Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus working closely alongside the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF), students in Georgia will soon have the opportunity to complete a DNR approved hunter safety education course as part of their in-school instruction. CSF worked closely alongside Caucus members to introduce the bill and see it through the entire legislative process. Additionally, CSF spearheaded a coalition letter of support for HB 451/SB 148 where 12 other state and national sporting conservation organizations signed on in support of the effort.
Students stay busy with schoolwork, after school activities like sports, and more that are constantly pulling for their attention. SB 148 will allow students to simultaneously earn school credit while also fulfilling their required hunter safety education certification. The course will provide students with information needed to understand the purpose of hunting, general hunting practices, and conservation ethics shared by all sportsmen and women, while also gaining a more complete understanding and appreciation for all wildlife in Georgia.
CSF and the Caucus worked closely with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to see that the course offered to students would be based on current hunting safety education courses offered by the DNR. The course will also be taught by a DNR certified hunter education instructor.
CSF commends the Caucus for its multi-year effort to see that a solid foundation is laid for the next generation of sportsmen and women to see our time-honored traditions propelled well into the future.
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