GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn — With Minnesota's firearm deer season now about a week away, there are new safety concerns after two young hunters accidentally shot adults in two separate incidents during youth deer season last weekend.
Bill Sherck spoke with KARE 11 about the importance of training. He's one of the hosts of longtime hunting and fishing show, Minnesota Bound, which airs Saturday and Sunday evenings on KARE 11.
"At the end of the show each week, we say, 'Introduce a kid to the great outdoors,'" Sherck said.
With two boys of his own, ages 12 and 14, Sherck says safety is top priority. He says the recent cases are reminders of why it's critical to not get complacent even if you're trained.
"The number one rule is you can never take a shot back," he said. "Those stories really scare me because I know accidents happen …Those are direct messages that you hear in gun safety courses about always treating a gun like it's loaded, always controlling the barrel so it's never pointed."
Also highlighting the importance of gun safety is Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan. She attended a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources refresher course Friday at the Carlos Avery Wildlife Management Area in Forest Lake with a small group of state lawmakers and the executive director of Explore Minnesota. They plan to go pheasant hunting together Saturday.
"I'm really excited to go out with these amazing women," Flanagan said.
Flanagan says state law requires anyone born after December 31, 1979 to take a 12-hour DNR safety course before purchasing a firearm for hunting.
"We just also encourage people to get a gun safety lock - they're offered through the Department of Public Safety - especially if you have children in you're home," she said.
Sherck says his boys have taken the DNR course. So has he.
"I actually went through hunter safety as an adult," he said. "A lot of it is volunteer driven. There are a lot of volunteer instructors who put a lot of passion and a lot of time into making sure we're safe."
Heads up, in-person hunting safety courses fill up quickly, especially after the pandemic created a backlog in Minnesota. However, the course is also available online. The DNR says those under 16 are required to do the field day portion of the online course in person.
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