Good morning Freebeer,

Yes, we are currently offering a mail-in home study trapper education course. For this course, we mail you the reading materials, worksheets, and final exam. You provide postage and mail the completed portions back to us. If you pass the worksheets and final exam with an 80% or higher, we will mail you your certificate. There is no need to go to an in-person course, but you are welcome to if you decide that you would like the hands on instruction; in that case you can show your  certificate in place of the required homework. Please note that depending on the volume of home study course participation, it may take up to 2-4 weeks for your certificate to be mailed after your packet has been received. Additionally, if the governor mandates that our offices must close again, we will not be able to grade returned packets until we reopen. If you are interested in this course, please provide your full name, current mailing address, and county.

Please let me know if you have any questions. Stay safe,

Hannah McManus

Hunter Education Program, Division of Fish and Wildlife

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-4800

P: (518) 402-8962  |  F: (518) 402-8925 |  [email protected]

I emailed and have the information coming to my house.
I had the 2016 printed course material from my buddy who took it right before covid shutdowns, so I am pre reading.

I remember from my other hunter safety course and bow safety course threads that others were looking for the trapping class.

I am excited to learn to tan pelts

Got my packet on Wednesday, used spare time at work over the last 2 days to read it over and do all the tests and homework, mailed in the paperwork today.  Pretty easy I think.  Luckily I have a friend that traps that'll take me with him a few times and let me get some hands on time with the traps and equipment shown in the books.  Thanks for posting this.

I thought it was easy enough to do. I did it while sitting at the fire house during down time in one shift.

Im going to start with raccoons.

Some hunters, frown on trapping. They bitch about fishers, fox, and coyotes but don't do anything about it. Trapping is like hunting. Find the animal(s) through scouting, use scent-free practices to keep human scent at a minimum and then build an intriguing scenario for the animal to check out and hopefully spring a trap. Our coyotes are definitely smart little SOBs and not like the dumb ones you find mid-west and in Texas. You really have to work for these ones around here.

Best of luck to all the new trappers. I'm only 3 years into it and this mild winter is making things more manageable and way more enjoyable. Tight chains fellas!

I mailed my stuff back on 12/31.
My wife just messaged me and said my card came in the mail today.
Dated 1/8.

I emailed asking for a packet today.  I hope they are still offering this.

I'm pretty sure they are going to be doing this for a while due to the flu.

I heard back from them.  They are sending out a packet for me.

Thanks for posting this.

Same here. Thanks!

@hanz
@goodorbit

what did you guys think of the course work?
i thought it was good and easy to follow.
a lot to learn and remember. i know i will be referencing the workbook.

do not think I will be trapping this year.
going to get all the gear ready for next year.

I thought the material was pretty easy but I also wished that I had a hands on class once I started it.  The course book was pretty easy to read and follow, good descriptions, etc.  

I'm also taking the rest of this year to prep gear and aquire tools and such.  I've also gone out once to check out a buddies trap line and sets.

Easy so far, but I've only started into the reading manual. Sloooow reader!
Expecting the trapping career to maintain that pace!

I thought the information was well presented but there's A LOT of info and even more laws.  I'll be keeping the manual as a reference for sure.

I'll have to make up some sort of cheat sheet as far as what's legal when for what game/season.  So many laws.  

I have no hands on experience (other than a couple of nuisance animals in no kill box traps) and I believe that having a mentor and someone to tag along with would be very helpful.  

I'm working on leaving NY so I don't think I'll be trapping here.  But I do want the certification in case it is something I want to do wherever I end up.  I do find the whole endeavor interesting and figured it was one way to exploit the China Virus for some personal gain.  Lord knows it can be tough to attend classes after working all day as my brain doesn't learn new material as easily as it once did. This was a very good opportunity for me.

If I decide to get into it I'll look for help along with getting a YouTube degree in what I'm trying to accomplish.

WooHoo!

Received my certificate today.  DEC was on the ball with this.  I'm glad I got it.

Watched too many Trapper J VLOG videos and 330 Maniac videos on YouTube.

Buying and printing the license online is really handy, too.  

True!

I laminated my certificates.
I asked before hand and this was the DEC response.

"Please note that hunting and trapping licenses themselves cannot be laminated, as the licenses are printed on heat sensitive paper which will be destroyed by lamination.

We do, however, encourage sportsmen to laminate their certificates. The hunter education certificate, bowhunter education certificate, trapper education certificate, waterfowl hunter education certificate, and crossbow certificate of qualification can all be laminated."

I havent done the cert, but I laminated my license since I printed it out at home with regular paper.  I can see what they mean about the licenses you get from storefronts though.

If you laminate a store bought, thermal paper, license they turn completely black.
I used to work at a shop that sold licenses.  We used to keep examples at the counter to try and slow the never ending parade of replacements due to lamination.

Hey, thanks for posting those channels. Cool to see this stuff in action!

I hope you don't watch as many as I did

Anyone know if this is still happening? I emailed her but I have not heard back.
Just wanted to inquire here so I did not have to call her and potentially annoy her if she is processing my request.

I haven't heard any different, she answered my email fairly quickly.  Only thing I can think of is that schools were on vacation all last week here, she possibly wasn't in the office?  You could also try contacting your regional office, too.  That's where you send the completed course materials.

She is probably wondering how people got her email

I figured I would give an update. So I have not heard back from Hannah McManus via email so I tried her phone and got VM which says she has limited access to VM. I tried another number that she provided on her outgoing VM, main line. That went to VM and that message said the office did not have people in it everyday, COVID.

So I called my regional office and the lady there did not believe there was an online course for trapping. I explained to her that it has been reported online that there is or was and that people have stated that they took it and got their certificate. She gave me a number of the regional biologist and said she would know and that anything would be sent to her anyway.

I left a VM for the regional biologist.

I should of made photo copies.

If anyone has the course work sheets blank, could you scan and email me them please ?

Might be semantics but they might be confused about "online" and this course, which is "home study".  They outsource all their online stuff now but the trapping home study seemed to still be all DEC material.

I used the wrong term here but I was clear in my email to Hannah and in my messages but still have not heard anything from the DEC. I will try them all again this week.

Got an email from NYSCED with a link to some super helpful videos. Randy Newburg did the first couple.  

I got it too but haven't gotten around to posting it.
Haven't watched them yet. I was going to at work tonight.

Worth the time, Newberg has a great way of explaining things.
Wish I'd have watched it before turning in the paperwork.

I just received this via email.  Looks like if you want to get in on the home (remote) training you only have a couple of weeks left.  In person training will resume April 1st.

https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/NYSDEC/bulletins/2c60643

DEC to Resume In-Person Hunter Education Classes April 1The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation sent this bulletin on 03/10/2021 02:35 PM EST
DEC to Resume In-Person Hunter Education Classes April 1
Online Courses Remain Available


New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos announced today that DEC will resume holding in-person, instructor-led Hunter Education Program (HEP) courses starting April 1, 2021. DEC will continue to offer online hunter education courses, as well.


"To prevent the spread of COVID-19, last year DEC successfully transitioned all of our hunter education courses online," Commissioner Seggos said. "I'm proud of the way our staff quickly pivoted, working with our contractor to offer online courses for new hunters and bowhunters, and I applaud their efforts to safely allow for resuming in-person instruction again in time for new hunters to pursue turkey this spring."


COVID-19 safety protocols will be followed in every in-person course, including health screening upon arrival, mandatory mask wearing, social distancing, smaller class sizes, and sanitizing hands and equipment.


In-person courses are free and taught by volunteer HEP instructors. Courses are offered in hunter, bowhunter, trapper, and waterfowl hunter education. Registration is required and all in-person courses require mandatory homework that must be completed prior to participating in the class. For more information, or to register for a HEP course, visit the Hunter Education Program page on DEC's website.


Although the number of courses offered may be limited this spring, interested participants are encouraged to check back often as new courses may be added. Online courses are also available. The cost of the online hunter education course is $19.95. The course can be found on DEC's hunter-ed website. DEC also continues to offer an online bowhunter education course.


Since March 2020, DEC has seen more than a 12 percent increase in hunting and fishing license sales compared to sales from the previous 12-month period. During this time, which roughly coincides with New York State on PAUSE, resident turkey permits have increased more than 13 percent and junior hunting licenses increased by more than 25 percent. Certain types of lifetime licenses also increased by as much as 50 percent. A combination of factors, including the availability of online hunter education for new hunters and more time available to participate in the hunting and other activities as New Yorkers looked for recreational options during the pandemic, likely contributed to the increase.


https://www.dec.ny.gov/press/press.html

Not a single person at the DEC has had the courtesy to respond to my calls or emails yet they are still on the job and getting paid.  

That's strange.  Watertown area office has always been extremely responsive in my experience.