Dennis Anderson: Can hunting skills and gun safety be taught - and learned - online? We'll find out.
MINNEAPOLIS - In 1955, the first year a hunting education and firearms safety program was offered in Minnesota, kids who took the classes were expected to show up for instruction in person - and perhaps bring a gun with them.
Breckan Nelson, 13, of Lakeville, took a different approach to graduate from the Department of Natural Resources' "hunter ed" program.
He logged onto his computer.
"It was nice to be able to take hunter's education and firearms safety at home," Breckan said the other day. "I spent about an hour a day on the online course, maybe more. I got it done in four or five days."
Breckan isn't alone.
Last year, about 14,500 prospective Minnesota hunters - most of them young - completed a major portion of the DNR's required hunter education program online. An equal number opted for 12 hours of in-person classroom instruction.
Except for the presence, or absence, of instructors, coursework for both are the same. Lessons are standardized nationwide, so residents who receive certification in one state can hunt in other states.
If Breckan's schedule is representative of other Minnesotans his age, in coming years a still larger percentage of youth might learn hunting basics and firearm safety online, which has been offered in Minnesota since 2010.
"I'm playing traveling baseball this summer, and have hockey camps and hockey training programs," Bracken said. "If I had to attend hunting education classes in person, it would be hard to fit them in."
Each year, the DNR certifies between 23,000 and 25,000 graduates of its hunter education and firearms safety classes. All students under age 16 must attend a daylong field day. Students 16 and older can take the course and the field day online.
About 3,500 volunteer instructors teach the DNR classes, a number that has declined about 8% in the past 10 years. A falloff in volunteerism might be one reason. Other instructors are simply aging out of the program.
"We're fortunate the decline of our volunteer hunter education and firearm safety instructors isn't as significant as it is in other programs," said DNR education and safety training programs manager Capt. Jon Paurus.
Some DNR instructors think the online approach works well. Others say information relayed by instructors is so important it should be learned firsthand.
"Whether students who take our classes online have a different level of involvement in accidents, to my knowledge, that hasn't been studied," Paurus said. "Either way, our hunting incidents have been reduced significantly, thanks to hunter education and firearm safety classes and to requirements that hunters wear blaze orange."
Steve Rykhus, 72, of New Ulm, has taught DNR hunter education since 1985. He's passionate about the program and has recruited more than 15 other instructors. In 2014 he was named DNR Hunter Education and Firearm Safety Instructor of the Year.
"Everything changed with COVID," Rykhus said. "We didn't have classes during the pandemic, or very few, and after we came out of it, our group of instructors decided not to offer the classroom instruction, due in part to students' preference for the online program. Now we offer only the ‘field day' to students who have passed their online studies."
Field days are usually held on Saturdays. Coursework is reviewed in the morning, followed by an afternoon at a gun range or similar venue, where .22 caliber rifles are fired.
Mike Rheault, 68, of Fergus Falls, describes himself as "kid-oriented." He's taught DNR hunter education classes for 20 years.
"In Fergus Falls," Rheault said, "we don't support the online hunter education and firearms safety program. All of the information about hunting and firearms safety is included in the online program. But I don't feel comfortable that students who take those classes are getting everything they need, in a practical, hands-on sense."
Rheault said it's important that instructors can watch students handle different types of firearms. "That way as instructors we have a chance to see firsthand how they're holding and respecting a firearm," he said.
Rheault and Rykhus stressed that firearms safety classes aren't only for prospective hunters. Kids who grow up in families whose parents own firearms should know what to do if they encounter a gun, they said.
"Similarly, if a young person is, say, babysitting and one of the kids being overseen finds a gun, knowing the proper way to handle a firearm in that situation is important," Rheault said. "This goes for adults, too. It's surprising how many parents will drop off their son or daughter for class, and we'll ask them if they are experienced with guns. If they say, ‘No,' we tell them they're welcome to stay, and many do."
Frank Flack, 66, of Ramsey is president of the Minnesota Volunteer Safety Instructors Association. He's taught hunter education and firearms safety for 40 years and sees both sides of the online instruction debate.
"If a student doesn't have a good mentor to work with about firearms and hunting, the in-class option is better," Flack said. "That said, I've taught both classes and mentors are important in both situations. I've seen a number of students who took the online option who really had a good grasp of what we were teaching. The future, I'm afraid, is going to be more online than not."
Fortunately for Breckan, the 13-year-old boy from Lakeville, his father hunts and is following his son's firearms-safety journey closely.
Last fall, Breckan hunted deer under the DNR apprentice program, which allows new hunters to go afield without completing a hunter education class, provided they're with a licensed parent or other adult.
On the 2025 whitetail opener, Breckan sat in a blind with his dad, Dana. They saw two does early, but no bucks.
"I'll take my field day later this month," Breckan said. "Even after I pass it, this fall I'll sit with my dad to hunt deer. That's something I like to do."
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This story was originally published July 8, 2026 at 5:37 AM.