TALLAHASSEE — With summer comes so many great fishing opportunities that it’s hard to even think about hunting. But if you’re age 16 to 41 and haven’t completed the state’s hunter safety course requirement, now’s a good time to think about signing up. Don’t put it off – summer is the best time to take a class.

Many of these classes, offered statewide, fill up fast during hunting season as people scramble to get certified. So the summer months offer smaller class sizes and a better opportunity for students to take a class, because they have more free time than they will once school cranks up and they get busy with homework and school-related activities.

People born after May 31, 1975, must complete the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC) hunter safety class before they can buy the type of hunting license that allows them to legally hunt alone. A law passed a few years ago by the Florida Legislature enables individuals to hunt without having to complete the state’s hunter safety certification, but they may only hunt while supervised. It’s called the Hunter Safety Deferral, and it allows people the opportunity to purchase a license to hunt while under the supervision of a licensed hunter who is at least 21 years old and meets the hunter safety requirement.

It’s designed to encourage experienced hunters to teach novice hunters safety, ethics, conservation, wildlife and hunting skills, and respect for the great outdoors. And it’s a great incentive for getting more people to try hunting. Also, I hope, the experienced hunters among us can introduce new folks to the sport we love. However, to hunt by yourself unsupervised, you still have to take and pass a hunter safety class, and purchase a regular hunting license.

If you’re a youngster and already a hunting fanatic, I suggest you go ahead and take a hunter safety class before you turn 16. And, you can purchase your very first hunting license that’s good until your 17th birthday.

Even if you were born before June 1, 1975, and are exempt from having to take the class, it’s still a good idea, because you’ll learn so much. The FWC encourages beginning hunters to do so. Even the most experienced hunters will learn something new, which will help them become even better hunters or mentors – and safer ones.

If you’re new to our state, these classes will make you aware of Florida’s hunting laws. Or if you just relocated from another town, the classes are a great way to meet other hunters. You can make some new hunting buddies or maybe even get a line on a great hunt club that’s looking for new members.

You can register for a hunter safety class by going to MyFWC.com/HunterSafety or by contacting your nearest FWC regional office. Also, for your convenience, there are two ways to take the course.

TWO COURSE OPTIONS

There’s the traditional course, which is six hours of classroom instruction plus a six-hour skills day. If you’d prefer to complete the classroom portion from the convenience of your own home, you can opt for taking the online course. But you’ll still have to sign up for the skills-day part of the course, which includes time at a shooting range.

The traditional course is offered during two weeknights or on a Saturday-Sunday. If you take it during the week, each session is three hours and offered after normal working hours. On the weekend, you’ll spend six hours Saturday in the classroom and six hours Sunday morning for the Skills Day.

During the skills day, each segment is roughly 50 minutes long, followed by a 10-minute break. The first thing you’ll learn about is Florida’s hunting laws/regulations. An FWC law enforcement officer gives this introduction. Volunteer hunter safety instructors teach the remaining curriculum.

And speaking of that, if you are older than 18 and would like to give something back to the sport of hunting, you might consider becoming a certified, volunteer, hunter safety instructor in your community. The FWC is always in need of people who possess good hunting and gun safety knowledge. If you’re interested in learning more about this great teaching opportunity, go to MyFWC.com/HunterSafety or call 850-413-0084 to find out how to get involved.

One segment of the program teaches ethics and hunter responsibility. You’ll also learn the parts of a firearm, gun and hunting lingo and the proper way to shoot a firearm. This is the longest section of the program, and you’ll spend approximately two hours going over that.

You’ll learn the differences between all the various bullets, calibers and gauges and how to identify different animal species. You will also hear about wildlife conservation and discover best management practices for native game species.

In addition, you’ll find out about outdoor survival techniques and learn how to administer first aid in the field. You’ll gain knowledge of the parts of, and how to shoot, a muzzleloading gun. Furthermore, you’ll be taught archery and the fundamentals of how to hunt with a bow.

If you choose instead to take your hunter safety class online, you’ll learn all of the material that’s taught in the traditional classroom setting, and you’ll be given a practice test, which will go over what you’ve learned and prepare you for the last segment of the requirement – the skills day. 

SKILLS DAY

Skills day takes about five hours to complete, which includes time on the shooting range and serves as the completion for the traditional course and the online class.

Skills days start with a law enforcement officer discussing hunting laws and ethics. After that session, you’ll pass through four different stations. The first station reviews safety rules, then the students demonstrate proper firearm carry positions, safe zones of fire, how to cross obstacles with a firearm and tree-stand safety.

The second station covers safe, effective shot placement; then students walk down a trail where they are presented with shoot/don’t shoot scenarios. The third station discusses clearing, matching, loading and unloading.

After an instructor’s brief presentation, students practice selecting the proper ammunition, loading each of the five major firearms actions, and demonstrating how to properly clear the firearm of ammunition. At the last station, students review marksmanship skills and have different opportunities to practice or demonstrate their skills.

Most students shoot a rifle from various positions, many get to shoot clay pigeons with a shotgun, and others practice archery skills by shooting a bow. Most courses provide a muzzleloader demonstration, where you’ll have the chance to shoot one if you’d like. All guns, bows, targets and ammo are provided. All you have to do is take aim!

In your last hour of the skills day, you’ll be given a standardized test of true-or-false and multiple-choice questions. You need to score 80 percent or better, and then you’ve completed the course.

THE LAST STEPS

After you pass the test, you’ll be given your hunter safety card. At that point, you can purchase your very first Florida hunting license and be ready for opening day.

Just a couple of things for parents to remember: The course is designed for youth ages 12 to 16. If your child is younger than 18 years old, you must fill out our parental release form and present it to the instructor at all courses. This will enable your child to participate in the live-shooting exercises. Also, if your child is younger than 16, you are required to accompany him or her to all classes.

Register to take a hunter safety class today, because the 2016-2017 hunting season is just around the corner!

Tony Young is a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission columnist.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: YOUNG: Summer's the best time to take hunter safety course

If you have children who are finishing college or embarking on their first full-time job, you obviously want them to get off to a good start in their adult and working lives.

And by virtue of your years of experience, you probably have some good advice to offer — especially when it comes to making smart financial moves.

Of course, you can find a broad array of financial topics to discuss. But if you want to concentrate on just a few, you might consider these for starters:

Investing for the future. When young people are paying off student loans, they may not think they can also afford to invest for the future.

Indeed, this can be challenging — but it’s not impossible. So, if your children go to work for an employer that offers a retirement plan, such as a 401(k), you may want to point out that they can have money automatically invested — and since they never really “had” this money in the first place, they are less likely to miss it. They can start by deferring small amounts; when their earnings rise, they can increase their contributions.

Buying a home and paying off a mortgage. With interest rates still low, now is not a bad time for prospective first-time homebuyers.

Of course, if your children truly are starting out in the working world, it will likely take them a few years to save up enough for a down payment. But even after they reach that goal, you may want to warn them not to become “house poor” by spending a large portion of their total income on home ownership.

If they do buy a house, though, and their incomes go up as their careers progress, they may wonder if they should pay down their mortgage quicker. While they might feel good about lowering that debt, you may want to point out that an argument could be made for putting money in assets that will likely be more liquid, such as stocks and bonds.

For one thing, if your children were to lose their jobs, and they needed cash to tide them over until they were once again employed, they’d likely find it much harder to get money out of their homes than their investment accounts. Also, in terms of accumulating resources for retirement, they might better off building up their investment portfolios, rather than sinking every extra dollar into their homes.

Using credit wisely. Urge your children to avoid taking on excessive credit card debt and taking out non-essential loans.

As you know, having a good credit score can pay off in several ways, including getting better rates on mortgages. You may want to risk sounding “old fashioned” by encouraging your children to live within their means.

And consider pointing out that it’s often the people who are the most frugal today who may end up with the most money tomorrow.

It’s not always easy for young people to get off on the right foot, financially speaking. But as someone who knows a thing or two about saving, investing and controlling debt, you can help your children out by imparting a few words of wisdom. 

This article was written by Edward Jones for use by your local Edward Jones financial adviser.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: SHANKLIN: Talk to your adult children about smart financial moves

Florida has the highest number of sea turtles of any state in the continental U.S.  Three species — loggerhead, green and leatherback turtles — are common here. 

However, the Federal Endangered Species Act lists all Florida sea turtles as threatened or endangered. So if you see a sea turtle nesting, or nest hatching, stay quiet, keep your distance, and turn any lights off (that means no flash photography).

You should never try to touch a wild sea turtle. Also, do not touch or move any hatchlings. The small turtles need to crawl on the beach to imprint their birth beach on their memory.

During nesting season, keep the beaches "clean, dark and flat." Clean, by removing everything you brought to the beach including trash, food, chairs and toys; dark, by keeping lights off, using sea turtle-friendly lighting and red LED flashlights if necessary; and flat, filling all holes and knocking down sand castles before leaving the beach. 

If you see anyone harassing a sea turtle or a sea turtle in distress, call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission hotline, 1-888-404-3922.

If you want to see a sea turtle and learn more about these fascinating creatures, visit the Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park on Okaloosa Island.

Laura Tiu is an agent at the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension office in Crestview.

—

DID YOU KNOW?

●Sea turtle nesting season for the area began May 1, 2016.

●Adult females only nest every two to three years.

●At 20 to 35 years old, adult loggerhead and green female turtles return to the beach of their birth to nest. At this age, they are about 3 feet long and 250-300 pounds. 

●The turtles will lay their eggs from May through September, with 50 to 150 baby turtles hatching after 45 to 60 days, usually at night.

●One female may nest several times in one season.

—

BY THE NUMBERS

Source: 2015 Florida Statewide Nesting Beach Survey, available at: www.myfwc.com.

DID YOU KNOW?

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: TIU: Tips to protect Okaloosa and Walton's sea turtles

Historical fiction never goes out of style as a literary genre. No longer derided as “bodice-rippers” with anachronisms or boring textbooks dressed up with poor plots, historical fiction is gaining the respect of critics and readers, and regularly appears on bestseller lists around the world.

Definitions vary as to how far in the past the time setting must be to qualify, but Walter Scott, who is credited with “inventing” the historical novel in English during the early 19th century, provides a useful criterion in the subtitle of “Waverley,” his initial historical novel, the story of Scottish life at the time of the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745: “‘Tis Sixty Years Since.”

Generally, this limits it to events that take place at least 60 years before publication, during a historical period with which the author has no personal experience.

Historical fiction is one of the more demanding narrative forms, as the author must master verifiability and invention. The historical novelist must balance the difficulties of representing history accurately and telling a good story while imaginatively filling in the gaps and lack of historical record. Take too much latitude with the facts of history and the illusion of authenticity is shattered; take too little and the information of history never comes to life.

Booklist Online recently listed these as outstanding historical novels (for both adults and youths) of the past year:

“The Marriage of Opposites” by Alice Hoffman

Opening in 1807 in a Jewish enclave on the Caribbean island of Saint Thomas, home to headstrong yet mystical Rachel Pomié, Hoffman’s rhapsodic novel uncloaks the family history of impressionist painter Camille Pissarro.

“The Secret Chord” by Geraldine Brooks

In her gorgeously written novel of ambition, courage, retribution and triumph, Brooks imagines the life and character of King David in all his complexity, from his humble childhood through old age.

“The Sympathizer” by Viet Thanh Nguyen

In this dark and unsettling novel of war and disillusionment, Nguyen portrays a nameless spy, interrogator and Vietnamese Communist sympathizer at the mercy of those he once supported. Winner of the 2016 Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction.

“Villa America” by Liza Klaussmann

Klaussmann fictionalizes the lives of Gerald and Sara Murphy, the well-off, alluringly unconventional expat couple who inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Tender Is the Night,” in this enrapturing historical novel of a loving marriage complicated by suppressed desire during a time of now-legendary creative ferment.

“Burn Baby Burn” by Meg Medina (for ninth- through 12^th-graders)

This atmospheric novel sets Cuban American Nora’s teenage struggles with family and independence against the backdrop of New York’s infamous summer of 1977, marked by blackouts, arson and the Son of Sam killings.

“The Lie Tree” by Frances Hardinge (for seventh- through 12^th-graders)

When 14-year-old Faith’s father meets a tragic end, she investigates his death while caring for a dangerous plant specimen. The result is a layered mystery that examines science, religion and gender roles in 1868.

“Lillian’s Right to Vote: A Celebration of the Voting Rights Act of 1965” by Jonah Winter (for first- through fourth-graders)

This vibrantly illustrated picture book follows the footsteps of an elderly African American woman on her way to the ballot box while recalling her family’s journey to obtain the right to vote.

“Salt to the Sea” by Ruta Sepetys (for ninth- through 12^th-graders)

Four young people give voice to history’s worst maritime disaster, the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff during World War II. With exquisite prose, Sepetys shapes a haunting narrative that won’t soon be forgotten. 

Sandra Dreaden is the Crestview Public Library's reference librarian.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: DREADEN: 8 historical fiction books you should 'check out'