FInished 12/18, received the cert in the mail 12/21. Was really surprised! They told us to expect it in 3 weeks or so.

Congrats. Mine took that 3 weeks or so

I took mine in 1992.

Still got my original card.

Congrats!  Do they still give out the patch?

Yups got the patch somewhere. lol.

Got my patch.  Got to keep it someplace better so I don't lose it.

Wait. Do you NEED it? 

YES!

For your tacticool hunting jacket. 

The patch is just a perk, paid for by your hard earned tax dollars or hunting licensing fees. The real thing you need to keep is that card. Of course your 5.11 Tactical jacket with the Vltor, BCM, and DD patches wouldn't be complete without a hunter's ed patch

Me and my friend(s) registered for the Hunter's Ed course this December. I wonder what it is like compared to the standard handgun safety classes.

It's ALL reading and watching videos. Oh and one test at the end. Some times it was a struggle to keep my eyes open. Most of it is common sense stuff, and political defense as well. i.e., don't shoot unless you have a clear target, and, explaining why people are anti-hunters. Some interesting stuff too that actually pertains to the act of hunting, such as best place to shoot for a humane kill. How to gut a deer. etc. There needs to be classes regarding just hunting, imo. The interesting stuff regarding hunting was maybe 30% of the course.

The actual gun and firearms part was, maybe, 15 minutes long? Out of the entire two-day course. So not comparable to the handgun safety class at all.

The idea of the course is that you can now legally hunt in the state of Hawaii. Handgun certification is a bonus. There was a time when you didn't need certifications for either.

Another thing to take into consideration if comparing it to the handgun safety class....the hunter ed is free =Op

Sounds pretty bleh, what a disappointment. Good thing I took a real handgun safety class, then. I was wondering how Hunter's Ed could afford to pay for all the ammunition for live-fire practice, but I guess there is none.

When I registered, I was thinking that they might teach me how to use rifles and shotguns, since the handgun class didn't cover that. I guess you are just supposed to learn yourself. Doesn't matter to me anymore since I'm learning myself now anyway. At least I'll get a backup handgun certification in case I lose my other one.

Yeh firearms isn't a big thing in the hunters ed. The biggest thing in it is political defense and field safety. What NOT to do, etc.

Hunter's Ed serves it's purpose. It's just not firearms centric. You'll not only get a backup cert, but if you choose to hunt in Hawaii sometime during your lifetime, you'll get a cert for that too =Op.