April 2023 - 35

volunteers as support staff for the Iditarod
in Alaska.
Whittemore credits his 45 years of teaching
hunter education to the shared workload
of teaching alongside a team of volunteer
instructors.
Whittemore recalled a favorite story when
the instructors took their students on an overnight
camp with two other instructors, Donal
Denzin and Bob Baxter. They taught outdoor
survival skills and asked the students to prepare
a fire and collect enough fuel to keep
them warm through the night. Often times,
experience proves to be the best lesson. The
students didn't gather enough fuel, and their
fire and supplies dwindled. Eventually the
students joined the instructors at their roaring
fire. The students learned a valuable lesson
about outdoor survival that night, and the
experience helped demonstrate how important
those skills can be. The outdoor survival
unit of hunter education is Whittemore's
favorite to teach.
" It is an important topic to everybody, not
just hunters. Especially in our state, you need
to be prepared, " he said.
Whittemore believes hunters have a heavy
burden to be safe and responsible and always
need to set a good example for the whole community.
Whittemore wants his students to
know hunters are accountable to others and
wildlife in every phase of the hunt.
" If hunters are not paying attention and
being careless, the nonhunting public will pick
up on that, " Whittemore said. " You can do 50
things right and one thing wrong, and that is
the thing that will get in the news. "
Bruce Campbell
Lander
Campbell moved to Wyoming in 1968,
was a certified hunter education instructor in
Colorado before he came to Lander and has
taught hunter education in Wyoming since
1981. Campbell started instructing at the
Lander Valley Sportsmen's Club before the
state mandated hunter education. Campbell
was a science teacher and loves applying scientific
observation skills to his hunter education
classes.
Campbell said one of his most memorable
students was a young woman who wanted to
learn how to shoot. Campbell took her to the
shooting range and coached her on shooting
positions, aim and finger and breath control.
Campbell wants to ensure his students are safe and ethical when they go hunting. (Photo courtesy of Bruce Campbell)
Following the lesson, she was a pretty good
shooter. She went hunting with her brother
that fall and harvested her first deer. Campbell
recalls how excited she was when she told
him the story. Since then, Campbell taught
her daughter and granddaughter in his
hunter education classes.
Campbell has seen many changes in
his 41 years of instructing in Wyoming.
" The course curriculum focused primarily
on marksmanship when I first started,
but over time Game and Fish added a
curriculum for game management and
ethics. Those were great additions, " he said.
Campbell added newer hunters practice
more ethics than the previous generations.
He loves hearing successful hunting stories
from his students. He applauds hunters when
they make excellent decisions about taking
an ethical and safe shot, like passing up a big
buck walking the ridge of a skyline because
the didn't know what was beyond the target.
When asked why hunter education matters,
Campbell immediately responded with
two points.
" First of all, there is a new generation that
can experience the enjoyment, stewardship
and adventure that hunting brings, " he said.
" Second, I want to ensure my students know
their responsibility to be safe and ethical, and
how important it is to be responsible stewards
of the land and the wildlife. "
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April 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of April 2023