FERRIDAY, La. &045; Bowhunting isn’t something to take lightly.

You can’t just pick up a bow the day before the season starts and expect to hunt successfully. At least, that’s what long-time bowhunter and owner of Hewitt’s Archery, Homer Hewitt, said.

&8220;For archery as compared to hunting with a rifle, it takes a certain skill level,&8221; Hewitt said. &8220;It’s like golf. You can’t just go out and expect to play a good game without practice. But every year the last week or so before the season starts I see guys run out and buy a bow. They don’t understand.&8221;

This class, which is required in order to hunt on Federal preserves, including the Homochitto National Forest, is designed to teach bowhunters about safety and ethics.

Some states require the class for all bowhunters and Hewitt said he believes eventually such classes will be required for bowhunters across the nation. The class teaches ethical behavior for bowhunting, Hewitt said.

&8220;This movement was started by bowhunters in the ’60s. These guys that had been doing it for a long time, they saw some of the new guys who would ride around with the bloody deer carcasses and brag about wounding deer. Non-hunters were getting turned off by these displays, so these classes got started to combat that,&8221; Hewitt said.

&8220;I’ve wounded deer with the bow and I wouldn’t even tell my wife. I was so ashamed that I wounded a deer and then couldn’t find it. But I’ve heard guys bragging about hurting deer that they didn’t harvest. Bowhunting needs to be done in a clean, ethical way.&8221;

The class also teaches proper technique for practicing bowhunting, proper equipment and hunting safety. Hewitt said he’s started offering the class in one nine-hour session instead of over three days in order to give hunters from farther away a chance to take the class without putting them out too much.

&8220;We’ve had people come in from New Orleans, Shreveport, Lafayette,&8221; Hewitt said.