State DNR honors hunter education instructor Renee Kozlowski Renee Kozlowski recently received a service award for her 20 years as a hunter education instructor from the Wisconsin DNR (photo by Tina Gohr). By Tina M. Gohr News-Chronicle The crisp fallen leaves under Renee Kozlowski's feet sound like a graceful animal's stride. She guardedly carries a rifle like her life depends on it. But she will not use it. With all due respect, the firearm is her ammo to educate others. She is not a hunter, rather a safety specialist in the sport of hunting. Kozlowski was recently honored by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for her 20 years as a hunter education instructor volunteer serving Oconto and Brown counties. In year's past, the DNR has also lauded her with the 1998 Outstanding Hunter Safety Instructor of the Year award and the 2002 Bow Hunter Instructor of the Year by the Wisconsin Bow Hunters Association. She recalls teaching the courses as many as 42 weeks a year. Today, she's has settled into a popular three-day weekend course twice a year (May and August) at the Little Creek Lodge in Little Suamico. She is booked through 2005. Her enthusiasm is simple. "I want to help carry on the sport to the next generation. A good hunter comes with experience and in order to become a good hunter you must do it safely,'' she said with a heartfelt smile. She also specializes in bow hunting and black powder mussleloaders. Her intended targets are just that - target shooting. "Black powder has so much romance and history in it. It gave us our freedom,'' she added. The mother of six children has taught them all to hunt safely. Three have become hunter education instructors as well as her husband, Bill. "My whole family is involved in one way or another - either serving lunch or cleaning the black powders." Up until last year, Kozlowski was the only female educator in the state. Rather, she pleasantly witnesses the female numbers in her classes instead. "We get a good mixture. It's probably not 50-50 but close to it." The reasons for the exceptional amount of females in her classes isn't as a surprise to Kozlowski. "They are hunters or want to be hunters. It may be that their husband or boyfriend is a hunter," she explained. But she's seeing more and more parents attend the class in regards to the proper way to handle a weapon in the safety of their homes. For instance, she says, how should a baby-sitter at the home deal with a situation if a curious child comes out of a room with a firearm. "She's got to be taught how to handle this situation. It could be loaded. She should properly know how to take it away safely. "Everybody should learn about gun safety," Kozlowski added. "At one point in a person's life, he or she may have to deal with a firearm at some time or at some place. Most people fear what they don't know." First and foremost, says Kozlowski, make sure you are never in front of the muzzle or in the line of fire. "Until you can get a hold of it and open it up (remove the ammunition). What we teach the students in the class is how to open and close, load and unload (dummy ammunition) over and over again. It's called the action (where ammunition is stored in the firearm). If the action is closed, you just don't know. The person has to remain behind the butt of the gun to check it out. They really get to know their firearm until they are comfortable with it." There are four rules of hunter education. They are: Treat every firearm as if it is loaded; always point the muzzle in a safe direction; be certain of your target and what's beyond it; keep your finger outside the trigger guard and off the trigger until ready to shoot. All Wisconsin residents born after Jan. 1, 1973 are required by law to take a Hunter Education Course before they may purchase a license. The students are also familiarize with water safety, first aid and GPS (global positioning system). At the classes' conclusion they are given a field and written test. "If anybody's interested in hunting even if it's just being with your husband in the woods. I recommend taking a safety course first," even before you go out and purchase a blaze orange outfit for deer hunting season. "It's a wonderful opportunity to bond with a family member. You can go into a woods and see a hundred different things and never see what you're out there to hunt and still have a wonderful experience.''