Dustin Hartman, 14, fires a shotgun under the watchful eye of Hants West Wildlife Association instructor Mike O’Brien during Saturday’s Hants West Wildlife Association hunter education course.

STANLEY — Gunshots were ringing through the woods near the Stanley airport Saturday.

The controlled shoot was part of a Hants West Wildlife Association event at the Stanley range.

"This is a very special type of hunter safety course," said Mike O’Brien, association president and course co-ordinator.

While most hunter safety courses around the province are lecture-driven, this one includes rifle, shotgun and crossbow shooting.

"It is possible that you can get the Canadian firearm safety course and hunter safety course and never have fired a gun," O’Brien said. "We didn’t think that was such a great idea."

Club members approached the Natural Resources Department to book the range for a day.

A number of stations were set up, including a waterfowl hunting blind complete with a clay pigeon launching machine for shotgun shooting instruction.

There was a crossbow station with a decoy deer target, and stations for rifle shooting and bear hunting.

"The feedback from the hunting community has been fantastic, and we plan to make this an annual part of our hunter safety program," O’Brien said.

The two-day course also includes lecture time back at the Falmouth clubhouse today. The openings for the course were quickly filled, with 21 in attendance for Saturday’s hands-on shooting.

"As far as we know, it’s a first for Nova Scotia," O’Brien said.

The wildlife association put on the course in conjunction with the Bear Hunters Association of Nova Scotia and the Crossbow Hunters Association of Nova Scotia.

O’Brien said hunting is on the upswing again, particularly in Western Canada.

"If you believe in the theory of using local food grown or raised within a hundred miles of your home, hunting and fishing can certainly become a part of that."

The participants on Saturday ranged in age from 14 to 65. There were five qualified instructors at the site.

One of the participants, Dorothy Hartman of Leminster, took her turn on the shotgun range. It was Hartman’s first time shooting a rifle.

She got involved because her son Dustin, 14, required a guardian to be in attendance with him.

"So I decided to take part in it myself," she said. "It’s a lot of fun."

O’Brien said the Hants West club is lucky to have an available shooting range nearby.

"Most clubs wouldn’t be able to do what we are doing. This is one of those situations where everything just came together."