offers free boating safety class

With the deer hunting season over and the weather warming, many sportsmen and women will begin to think about taking their boats out on area lakes and rivers. As they do, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks Master Sgt. Charlie Gross encourages everyone to take one of the free boater safety courses offered by the MDWFP this spring.

To get certified

The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks will offer boater safety courses this spring, with specific dates to be announced. Pre-registration is required, and more information is available by contacting the MDWFP Boater Education Division at 1-800-354-5033.

“Even if you’re just going to be riding in a boat with someone these are good classes to have,” Gross said on Thursday as a guest speaker at a Rotary Club of Vicksburg meeting. “Believe me when I say it could save your life.”

Gross said Warren County was fortunate to have zero boating fatalities in the past year — although some people were thrown from boats — and encouraged all boaters to maintain that record of safety. Times and dates for free boater safety courses offered by the MDWFP will be announced soon on the agency’s web site. The site also has links to qualifying boater safety courses that can be taken online anytime.

Boats can be registered at any business that sells hunting and fishing licenses. Registration forms can also be found online at the agency’s web site. Beginning this year, Gross said registrations will be valid for three years as opposed to two years.

Meanwhile, youth and regular turkey hunting seasons will also begin next month. While there are no hunter safety courses offered by MDWFP on the horizon, Gross stressed all hunters practice gun safety as they enter the fields.

Two hunting-related accidents were reported in Warren County this past fall, said Gross, and fortunately neither were fatal. One involved a man shooting himself in the finger, he said, and another involved a young man who shot himself in the leg while crossing a fence with a loaded gun.

“The main causes of hunting accidents we see are poor handling of firearms and poor safety,” he said. “Keep your weapon unloaded and on safety until you are ready to begin your hunt, and when you’re retuning from the hunt.”

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Contact Steve Sanoski at ssanoski@vicksburgpost.com.