Fort McCoy man is Florida’s Hunter Safety Instructor of the Year
News Release
Wednesday, September 07, 2011
Media contact: Susan Smith, 850-528-1755
(Back to Commission meeting news)
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, at its
meeting in Naples Wednesday, named Jimmy Peagler of Fort McCoy its
2010 "Volunteer Hunter Safety Instructor of the Year." The award is
given annually to the volunteer who significantly advances the
cause of safe hunting through extraordinary service in training and
education.
Since 1999, Peagler has been a volunteer instructor of the
state's hunter safety course, required of anyone born after May 31,
1975, who wishes to obtain a Florida hunting license. Peagler acts
as hunter safety area coordinator for Marion County. During 2010,
he taught 15 classes and was chief instructor on eight of them,
certifying 135 students throughout the year. He also put in eight
additional hours teaching advanced archery and spoke on behalf of
the FWC at special events.
Peagler has many passions for which he enjoys volunteering,
including the National Archery in the Schools Program, where he
trains schoolteachers to become certified basic archery
instructors. He also was instrumental in helping
Bethune-Cookman College become the first college in Florida to add
the National Archery in the Schools Program to its teaching
curriculum for physical education.
Some of Peagler's innovations include developing a show-and-tell
on how to properly load a black powder (muzzleloading) rifle and
constructing an archery frame to hold the safety net in place
during indoor and outdoor archery events and training sessions.
Peagler is retired from BellSouth and has taught hunter safety
in Florida for the past 11 years.
Receiving this award makes Peagler Florida's candidate for the
national "Federal Ammunition Hunter Education Instructor of the
Year."
Anyone interested in learning how to become a volunteer hunter
safety instructor can go to MyFWC.com/HunterSafety.
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