King of the Wilderness-Chapter 89 - 87: Hunter License Examination

Having confirmed the subsequent plans, in the days to come, Lin Yu’an began to prepare for their future new life as a prospective "Alaska resident."

To legally and safely live and engage in hunting activities on the vast and wild land of Alaska, mere wilderness survival skills are far from enough.

He must first become an "eligible" participant, abiding by all local laws and regulations.

And the first step to all this is to obtain the Alaska hunter safety education certificate.

"Hello, friends on Bilibili, today we start a new series - Hunter Qualification Exam!"

In a recently released video on his Bilibili account, Lin Yu’an sat at his desk, seriously speaking to the camera.

This video recorded the real process of him preparing for the Alaska hunter certificate.

"In North America, hunting is an activity highly regulated by law."

"According to Alaska’s regulations, any hunter born after January 1, 1987, must complete and pass the official hunter safety education course before they can purchase a hunting license."

"This is not just a certificate, but an essential path to learning how to hunt safely, legally, and ethically."

Lin Yu’an chose a more flexible approach of online courses combined with offline field assessments.

After paying a course fee of US Dollar 28.95, he delved into online learning.

The course content was more systematic than he imagined, from firearm safety to animal tracking, and even detailed instructional videos on how to handle the innards of prey.

Starting with the core of cores—firearm and bow safety.

"The first Chapter of the course repeatedly emphasizes the ’Ten Commandments of Firearm Safety’."

Lin Yu’an explains to his audience while browsing the course materials.

"For example, always point the muzzle in a safe direction; never touch the trigger until ready to shoot; always assume every gun is loaded..."

"These might sound like clichés, but they’re ironclad rules bought with countless bloody lessons, to be engraved in one’s bones."

Then comes hunting law and ethics.

"This part is crucial; it determines whether you are a legal hunter or an illegal poacher."

"For instance, the course elaborates on how to identify types of hunting licenses, divisions of different hunting zones, and seasons, methods, and restrictions for various species in different areas."

"And hunting ethics, such as the ’fair chase’ principle, which prohibits using airplanes, cars, or other modern means to pursue or locate prey."

"For example, you must make every effort to recover wounded prey and humanely handle them, ensuring nothing is wasted and life is respected."

The course provides plenty of high-definition pictures and videos to teach students how to accurately identify common Alaskan wildlife.

Lin Yu’an enlarged a comparison chart.

"Here’s the difference between a grizzly bear and a black bear. A grizzly bear has a prominent muscle hump at its shoulders, and its face is more ’dish-shaped.’"

"While a black bear doesn’t have a noticeable shoulder hump, its face contour is straighter."

"In the wild, accurately identifying them directly relates to your response strategy and survival safety."

The last part concerns practical wilderness survival and first aid skills.

This part of the content, Lin Yu’an is most familiar with, but the systematic knowledge offered by the course still benefits him.

"Although I’ve mostly mastered these skills in practice, the systematic knowledge provided by the course still allows me to patch gaps."

After completing all online learning modules, Lin Yu’an took the completion exam on the website.

The eighty multiple-choice and true/false questions, he easily passed with near-perfect scores, relying on his enhanced memory and deep understanding of the knowledge.

He printed out the completion certificate and signed up for a field course+assessment class in Austin, Texas, recognized as equivalent to the Alaska state hunter education certificate.

On Saturday morning, Lin Yu’an kissed Aliya goodbye and drove to the spacious outdoor activity center located in northern Austin half an hour early.

This is the venue for the intensive hunter safety education course certified by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) he had enrolled in.

The activity center is lush with greenery and well-equipped, offering not only spacious indoor classrooms but also standardized shooting ranges and an area simulating various outdoor environments for practice.

A faint smell of burnt gunpowder lingered in the air.

He entered the designated teaching building and found his seat in a stepped classroom.

The classroom already had a scattering of ten or so students, with diverse ages and backgrounds.

A few white youths, seeming to be around his age, gathered to excitedly discuss some new model of hunting rifles.

Also, several middle-aged fathers accompanied by their children, clearly aiming to cultivate the next generation’s hunting interest.

As a young Chinese student’s face, Lin Yu’an indeed seemed a bit special among them.

At exactly nine o’clock, an elderly man with a tall and burly figure, clad in a TPWD khaki uniform, strode onto the podium.

He was the lead instructor for this course, reportedly once a legendary officer of the Texas Ranger division, who devoted himself to hunter safety education after retirement—Hank Miller.

"Good morning, future hunters!" Instructor Hank’s voice was loud and penetrating, his sharp gaze sweeping over every attendee present.

"Welcome to the hunter safety education course. Over the next day, you will learn the essential knowledge and skills required to be a qualified hunter!"

"Remember! Hunting is not just a sport or hobby; it’s a responsibility! Responsibility for life, nature, and the law!"

Instructor Hank’s opening remarks were concise and powerful, immediately setting a serious tone in the classroom.

With the instructor’s permission, Lin Yu’an began filming the video.

The morning session was theoretical. Although some people might find it dull, Lin Yu’an listened with extraordinary focus.

Instructor Hank, drawing on decades of law enforcement and hunting experience, made those dry theories come to life by integrating his practical experiences.

The morning class taught Lin Yu’an a lot, bolstering his confidence for the afternoon’s practical assessment.

The afternoon was the practical assessment, where Lin Yu’an joined a group of local teenagers and new hunters on the shooting range and simulated woodland.

The instructor was an experienced and stern old hunter, assessing each trainee by an extremely strict standard.

The assessment content was entirely practical.

In the firearm safety handling section, trainees needed to simulate carrying an unloaded rifle over fences, ditches, and other obstacles.

The instructor closely observed whether the trainees always kept the muzzle pointed in a safe direction.

In the simulated shooting area, trainees needed to demonstrate the correct shooting posture, completing a series of safe operations under the instructor’s commands, including loading, aiming, dry firing, unloading, and chamber inspection.

The most challenging part was the "shoot/don’t shoot" scenario judgment.

The instructor used various animal targets and backgrounds to set up a series of rapidly changing hunting scenes.

For example, a deer target suddenly emerged from behind a tree, with a humanoid target marked "Hiker" quickly following.

Trainees had to make a quick judgment and shout "Shoot!" or "Don’t shoot!" aloud.

Throughout the entire field assessment, Lin Yu’an remained calm and composed.

Every movement of his was extremely precise, and every judgment was decisive and correct.

His heartfelt reverence for weapons and adherence to safety rules even made the strict instructor nod frequently in approval.

Finally, when all assessment items were completed, Lin Yu’an received the "Hunter Safety Education Course Certificate" and a fabric patch.

This certificate allows him to apply for an ordinary resident hunting license in multiple states, the first step towards legally hunting on the vast lands of the United States.

He prioritized applying for lifetime hunter licenses in Texas and Alaska.

The day after successfully obtaining the hunter safety education certificate, he sent all the recorded materials during this period to the Bilibili operations team in China via an encrypted cloud link.

At the Bilibili partner operations company in Shanghai, Old Mao and his three-person team were thrilled to receive the material.

"Look! God An has sent new material!"

Loudly exclaimed Li Ang, in charge of editing.

They immediately gathered to review the hours of raw footage.

When they saw Lin Yu’an studying the online course earnestly, explaining each knowledge point in detail, they realized this video’s "educational" attribute was maxed out.

And witnessing Lin Yu’an’s calm, professional, flawless performance in the offline field assessment deepened their respect for this "boss."

"Incredible... Brother An doesn’t seem to be taking an exam but rather demonstrating to the instructor!"

Xiaoya, responsible for community operations, marveled. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"The positioning of this video is very clear."

"It’s not just a curiosity-driven video but hardcore science education. Our job is to present this complex, real process to the audience."

"Li Ang, keep the editing pace quick, the information density high, and highlight the key points of laws and skills with special effects subtitles, so viewers find it both enjoyable and understandable!"

After two days of intensive post-production, a roughly fifteen-minute video titled "Want to Legally Hunt in Alaska? First Step: Get Your Hunter Certificate!" was officially published on Lin Yu’an’s Bilibili account.

Once the video was published, Bilibili immediately initiated S+ Level traffic support.

Homepage recommendation, pinned in the knowledge section, top of the trending list... At virtually the same time, all users interested in the outdoors, survival, and educational content saw the video push.

The video’s view count surpassed the million mark within just an hour!

The comments section turned into a "large-scale educational discussion venue" about North American hunting culture and regulations.

Numerous viewers who only understood hunting through movies and games saw, for the first time, the rigorous and complicated process needed to become a legal hunter in the United States.

Old Mao smiled with satisfaction as he watched the continuously surging view count, likes, and healthy discussions in the backend.

Lin Yu’an’s path as a content creator is steadily on the right track!

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("What’s the pronunciation of ’monthly ticket’? It’s in red. Any bros who are reading, please take a look.)