Outfitter Wildlife Management

If you’re hunting for a career in the outdoors, SIC can help! SIC’s Outfitter Wildlife Management program will prepare you for jobs in the rapidly growing commercial hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation industry. An advisory council of outdoor professionals guides the curriculum, and students can choose to take an externship course with potential industry employers after completion of the certificate. Students will learn conservation law to assist in pursuing employment as conservation police, study wildlife and ecosystem science to better understand our native species and habitats, and participate in various expeditions into the Shawnee National Forest.

Finish the certificate in just one year or go for the Associate Degree over two years!

This is a very hands-on program where students get to spend time monitoring wildlife populations, learning how to identify species and learning about game at the college level. Students will enjoy learning how to clean fish and deer, build stands and hone their hunting skills. Various wildlife techniques will be used to monitor, study, and manage wildlife populations. Wildlife students will participate in prescribed burns for habitat management, forestry, predator-prey population projects, biodiversity surveys, and much more!

Students will be able to visit locations in the Shawnee National Forest, as well as Illinois’ Department of Natural Resources lands and management sites, for specific curriculum topics and projects. Students will also participate in various habitat improvement projects throughout Southern Illinois! Second-year students will witness and participate in behind-the-scenes wildlife research conducted under the scientific permit of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the US Fish & Wildlife Service, including fish tagging, bird banding, species reintroductions, herpetological monitoring, and many other projects depending on the industry demand.

Featured Subjects

• Wildlife Business Basics
• Hunting Education
• Guiding in the Outdoors
• Habitat and Food Plot Installation
• Big Game Management
• Freshwater Fishing
• Waterfowl Management
• Upland Game Bird Management
• Exotic Wildlife
• Range Management

Career Opportunities

• Fish and Game Warden
• Hunting or Fishing/ Outfitting Guide
• Outdoor Recreation Manager
• Wildlife Manager
• Conservationist
• Natural Resources Manager
• Forest Service Employee
• Range/Ranch Manager
• Travel Guide

Program Learning Outcomes

Goal 1: Discuss and demonstrate safe hunting and fishing practices.
Goal 2: Identify basic concepts needed to be an outdoor guide or outfitter, including areas of big and small game management, waterfowl management, and upland bird management.
Goal 3: Describe principles of wildlife and natural resource enterprise management.
Goal 4: Discuss management of fisheries, and the environmental factors that affect fish, their habitat, and the sport of freshwater fishing.
Goal 5: Discuss the factors affecting the need to locate sustainable practices for production of food, feed, and fiber crops and how to implement them.
Goal 6: Describe how the environment influences plant growth and crop yields, and ways to modify the environment to improve plant growth and yields.
Goal 7: Identify species, characteristics, habitat requirements and life cycles of birds, fish and/or mammalian wildlife species.
Goal 8: Critically evaluate current events and public information related to wildlife management as being scientifically based or opinion-based and contribute to the knowledge base of information.
Goal 9: Work and communicate with others to coordinate activities that achieve group/team objectives.
Goal 10: Write in a style appropriate for technical or informative publications for various audiences related to Outfitter Wildlife Management.
Goal 11: Demonstrate an understanding of the general principles of ecology as how they relate to terrestrial and/or aquatic plant and animal conservation and management.

For more information or to schedule a tour, contact Jordan Hammersley at (618) 252-5400, ext. 2328 or jordan.hammersley@sic.edu

Ask us about the Outfitter Wildlife Management Organization, SIC Clay Breakers Shotgun Team, and Indoor/Outdoor Archery Teams! Scholarships may be available.