The drive
Hope to Agassiz is about 43 kilometres — roughly half an hour along Highway 7 on the north side of the river. The alternative has always been Surrey or Langley, which is around an hour and three quarters each way. For a weekend course that's close to seven hours of driving, and in winter it's the Highway 1 corridor you'd rather not be doing twice in two days.
Hunting country
More of our Hope-area students are hunters than anywhere else we teach. The Coquihalla, the Fraser Canyon, Manning Park and the back roads north of town put serious hunting right on your doorstep, and most people coming through the course already know their way around the bush — they just need the paperwork done properly.
Worth being clear about the two certifications, because it trips people up every single intake:
- Your PAL lets you buy, own and transport firearms. That's the course we run in Agassiz.
- Your CORE certification is what BC requires before it will sell you a hunting licence. Separate program, separate exam.
You need both to hunt with a firearm in BC. Our self-paced Online Hunting Course covers the CORE material from home, which matters more in Hope than most places — it's one less trip down the valley.
Smaller classes than you'd get in town
Agassiz classes are capped deliberately low. You get real hands-on time with the training firearms rather than watching someone else handle them from the back of a room of thirty. For the practical test in particular that makes a difference.
If you're further up the canyon
We see students from Yale, Boston Bar, Laidlaw and Silver Creek too. If you're coming any distance, book early — these classes are small and the seats go. You can see what's scheduled on the Fraser Valley courses page.