ARKANSAS SPORTSMAN: Challenge livens hunter education process for youth

— Nearly 400 teens and preteens participated in the 13th annual Arkansas Youth Hunter Education Challenge last weekend at the C.A. Vines 4-H Youth Center in Ferndale.

The Arkansas Youth Hunter Education Challenge, or YHEC, teaches young people safe, ethical and responsible ways to shoot, hunt and enjoy the outdoors. The competition is open to boys or girls 9-19. Gary Jobe, the Arkansas YHEC director, said YHEC covers anything that deals with shooting, hunting, camping, survival and enjoying the outdoors.

“We deal with all aspects of hunting and shooting,” Jobe said. “The Arkansas program is not just a weekend or two with a box of shotgun shells. Our kids really get into the true aspect of hunting. They have to be committed to shooting and hunting.”

Arkansas has the nation’s largest YHEC participation, including teams from more than 45 counties and about 120 volunteers. Consequently, Arkansas usually brings one of the largest contingents tothe annual international competition, which will be held in July at Mansfield, Pa.

A 10-hour hunter education program is the core curriculum for YHEC, sponsored by the National Rifle Association and the Arkansas 4-H Shooting Sports Program, and it emphasizes safe gun handling, safe shooting, conservation and ethics. Students are taught how to safely shoot a rifle, shotgun, muzzleloader or bow. Other training includes wildlife identification, water safety, compass and orienteering, and how to hunt a deer, turkey or duck.

Arkansas’ YHEC state competition consists of eight events, including shooting a .22-caliber rifle, shotgun, muzzleloader and bow. Thefour nonshooting events are compass and orienteering skills, the safety trail, wildlife identification and a hunter safety exam. Awards are given for each category of competition as well as overall winners of all eight categories.

Shooters use scoped rifles to fire at metal silhouette targets at ranges of 25, 50 and 75 yards from standing, sitting and prone positions. The muzzleloader event is similar, but with bigger targets. Muzzleloading rifles are not scoped. The shotgun course is a sporting clays competition, and the archery course features three-dimensional targets at ranges of 5-40 yards. Participants fired about 22,000 rounds from their rifles, muzzleloaders and bows during the two-day competition.

The safety trail consists of shoot/don’t shoot scenarios based on safety, ethics and knowledge of Arkansas hunting regulations. Compassand-orienteering challenges a participant’s knowledge of how to use a compass and topographic map. They alsouse their knowledge for inthe-field navigation.

Participants must also identify animals, birds and reptiles using skulls, hides, full mounts and other clues. The hunter safety exam tests knowledge of shooting, hunting and safety.

“Young people are intrigued in shooting and hunting, and this program includes all aspects of shooting and hunting,” Jobe said. “The YHEC program and 4-H develops values and life skills you won’t find in many other shooting programs in Arkansas.

“We are developing the next generation of shooters and hunters,” he said. “We have young adults that were former YHEC competitors coming back into the program as parents, coaches and volunteers. Many have developed careers as game wardens, conservation officers, biologists, taxidermists and big game guides. They’re making a living from the sport they love the best.”

South Arkansas dominated this year’s competition. Hempstead County won first and third place in the senior team division, and first andsecond place in the junior team division. Union County won second place in the senior team division, and Benton County, won third place in the junior team division.

Austin Jones of Faulkner County won the Brad Dawson Memorial Sportsmanship Award, which will pay Jones’ registration fee for the International YHEC competition.

Seth Bickford of Faulkner County won the Arkansas Waterfowl Association’s Youth Duck Calling Competition for the second time. His prize was a Remington over/under shotgun donated by the Arkansas Waterfowl Association.

Landon Casey of Faulkner County won the first elk-calling contest. Canyon Dewey of Lavaca was runner-up.

History and tradition make YHEC a valuable refinery for generations of new sportsmen, and its efforts, coupled with those of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Shooting Sports and Archery in Schools programs, help ensure that our state’s hunting culture is in capable hands.

YHEC state competitionC.A. Vines 4-H Center June 12-13 SENIOR DIVISION Justin Newton Cole Turner Seth Joyner SENIOR TEAM DIVISION Hempstead County 1: Cole Townsend, Cole Turner, Colton Capps, Justin Newton, and Layton Medlen Union County: Chris Fitzgerald, Clay Ferguson, Jacob Hogue, Nathan Barton, and Zack Warren Hempstead County 2: Carter Yocum, Hunter Calhoon, Jacob, Ralph, and Logan Webster JUNIOR DIVISION Hunter Howard

Zach Meyer

Kyle England JUNIOR TEAM DIVISION

Hempstead County 1: Clint Park, Derek Shults,

Hayden Lee, Hunter Howard, and Kyle Eng

land

Hempstead County 2: Bailey Yocum, Benjamin

Stroderd, Cory England, Ross Townsend, and

Troy Bradford

Benton County: Britt Woods, Douglas Elkins,

James Harrison, Jarod Goates, and Regan

Puryear DUCK-CALLING COMPETITION

Seth Bickford ELK-CALLING CONTEST

Landon Casey

Sports, Pages 34 on 06/20/2010

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