Terrebonne Parish won both the junior and senior team championships of the Louisiana Youth Hunter Education Challenge (YHEC) held June 3 at the Terrebonne Sheriff’s Rifle Range. The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) Wildlife Division Education Section assisted with the competition.

Louisiana youth between the ages of 10-18 practice for months before taking their learned skills and knowledge to the Louisiana YHEC Competition in a bid to qualify for the National Rifle Association (NRA) Youth Hunter Education National Championship.

The YHEC program in Louisiana began in 1985 when Jonathan Glasscock, then a Hunter Education Coordinator, brought the idea to Louisiana. Currently, volunteer hunter education instructors from across the state implement the YHEC program in Caddo, DeSoto, Rapides, Terrebonne, Acadiana and Iberia parishes and the Greater New Orleans area.

YHEC is one of the LDWF’s sponsored recruitment, retention and reactivation (R3) educational programs to create the future hunters of Louisiana. Teams across the state rigorously train annually in a variety of outdoor disciplines such as wildlife identification, orienteering, hunter responsibility, 3D archery, .22 rifle, shotgun and Hunter Safety trail.

In addition to the knowledge and skills needed to compete, outdoor ethics and sportsmanship are paramount to the intent of this program. Youths from different backgrounds are able to enhance their knowledge of the outdoors, learn ethics and conservation and enhance their marksmanship skills. This year, 112 students from across the state competed in eight events.

Here are the competition winners:

TEAM WINNERS

Senior Division – 1. Terrebonne Parish; 2. Rapides Parish; 3. Terrebonne Parish.

Junior Division – 1. Terrebonne Parish; 2. Acadiana YHEC; 3. Terrebonne Parish.

INDIVIDUAL WINNERS

Senior Overall – 1. Gavin Naquin, Acadiana YHEC; 2. Colby Laiche, Terrebonne Parish; 3. Coben Trosclair, Terrebonne Parish.

Junior Overall – 1. Kent Rains, DeSoto YHEC; 2. Ehren Gros, Terrebonne Parish; 3. Sydnee Myhand, Terrebonne Parish.

Senior Female Overall – 1. Madeline Cunningham, Terrebonne Parish; 2. Rebecca Theriot, Terrebonne Parish; 3. Loralie Pellegrin, Terrebonne Parish.

Junior Female Overall – 1. Sydnee Myhand, Terrebonne Parish; 2. Kirklin Gaudet, Terrebonne Parish; 3. Brie Tyler, Acadiana YHEC.

For more information on YHEC, how to get involved or how to start a chapter, go to  http://la-yhec.com/index.html