Louisiana YHEC Teams Win Team and Individual Awards at National Competition | Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries

Team photo of 2024 Bayou Bandits YHEC team — Team photo of the 2024 Bayou Bandits YHEC team, comprised of competitors from South Louisiana.

Team photo of 2024 MASH YHEC team — Team photo of the 2024 MASH YHEC team, comprised of competitors from North and Central Louisiana.

Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries would like to congratulate Louisiana’s two Youth Hunter Education Challenge (YHEC) teams for winning numerous team and individual awards last week at the Central Regional Competition at the Benton County Quail Association in Bentonville, Arkansas, including taking the top overall spot in both the Junior and Senior divisions.

States represented in the Central Regional competition included Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wyoming with eight teams competing in the Junior division and 13 teams in the Senior division.

Louisiana fielded two teams this year: the Bayou Bandits representing South Louisiana, and team MASH (Marksmen Aim, Shoot, Hit) representing North and Central Louisiana. Each team had participants competing in the Junior and Senior categories.

Louisiana captured first place team finishes in the overall Junior and Senior categories as well as Junior Archery (swept top 3 spots), Junior Shotgun (swept top 3 spots), Junior Responsibility Exam, Junior Safety Trail, Senior Archery, Senior Shotgun, and Senior Responsibility Exam.

In individual competition, Ehren Gros with the Bayou Bandits Gold team took second place overall in the Junior Division while Allen Walker with the MASH team was 4^th overall and Sydnee Myhand with the Bayou Bandits Gold team took 5^th overall out of 57 competitors. In the Senior Division, Carter Neil with the Bayou Bandits Gold team finished 5^th overall, with Coben Tosclair with the Bayou Bandits Gold team finishing 7^th and Casey Mallach of the MASH squad finishing 9^th overall out of 78 competitors.

Individually, Louisiana participants captured the top spot in Junior Archery, Junior Shotgun, and Junior Responsibility Exam. Giuseppe Gorman of the Bayou Bandits Gold team took 1^st place in Junior Archery. Louisiana also captured spots 3-5 in the category with Allen Walker with the MASH squad taking 3^rd, Aiden Nugent with Bayou Bandits Silver taking 4^th, and Ehren Gros with Bayou Bandits Gold taking 5^th.

Allen Walker with the MASH squad took 1^st place in Junior Shotgun while Ehren Gros of the Bayou Bandits Gold team was 3^rd, John Dailey with MASH was 5^th, Jameson Gray with MASH was 6^th, Logan Benoit of Bayou Bandits Gold was 9^th, and Blaise Dillard with MASH was 10^th. Aiden Nugent and Collin Henry, both of the Bayou Bandits Silver team, took 11^th and 12^th places respectively.

Ehren Gros with Bayou Bandits Gold team took 1^st overall individually in Junior Responsibility Exam, with Cole Hebert with Bayou Bandits Bronze taking 4^th, Logan Benoit of Bayou Bandits Gold taking 5^th, Matthew Chaisson of Bayou Bandits Gold taking 7^th, and Jameson Gray of MASH taking 9^th.

Louisiana YHEC Team Standings

Junior Overall

1^st Bayou Bandits Gold team

3^rd MASH

4^th Bayou Bandits Silver team

7^th Bayou Bandits Bronze team

Senior Overall

1^st Bayou Bandits Gold team

5^th MASH

11^th Bayou Bandits Silver team

13^th Bayou Bandits Bronze team

Junior Archery

1^st Bayou Bandits Gold team

2^nd Bayou Bandits Silver team

3^rd MASH

5^th Bayou Bandits Bronze team

Junior Shotgun

1^st MASH

2^nd Bayou Bandits Gold team

3^rd Bayou Bandits Bronze team

5^th Bayou Bandits Silver team

Junior Rifle

2^nd Bayou Bandits Gold team

4^th Bayou Bandits Silver team

5^th Bayou Bandits Bronze team

6^th MASH

Junior Muzzleloader

2^nd Bayou Bandits Gold team

4^th Bayou Bandits Silver team

7^th MASH

8^th Bayou Bandits Bronze team

Junior Responsibility Exam

1^st Bayou Bandits Gold team

3^rd Bayou Bandits Bronze team

4^th MASH

5^th Bayou Bandits Silver team

Junior Safety Trail

1^st Bayou Bandits Gold team

3^rd MASH

5^th Bayou Bandits Silver team

7^th Bayou Bandits Bronze team

Junior Wildlife Identification

2^nd Bayou Bandits Silver team

3^rd Bayou Bandits Gold team

4^th MASH

5^th Bayou Bandits Bronze team

Junior Orienteering

3^rd MASH

4^th Bayou Bandits Gold team

5^th Bayou Bandits Bronze team

8^th Bayou Bandits Silver team

Senior Archery

1^st MASH

2^nd Bayou Bandits Gold team

10^th Bayou Bandits Silver team

13^th Bayou Bandits Bronze team

Senior Shotgun

1^st Bayou Bandits Gold team

4^th MASH

10^th Bayou Bandits Silver team

11^th Bayou Bandits Bronze team

Senior Rifle

6^th Bayou Bandits Gold team

8^th MASH

11^th Bayou Bandits Bronze team

12^th Bayou Bandits Silver team

Senior Muzzleloader

4^th Bayou Bandits Gold team

10^th Bayou Bandits Silver team

12^th MASH

13^th Bayou Bandits Bronze team

Senior Responsibility Exam

1^st MASH

2^nd Bayou Bandits Gold team

8^th Bayou Bandits Bronze team

9^th Bayou Bandits Silver team

Senior Safety Trail

2^nd Bayou Bandits Gold team

4^th Bayou Bandits Silver team

5^th MASH

13^th Bayou Bandits Bronze team

Senior Wildlife Identification

2^nd Bayou Bandits Gold team

4^th MASH

10^th Bayou Bandits Silver team

12^th Bayou Bandits Bronze team

Senior Orienteering

2^nd Bayou Bandits Gold team

9^th MASH

11 Bayou Bandits Silver team

12^th Bayou Bandits Bronze team

Individual Winners (Top 10 finishers)

Junior Overall

2^nd Ehren Gros, Bayou Bandits Gold team

4^th Allen Walker, MASH

5^th Sydnee Myhand, Bayou Bandits Gold team

Senior Overall

5^th Carter Neil, Bayou Bandits Gold

7^th Coben Tosclair, Bayou Bandits Gold team

9^th Casey Mallach, MASH

Junior Archery

1^st Giuseppe Gorman, Bayou Bandits Gold team

3^rd Allen Walker, MASH

4^th Aiden Nugent, Bayou Bandits Silver team

5^th Ehren Gros, Bayou Bandits Gold team

9^th Byron Peters, Bayou Bandits Silver team

10^th Sydnee Myhand, Bayou Bandits Gold team

Junior Shotgun

1^st Allen walker, MASH

3^rd, Ehren Gros, Bayou Bandits Gold team

5^th John Dailey, MASH

6^th Jameson Gray, MASH

9^th Logan Benoit, Bayou Bandits Gold team

10^th Blaise Dillard, MASH

Junior Rifle

4^th Matthew Chaisson, Bayou Bandits Gold team

6^th Kirklin Gaude, Bayou Bandits Silver team

7^th Sydnee Myhand, Bayou Bandits Gold team

Junior Muzzleloader

6^th Logan Benoit, Bayou Bandits Gold team

Junior Responsibility Exam

1^st Ehren Gros, Bayou Bandits Gold team

4^th Cole Hebert, Bayou Bandits Bronze team

5^th Logan Benoit, Bayou Bandits Gold team

7^th Matthew Chaisson, Bayou Bandits Gold team

9^th Jameson Gray, MASH

Junior Safety Trail

2^nd Sydnee Myhand, Bayou Bandits Gold team

3^rd Logan Benoit, Bayou Bandits Gold team

4^th Ehren Gros, Bayou Bandits Gold team

5^th Jameson Gray, MASH

9^th Lillian Church, MASH

Junior Wildlife Identification

2^nd Bryce Verret, Bayou Bandits Silver team

5^th Audrey Pellegrin, Bayou Bandits Bronze team

7^th Ehren Gros, Bayou Bandits Gold team

9^th Allen Walker, MASH

Junior Orienteering

2^nd Sydnee Myhand, Bayou Bandits Gold team

3^rd Tyler Layssard, MASH

5^th Andrew Hebert, Bayou Bandits Bronze team

8^th Cole Hebert, Bayou Bandits Bronze team

Senior Archery

4^th Coben Tosclair, Bayou Bandits Gold team

8^th Casey Mallach, MASH

9^th Westin Airhart, MASH

10^th Hunter Poche, Bayou Bandits Gold team

Senior Shotgun

2^nd Hunter Poche, Bayou Bandits Gold team

5^th Carter Neil, Bayou Bandits Gold team

6^th Casey Mallach, MASH

Senior Rifle

10^th Benjamin Stokes, MASH

Senior Muzzleloader

5^th Carter Neil, Bayou Bandits Gold team

9^th Coben Tosclair, Bayou Bandits Gold team

Senior Responsibility Exam

3^rd Carter Neil, Bayou Bandits Gold team

9^th Tallon Soileau, MASH

10^th Kent Rains, MASH

Senior Safety Trail

5^th Grant Guilbeau, Bayou Bandits Bronze team

6^th Carter Neil, Bayou Bandits Gold team

10^th Rebecca Theriot, Bayou Bandits Silver team

Senior Wildlife Identification

4^th Carter Neil, Bayou Bandits Gold team

7^th Kent Rains, MASH

10^th Nathan Rider, Bayou Bandits Gold team

Senior Orienteering

7^th Logan Andrus, Bayou Bandits Gold team

Congratulations to all those who competed and to this year’s winners.