Members of the Louisiana Youth Hunters Education Challenge team.

The Louisiana Youth Hunter Education Challenge (YHEC) Gold Junior Team won the 2022 Central Regional YHEC championship and the Gold Senior Team finished second in the event held in Bentonville, Arkansas, in July.

The YHEC, sponsored by the National Rifle Association, is affiliated with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) Hunter Education program. According to the YHEC website, it provides a fun environment for kids 18 and under to improve their hunting, marksmanship and safety skills. Through its simulated hunting situations, live fire exercises, educational and responsibility events, YHEC helps build upon skills learned in basic hunter education courses and encourages safer, lifelong hunting habits.

The challenge features eight disciplines, including rifle, shotgun, archery, muzzleloader, wildlife identification, orienteering (use of a compass), safety trail (how to safely navigate during a hunt) and a hunting responsibility exam.

The Louisiana Junior Gold Team was led by Carter Neil, who won the safety trail event and finished second overall. Evan Dupre was third overall. In the senior division, Gavin Naquin was first in shotgun and third overall, while his brother Gage won the wildlife identification discipline.

Louisiana coach Scott Dupre placed third overall after finishing second in wildlife identification and shotgun and third in archery and rifle. Seth Montgomery was first in coaches’ archery and Buddy Toups was first in coaches’ wildlife identification.

The Louisiana Gold Junior Team placed first in shotgun, wildlife identification, archery, safety trail and the responsibility exam. The Louisiana Gold Senior Team won the shotgun division.

Logan Andrus, competing for the Louisiana Bronze Team, was named the Sportsmanship of the Year Award Winner in the event.

The Louisiana YHEC State Championship event was held in Houma in June. Gavin Naquin was the overall male senior winner and Emily Gaudet the overall female senior winner. Neil was the overall male junior winner and Syndee Myhand the overall female junior winner.

The Acadiana YHEC team won the senior state title and the Terrebonne Junior Deputies the junior state crown.

Here are the individual state winners in each discipline:

SENIOR DIVISION

Rifle: Colby Laiche, Terrebonne Parish Junior Deputies.

Shotgun: Colby Laiche, Terrebonne Parish Junior Deputies.

Archery: Casey Mallach, Rapides Pioneers Youth Team.

Muzzleloader: Gavin Naquin, Acadiana YHEC.

Wildlife Identification: Casey Mallach, Rapides Pioneers Youth Team.

Orienteering: Gavin Naquin, Acadiana YHEC.

Safety Trail: Gavin Naquin, Acadiana YHEC.

Responsibility Test: Nathan Rider, Acadiana YHEC.

JUNIOR DIVISION

Rifle: Carter Neil, Terrebonne Parish Junior Deputies.

Shotgun: Ben Stokes, Rapides Pioneers Youth Team.

Archery: Evan Dupre, Acadiana YHEC.

Muzzleloader: Evan Dupre, Acadiana YHEC.

Wildlife Identification: Ehren Gros, Terrebonne Parish Junior Deputies.

Orienteering: Carter Neil, Terrebonne Parish Junior Deputies.

Safety Trail: Carter Neil, Terrebonne Parish Junior Deputies.

Responsibility Exam: Kenneth Rains, DeSoto Youth Team.

For more information on YHEC, go to https://yhec.nra.org/.

For more information on the Louisiana YHEC program, contact Chad Moore at 318-371-5206 or cmoore@wlf.la.gov. For more information on LDWF’s Hunter Education program, go to https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/page/hunter-and-trapper-education.