Lydia Capritto of St. Martinville and Cameron Dauzat of Effie were selected as the 2017 Louisiana Female and Male Youth Hunters of the Year. The Youth Hunter of the Year Program is a joint effort with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the Louisiana Wildlife Federation and the Louisiana Outdoors Writers Association.
 
The awards were presented at the Louisiana Outdoor Writers Association banquet Aug. 11 at the Clarion Inn Conference Center in Gonzales.
 
The Youth Hunter of the Year program is made possible by the generous donations from South LA Branch of the Quality Deer Management Association, the Baton Rouge Chapter of Delta Waterfowl, Andrew Harrison with Harrison Law, LLC, the Louisiana Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation, Louisiana Wildlife Federation, and Bowie Outfitters in Baton Rouge.
 
Capritto, 15 and the female winner, harvested a 21-pound turkey that featured a 12-inch beard and 1.25 inch spurs. She took the bird on March 18, 2017, in the Atchafalaya Basin during Louisiana’s youth turkey hunt weekend.
 
Capritto hunted with her father, Matthew Capritto, and friend, Celeste. They encountered mosquitos, a hooting owl and an otter.
 
The trio started at 4:30 a.m. and at daybreak they heard the hoot of an owl and two turkeys gobbling. They had to relocate after about an hour but their patience was rewarded.
 
“We heard sounds of a hen clucking nearby so Popa started calling back to the hen in hopes of attracting the gobbler,’’ Lydia said. “As the hen approached the decoys we heard the sound I was waiting for. It was the gobbler.’’
 
The turkey was soon in Lydia’s sight and she made good on her attempt, using a 20-gauge shotgun.
 
“Let me just say not only were my hands shaking but my knees were knocking,’’ Lydia said.
 
Dauzat, 12, took a small buck on an afternoon hunt with his father, David Dauzat, on Dec. 8, 2017, at Dewey W. Wills Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in central Louisiana.
 
What made the hunt even better, Cameron said, was that his father also harvested a deer.
 
“We couldn’t believe it,’’ Cameron said. “Two deer in one hunt. This was incredible and very rare. It really means a lot to me to kill a deer in the wild. But to kill two in one hunt is so special. It was worth all the time we spent scouting and sitting on the cold ground waiting for deer.’’
 
Cameron said he and his father were sitting in some tree bottoms when about five deer came through their area.
 
“I finally got a good look at one deer,’’ Cameron said. “I could tell that it was probably a small buck or doe. At that time of the year I could shoot anyone of these so I was excited. I didn’t move for several minutes, which felt like 20.’’
 
Cameron’s father okayed the shot and Cameron dropped the 90-pound buck with a 7 mm-08 Ruger American rifle. Seconds later, David harvested a doe in the group.
 
Cameron said what also made the hunt so rewarding was being able to hunt on public land.
 
“My family hunts the public lands because we are not fortunate to have private land,’’ Cameron said. “We spend many hours walking or boating in the WMAs. We learn the terrain and habits of the animals. This lets us know exactly where to set up a hunt.’’
 
The 2018 Youth Hunter of the Year contest application will be available soon.