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INDIANOLA - The 20th year of Iowa’s youth hunter education challenge (YHEC) wrapped up on June 10, with 68 kids ages 12 to 18 participating in the eight station competition.
The
event has changed little competition-wise during its two decades. The
format has remained the same. The set up has been pretty consistent.
About the only thing that has changed are the competitors and the event
location.
“We
moved from the 4H camp at Madrid to Wesley Woods three years ago and
that has provided us a better layout to set up the stations and allows
us to go through the course much faster,” said Donise Grygierczyk, who
coordinates the challenge for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
Youth
from all over Iowa compete as part of a team in four shooting events
and four non-shooting events. The events include the Hunter
Responsibility Exam; the Hunter Safety Trail Challenge that simulates
hunting and includes the ‘dos and don’ts’ of firearm safety and
shoot/don’t shoot situations; the Hunting Shotgun Challenge, including
shooting at clay and/or life-size targets.
Other
events include the Light Hunting Rifle Challenge; the Hunting/Wildlife
Identification Challenge to identify animals, tracks, or wildlife signs
without an identification book; the Hunting Orienteering Skills
Challenge covering map and compass skills; the Hunting Muzzleloader
Challenge taking shots at life-sized targets at varying distances and
positions; and the Hunting Archery Challenge requiring shots at
life-size game targets.
Each
event is scored. Teams compete against each other in each event and for
the overall competition. Hunter education instructors are encouraged
to put a team together and coach their participants.
It
takes nearly as many volunteers as competitors to put on the event and
over the 20 years, five volunteers have seen each and every competition:
Bill Shipley, of Birmingham, Craig Glosser, of Batavia, John Sears, of
Ottumwa, Loren Zaruba, of Charlotte, and Dean Ross, of Jefferson.
“We
couldn’t do this without the volunteers,” Grygierczyk said. “They are
the reason this event has been successful and around for 20 years.”
Iowa YHEC is co-sponsored by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Iowa State University Extension Wildlife Programs, National Rifle Association and the Iowa 4-H Safety and Education in Shooting Sports program.
The 2013 Iowa YHEC is scheduled for June 7-9, at Wesley Woods, near Indianola.
