25th Annual NRA Youth Hunter Education Challenge

This week I am spending a couple of days in Mansfield, PA supporting the NRA’s Youth Hunter Education Challenge (YHEC). This is an amazing event bringing together nearly 400 children from the ages of 8 to 18 from almost 20 states as far away as Oregon and New Mexico. Participants must have a completed a Hunter Education Course in their home state in order to be eligible to compete.

YHEC brings these kids together so that they can hone and test their hunting related skills over the course of a fun filled and family oriented week. The kids will compete in 8 events over the course of 4 days and be scored individually as well as in teams of five (4 children and 1 adult coach) in both junior and senior categories.

Harry Street, Director of the Archery Event, has been involved since the beginning of the YHEC in 1985

Four of the events are marksmanship oriented and these are understandably the ones that the kids seem most excited about: Rifle, Muzzle Loader, Archery and Shotgun. The archery event is a walking trail consisting of 30 targets and shooting positions ranging from bull elks to porcupines to alligators (last year, the venue supported shooting the alligator target from a boat in a small man-made pond!). The shotgun competition resembles a 5-stand field, with a variety of target presentations engaged from various shooting positions. Both the rifle and muzzle loader stages are shot at targets at various ranges and from improvised shooting positions. Great effort is taken to make sure that the kids’ skills are being tested in ways that simulate hunting situations… there is no bench rest shooting here!

The other four events are known as Responsibility Events. A Hunter is much more than just a Shooter, after all. Tonight, all attendees will meet in the athletic center of Mansfield University and participate in what may be the most challenging event of the week: The Hunter Responsibility Exam. All day, I’ve been watching students and coaches quizzing each other on the types of questions that you might expect on such a test:  “What Deer Species would you be most likely to encounter in the Rocky Mountains?” “What should you do if you are bit by a venomous snake while in the field?”. All the questions are multiple choice and are taken from the NRA’s Hunter Education Programs.

Participants come from all across the United States. The event alternates locations annually between Raton, New Mexico and Mansfield, PA.

Orienteering and Wildlife Identification (sure, it’s a squirrel, but What Type of Squirrel?) are two more responsibility events that take place at the Mill Cove Environmental Area, which shares the duty of being the event site with the University in the center of this small Pennsylvania town. The fourth Responsibility Event is a creative physical and mental challenge: The Hunter Safety Trail. Participants follow the trail and are confronted with a variety of safety, ethics and critical thinking problems to deal with. Which of these firearms has a safety issue? What is the procedure for safely crossing this obstacle while carrying a firearm? Would it be ethical (or in some cases even legal) to take a shot at that animal from this position?

There are many sponsors who donate generously to the YHEC Program, but only one has been with the event for the entire twenty five year run: Remington Arms. After a standing ovation out of respect for their contributions, Remington was honored this morning with a statue symbolizing the alliance of the NRA, Remington and the Attendees & Volunteers. The statue was accepted by Barry Bond, Remington’s Conservation Sales Manager.

Mansfield University's auditorium was packed during the events opening ceremony.

This event is staffed almost entirely by Volunteers who also come from all around the country to support this important event. Theses volunteers and the dedicated team from the NRA’s Hunter Services and Training & Education Departments are all dedicated to the experience of the attending children. “You’re part of a family of over One Million participants and the future of our heritage,” Bob Davis, NRA’s Hunter Services Manager, said to the assembled crowd at the opening ceremony.

Some of the Maryland contingent stopped by to discuss The Outdoor Channel shows between competitions.

To learn more about how you can get involved in supporting this event, contact the NRA’s Hunter Services Department.

-RJP