The New Iberia-based Acadiana Youth Hunter Education Club’s banner weekend at the 2011 Louisiana Youth Hunter Education Challenge last weekend was capped by an unexpected but deserving award from the event at Camp Grant Walker northeast of Alexandria. 

Acadiana YHEC Senior and Junior teams boasted two individual state champions and three qualifiers for the 2011 National Rifle Association International Youth Hunter Education Challenge July 24-29 at the NRA Whittington Center, Raton, N.M. But they also left with the prestigious Jonathon L. Glasscock Memorial Sportsmanship Award, a crowning achievement for the young club, according to its leaders.

“We probably had our best year since we put the club together (seven years ago). We had the most kids place first, second and third in their event,” Dwight Savoy of New Iberia, head coach of the Acadiana YHEC Senior Team, said last week after hundreds of young outdoorsmen competed in shooting events (archery, muzzleloader, shotgun and hunting rifle) and responsibility events (hunter exam, safety trail, orienteering and wildlife identification).

“We did win the Sportsmanship Award. It’s great, just to have the kids go out there and present themselves in an impressive fashion to the guys running the event,” he said.

Chuck Little of New Iberia, who coached the Acadiana YHEC Junior Team, agreed and said, “That’s everybody acting like sportsmen and being respectful.”

Little was pleased with the results from the 11 juniors who competed at Camp Grant Walker. The Acadiana YHEC Junior Team finished fourth with 6,220 points in the division won by the Terrebonne Parish Junior Deputies with 7,960 points.

“Just about all of our kids doubled their scores over the state scores they had last year,” he said.

Pacing the younger Acadiana YHECers was Elijah Dupree of Charenton, who was the individual state champion in archery and finished fourth overall at Camp Grant Walker. The Top 15 finishers qualify for the International YHEC.

Dupree, 14, who qualified for the International YHEC in 2010, also had a second-place finish in muzzleloader and a third-place finish in orienteering.

“I thought I did good. There were a couple things I had a low score in, like wildlife identification. That was my lowest,” said the freshman at New Iberia Senior High. He was looking forward to his return to International YHEC, noting last year’s experience taught him “how much of a challenge it’s going to be.”

Also qualifying from the Acadiana YHEC’s Junior Team was Alex Aucoin, 15, a sophomore at Hanson Memorial High School.  Aucoin, enjoying his first year in the club, placed third in muzzleloader and finished seventh overall.

“It was a little challenging,” said Aucoin, who admitted being nervous at the beginning.

Other Acadiana YHEC Junior Team members at state were Amy Bertrand, Ruston Bernard and Ken Blanchard, all of Centerville; Charles Little and Kylan LaBiche, both of New Iberia; Austin Darby of Youngsville; Katie Monnin of Jeanerette; Hunter Verret of Charenton, and Logan Darby of Coteau, the youngest on the team at age 10.

Acadiana YHEC’s Senior Team was sixth with 6,480 points in a division won by the Terrebonne Parish Junior Deputies with 7,660. The local team turned out an individual state champion Ben Baudoin of Centerville and an International YHEC qualifier in Zachary Savoy of New Iberia. Savoy, 16, was 11th overall after placing third in shotgun and third on the safety trail. The NISH junior has qualified for nationals five of the six years he has gone to state. He competed in the mid-summer event as a 12-year-old in Raton. 

Baudoin, 16, captured first place in orienteering at state, “although a junior did beat me by 10 points,” he said with a smile.