Team photo of the 2024 MASH YHEC team, comprised of competitors from North and Central Louisiana.

Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries would like to congratulate Louisiana’s two Youth Hunter Education Challenge (YHEC) teams for winning numerous team and individual awards last week at the Central Regional Competition at the Benton County Quail Association in Bentonville, Arkansas, including taking the top overall spot in both the Junior and Senior divisions.

States represented in the Central Regional competition included Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wyoming with eight teams competing in the Junior division and 13 teams in the Senior division.

Louisiana fielded two teams this year: the Bayou Bandits representing South Louisiana, and team MASH (Marksmen Aim, Shoot, Hit) representing North and Central Louisiana. Each team had participants competing in the Junior and Senior categories.

Louisiana captured first place team finishes in the overall Junior and Senior categories as well as Junior Archery (swept top 3 spots), Junior Shotgun (swept top 3 spots), Junior Responsibility Exam, Junior Safety Trail, Senior Archery, Senior Shotgun, and Senior Responsibility Exam.

In individual competition, Ehren Gros with the Bayou Bandits Gold team took second place overall in the Junior Division while Allen Walker with the MASH team was 4th overall and Sydnee Myhand with the Bayou Bandits Gold team took 5th overall out of 57 competitors. In the Senior Division, Carter Neil with the Bayou Bandits Gold team finished 5th overall, with Coben Tosclair with the Bayou Bandits Gold team finishing 7th and Casey Mallach of the MASH squad finishing 9th overall out of 78 competitors.

Individually, Louisiana participants captured the top spot in Junior Archery, Junior Shotgun, and Junior Responsibility Exam. Giuseppe Gorman of the Bayou Bandits Gold team took 1st place in Junior Archery. Louisiana also captured spots 3-5 in the category with Allen Walker with the MASH squad taking 3rd, Aiden Nugent with Bayou Bandits Silver taking 4th, and Ehren Gros with Bayou Bandits Gold taking 5th.

Allen Walker with the MASH squad took 1st place in Junior Shotgun while Ehren Gros of the Bayou Bandits Gold team was 3rd, John Dailey with MASH was 5th, Jameson Gray with MASH was 6th, Logan Benoit of Bayou Bandits Gold was 9th, and Blaise Dillard with MASH was 10th. Aiden Nugent and Collin Henry, both of the Bayou Bandits Silver team, took 11th and 12th places respectively.

Ehren Gros with Bayou Bandits Gold team took 1st overall individually in Junior Responsibility Exam, with Cole Hebert with Bayou Bandits Bronze taking 4th, Logan Benoit of Bayou Bandits Gold taking 5th, Matthew Chaisson of Bayou Bandits Gold taking 7th, and Jameson Gray of MASH taking 9th.