HOUMA – Before his third and final state championship appearance and winning back-to-back state titles, Gavin Naquin talked the talk, then walked the walk June 3 at the Louisiana State Youth Hunter Education Challenge Program Championship. And enjoyed every minute of it.

“I knew it was possible. Oh, yeah, I was confident. I go in there talkin’ smack. Then you beat them,” Naquin said a few days after the event held at the Terrebonne Sheriff’s Rifle Range.

The 18-year-old from Sorrel, who graduated last month from Centerville High School, amassed 2,053 points in the Overall Senior competition to defend his individual state title and power the Acadiana Youth Hunter Education Club to a runner-up finish behind YHEC juggernaut Terrebonne Parish Junior Deputies. TPJD grabbed the Senior Team state title with 9,362 points, comfortably ahead of Acadiana YHEC’s 2,053.

TPJD also dominated the Junior Team field with 7,708 points to finish ahead of Rapides Parish Youth Hunter Education Challenge Program, also known as the Rapides Pioneers, who finished second with 6,765 points.

The YHEC state contest featured 112 members from across the Sportsman’s Paradise. They competed in eight events – Rifle, Shotgun, Muzzleloader, Archery, Hunter Safety Trail, Test, Wildlife ID and Orienteering.

Naquin — whose twin brother, Gage Naquin, finished fifth in the Overall Senior competition — saw his reputation precede him before action got underway here the third day of June. He was motivated by the fact other teams were pointing him out beforehand.

“I like hearing people talk about me … ‘Look, that’s our competition,’ ” he said about conversations he heard before the events began.

His good-natured smack talk further got into their heads, he said. Still, he had to back it up and he did just that because he was prepared.

“You have to practice, though. You have to put in the work,” he said.

He was first in Wildlife ID (290) and also won Orienteering (280). His next highest finish was second in Muzzleloader (225) and third in Shotgun (270).

Gavin Naquin said he was proud of his score in Shotgun, his best this year.

“I missed three (clay targets) only because of the wind. It wasn’t blowing all day until for the last event, Shotgun,” he said.

The Naquins, avid duck hunters, each earned a 2023 Louisiana Youth Hunter Education Challenge Academic Excellence plaque in the Senior Division. The third plaque for Academic Excellence went to Colby Laiche with the Terrebonne Parish Junior Deputies YHEC.

Four other Acadiana YHEC members qualified for national competition and will join the Louisiana Bayou Bandits Senior Team July 23-28 for the YHEC Central Region National Championship in Bentonville, Arkansas. Those teammates are Gage Naquin, Evan Dupre, Nathan Rider and Holland Hatch.

Dupre, the Naquins’ cousin, brings championship experience to the team. He won the individual national title and led the Louisiana Bayou Bandits Junior Gold Team to a national championship in July 2021 in Lonoke, Arkansas. Now he’s competing as a Senior.

Acadiana YHEC also landed two members on the 2023 Louisiana Bayou Bandits Junior Team. They are Bryce Verret and Giuseppe Gorman, fifth- and eighth-place, respectively, and both qualified for nationals after their performance in state competition.

Scott Dupre’s 13-year-old stepdaughter, Brie Tyler, made all of Acadiana YHEC proud by finishing third with 1,277 points in the Overall Junior Female competition behind winner Sydnee Myhand from TPJD, with 1,618 points, and runner-up Kirklin Gaudet, also from TPJD, with 1,295 points.

Apparently, Gavin Naquin didn’t feel much pressure while defending his state championship.

“I was just chillin’, having a good time, enjoying the last state. And I got to see some of my buddies from nationals,” he said about Louisiana Bayou Bandit Senior Gold teammates Colby Laiche and Coben Trosclair, all from the 2023 state championship-winning Terrebonne Parish Junior Deputies YHEC.

Laiche and Trosclair were second and third, respectively, behind Gavin Naquin on June 3.

Gavin Naquin thanked the coaches who have guided him over the years, starting with his uncle, Scott Dupre of Charenton.

“Everyone helps out. Eric Gorman, A.J. Verret helps, and Toby Hatch, and Miss Sandra Verret,” he said.

As for national competition looming next month, Gavin Naquin likes his chances to improve on a third-place overall finish last summer in Arkansas. His goal is to win it all but knows he’ll have to be on his game to do so.

“Hopefully I can win if that dude Logan Tucker doesn’t absolutely smoke the competition,” he said.

Tucker led Arkansas’ Mary’s Wild Bunch Senior Team 1 to the YHEC Central Region National Championship Senior title in 2022. He also racked up 1,947 points to win the individual title by a 254-point margin over teammate and runner-up Kyler Phillips and 259 points over Naquin.

The day after Gavin Naquin returns to the Teche Area from Bentonville, he ships out to join the U.S. Navy. He signed up before graduation and intends to work in air traffic control.

His brother, Gage Naquin, working this summer at Franklin Supply Inc., plans to attend Fletcher Technical Community College in Schriever, where he wants to study criminal justice and eventually be a wildlife enforcement agent like his uncle, Scott Dupre.

Gage Naquin said he was proud of his twin brother. But, he said, “I wasn’t very proud of my shooting at state. I was beating myself up over it. The archery stuff wasn’t that good. Of course, I wasn’t practicing as much as I should have. Work gets in the way.”