Local YHEC kids tell of experience at nationals

For most of the Arnold Rifle and Pistol Club's junior team, this summer's trip to the Youth Hunter Education Challenge national tournament was a first-time thing. They didn't finish high in the final standings but all said they had fun and learned a lot.

Ryan King

Twelve-year-old Ryan King of St. Louis was even philosophical about his low score in the wildlife identification part of the 8-event competition. He identified only one of 30 wildlife specimens.

Ryan said, "Jan Morris wasn't kidding when he said the competition would be hard. But, he told us he didn't want anyone to get a perfect score. He said that would mean we didn't have anything more to learn about the outdoors."

Mr. Morris is the state YHEC program coordinator. The YHEC program for kids has been active in Missouri since 1991.

Identifying only one of 30 specimens seems like a very low score. But, kids aren't just looking at pictures of birds or animals.

Ryan said, "Sometimes all you get to see is only a jaw, a tail or some deformed bone."

Brent Grommet

Fifteen-year-old Brent Grommet of DeSoto was the only Arnold team member to have previous nationals experience. He had competed two years ago.

Brent said, "The competition was hard but good. We had a lot of fun."

The Missouri YHEC program did have some winners. Matthew Brooks of Fair Grove, Mo., was the international junior individual champion. And this teammate, Derek Wilson of Jefferson City, Mo., was individual runner-up.

The mid-Missouri team also was the overall junior team runner-up. In addition to Matthew and Derek, other team members were Logan Gerloff, Kyle Dunda and Mason Horstman.

The tournament was held at Mansfield, Penn. The kids got to compete on a course that has been used for shooting competitions for many years.

The kids went through eight different competitions. Four involve shooting a variety of weapons. There is archery, rifle, shotgun and muzzle-loader firing. In addition, there are various other tests, including orienteering, hunter safety, hunter responsibility and wildlife identification.

Nathaniel Kenyon

Fourteen-year-old Nathaniel Kenyon of Oakville said he did best in the orienteering competition. He gave credit to his coach who taught orienteering in the Army.

"He gave each of us a clear plastic square with etchings on it. There was a dot to put over our map location and another to locate north. Then, there were etchings around the dot so you could determine the direction you wanted to go," Nathaniel said.

He said, "That was more help than the compass they gave us." In orienteering, the goal is to use a compass and topographical maps to navigate a course. The competitor finds markers along the way.

Heather Gemmell

Seventeen-year-old Heather Gemmell of Barnhart said she scored best on the hunter responsibility portion of the competition.

Learning about hunter responsibility is a big part of the YHEC program. There's emphasis on shooting. But, the goal of the YHEC program is to help kids to learn how to be safe and responsible when they're in the outdoors.

Most of the Arnold team members stressed how much they enjoyed competing as a team as well as individually.

In some cases, members were accompanied by their parents. And, they did some sightseeing before coming home.

Brent Grommet said he went on a 2-hour horseback ride. Also, he and his family visited a state park that is called "The Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania."

Ryan King and his family visited the Civil War site at Gettysburg. "I got a bullet souvenir there and saw a reenactment movie of the battle," he said.

For Nathaniel Kenyon, the sightseeing included Niagara Falls and Fort Niagara. "We saw a reenactment of the War of 1812 battle," he said.

Heather Gemmell said their family sightseeing include an aviation museum in Ohio and also a stop at a county fair. "My brother, Travis, is into tractors and he wanted to stop at the fair," she said.

Heather said she's looking forward to next year's YHEC competition, which will be her last. She said she's determined to do better in the firearms competition. "I didn't get my first gun until last January just before we started training for this year's YHEC," she said.

(If you'd like to know more about YHEC, visit www.moyhec.com.)