International YHEC 2010

Wow what a great week I had at the 25th International YHEC Program. It is one thing I look forward to every year. I love to volunteer for this youth event. YHEC (Youth Hunter Education Challenge) has been alternating between two states for the last 6 years. Last year it was held at the NRA Whittington Center in New Mexico, and this year at Mansfield, PA. Being held in Mansfield this year, it was an easy drive of over 4 hours.

This year there were 16 states and 400 kids participating. The states that attended were, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Ohio, North Carolina, Utah, Oregon, Washington, New York, New Mexico, Missouri, Colorado and Wyoming. There are 8 events in which all the teams must complete from Monday to Thursday, and the events are rifle, shotgun, muzzle loading, archery, wildlife ID, hunter safety trail, orienteering and responsibility exam.

As a volunteer you are responsible for your expenses getting there but the NRA furnishes room and meals. They assign you to an event. This year the volunteers were down a little but there were enough to get the job done. Some of the volunteers take vacation to help out with this event and would not think of anything better to do then to help out. This year I was assigned to the shotgun event. Its a busy week but it is rewarding. Every night the volunteers sit around and talk about the happenings of their day. The volunteers are a close nit group of people and they think of each other as family. The NRA treats us exceptionally well and the event directors are great people to work with. You will not meet a better group of kids at any event. The kids are polite and courteous and help out where ever they are needed. They even help out with tearing down the events when the challenge is over.

So like I said WOW!, what a great week I had. The NRA could always use more volunteers at these events. How about you? Lend out a helping hand to this worth while event. Where you can make a difference in keeping our hunting tradition alive. I guarantee you will not regret it. So I hope to see some new faces next year in New Mexico at the Whittington Center.