The Youth Hunter Education Course, or YHEC, took place the first weekend of June. Colton and Cady belong to the Bullseye 4-H Shooting Sports Club and YHEC is a big deal. We were all very anxious to get this first year under our belts so we would know what to expect next year. It was very hectic and busy, but also very fun and a great experience!
Friday began with breakfast as a club, followed by getting the teams ready, passing out their "hunting licenses", and finding out which events they were doing first. Then, it was lunch, also as a club:
Colton was shooting as an individual, so he was able to tag along with Cady's team. That was nice because we got to stay together as a family. Next year we will have to split up.
Archery was their first event:
It was a little unorganized and we had to wait a couple of hours before they were able to get started on the shooting. Finally, they could start:
The team coming back from pulling arrows:
This was Cady's first time judging distances on her own and she did a great job.
Colton put those long legs to use when shooting around this rock:
It was a long wait and they were hot and tired, but they did great in archery. Most teams were able to shoot 2 disciplines that first night, but because of the long wait, ours only got to do archery, which meant the next day was going to be even busier trying to squeeze all the rest in. All kids take the written test at 6 pm on Friday, so it was back to the camper to study a bit:
After the test, there was a club potluck back at the campground and then the kids and I celebrated Colin's birthday with him in the camper. It had been a busy, busy birthday for him, but nothing a little apple pie couldn't cure - even if it was from Walmart! ;-)
It was up and at 'em bright and early the next morning. Our team began with muzzleloader which I was nervous about! Cady didn't shoot that one because she hadn't practiced it, but Colton shot it, even though he hadn't had too much experience with it himself. One of his co-leaders, Kevin, was there with him, however, and was able to guide him and help him a bit. He shot 10 rounds and even Kevin mentioned how each round you could see him gain a bit more confidence. Muzzleloaders are very involved and I was so proud of Colton and the experience he gained from shooting:
Getting help from his awesome club leader:
He did it!! May not have hit the targets but, he did come very close, and the most important part was preparing the gun for each shot and shooting and he got the experience he needed to do that!
Next up for our team was shotgun. This time Cady was the anxious one. She had only shot her brother's shotgun once and didn't really like it. This time she was borrowing a club gun and Colin didn't give her a choice on shooting. There were even tears involved, but when it was her turn, she walked up there and did it. Then, she fell in love with it and said she wished she could shoot shotgun "all day long"!
They had 5 shots from each station, at clays that either went in the sky like a bird, or bounced across the ground like a rabbit. Her first 5 shots were kind of all over the place, but she shot and that was the important part. The events were all manned by Game Wardens and they were all so patient and helpful with the kids. I was very impressed by them. The lady below who helped at the first station really helped our younger ones who were second-guessing themselves on loading the shells and stuff. She was very sweet.
At the second station, Colin even got to participate by helping to throw the "rabbit" clays:
At the second station, Cady shocked us all by hitting 2 of her 5 clays!!
She walked back from there with the biggest smile!
Here they are at the third station:
And discussing their shots while watching their teammates shoot:
Here is our team (missing Bella), ready to move on to .22 Rifle:
Did I mention how good the wardens were with the kids?? This one below was good to make sure the kids saw the targets and where they were shooting at each station before they stepped up to the shooting box:
You know she must be relaxing a bit when she whistles as she is walking back from shooting!
Rifle was probably Colton's best shooting event. We were proud of all the kids!
After that event, the non-shooting events were all that was left. After eating some lunch, we took them up to do Wildlife ID (no pics of that one) and the Safety Trail. Safety Trail was so neat, I thought. They go two at a time with a game warden and are given a shotgun with shells that shoot blanks. They are then given scenarios and have to think back to their hunting licenses they were issued at the beginning and answer "shoot" or "don't shoot". They only have 5 seconds to answer so not enough time to pull out their license and figure out what's on it -they had to memorize license best they could beforehand. The wardens are also looking for gun safety and they ask them other questions concerning ethics and safety on the course. I was able to take pictures of each pair getting ready to leave and then again as they came back. The judging and scoring begins right away, too, and I was proud to see that each of them remembered to safely kneel to pick their weapon off of the gun rack before going down the trail!
Cady went down the trail with Bella:
Colton was partnered with Madison:
They both really enjoyed Safety Trail and were excited to tell us about it when they returned. We told Colton that we were glad he liked it so much since he's talked about becoming a Game Warden for the past several years!
The final event was the orienteering - finding coordinates with a compass. Both Colton and Cady agreed that was their least favorite event of the weekend. They both did it though, without giving up or having a breakdown, which we heard was very common in that event!
That night, there was another club potluck for dinner and there was also a DJ dance in one of the pavilions. The kids were all pretty much just dropped off at the dance and they all had a wonderful time!
The next morning were awards. We had already stressed to our kids that the most important thing for this being our first year, was just getting the experience and knowing what to expect next year, which they both agreed with. The top 5 in each category in each age group are called to the front in random order before they announce the actual places. None of us even had a small chance of hope that Colton or Cady would be called, I don't think, and that was ok! Well, imagine our surprise when Colton's name was called for top 5 in Safety Trail!! We were so excited as was everyone in the club, I think! He wound up getting 4th place out of 77 juniors and we were so proud of him!
We checked the scores afterwards and Cady placed 8th for Safety Trail out of her age group. Both kids did much better on their scores than we had thought. We were all very happy and proud of them.
After awards a big group picture was taken of the Bullseye kids:
As well as their teams (even though Colton was an unofficial member):
Afterwards, we took a little time as a family and went to the visitor's center to check out the gift shop and the museum:
We then took a drive back into Colorado and visited Trinidad Lake and did a little exploring:
We also hung out and relaxed at the camper for a bit, waiting for a rain storm to come so we could go for a drive:
This time I captured shots of bluebirds instead of jays:
The storm wasn't coming as quickly as we thought, so we went ahead and drove down to where the rifle course had been, where there is an old ghost town, Van Houten. We explored remains of the old company store, an area where there had been shops and possibly a dump, an old hotel, other buildings and the mine. It was literally one of the coolest places I had been and despite the goosebumps I got, I really enjoyed it and can't wait to go back and explore some more! Enjoy the pics:
What a wonderfully, busy weekend! Makes me sad to know we won't be back until next May, hopefully, for State Shooting Sports and then again a few weeks later for YHEC. That gives us time to be better prepared, though!
