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The Louisiana Outdoor Writers Association (LOWA) and the
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF)
recognized/will recognize the two 2010 Youth Hunters of the
Year at the 2011 LOWA Conference Awards Banquet in Houma.
Thirteen-year-old
Megan Boles of Provencal was selected as the 2010 Female
Youth Hunter of the Year and 12-year-old Ben Broussard of
Sulphur was selected as the 2010 Male Youth Hunter of the
Year. Both young hunters submitted a story about their
2010-11 hunting season experience along with photographs of
the hunt. LOWA and LDWF then selected the winners.
Read Megan's
Essay
The Louisiana Chapter of
the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) is one of the
sponsors of the Youth Hunters Program and Luke Lewis,
regional biologist with the NWTF said, “The Louisiana
Chapter is glad to support LOWA and LDWF with the Youth
Hunter of the Year Program. Megan comes from a family that
lives the outdoor lifestyle, with a mother and father who
have dedicated their careers to conservation with the US
Forest Service on the Kisatchie Ranger District. Both of
them have been a big part of providing Megan with an
appreciation for nature and the outdoors. On behalf of our
6,400 members of the LA Chapter, and our state board of
directors, we congratulate Megan and know she will develop
into a young conservationist with the appreciation of being
a good steward of the land and its resources.”
Ben
Broussard is the son of Jeanne and James Ed Broussard and
made his first duck hunt with his dad over the 2010
Thanksgiving holidays. In his story, Ben also wrote about
his dad and how safety conscious he was during the hunt.
Bently, their black lab, shared the blind with the two
hunters and did the work of retrieving the ducks. Ben killed
a green wing teal with his first shot and later bagged a
widgeon drake as it hovered over the spinning decoy. It was
a great day for young Ben, his dad and Bently; the hunters
brought home nine ducks but more importantly, as Ben wrote,
memories of a day he will never forget.
Read Ben's
Essay
This is the first time that
a duck hunter has been selected as the Youth Hunter of the
Year and Ben has broken new ground for the program and
hopefully will promote participation by other youth
waterfowl hunters.
The Baton Rouge Chapter of
Delta Waterfowl has been a sponsor of the program since day
one. Jonathan Walker, president of this local chapter,
congratulated Ben on his achievement saying, “Ben represents
the future of this sport in our great state of Louisiana.”
He added, “Delta Waterfowl’s mission has always been to
secure the future of waterfowl and waterfowl hunting and the
BR Chapter is proud to have a part in this important program
and supporting the next generation of hunters.”
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