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.”