Kamryn Paige Hatton of Crowville and Earl Darby Jr. from Broussard have been named the 2015 Louisiana Female and Male Youth Hunters of the Year (YHOY). The duo was recognized during the Louisiana Outdoors Writers Association (LOWA) conference in Shreveport in August.
The Youth Hunter of the Year Program is a joint effort between the LOWA and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF). Program sponsors include the South Louisiana Branch of the Quality Deer Management Association, Bowie Outfitters in Baton Rouge, the Louisiana Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation, the Louisiana Wildlife Federation, the Baton Rouge Area Chapter of Delta Waterfowl, and Andrew Harrison of Harrison Law, LLC in Baton Rouge.
Ten-year old Hatton, the daughter of Angel and William Hatton, harvested her first two deer during the 2014-15 hunting season. She made the most of her first deer hunt in 2014 when hunting with her father, taking a doe on her grandfather’s land in Madison Parish. Then in 2015, Hatton harvested her first buck.
Darby, age 7, enjoyed a successful 2014-15 hunting season with his grandparents, Arden and Rhonda Delahoussaye. In the fall of 2014, he went on his first squirrel hunt and harvested five squirrels. The family had one black fox squirrel mounted as a keepsake for him. He showed in 2015 that his first hunt wasn’t beginner’s luck. On his first deer hunt, he harvested a doe in Olla. Then later in the season, he took his first buck, an 8-pointer.
The 2016 Youth Hunter of the Year contest began with the 2016 turkey season and gets into full swing in September when the 2016 hunting season opens for dove and teal. LDWF and LOWA encourage all youth hunters, 15 years old or younger, to participate in the Youth Hunter Registry Program and the YHOY of the Year Program.
This article appears on the the Youth Hunter Registry and YHOY Program website at http://www.wlf.state.la.us/hunting/yhrp where you can learn more about the program.
