Challenging the Odds

Story By Michael O. Humphries

North Carolina's Forbush High School Senior Red Team fights the odds to come out on top at the 2009 YHEC event.

Sometimes adversity brings out the best in people. This has never proven more true than at the 24th Annual Youth Hunter Education Challenge (YHEC) earlier this year at the NRA Whittington Center (www.nrawc.org). In particular, North Carolina's Forbush High School Senior Red Team, from East Bend, N.C., fought against the odds to come out on top.

The source of the team's troubles was rooted in the current economic downturn and commensurate budget cuts. As a result, the county did not renew the contracts of teachers with fewer than two years on the job, which unfortunately included the team's coach, David Hutchins. And, although many of the teachers were called back in August, Mr. Hutchins had already accepted a job in another county.

In response, the parents of the team members pulled together and came up with a solution—coaching the team themselves. After a vote, parents Michael Kiter and Dink Reavis were chosen to take over the coaching duties.

Caleb Reavis & Jordan Holcomb

In addition to the troubles regarding their coach, the team had also lost access to its shooting range two years beforehand. Although a county commissioner had generously given them access to some land for practice, it unfortunately proved to be too wet and muddy for practice that rainy spring.

Luckily, in June 2009, the coaches were able to gain access to the Courtney Elementary School range in Yadkinville, N.C., for the team. After moving all their equipment to the range, the team soon set about furiously preparing for the YHEC competition that was a mere six weeks away. The five members of the team, made up of Caleb Reavis, Nick Doub, Nick Kiter, Billy Janos and Jordan Holcomb, committed totally to the effort.

The high-schoolers threw themselves wholly into the effort, working six or seven days a week through a combination of intensive practice and training exercises. "Although it was a lot of work, every practice was a ball," says Dink Reavis. "They knew what they needed to do, and we would sometimes be out well after dark once all was said and done." Having gotten up to speed through all this intensive preparation, the team headed out to the Whittington Center for the event.

The 24th Annual YHEC competition that was awaiting them was made up of eight events. Half are designed to test marksmanship through shotgun, rifle, muzzleloader and archery challenges; the other half test hunting skills and knowledge through orienteering tests, a wildlife identification course, a Hunter Responsibility Exam and a Hunter Safety Trail simulation designed to test their judgment.

Nick Doub & Billy Janos

Once all was said and done, the Red Team had come out on top against all of the odds, with a score of 8171, beating out an Oregon team that had a score of 8078. Through a combination of hard work, passion for the sport and the support of their loved ones, the Red Team clearly proved that you can overcome the odds.

Team Member Profiles:

Caleb Reavis: Nick, 17-year-old son of coach Dink Reavis, first caught the bug for the YHEC competition after he spotted some flyers for a hunter safety class several years back. He has attended YHEC every year for the past five years. "Being on the team is a lot of fun, and I am really glad I joined. I definitely plan on keeping shooting as long as I can!" He uses a Winchester over-under shotgun, an Anschutz rifle, a Hoyt bow and a Thompson muzzleloader.

Nick Doub: The other Nick on the team is 17-year-old Nick Doub. He has been competing in the YHEC tournaments since he was in the sixth grade, and currently uses a Beretta over-under shotgun, a Hoyt bow, a CZ-USA rifle and a Thompson/Center muzzleloader. In regards to the 2009 competition that they won, he says, "We had to do a lot of tough practicing, but it really paid off in the end."

Nick Kiter

Billy Janos: Having competed in the YHEC events for the last five years, Billy Janos has been involved with this sport since he joined when he was in elementary school. "I started out hunting with my Dad, took a course in school and have stuck with it ever since," he says. He currently uses a semi-automatic Benelli shotgun, Mathews bow, Anschutz rifle and a Thompson/Center muzzleloader. In regards to this year's event, he said, "It was tough preparing, but we really pulled together and bonded."

Jordan Holcomb: Jordan, 18 years old, has been competing at YHEC tournaments for about seven years. With the encouragement of his friends, he started competing in the seventh grade and never looked back. However, this year's contest in particular stood out for him. "This year, my last, had me on the best team I had been on. I think we did a great job," he said. He uses a Remington 1100 shotgun, a Hoyt bow, CZ-USA Model 452 rifle and a Knight Disc Extreme muzzleloader.

Nick Kiter: Aged 15 at the time of this year's competition, 16-year-old Nick has been competing at YHEC for the past four years. Having begun in elementary school, he has always liked shooting and the outdoors. However, this year's YHEC stood out for him. "We had to deal with some of the events changing on us. On the .22 rifle segment, they switched from spinners to poppers, which would sometimes reset and cost us points due to our use of high-velocity ammo," he said. Nick uses a Mathews bow, a Thompson/Center Omega muzzleloader, CZ-USA Redhead over-under shotgun and a Anschutz rifle.

North Carolina's Forbush Team poses with their YHEC accolades.