Travis Thibodeaux of Lydia and Aaron Johnson of Loreauville, who became close friends after joining JJHEC in 2002 and 2003, respectively, qualified for the NRA International Youth Hunter Education Competition. Fellow JJHEC member Ben Vosburgh of Baldwin also qualified but will miss the prestigious contest because he recently joined the U.S. Army.
Thibodeaux, 17, and Johnson, 18, plan to carry the banner for the JJHEC and Louisiana in Pennsylvania. Hopefully, they agreed, their experience will make a difference when they line up against the rest of the field in archery, muzzleloader, shotgun, .22-caliber rifle, orienteering, wildlife identification, trail and written test.
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Steve Johnson, a veteran JJHEC instructor and Aaron’s father, said, “They can do it. I have faith in them.”
The Johnsons and Thibodeaux and his family members plan to leave next Sunday by vehicle for the cross-country drive to Mansfield. They will travel with and join The Bayou Bandits -- six young outdoorsmen from the Terrebonne Youth Hunter Education Challenge (YHEC) Shooting Team, which prides itself in its marksmanship accomplishments. The Terrebonne team earned the right to be the lead team with the highest number of qualifers.
One other Iberia Parish outdoorsman also will compete in the NRA International YHEC. Read about the national qualifier from the Acadiana YHEC next Sunday.
Thibodeaux, who recently graduated from New Iberia Senior High and plans to take drafting courses at South Louisiana Community College, qualified for nationals by finishing 10th overall June 5-6 at state competition at Camp Grand Walker in Pollock, which is northeast of Alexandria.
Aaron Johnson, who graduated this spring from Catholic High School, where he played football, tennis and was on track and field team with a 15th-place overall finish. He was fourth in shotgun.
Vosburgh recorded the highest overall finish for the Senior Team from the JJHEC, which included Trintan Beard and James Tafoya. He was seventh in the field after finished third in shotgun and fourth in muzzleloader.
Thibodeaux and Aaron Johnson both said they will miss Vosburgh.
“It’d be nice to have more people from our club,” Thibodeaux said.
Steve Johnson said, “That’s heartbreaking. I think he would have done a lot for the team, as well. He’s a very good kid. He definitely would complement the team. I tell you what, the Army’s lucky to have him. He’s a very good kid, polite always.”
Their attention is focused on doing the best they can in Pennsylvania, where they will encounter above-average temperatures for the region with poor air quality, according to a recent report from the national organization.
But Thibodeaux and his teammate Johnson held their own in the elements last month up in Pollock.
“It was fun. It was kind of hard. The rain messed us up a lot,” Thibodeaux said, “but I was comfortable competing.”
Thibodeaux, an avid deer hunter who hunts deer on JJHEC property or with his uncle Randy Thibodeaux of Lydia in Arkansas, said he joined JJHEC after he learned about it while completing his Hunter Safety course to get a hunting license in the Sportsman’s Paradise.
“I went to get my card and they told me about the club. I thought it was pretty cool. I like the outdoors stuff -- hunting and shooting,” he said.
His goal in a few weeks is to place in one or more events, he said, noting his strengths are archery and shotgun.
“I’m really comfortable with archery and shotgun. The reason I joined the club was archery. That’s what I started off shooting,” he said.
The archery trail in YHEC competition consists of a series of 3D targets set up along a trail in the woods. The archer gets two shots at each target, he said.
His main motivation, he admitted with a chuckle, is his competition against his good friend. He always tries to finish ahead of Johnson, he said.
Aaron Johnson, who plans to major in kiniesology at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, is OK with that.
“We’ll see about that,” Johnson said, also with a laugh, about Thibodeaux’s goal to finish higher than him.
“We’ve been real good friends. We always have a little competition with each other. It gets pretty interesting,” he said.
Like Thibodeaux, Johnson is an avid hunter, mostly going after deer and ducks. That love for being in the woods and marsh helped lead him to the JJHEC.
Now it’s taking him to Pennsylvania. He hopes to place in one or more events.
“My strength is shotgun. I shoot sporting clays,” he said before going back to work at Tubular Services Inc., where he is employed this summer.
Johnson’s father, who works in the quality assurance group for Baker Hughes, said he is proud of both of them and the club, which has 29 members, ages 10 to 18, from Lafayette to Franklin. Fifteen JJHEC members competed at state, he said.
“Through the years they've both been remarkable. Every year we give awards to the kids who show up at all the practices and shoots. Every year they’ve gotten one. They’re definitely dedicated,” he said.
“For both these boys, it’s their last year in the club and the first opportunity to get to nationals. With all the hard work and dedication they’ve put in, they earned the right. It’s expensive ... but it’d break my heart if they didn’t go. I’m really proud of these two here, and Ben,” he said.
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