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4/27/2012 7:23 PM 

It’s 5:30 p.m. on Friday, and the shooting range is quiet.

So’s the archery range, orienteering course and parking lot, for that matter.

But come 7 a.m. Saturday morning, the situation will change. Here at the Millstone 4-H Center near Ellerbe, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission will host the 34^th annual Youth Hunter Education Skills Tournament.

This popular state championship for pre-collegiate shooting sports annually draws participants and spectators from across North Carolina. An estimated 3,000 people are expected to attend this year’s event.

The parking lot will fill with teams from 54 schools across North Carolina, proud parents, siblings and picnic lunches in tow. Students will be ready to take aim with shotguns and bows, and test their wildlife knowledge and orienteering skills.

Long before the students arrive, however, the several dozen volunteers, Hunter Education Instructors, Hunter Education Specialists, officers from the Commission’s Division of Law Enforcement and other agency staff have shown up to make sure the camp is ready for the students. Ranges have been set up. Archery targets sit in a stack, waiting to be used. Sunscreen, water and television scoreboards are readied.

But for now, the trophies sit on a box in the corner of a registration building, waiting. We’re ready.

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Categories: Hunting, Education, Law Enforcement

Location: Blogs North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission Blog

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