Forbush, Park Ridge Christian win again in youth hunting skills tournament
Frequent champions Forbush High and Park Ridge Christian School triumphed again Saturday in North Carolina’s annual Youth Hunter Education Skills Tournament.
The event, sponsored by the N.C.Wildlife Resources Commission, was held at its usual site, the Millstone 4-H Center near Ellerbe in Richmond County. Taking part were 599 students respresenting 61 teams from across the state.
Forbush, at East Bend in Yadkin County, amassed 3,828 points of a possible 4,000 to win the senior division. Park Ridge Christian, of Albemarle in Stanly County, topped the juniors, or middle schoolers, with 3,727.
Leading Forbush and claiming the high school individual championship was Dylan Horn in competition that included archery, rifle and shotgun shooting, plus a hunter skills test. He scored 778 points to edge Shannon Efird of Gray Stone by two. Gray Stone is a day school at Misenheimer, also in Stanly County.
Summer Efird of Park Ridge was the junior division individual champion with 764 points.
The Elkin High team won the sportsmanship trophy named for the late Fred Rorer, a Wildlife Commission hunter education specialist who passed away unexpectedly in 2010. Observer News Services
Kirkland named to oversee Wildlife District 9
The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission has promoted Mitch Kirkland to captain for its far-western District 9.
Previously a lieutenant based in Rutherford County in District 8, Kirkland will supervise 22 law enforcement officers in 11 counties that include parts of both the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains.
Kirkland, a 21-year veteran with the agency, replaces the retired Tim Sisk as supervisor in Distrct 9.
“It’s nice to go back home and patrol the areas where I hunted and fished as a boy,” said Kirkland, a native of Franklin. “It’s a special place for me, which holds a lot of enjoyable outdoor memories.” ONS
Gator hunting process begins in S.C.
The S.C. Department of Natural Resources begins accepting online applications Friday for this year’s alligator hunting season.
The forms can be found on the agency’s website, www.dnr.sc.gov/.
A nonrefundable fee of $10 is required to apply for hunting on public lands. The charge is $15 for hunting on wildlife management areas. Aspiring hunters also can apply at walk-up counters in DNR regional offices in Charleston, Clemson, Columbia and Florence.
If selected in a random drawing, an additional $100 fee is due through the online process from successful applicants.
An estimated 100,000 alligators inhabit South Carolina from the midlands to the coast. Last year hunters harvested 312 with an average length of 8 1/2 feet. ONS
3 Carolinas high school anglers honored
Youth angler Kannon Baker of Waxhaw has been chosen for the 2015 Bassmaster High School All-State Fishing Team, one of 57 students from 33 states across the country.
Also among the 57 are South Carolinians Christopher Bensel of Dixie High School in Due West and Carter McNeil of Abbeville High School.
To be considered for the team, students must be enrolled in grades 10-12 with a current-year grade point average of 2.5 or higher. Next, a second panel of judges will narrow the field to 12 for the first Bassmaster High School All-American Fishing Team. ONS
Striped bass season on Roanoke River extended
The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is extending the striped bass harvest season within the Roanoke River Management Area until midnight on Sunday.
The management section includes the Roanoke River and tributaries from Roanoke Rapids Lake Dam downstream to the mouth of the river at Albemarle Sound, including the Cashie, Middle and Eastmost rivers.
The minimum length limit is 18 inches, and no striped bass between 22 and 27 inches may be possessed at any time. The daily creel limit is two fish, only one of which may be larger than 27 inches. To reduce stress on fish that are released, anglers must use a single barbless hook or a lure with a single barbless hook through June 30 when fishing in the upper Roanoke River above the U.S. 258 bridge near Scotland Neck.
Catches of the week
▪ Largemouth bass of 9 1/2 and 5 pounds at Union County's Lake Lee by Bill Sims of Monroe.
▪ A 12-pound, 1-ounce sheepshead in the surf near Ramp 55 on Hatteras Island by young Landon Craft.
▪ A 42-inch red drum in the surf at Cape Point on Hatteras Island near Buxton by Jason Wendling.
▪ A 40-pound dolphin off Hatteras Village by Grant Beavers of Glen Allen,Va.
▪ A limit of 20 good-sized crappie at Cane Creek Park near Waxhaw by Dan Brown of Concord
▪ Two huge flounder in backwaters near Ocean Isle by Jerry Potter.
▪ A fine mix of blackfin tuna, dolphin and wahoo off Georgetown, S.C., by parties fishing from the Critter Gitter, NautiGirl, Big Kahuna and Painkiller.
▪ A mixed limit of smallmouth and spotted bass, plus six walleye, at Fontana Lake by Harold Johnson of Stecoah.
This story was originally published April 29, 2015 at 12:00 PM with the headline "Forbush, Park Ridge Christian win again in youth hunting skills tournament."