DWR announces updated Utah Hunting Skills Challenge, invites public to compete

Salt Lake City — During the 40th anniversary of the formerly named Youth Hunter Education Challenge, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is announcing some updates to the annual contest and is inviting anyone who has completed Hunter Education to register and compete in the upcoming event.

The National Rifle Association launched the Youth Hunter Education Challenge in 1985, and Utah has been involved in the unique program since it began. The contest allows individuals who have graduated from Hunter Education to develop and improve their hunting, marksmanship and safety skills. Currently, 16 states in the U.S. participate in the program.

In recent years, the DWR expanded the program to include an adult category in addition to youth participants, and this year, the challenge was further updated and rebranded to reflect those changes.

"The Utah Hunting Skills Challenge is a great way for hunters — both youth and adults — to showcase the skills they learned in Hunter Education during this competition," DWR Shooting Sports Manager Troy Anderson said. "We added an adult category a few years ago because it never hurts anyone to improve their hunting skills, and we wanted the name change to more accurately portray that this event is open to all ages. This event provides a fun atmosphere for that, and is a great activity for families to enjoy and participate in together."

This year's event will be held June 20-21 at the Lee Kay Public Shooting Range at 6000 W. 2100 South in Salt Lake City. Registration is $35 per participant, and participants must register on Eventbrite by May 30 to compete. The challenge has two categories for younger competitors — one for youth under 15 years old and one for youth 15-18 years old — and an adult category for people who are 19 years old and older.

There are a variety of events in the competition, including:

• Wildlife identification
• .22 long rifle
• Shotgun
• Archery
• Muzzleloader (back by popular demand)
• Orienteering (back by popular demand)
• Safety trail (which includes a variety of scenarios to test ethics and safety when hunting)
• Written exam (which will test participants on hunting rules and regulations and on the information learned in Hunter Education)

Prizes will be awarded to the top five highest-scoring individuals in the junior and senior divisions and to the three highest-scoring individuals in the adult division. New this year, all participants in the Utah Hunting Skills Challenge will receive free trial access to onX Maps.

"There are a lot of great things about this program, and one of the most rewarding things is to see the excitement of the youth when they master new skills as part of the competition," Anderson said. "We hope that this becomes a new tradition for many Utah families interested in outdoor recreation."

Learn more details about the event on the DWR website and register on Eventbrite.