Local youth participate in the third annual Eastern U.P. Chapter of the Ruffed Grouse Society Youth Hunt and Sporting Shoot Saturday, September 12. Pictured are (from left) Aaron Colegrove, Austin Downey, and Paul Downey at the Wycamp Lake Shooting Preserve in Cross Village. (Photograph courtesy of Louie Colegrove) The Eastern U.P. Chapter of the Ruffed Grouse Society had its third annual Youth Hunt and Sporting Clay Shoot Saturday, September 12, at the Wycamp Lake Shooting Preserve in Cross Village. Youth ages 10 years to 16 years with a valid hunting license participated in bird guided hunts and a sporting clay shoot. Dog handlers Doug Proctor, Frank McFadden, Jim Rose, Kirt Harms, and Mike Johnson provided dogs for the hunts.

Seventeen youngsters from St. Ignace, Epoufette, Cheboygan, Newberry, and Holland participated in the hunt. They were Jeff Misner, Austin Downey, Aaron Colegrove, Jagger McFarlane, Gabe Davis, Tristan Calcaterra, Lillian Calcaterra, Bill Bentgen, Joe Krause, Jr., and Louis Radecki of St. Ignace, Jared Cece of Epoufette, Chad Bettman, and Billy Smith of Holland, Tony Merchant, Travis Merchant, Dylan Smith of Cheboygan, and Calvin Haley of Newberry. Some of the youth were sponsored by Straits Area Sportsmen’s Club, Eastern U.P. Chapter of the Ruffed Grouse Society, and Jim North of First National Bank.