IT WAS A WILD COMPETITION

On January 26, our very own Heritage FFA traveled two hours to Dawson County High School to compete in the Area 1 Wildlife Career Development Event. Our Generals came in first place with an overall score of 317. Ashley McKenzie, a Whitetail Deer Management Area Champion, was glad to share some insight on what went on at the Regional Competition. “The Region Competition is divided up into two different areas: Area 1 and Area 2. The top two teams from the junior and senior competition go to state. Last night there were 24 senior teams in Area 1, and we came in first.”  Ashley is very passionate about FFA and wildlife, which isn’t hard to tell after you’ve talked to her about it. “The Wildlife Competition,” says Ashley, “is broken down into four different competitions. I do White Tail Deer. First, I had to answer 25 questions about deer hunting and deer management objectives, and then I had to age five jawbones and measure five different sets of antlers. The other half of the competition requires me to sit down, watch ten videos, and determine if you keep [the deer] or kill them, depending on the regulations.” Nicholas Moore, an Aquatics Area Champion, also talked to us about his regional competition experience. “We were given a list of about fifty animals. We had to know how to identify them by their skulls, tracks, furs, and other things like that. Then we have to take a fifty-question test, half of it being over the list of animals we were given, and the other half being on pond management.” They have qualified for the State Contest, which will be held in March at the University of Georgia.