Bullseye on determination, safety at Arkansas 4-H Shooting Sports Championship

FERNDALE, Ark. — Not everything is supposed to come easily. For Tessa Herring, 13, the junior shotgun competition at the Arkansas 4-H Shooting Sports Championship in mid-July was downright frustrating.

“Terrible,” she said when asked how things had gone. “I missed a lot.”

But Tessa’s mother, April Herring, continued to encourage her daughter.

“For Tessa, specifically, this is harder for her than other sports are,” April Herring said. “It’s important that she sticks with it and keeps trying, even though it doesn’t come easy. She loves to duck hunt — and she has an easier time with that than shooting trap. They say in time it will get better.”

 

The Herrings were among more than 100 youth and dozens of family members, coaches and volunteers who attended the two-day event, which included competitions in shotgun, archery, .22-caliber rifle and air rifle shooting.

 

Jesse Bocksnick, extension 4-H outdoor skills instructor for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, said the Arkansas 4-H shooting sports program helps participants learn positive characteristics that can serve them on or off the range.

 

“The kids are developing life-long skills,” Bocksnick said. “Patience, determination, concentration and safety.”

 

The 2026 championship saw the highest attendance since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-2021.

 

“We’re very much on the rebound,” Bocksnick said. “The parents and volunteers spend hundreds of hours a year, making sure their kids learn safety, life skills and teamwork. It’s just an overall bonding experience that’s hard to duplicate anywhere else.”

 

Bocksnick also said that nationally, shooting sports is the fastest-growing program across 4-H, reaching about 500,000 youth participants each year, along with about 20,000 volunteer coaches and other participants.

 

“The adults love it because they can bring the entire family out,” Bocksnick said. “This is one sport that doesn’t stop when people graduate high school. Regardless of talent level, people can do this as a family from the time they’re 9 years old until they’re too old to do anything anymore. Unlike football, baseball or basketball, they can make this competitive contest a lifelong event.”

 

One element that has rapidly increased participation in recent years has been the addition of a Genesis archery division, which uses an inexpensive, entry-level model of bow that is less complicated and expensive than the traditional compound bows used in archery competitions.

 

“I think we may be the first 4-H program with a Genesis division, and it is very popular for us,” Bocksnick said. “We began this three or four years ago. We were hoping just to get a few kids interested in it, but the first year, about 90 percent of our shooters switched from compound bows to Genesis, just because it was easier, cheaper and everybody liked it. This year, things were split down the middle. We’re starting to see people get back into regular archery.

 

“It’s been huge for getting kids interested in archery,” he said.

 

Winners in the 2026 Arkansas 4-H Shooting Sports Championship include:

 

Junior division:

Team - 3rd Saline County 4-H Jr
2nd Greene County 4-H Jr
1st Grant County 4-H Jr
Individual 3rd Clark Simmons 
2nd Jaxton Rutherford
1st Jace King

Senior division:
Individual 2nd Anvari Wood
1st Luke Ferguson

Junior division:
Team 3rd Grant County 4-H Jr
2nd Arkansas County 4-H Jr Arco Jr Genesis
1st Greene County 4-H Jr

Individual 3rd Blakely Kibbons
2nd Hattie Gardner
1st Brazen Parsons

Senior division:
Individual 3rd Landen Floyd
2nd Dallas Williams
1st Anvari Wood

Junior division:
Team 3rd Arkansas County 4-H Jr Arco Green
2nd Grant County 4-H Jr Squad 2
1st Ashley County 4-H Jr

Individual 3rd Clark Simmons
2nd Timothy Willis 
1st Corbin Hudson

Senior division:
Team 3rd Howard County 4-H Sr
2nd Arco Green Sr (Arkansas County)
1st Grant County 4-H Sr Squad 1

Individual 3rd Luke Ferguson
2nd Drake Wafford
1st Levi Hartsoe

Junior division:
Team 3rd Ashley County 4-H Jr
2nd Saline County 4-H Jr
1st Greene County 4-H Jr

Individual 3rd Ben Chane
2nd Jace King
1st Clark Simmons

Senior division:
Individual 2nd Anthony Darter
1st Pepper Gauge

Junior division:
Team 3rd Saline County 4-H Jr
2nd Ashley County 4-H Jr
1st Greene County 4-H Jr

Individual 3rd Timothy Willis
2nd Zoey Eubanks
1st Clark Simmons

Senior division:
Individual 2nd Anthony Darter
1st Pepper Gauge

 

The junior divisions include participants who are 13 years old or younger. The senior divisions include participants 14 years old and older.

The mention or use of product or trade names is for informational purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture or a preference that excludes other suitable products.

To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit uada.edu. To learn more about ag and food research in Arkansas, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station at aaes.uada.edu.