GON Youth Shoot-Out Winner Takes Dream Hunt

Here’s the aftermath of winning the GON Youth Big-Buck Contest Shoot-Out at the 2022 Outdoor Blast. Wyatt Coleman collected his dream hunting trip with Woods-N-Water outfitters in Wilkinson County and shot this hog.

When 15-year-old Wyatt Coleman downed a Harris County buck the third week of the 2022 season, he was hoping a little luck was on his side. Little did he know…

The gross 124-inch whitetail, which netted 117, turned out to be big enough. Big enough, that is, to earn Wyatt a spot in the Georgia Outdoor News Youth Big-Buck Contest Shoot-Out at the GON Outdoor Blast. He looks back on that July day as if things happened last week.

“I was pretty nervous, even though I got the same BB gun for Christmas and had been practicing with skeet, eggs, Nilla Wafers and Rolaids, the targets we would be shooting at during the competition,” Wyatt, now 16, recalls. “I got to where I could hit ’em pretty good and felt decently confident. That practice really helped with keeping my composure when I was shooting in front of all those people. It ended up working out.”

Wyatt was the only shooter to hit the Shoot-Out’s Round Six target, a mini Nilla wafer at 25 feet.

“That was a great feeling,” he says. “I’ve never done anything like that.”

It’s not that he hasn’t been around people—just in a different setting.

Wyatt, his six siblings—including brother Noah—and parents Jeremy and Leigh perform Gospel and bluegrass music in churches on a routine basis. 

“We all enjoy it,” he says of his Gay, Ga., family.

 It is, indeed, a family affair for the Colemans. So when Wyatt began considering his prizes as Shoot-Out champ, Dad and 13-year-old Noah were naturally included.

 The winner of the Youth Shoot-Out, sponsored by Adventure Outdoors, of Smyrna, receives a $3,000 gift certificate from that sponsor, as well as a dream hunting trip courtesy of Woods-N-Water hunting and fishing adventures in Wilkinson County. The trip also allows a parent to accompany the hunter, and Noah’s grandparents bought a Woods-N-Water hunt so that Noah could also go.

“Adventure Outdoors is probably the biggest gun store I’ve ever been to,” Wyatt said. “It has a lot of guns and good prices. I already knew some of the guns that I wanted, so we looked around to get our best money’s worth. I ended up getting a Beretta A-300 Ultima 12-gauge shotgun; a Bergara Ridge AR in .308; a Beretta APX-A1 9mm handgun and 1,000 rounds of 9mm ammo; and a Ruger AR-15. We also shot at the range, which was great, and the guys that worked there were super nice. It was a great experience.”

From there, it was on to Wilkinson County. Jeremy, Wyatt and Noah arrived at the Woods-N-Water lodge Sunday afternoon and settled right in with Trey Chambers, their hog guide for the week. Later that afternoon, the pork quest began, but the pigs were no-shows early on.

Next morning, guide Curt Mayo took Wyatt out to begin a three-day chase for his primary target: a turkey.

“We hunted right around the lodge in Wilkinson County and mainly what I saw that first afternoon was deer all around in the pasture. We heard a bunch of gobblers and saw a few but never could make it happen. They never gave up, taking me out three straight days.”

If the gobblers were being uncooperative, not so much the hogs. Monday afternoon, the party got started.

“We have feed sites throughout that property, and both guys got lucky right at the end of the day out of the same stand Monday and Tuesday,” Trey said.

“When I shot my hog Monday, I was with my dad, and it was getting late in the day,” Noah said. “I was shooting a Ruger 22-250, and it was a one-shot kill at about 50 yards. We were sitting next to a field, just a real pretty setting. It was a great place; the accommodations, the hunting area, guides, everything was perfect.”

Noah popped a 210-pounder, and his brother was up next.

Noah Coleman bought a trip with Woods-N-Water while his older brother made good on his winning hunt. He, too, scored on a wild hog.

All three of the Colemans were in the stand this time.

“We got into the stand a little before six, and about 15 minutes before dark, probably around 7:30, my hog popped out about 50 yards away. I shot it in the head with a Remington 7mm magnum, and it dropped right there.”

Wyatt’s hog weighed in at 140. Trey dressed both of the animals.

“These were great guys, some of the most outdoorsy kids I’ve ever met,” Trey said of the Colemans. “Wyatt took the heads and did his own European mount. He said he did 50 or 60 this past year, which was pretty cool.  Noah gave me a wedding band that he makes out of a deer antler and it just happened to fit me perfectly. I’d love to have them back any time.”

 And that just may happen.

“We’ve been telling Noah that he should get into the deer woods, kill a big one and win the Shoot-Out next year,” dad Jeremy says. “It should be his trip and maybe Wyatt can tag along with him. 

“I enjoyed so much having my boys there in a different setting for us. We made a lot of memories, and it’s an experience that we’ll always remember,” Jeremy said. “I feel thankful and blessed to be able to make this trip with my two oldest sons. 

“We want to thank GON for putting this thing on to begin with and Adventure Outdoors and Woods-N-Water for having us. It was a win-win all the way around for us.”

If things work out according to plan, see you guys next year… 

Make your own dream hunting trip. Check out Woods-N-Water at www.woodsnwaterinc.com.