Wildlife Judging challenges 4-H youth to learn about Georgia wildlife species as well as habitat, population, and fish pond/stream management practices for conservation success.

Youth will be trained in wildlife-related content under the direction of a certified adult coach (employees and volunteers). This page is designed to provide resources for the coaches supporting Georgia 4-H Wildlife Judging.

Manuals:

• Georgia 4-H Wildlife Judging Competition Guidelines: This document provides all details and information about the Georgia 4-H Wildlife Judging contest, including eligibility, activities, scoring, and awards.
  • • Appendix A: Junior Wildlife Specimen Word Bank
    • Appendix B: Junior Wildlife Management Plan Template
    • Appendix C: Junior Wildlife Management Plan Scoring Rubric
    • Appendix D: Senior Wildlife Management Plan Scoring Rubric
    • Appendix E: Junior Oral Defense Scoring Rubric
    • Appendix F: Senior Oral Defense Scoring Rubric

• National Wildlife Habitat Education Program (WHEP) Manual (6th edition): The Georgia 4-H Wildlife Judging Contest is based on the National 4-H Wildlife Habitat Education Program (WHEP) contest. All content for the contest is derived from the National WHEP manual.
• Georgia-Specific Information from the National WHEP Manual (6th edition): This document is the national WHEP manual with only the information specific to Georgia (eco-region, species, management practices, etc.)
• Start Guide for Wildlife Judging: a 2-page handout that explains Wildlife Judging and all you need to get started.
• Wildlife Judging Contest Overview: a simple, 1-page handout that briefly explains each portion of the contest.

Scorecards (used at State Contest):

• Junior Scorecard
• Senior Scorecard

Sample Scoring System:
The link below will take you to a fake site where you can practice entering a token and then recording their answers.  This site mimics the online scoring system used at the contest.

• Senior Scoring System

Study Guides & Resources:

• Species Cards: Names of the 22 species from the Southeast Mixed and Outer Coastal Plain Forest ecoregion listed on cards (4 per page).
• Species Cards and Images: Names and images (abiding to the creative commons licensing) of the 22 species from the Southeast Mixed and Outer Coastal Plain Forest ecoregion listed together on the same card.
• Species Cards with Images: Names and images (abiding to the creative commons licensing) of the 22 species from the Southeast Mixed and Outer Coastal Plain Forest ecoregion listed on cards (2 names and 2 images per page).
• Vocabulary Cards: Names and definitions for all the vocabulary words listed on pages 256-258 in the National WHEP Manual (2 words and 2 definitions per page).
• Food Groups Cards: Names and definition for all the food groups listed on pages 254-255 in the National WHEP Manual (2 words and 2 definitions per page).
• Species Requirements (Large Cards): Names and requirements (diet, water, and cover) for the 22 species from the Southeast Mixed and Outer Coastal Plain Forest ecoregion (2 species per page).
• Species Requirements (Smaller Cards): Names, images (abiding to the creative commons licensing), and requirements (diet, water, and cover) for the 22 species from the Southeast Mixed and Outer Coastal Plain Forest ecoregion (1 species per page with 4 cards – image, diet, water, and cover).
• Junior Species Word Scramble: A word scramble/search containing the 10 Junior wildlife species.
• Senior Species Word Scramble: A word scramble/search containing the 22 Senior wildlife species.
• Find Your Partner: a quick guide to a fun group activity where students find their partners using informational cards.
• Matching Game: a quick guide to facilitating a matching game activity using informational cards.
• Memory Game: a quick guide to facilitating a memory game activity using informational cards.
• What am I?: a quick guide to a facilitating a fun icebreaker game where students guess what wildlife species they’ve been assigned.
• Charades: a quick guide to hosting a game of animal charades.
• Question Card Swap:
  • Set #1 Question and Answer Cards
• Leaf Puzzles: a quick guide to using the leaf puzzle files:
  • Ecoregion Leaf Puzzles
  • Junior Species Leaf Puzzles
  • Senior Species Leaf Puzzles
• Teaching Spelling Tips:spelling the species name is an important part of the contest! This longer guide gives practical tips along with lots of fun and engaging ways to teach spelling to youth.

Bird Resources & Calls

Information in this section is externally linked to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.  Please note that competitors must correctly spell, capitalize, and punctuate the names of the wildlife species according to most current national Wildlife Habitat Evaluation Program guidebook.

• barred owl
  • barred owl calls
• loggerhead shrike
  • loggerhead shrike calls
• mourning dove
  • mourning dove calls
• northern bobwhite
  • northern bobwhite calls
• prothonotary warbler
  • prothonotary warbler calls
• red-cockaded woodpecker
  • red-cockaded woodpecker calls
• red-eyed vireo
  • red-eyed vireo calls
• wild turkey
  • wild turkey calls
• wood duck
  • wood duck calls

Previous Contest Materials:

Below are the actual contest materials from some previous state contests. Please note that the National WHEP Manual was updated in 2024, and Georgia 4-H updated the contest procedures and resources starting in the 2024-25 program year. Therefore, some of these questions/topics in previous contest materials may no longer be relevant content.

• • • 2024 Activity 1A – Junior Written Knowledge Test
    • 2024 Activity 1A – Senior Written Knowledge Test
    • 2024 Activity 2 – Junior Wildlife Management Practices
    • 2024 Activity 2 – Senior Wildlife Management Practices
    • 2024 Activity 3A – Junior Wildlife Management Plan
    • 2024 Activity 3A – Senior Wildlife Management Plan