Field & Stream's 50 Best Reader Photos of February 2010

GENES DEER

HIS BEAMS ARE OVER 7 INCHS AROUND

Hump Back Checking us out

Fishing in Rivers Inlet Sporstman Club,BC we had quite a whale show with a full breach next to our boat. I know that they are are very intellegent and just close enough to check us out. The good new’s is the Coho, Salmon run was great this year. We caught over 30 fish in our 3 days in pairadice.

Spring Prescribed Burn

Took this photo during a prescribed burn south of Big Timber,MT.

Stormy weather

If I didn’t get a picture of him my trail camera would have.

Summer is almost here!

In response to, seneca_slabs on 2.26.10 His question Here’s a question….. Is the snow ever going to stop! Man I don’t think I’ll ever get to go fishing! I received this picture from an old Hunting partner the other day

CT PIKE

Doubled up on these northerns in Connecticut 16lb and 14lb released to live another day

Bed Full of Dead

Three bucks taken same morning in 2009

Horn stealing mink

This mink had stolen the horns from our deer and drug them back under the cabin where we could not reach them. We found a boat hook in the driftwood on the beach and retrieved them. Afterwards I left a small set down where he could get to them but put a wire on them so he would not drag them away.

Treed Raccoons

When raccoons were bickering over our bird feeders one night, I thought I’d chase them off with the dog on her leash. But when the dog started barking, the raccoons went straight up a tree, which was basically just a wobbly stick. I left the dog there barking while I got my camera and took a few pictures. We went back inside and they sneaked off into the night. It was much quieter then!

Marys Northeast Pa. buck

This is the buck my wife shot on the second day of our deer season.15 points 20 1/2″ inside spread.this is for Dave Hurteau article on the .260 Remington.My wife shot this buck with a .260 Ruger youth M77.She agrees with Dave that the .260 is the best deer rifle around.

Pig Skull

I shot him at 25 yards with my bow. He weighed 180 lbs with 2 1/2 inch cutters. He was harvested at Chappy’s Outfitters near Okeechobee.

Ice Pike

The Pike Ice Master herself.

My Trail photo of “Freak Nasty” taken in ’07

This is a photo of a 242-1/4″ giant 25pt buck ….who was harvested about 5 days after this photo was taken. (That’s the only way I would ever know the true score and number of points) I had taken my trail cameras to Illinois to see what I might capture while I was archery hunting! What a great decision!! By the way I did get a super buck the day before the picture was taken—in another area!

Jigging Jacks On A Jet Ski

I caught this Amberjack while fishing from my modified Yamaha PWC 30 miles offshore of Cape Hatteras North Carolina.

Have you caught it or has it caught you?

A picture of a 12 foot rock Python we caught in Namibia last year. These snakes could live just fine in Arizona or Florida also. A dry climate does not bother them. This one was living in a warthog burrow after he ate some of the piglets. There was just a monment when we wondered if “Smurf” Sweetnam (our PH) had bit off more than he could chew.

No Fishing Today

January 9, 2010: Photo I shot of Lake Pee Wee and the dock, located at Madisonville, KY. It was covered with ice and snow, so no fishing on that day! Come on Spring!

Out my office window.

This was the view out the window at quitting time this evening. Sometimes you just need to get up out of your chair and look at the world around you.

Big Lake of the Woods Walleye

My brother caught this nice 29 3/4 inch walleye fishing on Lake of the Woods in Minnesota. This dandy was suspended up about 10 feet off the bottom in about 22 feet of water. He let this old girl to swim another day. It was a great day on the ice.

Colorado Winters

After a couple of long months of short sunlight and cold temperatures theres nothing better than winter tailwater fishing. Theres something about skiing in to your favorite tailwaters and throwining size 22 midge patters to monster rainbows that makes srring come just a little bit earlier. Took this bow (and several others in the 20″ range)on size 22 jujubee midge.

The sun rises over trees with snow!

The sun rises over trees with snow clinging to its branches, in Fort Washington, Md., Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2010, after a winter storm left up to six inches of snow in the Washington area.

Snow Falling on Ashes

Flaming Arrow Fire, Bridger Mountain Range

Hard Fighting Brown

Cold Cold Cold morning when this beauty decided to play.

Ol’ Cutty

good cutters

Beautiful sight.

Migrating snow geese flying over my house.

Once in a life time

hunting in the boise national forest when these big boys walked in on me.

Father and Son hunt

the large Buck came out of a tree line, I took the shot he ran about 40 yards more than dropped. At 4 pm Travis spotted a deer coming at us, when he started to turn out into the field we knew he had to shoot. This was Travis’s first year hunting and first deer, this is my first monster buck. grossed 198. The best part of all this is we were together in a double tree stand for both shots.

Uncle Mikes big downer

This is my uncle Mike we went Steelhead fishing up in Washington it was a good trip.

Weighing the situation

This was taken with my trail cam behind my house.

GOOD BY CAMERA HAHA

This moose did not like his picture taken he smoked the camera

Colorado Pike

Jepp caught this one on Zara Spook at the crack-of-dawn.

High Mountains Cutthroat

It took a 3 mile hike at elevation changes from 10,900′ to 11,200′ to reach a small stream in a beautifull hidden valley to catch these jewels. The stream was small eneough to jump over in places. The fish we caught were all brightly colored cutthroat in the 12-18″ range. Between two of us fishing, we caught over 50 fish that day.

TAR OF ARDEN Poses with the Field and Stream Trophy

Tar of Arden was US National Champion in 1941. She was bred to National Number Two (Hiwood Mike). It defined the breed in the United States. They were the best retrievers, and Hi Wood Mike is still known as The English and American Champion. He passed the gene for chocolate to the US.

Perchzilla

It was a cold February day in central PA. The wind was blowing so hard our tip-ups wouldn’t even stay down.”Lets give it a few more minutes” My one buddy said. At that moment we noticed another flag shoot up. “Probably the wind again” I said and carelessly walked over to reset the flag. That’s when I realized it wasn’t the wind that triggered this one.

Passion Pit

I never had the opportunity to observe turkeys breeding. One morning I caught these two going at it right next to one of my horseshoe pits in the back yard (you can see the stake).

muskox

I had drawn a 2008 muskox tag on Nunivak Island and it would be a great place to try to take a big game animal with my homemade .53 rifle. I hunted the first week of March and the weather was still very raw. I will never forget how I felt as I walked over to him, his dark fur against an endless white background.

My first hunt!

I got in my stand early that morning and harvested this big ol’ buck at about mid morning. I’m very pleased. I love my dad’s property : )

OHIO DEER

field & stream said Nov. 6 was the day to take off work and me and my buddy both cashed in!!!!!!

Shed Hunters in training

My sons, William (5) and Quentin (3), out with daddy horn hunting and trying out their new Bino’s….

Waiting

This is my 15 year old son, learning how to wait for his next buck

Field & Stream’s 50 Best Reader Photos of February 2010