Ryan Pitts, a US Forest Service rangeland management specialist in South Dakota, killed this big bull in the Badlands. Field & Stream Online Editors
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
This 14-pound 12-ounce brown came to Brian Goss’ egg fly pattern as he flyfished a tributary of Lake Ontario. Goss, of Pennsylvania, made the trip in October.
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
Emily Wishum grew up fishing with her father, Tim, but didn’t start hunting with him until her senior year at Auburn University. Here, she poses with her first deer, which she shot last January.
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
Sean Wilson and his Alaska moose with an antler spread of 57 inches. September 2007.
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
I regret that I haven’t shot a buck this year due to lack of time in the woods. I am a sailor stationed at the Naval Hospital in Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base. I hunt on the base because we have good management and safety programs. People say our deer are small, but I disagree when you account for the forage. Most of Camp Lejeune is pecosin swamp and no crop land at all. I was lucky enough to arrow this buck last season, my first since I started hunting in 2001. It was special because I’d had foot surgery 3 days before bow season opened and missed the first month. But patience and a lot of help from good hunting buddies paid off.
–Marty Satterfield
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
Jeff Martin, of Eben, Mich., on the Upper Peninsula, shot this 10-point during the muzzleloader season two years ago.
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
Ed Cloud grew up hunting in Alabama, but three years ago he moved to Kansas. “All I ever heard was how big the deer are, and I finally witnessed it for myself,” he says. He killed this 18-point, 240-pound buck on Oct. 18 late in the evening in Coffey County.
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
Mark Smith, of Bellefonte, Pa., caught this 37-inch northern this August on Raney Lake, a floatplane ride away from Chapleau, Ontario. He used a Shakespeare WonderRod with a jointed plug. After snapping this photo, he released the pike.
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
Chris Baldini went out on the opening day of Indiana’s coyote season and called in three coyotes to the same stand. He was using an open reed distress call of his own design, and he got shots at two of coyotes, killing them both.
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
Sutton Eggena, 8, with his first deer, a 10-point piebald buck. He was hunting with his father and brother when the whitetail walked in front of them at 60 yards. Sutton shot it with a .243.
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
Jim Godwin, of Pace, Florida, killed this Pope and Young pronghorn in Otto, Montana. He was hunting a ground blind near a water hole, and took the shot at 35 yards with his bow. It scored 73.
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
This fall, Mike Lincolnhol caught this 45-inch muskie in Murray Lake in Michigan. He was using a perch glide bait.
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
Says Greg McDonald, “I caused such a commotion at 6 in the morning trying to get my wife to take a fast picture that I awoke my 3-year-old son. I love the look on his face!” Greg caught the 18-pound, 36-inch striper in the Etowah River, out his backyard.
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
Rachel Sparks caught this 14 1/2-inch black crappie, her first, at Cutler Reservoir in Utah. She was 9 at the time, this past April.
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
Raymond Bozeman of Forsyth, Ga., took this 12-point on the opening day of Georgia’s rifle season. He was hunting on his newly leased land, but was shooting an old .30-30 lever action with iron sights, a rifle that belonged to his wife’s grandfather. The deer weighed 215 pounds.
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
John Schrecengost of Eilson AFB, Alaska, shot this caribou on the North Slope.
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
In early August, Patrick O’Hare caught this 18-pounder as the sun set near Manistee, Michigan. It was a personal best for O’Hare, who was fishing with Michael Bohland on the boat Fishy Business.
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
Zachary Fleischman, 14, holds up a 12-pound largemouth that he took from his uncle’s pond in Lawrenceville, Ga. Says his brother-in-law John Stanek, “We all couldn’t believe how big it was!”
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
Fishing on the Umbqua River in Oregon with his dad and grandfather, 7-year-old Jake Krisky caught several smallmouths this size.
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
Pate killed his first deer at age 8 in Macon County, Georgia. He shot the 9-pointer at 140 yards with a .308 Remington. It weighed 180 pounds. Says Pate’s father, Scott, “My dad brought me up hunting and now it has turned full circle. I am so proud of both of my sons’ interest in the outdoors.”
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
Anita Walkingstick holds up her first bass, a largemouth she caught in Minnesota last year.
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
Fourteen-year-old Kristine Walkingstick with her first jake turkey in northern Missouri.
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
This is my first deer. After missing a nice 4×4 a couple days earlier, I was really disappointed. Dad said it was just buck fever, and took me back to the range for more practice the next day. Then he took me out so I could redeem myself. We came up on a herd with 6 bucks in it and watched them fight for 30 minutes, but there was so much activity that I wasn’t able to get a clean shot. Then Dad spotted this deer with a doe 900 yards away. We put a stalk on them to 100 yards. I had him in my scope and I kept saying “please don’t miss” to myself as I slowly squeezed the trigger. When the gun fired I never felt the recoil, and when the gun came to rest I was still looking through the scope but the deer was gone. I double lung shot him, and he fell immediately. I was the happiest kid in Montana that day.
–Collin DeLeon, 12, of Great Falls, MT
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
When Sarah Parsons found out her boyfriend was going fishing one Saturday, she asked to go along, and also asked to borrow her dad’s pole. Then she caught this 18-pound chinook.
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
Brian Radtke, of Wisconsin Rapids, WI, with a 46-inch muskie that he released after taking this photo.
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
Philip Cote, of Reno, holds up his first pronghorn, which he harvested in Nevada.
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
Hello, my name is Fay Bogart, and I wanted to share my fish with you! I was trolling on Lake Erie, using a Gander Mountain Guide Series pole, Berkley 6-pound Fireline, and a Red Hot Tiger Reef Runner, when I caught this 33 1/4-inch male walleye! And he is now at home, where I can always see him!
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
Julie and her first deer, a buck she shot in Washington with her Tikka .243 at 105 yards. Says her husband, Dan Clements, “140-150 class whitetail. One shot. This will be a tough buck to beat.”
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
Garrett Wilson holds up a rainbow trout that he caught from Medicine Lodge Creek in Idaho.
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
This October, 16-year-old Kolter DeFoor shot this 7×7 with a 7mm magnum. The bull scored 350. New Mexico.
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
Says her dad Clint Kugler, “Camille just turned 6 in September. She loves to fish with Dad and she is good at it!” Here she holds a largemouth at Churubusco, Indiana.
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
Joel Riojas caught this 45-pound, 47-inch king while fishing with his son on the Sacramento River in October, near Elkhorn, CA.
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
Kenny Kuznia, or Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, shot this 8-point during the last half hour of daylight. It had been following a younger spike down a path, and Kuzniar arrowed it at 25 yards.
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
Twenty minutes into the season on Maine’s Youth Day in October, Joshua Baker, 12, shot this 5-point with a .30-30 at 35 yards. The buck dressed out at 170 pounds.
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
Ryan Worth (left) and Sean Guyette sit on top of a big bull they took out of Avery’s Gore in Vermont this past October. The moose had a 51 1/2 inch spread, and weighed over 750 pounds.
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
Hunter Norris, of North Carolina, travelled to Missouri with his father, Todd, to participate in the special 2007 youth whitetail hunt. Hunter shot the deer, which green scored 148 B&C;, at 300 yards with a Remington Model 700 .25-06.
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
Trevor (left) and Ryan biked along the Virginia Creeper Trail for over 20 miles with their grandparents this October. Then Grandpa took them fishing for the first time.
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
Rich Baalman (right), of Lake Stevens, WA, shot this massive 22-inch wide, 20-inch tall blacktail in southern Oregon’s Siskiyou National Monument unit on the first of the month. He took the 6×7 with a .257 Weatherby Magnum at 350 yards early in the morning, and his friends Mike Brewer and Don Campsell helped pack the deer out.
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
Jim St. Germain (pictured) and his hunting partner Clayton Bailey took this big tom by predator calling him after they saw him cross a road earlier in the day. Near Dayton, Washington.
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
Brandon Harlan, of Kane, Pa., shot this 8-point on October 20th. It was his first buck in his first year hunting, and he arrowed the deer with a Tomcat Bowtech bow.
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
Steve Bebee shot this buck while on a high hunt in Washington in early September.
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
Says Robert Obert, pictured here with his brother Craig, “Wow!!! I was still shaking as I walked slowly down to him. He was a beauty, 22 1/8 inches across and 18 inches high. 5 points on his left and 6 on the right, including the perfect set of matching eye guards.” Obert had been hunting in Idaho while on vacation from Camarillo, CA, earlier in October.
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
Last December, Darrell Lee took this 11-point whitetail with his muzzleloader in Washington, IL, not long after a storm that dropped over a foot of snow. The buck scored 182 2/8, and Darrell shot him in an opening at 30 yards.
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
On October 11, Zach Fisher (right) took brother Adam (left) hunting. Zach had never shot a buck and Adam had never hunted before, but by the end of the day, Zach had a 200-pound 12-point, and Adam, had a 175-pound 9-point. They killed the deer within minutes of each other. Writes Zach, “We both couldn¿¿t even fathom what just happened. Being able to just take my brother on his first hunt was a big thrill in itself but to share the experience that we did will forever be one of the most exciting highlights of my life.”
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
Russ Denney and his first buck pronghorn, which he shot this fall in South Dakota.
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
Tanner Bryant, 9, shot his first deer in late October in Clarksville, Tenn. on his family’s land. “All he could say was, ‘I got him, Daddy, I got him,'” says Tanner’s father, Jody. “I was never so proud of him. I’ve found my new hunting partner.”
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
“A huge smallmouth caught on Lake Tenkiller in Oklahoma. I had no scales, but we guessed her to be better than 5 pounds (my biggest),” writes Darris Smith. He released the bass after taking this photo.
the best hunting and fishing here shots game faces snapshots from our reader photos contest in the month of october
Blake Courtright, 6, sits in a duck blind for the first time. “Keeping the hunting generation going!” says his mom, Diane.
