After almost canceling his hunting trip because he had the flu, Richard Hebert of Pineville, LA, opted to tough it out and get in the field. It was a good decision. Field & Stream Online EditorsEight-year-old Bryan Mitchell used a gray and black rubber worm to hook up this 8-pound bass in Alabama’s Lake Tholocco. Field & Stream Online EditorsNathan Nielsen with his first turkey, shot in Iowa. Field & Stream Online EditorsJohn Hagler of Abilene, TX, shot both these bears on his first Alberta bear hunt. Field & Stream Online EditorsBill Isles of Duluth, MN, just happened to have a camera handy when he saw this eagle circling a dead deer along the road. Field & Stream Online EditorsThe rest of these photos might not have made it into our picks of the week, but check them out, because they’re still pretty cool. Here are the runners up. Field & Stream Online EditorsLarry Hixon of Forth Worth, TX, with a big buck taken in November 2007. Field & Stream Online EditorsKeith Udut admitted that he was pretty tired after battling this 28-pound male salmon on the Salmon River in New York. Field & Stream Online EditorsTeressa Hagerman poses with an elephant she shot with her bow. Field & Stream Online EditorsJohn Patterson of Charlo, MT, with a buck he shot last season. Field & Stream Online EditorsDerrek Cory with his first tom harvested on opening day in Missouri. Field & Stream Online EditorsBrock Bond, 14, with his 4×4 bull elk shot in Montana in November 2007. Field & Stream Online EditorsD. Morales shot this buffalo in southwestern Montana in 2006. Field & Stream Online EditorsThis lunker largemouth was hiding in a canal right in Dakota Bilao’s backyard in Coral Springs, FL. Field & Stream Online EditorsCody Canale with his first turkey called in with a little help from his uncle near Zenia, CA, this April. Field & Stream Online EditorsThis 22-inch smallie was released back into the St. Lawrence River after Mack Gardner got a few victory photos with his catch. Field & Stream Online EditorsThis 45-pound paddlefish nearly pulled Aaron Sadler’s brother off the bank and into the Arkansas River. Field & Stream Online EditorsJason Hall called in this 25-pound female coyote near the end of the Oklahoma predator season. Field & Stream Online EditorsBrad Zahar with a nice Lake Erie steelhead. Field & Stream Online EditorsBill Trado of Kingstree, SC, with his first turkey that was called in by his wife, Ivy. Field & Stream Online EditorsKyle Burgess with two hefty Wisconsin pike. Field & Stream Online EditorsShakeila Johnson with an 8-point buck she took on a youth hunting day in Missouri. This trophy is now hanging proudly in her room. Field & Stream Online EditorsAndrew Stanley, 13, of Lawrenceville, GA, with the 6th buck he’s ever shot. This was his biggest to date, scoring over 100 inches and weighing 177 pounds. Field & Stream Online EditorsRobert Planka with a 24-pound gobbler from opening day in Wisconsin. Field & Stream Online EditorsScott Baker with a big Nebraska gobbler. Field & Stream Online EditorsBlake Pilgrim with a trophy from his first father-son hog hunting trip near Forney, TX. Field & Stream Online EditorsRoxanne Dorman with a black bear she shot in Camden, NC, last December. Field & Stream Online EditorsMike Miller used a red midge to score this late March rainbow on Colorado’s Yampa River. Field & Stream Online EditorsLynn Vellios of Wildwood, MO, says she can’t tell us exactly where she caught this big rainbow, because if she did, her husband might divorce her. Field & Stream Online EditorsBruce Pietila with a 35-pound coyote he shot outside of Calumet, Michigan, last February. Field & Stream Online EditorsJake Doty of Kendall, NY, with his first whitetail. The 4-pointer weighed in at 145 pounds. Field & Stream Online EditorsBrian “The Koz” Kozminski with two nice Michigan trout. Field & Stream Online EditorsA lower Sacramento River trout fooled by John Burk of Santa Barbara, CA. Field & Stream Online EditorsGrant Barry of Tifton, GA, with his first turkey. Upon taking it to the taxidermist, he learned that it was a rare black phase bird. Field & Stream Online EditorsTom Allen holds a fat 4-pound largemouth taken in Oklahoma. Field & Stream Online EditorsRuben Ramos with a buck he shot while hunting a ranch near Sonora, TX. Field & Stream Online EditorsTim Tague caught this brownie on the Bighorn River in 2007. Field & Stream Online EditorsJoey Adkins, 14, of Kingston, OH, with his first turkey – a 22-pounder. Field & Stream Online EditorsPaul Gamblin of Newnan, GA, with his first buck. Field & Stream Online EditorsAlex Yudell says, “It’s a long walk to this lake in the Spanish Peaks near Bozeman, Montana. But the trout just can’t resist a woolly bugger.” Field & Stream Online EditorsJay Ebbert with a steelhead he caught during a trip to Ohio. Field & Stream Online EditorsJackson Bell with a 25-inch rainbow he pulled through the ice in Montana. Field & Stream Online EditorsClifford Foster says catching this muskie was a good way to start the spring season on Conneant Lake in Pennsylvania. Field & Stream Online EditorsJack Kline with his first doe taken in Wisconsin during the 2007 season. Field & Stream Online EditorsVictor Capetillo with a 30-inch freshwater drum he hooked while fishing the Lake Erie shoreline. Field & Stream Online EditorsConnor Kmiec of Green Bay bagged this salmon during a trip on Lake Michigan. Field & Stream Online EditorsJordan Garlock of Wells Tannery, PA, looking very excited over his first trout caught on a nightcrawler. Field & Stream Online EditorsAaron Rowe of Dawson, PA, shows off his channel catfish. Field & Stream Online EditorsRebeka (left) and Renada Villanti are clearly pumped over their first fish – a trout caught near Milwaukie, OR. Field & Stream Online EditorsRahman Ashraf of Hollywood, MD, with his first buck. Field & Stream Online Editors“This trout may not be a record-breaker,” says Tom Haley, of Pawlet, VT. “But oh, what a fight!” Field & Stream Online Editors
