2018 Best Whitetail Photo Contest, sponsored by SITKA Gear

[robby denning]

Hey Roksliders,
we are super happy to have this contest back for 2018. We had a good run in 2016 here http://www.rokslide.com/forums/whitetail-deer/52214-whitetail-buck-photo-contest-2016-a.html but didn't pick up a sponsor for 2017, so we missed a year.

Well SITKA Gear isn't going to let that happen for 2018 and stepped up in a big way, offering prizes for ALL THREE PLACES with pieces from their Whitetail Line (see here for more info on that great line.)

Contest is simple:

This is NOT a biggest buck contest, but a "best photo" contest. The winning 2018 photo will be judged on the following criteria and rules:

1) WOW Factor. Is it a great photo that grabs the viewer? This takes in lighting, color, uniqueness, etc.

2) Composition- by that I mean the way in which the different parts that make up your photo are arranged- is there too much background, not enough animal? or visa versa? Are the antler tips out of the frame or the hunter's head cut off? Or is it a good balance between the buck the hunter, the terrain? (the hunter is not required to appear in the photo.)

3) Size of animal. This doesn't mean biggest animal wins, but if #1 and #2 are equal, we'll chose the bigger animal.

4) Must be a photo of a buck harvested in 2018

5) Between archery season and December 10th, post up your best 2018 harvest photo on this thread (don't know how to post pics? Click here )

6) One photo per buck only. If you harvest multiple bucks, you can enter one photo for each

7) Also, by posting on this thread, you agree to let Rokslide and Sitka Gear use any of the photos in promotional material without compensation

8) Any international winner is responsible for border tax, custom fees, excessive postage fees, etc.

Here are the prizes to be awarded:

1st Place:
New Early Season Whitetail (ESW) Shirt:

New Early Season Whitetail (ESW) Pant:

New Early Season Whitetail (ESW) Hat:

New Early Season Whitetail (ESW) Glove:

2nd Place:
New Celsius Midi Jacket

3rd Place:
New Early Season Whitetail (ESW) Hat:

As you can see, SITKA Gear has been very generous with this contest, so be sure and support them by entering and of course by checking them out when you need great clothing. More than a few of our Rokslide Sponsors carry the SITKA Gear line of clothing.

 

[TravisIN]

Sweet!


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[Justin Crossley]

I might have to try to kill a Whitetail now!

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[WJS23]

I will do my best

 

[Shepherd]

This is great news.

Nice to see Sitka step up and generously sponsor this with great prizes.

 

[MadDawg]

Awesome! I am super pumped about this!!!

 

[Btaylor]

Our season opens this Saturday. Finally!!!

 

[CDNPO]

No entries yet? Was everyone busy so far this season with inconvenient honeymoons, or is that just me?

First hunt of the season will be tomorrow for me. Hopefully my next post includes a pic.

Good luck out there, gang.

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[bsnedeker]

No entries yet? Was everyone busy so far this season with inconvenient honeymoons, or is that just me?

First hunt of the season will be tomorrow for me. Hopefully my next post includes a pic.

Good luck out there, gang.

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I'm seeing some good ones on my camera, but I'm letting them sit until they start coming out during the day...hoping to be hunting next weekend.

 

[MadDawg]

This is my fifth deer with a recurve but its my first 8 point with it! Im so thankful my dad and my uncle got to be there to help me recover it.

 

[Thedeerfarmer]

That is a beautiful deer, MadDawg! Congrats! This will be my first season chasing deer with a recurve, should be interesting!

 

[Btaylor]

Curious why the Dec 10th cutoff? That is still prime time here and early for a bunch of the southeast.

 

[KHNC]

Curious why the Dec 10th cutoff? That is still prime time here and early for a bunch of the southeast.

You know there are not any big whitetail outside of the Midwest! lol Gotta cover the rut for the important states.

 

[Btaylor]

You know there are not any big whitetail outside of the Midwest! lol Gotta cover the rut for the important states.

Certainly not any here, but we have some of the prettiest does and 11 pointers you have ever seen.

 

[robby denning]

Great job on the buck with the recurve MadDawg


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[MadDawg]

My sister got this very nice 8 point last night with her brand new muzzleloader(that she bought herself).

 

[MadDawg]

She's proud that its bigger than mine...

 

[TravisIN]

Here’s my entry! I was fortune to take this buck on the 26th. He’s a deer I’m very familiar with. I passed him last year as a 3 year old twice. I also have pictures of him back to a two year old. It’s very hard for deer to make it past 3 years where I hunt. It’s a good area but in Indiana our gun season starts during the peak of the rut and last two weeks covering three weekends. The farm I have permission on gets hit very very hard during gun season. So when I found him back this summer I was pretty excited and he was my top target. Shortly after the season started the landowner stopped by to tell me he was letting two more people bow hunt on top of the two of us that were already out there. It’s part of it but definitely not ideal. I met one of the new guys and found out that he had been using my best rut stand every single day since October 1st. No matter the wind or conditions. I was frustrated since I put a lot of work into my stands and try to hunt them as smart as I can, but told him to keep on hunting it, wear a harness, and good luck. I take hunting really serious, it’s my passion, but I don’t like how things can get in the hunting world sometimes. It’s very competitive, cutthroat, and makes people do things that can be regrettable. Nothing that we are doing is worth compromising the type of person that you want to be. I had several people tell me to take the stand down, and how they would have “freaked out” on the guy. In the scheme of things it’s not worth being that way. Sorry for the tangent back to the story. It had rained all Thursday night and during the day Friday and was supposed to let up before sunset. So I got in plenty early during the rain and got close to where I thought he bedded a lot. If you can be in a tree when the rain lets up it can be pretty awesome. And when I say clears up, I’m talking minutes after, so you need to get in during the rain to be ready when it stops. I had deer come into the cut corn a few min after it stopped. While I was watching them he came out of the cedar thicker I was expecting him to be in. He freshened a scrap, and started feeding in the corn. I went through my shot sequence great and he only went 50-60 yard. I went and got the wife and kids to help recover him. It was really dark and overcast so we couldn’t get good pictures until the following morning. It’s tradition to get pictures with them when I kill a buck. They get really into it and are a lot of fun to have around when your doing the processing.


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[String&stick]

Awesome buck and story man. Your daughters pose and lollypop might the pick even better! Keep raising them in the outdoors!

 

[bignocks]

This is my recent Nebraska Whitetail that I rattled in. I managed to take this photo solo with my phone on a timer and it strapped to a weed with a wire, lol. Lets just say it took a few attempts. Keep posting everyone I love seeing the photos. Thanks Justin