Vote on the 2023 Best Elk Hunt Photo

[westonhoma]

members are excited, currently this year's collected the most votes as this point than ever before.

Love to hear that

 

[westonhoma]

Okay hold up... I just noticed the Ram skull too in @COTubbs pic as well. Yeah, that's a hunt I think we need to hear more about !! lol

 

[lhbackcountry]

The Rokslide staff just voted on the 2023 finalists based on the rules in the entry thread

Now it's Rokslide members' turn to pick the winners.
Kifaru has upped their game and put up TWO BIG PRIZES for 1st & 2nd Place. It will be winner’s choice (meaning 1st place gets first choice of the Kifaru gear).

Our friends at Kifaru have put up a A Kifaru 8-man Tipi this year!!!! Don't need the tipi? Then take a $1,000 Credit in the Kifaru Store (no spouse permission needed, just spend it!)
2nd place takes the unclaimed prize.

And for 3rd place, long-time sponsor Phone Skope stepped up with a great prize package:

-Phone Skope Case
-Phone Skope C3 Optic Adapter
-Phone Skope Lens Cap
-Bino Loops
-Cleaning Cloth

Rounding out 4th place, Iron Will Outfitters is in for a Custom Engraved K2 Ultralight Skinning Knife (review by @Jared Bloomgren here)

Please vote on the photos in the poll at the top of the thread (Tapatalk users can't see the poll, so use full-site if you'd like to vote.)

Only Rokslide members with accounts registered by 12/28/23 will be counted towards winners (the fairest way to pick a winner), although those late votes will still show up in the poll.


We'll leave the poll open until approximately the evening of Sunday January 14th.

Please, only one vote per person. If you think you can rig it by creating multiple member user names and voting, @Jskaanland is all over you! If you're caught voting more than once, all your votes are disqualified.

Also, if you made the finalist list, go ahead and vote on your own photo, but remember if you try to vote with multiple user names, your photo will be pulled from the contest.

Here are the finalists in no particular order. Cast your vote in the poll using the member's name listed at top of each photo.

(if you made the finalist list and are an instagram user, PM @robby denning your user name if you'd like to be tagged on Rokslide's IG Post on this contest)

@snowymtnwolf
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@cprentice32
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@Thee_rt
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@Yon181
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@TN731
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@HoytHntr4
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@Hank
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@COTubbs
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@BK Peterson
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@thegoosano
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are yall packing professional grade cameras for these shots?? No way my iphone comes close... well done to the contestants

 

[cprentice32]

Thanks for the info. I'll take it into consideration.

@robby denning It's not a shopped image. It's a long exposure night picture from an actual camera, not a cell phone. The picture was taken between 12:37 AM and 12:56 AM on a south facing slope with 5-20+ mph winds. The clarity of the image may not be "as crisp" as some of the other staged pics because it is a long exposure. Try holding perfectly still for 30 seconds with variable winds on a mountain side after a 22 mile day.

You guys can think what you want. Sorry, not going to submit a fake shot. I could give 2 sh*ts less about winning anything. I literally found this community because I posted this image after my hunt on my socials and several Rokslide members told me to enter it in this contest.

 

[cprentice32]

are yall packing professional grade cameras for these shots?? No way my iphone comes close... well done to the contestants

Yes. There are some really nice cameras out there that do not add that much to the pack. Mine was shot with a Canon EOS 90D.

 

[UNCW6044]

These photos are awesome. Congrats to all who submitted....

 

[robby denning]

@robby denning It's not a shopped image. It's a long exposure night picture from an actual camera, not a cell phone. The picture was taken between 12:37 AM and 12:56 AM on a south facing slope with 5-20+ mph winds. The clarity of the image may not be "as crisp" as some of the other staged pics because it is a long exposure. Try holding perfectly still for 30 seconds with variable winds on a mountain side after a 22 mile day.

You guys can think what you want. Sorry, not going to submit a fake shot. I could give 2 sh*ts less about winning anything. I literally found this community because I posted this image after my hunt on my socials and several Rokslide members told me to enter it in this contest.

Be calm brother, it’s a great photo so naturally people are gonna think it might be Photoshop. It’s all good and we’re glad you entered it.

Also, are you saying you had to hold still from 1237 to 1256? Or that was just the approximate time the image was taken and exposure was 30 seconds ?

 

[Jake Larsen]

@robby denning It's not a shopped image. It's a long exposure night picture from an actual camera, not a cell phone. The picture was taken between 12:37 AM and 12:56 AM on a south facing slope with 5-20+ mph winds. The clarity of the image may not be "as crisp" as some of the other staged pics because it is a long exposure. Try holding perfectly still for 30 seconds with variable winds on a mountain side after a 22 mile day.

You guys can think what you want. Sorry, not going to submit a fake shot. I could give 2 sh*ts less about winning anything. I literally found this community because I posted this image after my hunt on my socials and several Rokslide members told me to enter it in this contest.

Meant zero disrespect with my comment, I was trying to explain that your image was not likely “photoshopped” but rather when a professional grade camera is in play, you can do some awesome looking stuff. A single 30 second exposure is tough to pull off in those conditions, job well done! Good luck with the entry, it’s an awesome photo


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TaperPin]

@robby denning It's not a shopped image. It's a long exposure night picture from an actual camera, not a cell phone. The picture was taken between 12:37 AM and 12:56 AM on a south facing slope with 5-20+ mph winds. The clarity of the image may not be "as crisp" as some of the other staged pics because it is a long exposure. Try holding perfectly still for 30 seconds with variable winds on a mountain side after a 22 mile day.

You guys can think what you want. Sorry, not going to submit a fake shot. I could give 2 sh*ts less about winning anything. I literally found this community because I posted this image after my hunt on my socials and several Rokslide members told me to enter it in this contest.

Before I read anything about anyone belly aching about your photo, it’s obvious you didn’t photoshop the pic. Anyone can read a few pages on night photography and see your technique. For those that don’t know a flash catches the person, otherwise he would be a dark outline.

Nobody, and I mean nobody, would photoshop a pic with blurred stars. There are a million night sky photos that show stars nice and crisp because they are taken with a motorized drive tracking the stars movement. Oblong stars are the classic sign of a pic taken with a normal camera.

Having said that, what’s considered a real photo anymore? Every photo in every magazine, every one, has been altered from the raw file. Maybe a little, maybe a lot, but every one. Filters alter photos, every filter ever used. Had this been a digital attempt to recreate this type of photo taken the old fashioned way, would it be morally wrong? I don’t think so. Editing out a branch, booger, blood clot, Mountain House beef stew remnants from a beard, or a non-Tikka rifle doesn’t make it a worse photo.

 

[robby denning]

...Having said that, what’s considered a real photo anymore? Every photo in every magazine, every one, has been altered from the raw file. Maybe a little, maybe a lot, but every one. Filters alter photos, every filter ever used. Had this been a digital attempt to recreate this type of photo taken the old fashioned way, would it be morally wrong? I don’t think so. Editing out a branch, booger, blood clot, Mountain House beef stew remnants from a beard, or a non-Tikka rifle doesn’t make it a worse photo.

We agree and is why there's nothing in the rules about it...

...and the non-Tikka comment

 

[TheGDog]

@robby denning Try holding perfectly still for 30 seconds with variable winds on a mountain side after a 22 mile day.

Knowing what a friend told me about his star-scape pics he'd taken... the technique, settings, and amount of shutter time.... that was why I was skeptical about the part of YOU being in that photo and not blurry. My apologies.... and Good holding still skills brother!

 

[twall13]

Knowing what a friend told me about his star-scape pics he'd taken... the technique, settings, and amount of shutter time.... that was why I was skeptical about the part of YOU being in that photo and not blurry. My apologies.... and Good holding still skills brother!

He actually wouldn't have to hold still for the full exposure either. Shine a light on him directly for a second or two and then turn it off to give the background stars some time to come through. I've played a little bit with long exposure, night photography. It's a lot of fun, but it's tricky to get a good exposure for the entire photo. This one was well done. I'm sure they did multiple takes to get things right.

 

[cnelk]

Want to know which Roksliders voted for each photo?

Just click on the contestant’s name in the poll

 

[wannakillabigbull]

I will add that great cameras can help but they’re definitely not a requirement. Cell phone photos make the finals every year, and even make it into the prizes. Roksliders tend to vote for the best photo regardless and that’s what makes the contest fun for me every year.

 

[COTubbs]

I will add that great cameras can help but they’re definitely not a requirement. Cell phone photos make the finals every year, and even make it into the prizes. Roksliders tend to vote for the best photo regardless and that’s what makes the contest fun for me every year.

I had to check my phone to verify, but it's an iPhone 12 Pro. We were having some coffee the morning after getting the bull packed back down to spike camp and thought it would be cool to get the bull with the fog, ram and game bags in the background. Was just trying to grab some pics to capture an incredible morning in the mountains with the elk still bugling in the background. Dumb luck that it turned out the way it did and someone pointed me to this photo contest.

 

[HoytHntr4]

Congrats @COTubbs! You should get a print of that picture to hang in your trophy room

 

[robby denning]

That's a wrap! Thread's on a temp lock.

@Jskaanland can you check the vote for places 1-4 to make sure no shenanigans?

 

[robby denning]

OK winners, @Jskaanland has certfied the vote! Here are the winners 1st place - 4th:

Cotubbs 134 votes
Hoythntr4 90
Cprentice32 60
Snowymntwolf 29

I need first to know if @COTubbs is taking the Kifaru Tipi or the $1,000 in the Kifaru store? (just post on here)

Then next prize goes to @HoytHntr4

Then the Phone Skope kit goes to @cprentice32

and the Iron Will Knife to @snowymtnwolf

Then I'll need a PM from everyone with an email address...

 

[cprentice32]

Great submissions!

 

[COTubbs]

OK winners, @Jskaanland has certfied the vote! Here are the winners 1st place - 4th:

Cotubbs 134 votes
Hoythntr4 90
Cprentice32 60
Snowymntwolf 29

I need first to know if @COTubbs is taking the Kifaru Tipi or the $1,000 in the Kifaru store? (just post on here)

Then next prize goes to @HoytHntr4

Then the Phone Skope kit goes to @cprentice32

and the Iron Will Knife to @snowymtnwolf

Then I'll need a PM from everyone with an email address...

That's awesome, thanks @robby denning! I think I'm all set on shelters, so I'll take the $1,000 to the Kifaru store.

Glad a bunch of people enjoyed the photo, and really appreciate all of the kind comments and messages from those who reached out! Pretty fun story of two of us packing pretty deep into the backcountry with a couple llamas for a good chunk of September, having a blast chasing bulls, finding a bighorn deadhead in the middle of a stalk and then ultimately closing the deal on a good bull. If folks would be interested, I'll find some time to type up the story and share it. Thanks again!