Kate Savant and Michael Fourcade took top honors in the December editions of Nikon Deer of the Year and Trail Cam contests. Both users will receive a Sportsman prize package, and will move on to the finals voting session to be held in February.
In the Nikon Deer of the Year contest, Savant (bowhunter71) earned 44 percent of the votes for a photo of a buck she killed Dec. 11. The deer was locked up with a rival, which apparently had been killed in the fight.
“I was going hunting with my dad,” Savant said. “We were on the way to his stand when we noticed a deer about 80 yards down the road. He appeared to be eating. He finally picked up his head enough to catch a glimpse of his rack.
“I got on the ground, lying on my stomach, aimed behind the should, fired my .243 and dropped him. As we got closer, we realized … he was locked up with another big buck.”
The second deer was dead, and it took two men more than 30 minutes to pull the two bucks apart.
In second place was Toby Guidry (thecajungator2), who garnered 33 percent of the votes for his photo of a wide-racked buck being carted out of a North Louisiana national wildlife refuge.
“It was a cold 26 degrees and frost everywhere,” Guidry said. “I saw a doe right after the sun came up around 6:35, (and) then a few minutes later I had that feeling I was being watched and, sure enough, I turned around to look behind me and there he was, standing in a clump of trees just starring at me.
“I quickly got my gun up and turned all the way around and put the crosshair on him. One shot from my 300 WSM and he went straight down. I couldn’t believe how big he was, 10 points and a broken off drop tine. It was AWESOME.”
James Parish (Sgt. Catahoula) took third with 23 percent of the votes for his “Blind 260 photo showing a great Concordia buck he arrowed.
“When I got to him it looked like he might be blind in his right eye because it had a white ‘frosted’ over look to it,” Parish said. “His live weight was 260, my heaviest buck yet.”
Click here to see the Nikon Deer of the Year contest gallery and enter your own photos. But remember, you must be a registered user to be eligible for the contest, so click here to sign up and get started today!
In the Trail Cam contest, Fourcade (Michael64) earned 62 percent of votes cast. His photo showed a nice buck trying to mount a doe.
“This is the first time I had ever had a picture like this,” Fourcade wrote in his entry.
In second, with 28 percent of the votes cast, was Ruse Smith’s “Running Deer.”
“Four cameras were set up on different trails about 200 yards apart. This buck was picked up on every camera,” said Smith (treeclimber). “I have 10 pictures of that deer over a period of 30 days.
“He made a fatal mistake in mid January 3/4 mile from where this picture was taken.”
Robbie Henderson (Robbie H) grabbed 10 percent of the votes for his “teaching the little one a lesson,” which shows two hogs fighting.
Click here to view the entire Trail Cam gallery and to upload your own photos. But remember, you must be a registered user to be eligible for the contest, so click here to sign up and get started today!
There is one monthly contest period left, with voting taking place in early February followed by the finals in mid February.
