- Peggie

I was walking about deep in the bush with my wife while on a spot-and-stalk for deer. We cut across a quad trail near a small bog and heard crashing in the undergrowth nearby. We stopped with hearts a thunder... bows at full draw, when Junior showed up for a photo-op. He then turned and stopped in his tracks—to his amazement there was two hunters ready to take him home.

In the blink of an eye he jumped back into the safety of his domain. Then about 60 yards or so down he popped back out onto the trail for a drink in a puddle. Unaware of our presence, he then moved to a thicket to have lunch. I then decided to pursue him.

I quietly rounded a bend in the trail searching for that opportunity for a well placed arrow. I only had a window in the trees of about a foot square to shoot. Junior then moved into view of my shooting window. I drew back, let fly and he dropped three feet from where my arrow found its mark.

So now that photo-op with big ears came true! My first bear.

- Gerald Johns

Enjoy the magazine a great deal: I've sent you a photo of a 54" bull I harvested on Sept. 27-07 and a photo of another bull I saw on Oct. 6-07. I haven't seen a moose with two drop tines and the rest of the tines he has sticking out quite like this. Both were in the west central area of Alberta. I wish the non typical was a better photo, but it was a quick window of opportunity. Just thought you might like to see that there is still some big moose left out there.

- Kelvin Tataryn

This is more just for a laugh for you guys than anything.

My daughter, every time she goes to the washroom picks up the Alberta Outdoorsmen and wants to look at the fish in the magazine while doing her business. She is only two years old but we think this is absolutely hilarious.

To all you fathers out there, don't forget to include your children in the sport you cherish. The success of your children a field is equally as rewarding if not more so than that of your own. My daughter Ashley (13), completed the Hunter Education home study course and passed her exam this summer. She proceeded to become a proficient marks-woman with the .243 that I purchased for the kids. After a few cold November mornings and evenings together, she was able to make a clean, one shot kill on this fine young specimen for her first White-tail buck. I think I was more excited about the whole thing than she was. Nevertheless, I'm sure she'll remember and cherish the experience we shared for years to come.

- Raymond & Ashley Menard

My name is Matthew Warawa and I am 15 years old. On November12, 2007, in WMU 503 I harvested my first ever whitetail buck. It was my third day of hunting and my father and I were sitting in a brush pile on the edge of a cut hay field. It was a cool crisp evening, and we had been sitting for about an hour and ½ and grunting occasionally. I was looking in my binoculars when I spotted a deer. I couldn’t make out if it was a buck or a doe because my binos kept fogging up. So I asked my dad if he could see what it was, then he looked at me and said it was a buck, a decent 4x4 buck. My heart started to pump hard as I watched him in the scope on my Savage Arms 243. closely. He was working a couple of scrapes and then he jumped up on his back legs and was licking the overhanging branches. Then he started to chase a doe that had walked into the field. My dad gauged the yardage with his rangefinder and said he was around 235 yards away. The young buck continued to show off to the doe by jumping up and licking some more branches. My dad said “let him come closer, he’s working his way over here, you’ll have a better shot”. But right when the buck jumped back on the ground from licking the branches, BANG! He dropped on the spot. The 100 grain bullet had hit him hard. We waited a couple of minutes and started to make our way towards the downed animal. When we were about 50 yards from him, he got up and looked right at me! I quickly got a shell ready and finally downed him for good. It was the most exciting experience I’ve had from hunting so far, it was just amazing. The first buck is always a thrill and I will always remember this hunt and cherish it as much as I can. I would also like to thank my dad for taking me out hunting with him and being outdoors together, it’s a thrill to share that experience with him. This hunting season was just great, I got a buck and my dad got a buck.

This mulie was taken the last day of hunting in 2007 near Vauxhall, Alberta. I had met up with my hunting partner, Barry Edwards, who lives in that area and he said there is a buck with a rack full of baling twine they call "The Christmas Tree Buck". This is what we decided to look for. As fortune smiled upon me that morning I saw him about 400 yards away and decided to crawl down a ditch towards him. When I thought I was close enough I worked my way to the top to take a look. There he still stood about 250 yards away—a distance with my 30 06 I am comfortable with. But what I was not comfortable with was now beside him was a larger buck with a very impressive rack—now what. Our plan was to get the Christmas Buck and this is what I did. He's been called Alice Cooper and the buck for Breast Cancer awareness.

The twine he had wrapped around was the very thick kind for large round bales and if he would have got hung up I am not sure if he would have broke through. He may have had a disturbing few months until he lost his antlers.

- Les Krzywy

- Trevor Arthur

This is a pic of my 7 year old.

This was his first time fly fishing and he reeled in a 23 inch rainbow trout. This is a day he will never forget, nor will we.

- Mona

I just thought I would send a pic because I am so proud of my first bear taken with a bow. We were in Peers, Alberta with McLeod Outdoor Adventures and Jim and Vickie Henderson do an amazing job with baiting. We didnt see too much because of the snow but as soon as we got back there were six more barrels hit so we are going back up this fall for a wolf hunt and a bear hunt next spring.

- Jeff Young