On a three-day hunt in eastern Montana, my nephew, Wyatt Clay, and I took these bucks on the last afternoon of the trip. My son, Kevin, also shot a 4x4 muley that same morning. After spotting Wyatt's buck, we made a 400-yard stalk to get in range. Wyatt dropped the buck with one shot. After the shot, another larger buck ran up out of the draw and I was able to take him. Special thanks to our friend, Dave, who assisted us.

After losing his job of 23 years, Jim packed up his family and moved over 2000 miles from southeast Pennsylvania to the western slope of Colorado. This season he has taken two elk, one turkey, and one bear in archery season and still has a third season rifle tag for deer. He killed this bear on September 22 of this year. After killing, deboning and packing out a cow elk the first week of archery, he repeatedly checked the kill site for bear sign. After a couple of weeks and still no sign, he figured nothing would come to the kill. Then it rained and he headed back up to the high country. Sure enough, there was bear sign all around the kill. The next morning he was set up before first light and at 8:25 he shot this bear at 8 yards.

I hunted difficult spot and stalk conditions in southwestern Montana. This year, Montana has been the wettest ever recorded in many areas, and sitting on a good waterhole is futile. On August 21, I watched several antelope use a fence crossing through my spotting scope. The next morning, I packed two miles loaded with 65 lbs. of gear and a blind. At 8:30 a.m., four immature bucks came by at 40 yards. Then, 20 minutes later, this buck came my way at 30 yards. I drew my bow as smaller bucks passed and waited for him to step into view. When he did, I shot. He ran 100 yards and stumbled into the prairie grass. What a great way to start the 2009 archery season!

After hunting in snow for several days with no luck, I abandoned the upper basins that I had scouted earlier and dropped into lower transitional country. I harvested this great buck at 70 yards with my .54 cal Knight muzzleloader. He was taken DIY on public land. Although he is not overly wide (24 inches), he has good tine length, mass, and was almost perfectly matched from side to side.

Randy Windsor took this 6x6 bull on a DIY hunt on public land in Oregon. Randy writes, "We were hunting the second season Silvies area. I took this bull with only 30 minutes of daylight left on our last day. We hunted hard during the hunt, walking 4-8 miles a day. I spotted this bull standing in a thick patch of mahogany. The only part of the bull I could see was his neck. I took the shot with my Remington 7mm-Mag. and he dropped in his tracks."

Dan Loy traveled from Iowa to bowhunt the Missouri River Breaks of Montana for elk. He encountered plenty of mule deer, a lucky shed antler, and an unlucky rattlesnake while persevering through high heat and minimal water while trying to connect on a bull. It all paid off in the end with this nice 5x5 bull.

After several sightings, Dena’s goal was to harvest this nice 5x5. Archery season came and went without any shot opportunities within bow range. As soon as rifle season opened, the buck disappeared and was not seen again until the last day of the season. When this buck appeared out of nowhere, Dena new exactly which one it was. Without hesitation and with a well-placed shot, Dena was able to accomplish her goal for the 2008 hunting season.

Addison and his hunting partner, Sherman, endured all sorts of challenges, including a pounding rainstorm, mud and missed chances at big bulls, during their Arizona elk hunting adventure. Addison finally got his chance when he moved in on this bull as it was getting ready to bully a smaller elk. The timber was thick and getting a shot was tough – even at close range. But Addison managed to put himself between the bull and where he was going. After taking his shot he met up with Sherman and they soon found a good blood trail. Not long afterward, Addison claimed his first bull elk.

After missing this buck the evening prior, Tony was able to connect on a great shot during the morning hunt. His 5-year-old son, Brandon, took this picture after he and his twin sister, Madison, helped dad retrieve the trophy. Tony would like to thank Dusty Hicks and Bob Hontz for allowing him to hunt on their property.

Jason harvested this bull during a DIY hunt at elevations up to 12,200 feet. He started hunting at 4 a.m. and ascended to a summit by 6:45 a.m. Even so, his initial glassing revealed nothing. But then as day broke, he heard bulls bugling and spotted a band of elk moving uphill toward him. He closed in to shooting range and took this bull down shortly afterward. What a great way to kick off hunting season!

After months of planning, several scouting trips and days of hard hunting in the rugged Montana high country, Eric was able to stalk within 91 yards of this great billy. As physically and mentally demanding as the hunt was, it was worth every minute of it, and Eric was especially grateful to be able to share it with his dad. The billy was even larger than he thought it to be when he took the shot; the horns rough green scored at 9 1/4 inches.

While hunting the Pine Ridges in western Nebraska with his father, Eli was lucky enough to get a shot at this nice mule deer on opening morning. The Nebraska deer was his first mule deer ever. He harvested the deer with a HS Precision .300 Win. Mag; one well placed shot was all it took.

Shane dropped this magnificent bull with a perfect double-lung pass-through shot on the final day of a week-long hunt backcountry with an outfitter in north central Wyoming. He had a hard time staying focused as the bull came in from hundreds of yards away, screaming bugles the entire time.

JD, 14, took this buck, his first ever, while hunting in Elko County, Nevada, with his dad, Dean. The buck was unoffically green scored at 211 net; it's a 7-by-8 with an incredible 30 1/2-inch spread.

Dean and JD had split up -- Dean planned to work his way up the mountian, and had instructed his sone to work a couple of small draws and ridges where he had earlier jumped a decent 4-point.

But Dad couldn't be prouder when, instead of finding the 4-point, JD instead connected with this monster, and dropped it with one clean shot.

Dennis got to watch many fantastic bucks while hunting in Alberta's famed monster whitetail territory, but this toad was the shooter he'd been holding out for. The 10-point buck greed scored over 160.

Justin found a great spot for spot and stalk bowhunting for antelope -- with rugged, broken terrain and some trees. He hiked far and hunted hard befoe spotting this buck bedded close to the treeline. After a long stalk, he was in posistion for a shot, but the buck wouldn't stand. A whistle from Justin broght the pronghorn to its feet, and the arrow was soon on its way. Justin was nervous at first, becase his arrow nicked an aspen branch before striking the antelope. But the branch didn't deflect the arrow too badly. The hit was almost instanly mortal, and the buck went about only 50 yards.

Cody Woods, 18, took this 40-inch, 10-by-11 bull moose on October 17, 2008. He was hunting on public land west of Pinedale, Wyoming with his father, Ben Woods. Cody used A Ruger M77 in 7mm-08 to down the moose in his tracks. Cody is quite proud of the bull; it is his first moose.

Jeff shot this great pronghorn buck during Wyoming's rifle season. The buck was hanging with about a half-dozen does. He didn't look like much from the front, but when he turned to the side, Jeff didn't even need binoculars to tell he was a shooter. The buck grossed 82 3/4, is just short of 15 inches tall and has prongs just barely under 7 inches.

Lando had taken a morning elk hunt on his favorite “no tell ‘em” ridge, but hadn’t encountered any shooters – so he decided to head back home. On his way out, he heard this bull thrashing and rubbing in the brush, and moved in for a stalk. It wasn’t long before he had a good shot lined up and sank an arrow into the bull. Tracking the elk in the thick costal forest wasn’t an easy task, but with the help of a friend, Lando was able to find his fallen trophy.

Anthony and his brother, Miche knew their hunt was going to be good when – after a two hour pre-dawn hike into the New Mexico high country – they found themselves surrounded by screaming bulls in the middle of a rut fest. But once the sun came up, the bulls shut down and grew silent; it was time to start glassing. They spotted a great bull about four miles away. After a painstaking stalk, Miche had closed the distance to 40 yards and dropped his bull. After five hours of packing, the first bull was back at the truck.

After a couple more days, it was Anthony’s turn. Again, glassing paid off when he picked up a huge bull at a long distance. The final part of the stalk offered nothing but tall grass for cover, but Anthony got into range and made a perfect pinwheel shot that put his bull down in short order. He dubbed this great bull “The High Plains Drifter.”

Garrett was fortunate enough to go hunting with his dad, Mike, in the foothills near their home in Grass Valley, California. Blacktail bucks were the game they were seeking, and Garrett found a dandy.

This 24-inch 3-by-3 was taken with Garrett’s Winchester Model 70 .243. The great shot he made was the perfect capper to a father and son hunt that won’t soon be forgotten.

Dan and his son, Daniel, had a great DIY, public land hunt in the back country of northeast California. They left home in stormy weather, a good sign that the deer would be up and moving when they reached their destination. The weather on opening morning was clear and cold. And with a blanket of fresh snow on the ground, the glassing was good. After they spotted a nice three-pointer, Daniel set up with his shooting sticks and made a great shot.

Then it was on to finding a buck for dad. On the third day, Daniel spotted a nice buck at the base of a cliff below them – about only 80 yards away – and alerted his dad. After a quick setup, one shot dropped the buck in his tracks.