This contest is free and anyone can sign up to be on a team. Once the sign-up period has ended we will pick teams. The amount of teams and number of people per team will be based on the total number of participants. Each team will then be allowed to have their own separate team thread where members can chat back and forth about their seasons, and of course talk smack to other teams. The official scorecard thread will be posted as soon as teams are drawn. When you kill a deer you are expected to post your photos, score, and other information in that thread. The scorecard will be updated by a staff member as we have time. If you shoot a deer before the contest officially starts, you will be allowed to post it once you have been assigned to a team. Speaking of which, the contest will officially run from September 1st to January 15th this year. I understand that some seasons run longer, but for the sake of keeping people interested we're going to end it mid-January. At that time a winner will be announced, and you'll have bragging rights for the next 12 months and a gift certificate to the Bowhunting.com shopping cart. Scoring system will be as follows: Each participant is allowed to enter ONE antlered deer. This must be the FIRST antlered deer that you harvest during the season. If you are fortunate enough to harvest a 2nd antlered deer, it will not be eligible for this contest. Score will be based on GROSS total score using the P&Y scoring system. All measurements must be listed at time when score is posted. If anyone has any problems with scoring, please ask for help first. Mule Deer and Blacktail deer will not have a multiplier for the inches of antler that the animal scores. Whatever the gross score is will count as your final score. Each participant is also allowed to enter ONE antlerless deer as well. Antlerless deer, regardless of size, will count as 50 points. Rules for entry: 1. All deer entered into this contest must be harvested legally within the laws and regulations of the state or province in which it was harvested. This contest is only for fun so please, don't break the law. 2. All deer entered into this contest must be harvested with archery equipment only. After all, this is Bowhunting.com. This includes compound bows, traditional equipment, or crossbows. This also means you can't shoot a deer with a gun and enter it into this contest. 3. All entries must be accompanied by a minimum of TWO (2) photos of the hunter with the deer and your archery equipment in the picture. If you can manage to take one picture, you can also manage to move 4 feet to the side and take another one. It's not that hard. There will be NO exceptions to this rule. Two photos with hunter, deer, and bow in photo or it won't count. This goes for both does as well as bucks. Like Rob, I'm a skeptic. 3a. If you harvest the deer on film and can provide footage of you shooting the animal along with post-recovery footage including hunting, animal, and bow, that will suffice in place of two photos. Footage must be posted online for everyone to see. 4. Along with your photo (or video) you must post the date and time in which the deer was shot as well. 5. If possible, provide a list of the following information along with your harvest photos. We want to know what kind of gear everyone is using. This is optional. If you don't list your equipment, your deer will still count. Bow Make/Model Broadhead Make/Model/Weight Arrow Make/Model Rest Make/Model 6. Above all else, have fun! Don't change the way you hunt for a contest, no matter where it is. If you see a deer that you want to shoot that is going to make you happy then by all means shoot it. Don't worry about what people will think. We're all bowhunters and we should all support each other's decisions on what type of animals we choose to harvest, regardless of size or age. 7. If a buck's rack scores less than 50 points, a minimum score of 50 will be applied. This is known as the "Fergie Clause". This does NOT apply to button bucks. The buck must be a legally "antlered" deer in your state and have a scorable rack. If anyone has any questions or concerns about the rules or scoring please post them here, e-mail me, or another staff member and we'd be glad to help you out. Thanks everyone!
