Last Saturday, eager buck hunters and deer horns enthusiasts from northern Alberta gathered at the Ashmont Agriplex for the Ashmont Buck of the Year competition.
The annual competition, in its 30th year of running, had 74 entries this year, which also included a couple of moose and an elk, according to Bryan Bespalko, the organizer for the event.
“On average, the scores we have this year are higher than the previous years," explained Bespalko. He went on to explain that the wet summer gave the deer population a great growing season and “it shows with the amount of horns on the tables" for judging.
The largest horns for this year belonged to Ken Chilibeck's 148 and 4/6 inches for non-typical mule deer, Loella Hurtibise's 201 and 1/8 inches for typical mule deer, Cody Ashbrown's 236 inches for non-typical white tail, and Victor Krvesel's 191 and 4/8 inches for typical white tail.
“This is a great event," said Roy Gaume, one of the visitors who attended the competition. “This year's entries are larger than anything I've ever seen."
This is the first time Gaume, a Lac La Biche resident, has been to Ashmont for the event. Before, he'd only ever seen horns measuring in the mid-90s in inches, he said, adding, “These are huge."
The annual competition is put on by the Ashmont Ag Society, and like previous years, local sponsors were found to help out with the event, said Bespalko.
“Warehouse Sports in St. Paul donated a whole bunch of stuff for us to keep the show going this year," he said of the prizes, which included hunting rifles, jackets and scopes for the winners of each category. Other local sponsors for the event, such as the local ATV dealers, also ensured the event's success, he added.
