WILDLIFE & WILDPLACES

1st Place

PHOTOGRAPHER: Steven Rose

WHERE: North Bay area, Ontario

WHEN: January 2022

DETAILS: An amateur photographer with the keen eye of a pro, Steven Rose says taking wildlife photos is his passion. He braved -29°C temperatures and deep snow to capture this striking shot of a lynx on the prowl for rabbits. “The lynx was able to walk over the three feet of snow while we were flailing around,” he says. “It was awesome to watch her so at home in her environment.”

PRIZE: VSSL JAVA portable hand coffee grinder

2 Nd Place

PHOTOGRAPHER: Adam Pauls

WHERE: North Knife Lake, Manitoba

WHEN: August 2022

DETAILS: Avid bowhunter and angler Adam Pauls was working as a fishing guide in the north of his home province of Manitoba when he clicked the shutter on this ethereal vista.

“I was getting my boat ready in the morning and this beautiful scene took place,” he says. “I did not even edit the photo. It was unreal fog with the sun shining through that lasted all of three minutes.”

PRIZE: VSSL Camp Supplies

3rd Place

PHOTOGRAPHER: Monica Dahl

WHERE: Edmonton area, Alberta

WHEN: June 2022

DETAILS: Monica Dahl was driving through Alberta’s Westlock County when she spotted this great blue heron fishing for frogs. “I pulled over and watched it as it methodically worked its way across the pond in search of prey,” she says. “I took several photos, but this was my favourite.” The Island Lake, Alberta, woman says she spends much of her free time photographing wildlife.

PRIZE: VSSL Ready Kit

1st Place

PHOTOGRAPHER: Tom Stimson

WHERE: Birch Lake, Ontario

WHEN: July 2022

DETAILS: On a hot day last July, Jay Harrison was sight-fishing for fat, hungry perch at a cabin on northwestern Ontario’s Birch Lake when his buddy Tom Stimson launched a camera-equipped drone to get this remarkable bird’s eye shot. “There were storms in every direction, but this sunny spot broke and the light was incredible,” says Stimson, who hails from Winnipeg.

“The bite was on!”

PRIZE: $500 Rapala Prize Package

2 Nd Place

PHOTOGRAPHER: Neil Drysdale

WHERE: Sibbald Pond, Alberta

WHEN: September 2022

DETAILS: Neil Drysdale and his son, Fin, were fly fishing on Sibbald Pond in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains when Fin landed his personal-best rainbow trout on the fly. “We had spent the morning walking the small creeks for rainbows and brook trout, then stopped at the pond for a few casts,” Drysdale says. “It didn’t take long before Fin hooked into this one, out-fishing me again!”

PRIZE: $250 Rapala Prize Package

1st Place

PHOTOGRAPHER: Darren Burdeniuk

WHERE: Brandon area, Manitoba WHEN: December 2022

DETAILS: Darren Burdeniuk was hunting with his son, Cooper, when the then 12-year-old shot his first whitetail. “This was his first deer-hunting season holding the rifle and doing the shooting,” Burdeniuk says, noting the pair had previously returned home many times empty-handed and halffrozen. “This buck was shot in the last hour of the last day of our hunting season.”

PRIZE: Coleman Peak1 two-person tent, 62-quart wheeled Atlas cooler, 800lumen LED lantern

3rd Place

PHOTOGRAPHER: Rob Dewar

WHERE: Winnipeg River, Ontario

WHEN: August 2022

DETAILS: When avid angler Eric Berglund landed a muskie alongside his then eight-year-old son, Klaus, his father-in-law Rob Dewar photographed the classic father-son moment. “This was the first muskie that Klaus and my father-in-law had been in the boat for,” Berglund says, noting it was their final outing after a week of fishing. “The excitement was real, and Klaus helped to net and release the fish.”

PRIZE: $100 Rapala Prize Package