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2021 Story Contest

December 2020
Author: Vanessa Hunt

Picture it, you’re sitting at home thinking about hunts past and realize that parts of the memory have started to fade. Lucky for you, you took the time to photograph all aspects of the hunt and you wrote the story down shortly after you returned home from the great outdoors. You pick up the story and flip through the photos. All of the memories of your hunt come flooding back. You can recall the sights, sounds, and smells that make hunting the amazing experience that it is. On top of that, if you submit your story to Huntin’ Fool, you have the opportunity to share this experience with the rest of the Huntin’ Fool community.

For 2021, we are offering some incredible prizes to all who submit their successful stories and photos to us. A few prizes have stayed the same, but we’ve changed up a number of prizes, keeping it fresh and exciting to be rewarded for letting us share in your success!

COVER STORY

The Title Sponsor for the 2021 Cover Story Contest is Diamondback. Thanks to them, the 12 hunters who are chosen as our cover stories this year will receive a Diamondback truck bed cover. These covers are made with durable construction, protect your gear from the elements, and provide a deadbolt-style lock system. These covers are designed to fit every truck, so it’s the perfect fit for any hunter to keep their gear safe and dry. We are excited to partner with Diamondback to bring each of our Cover Story winners this amazing prize!

Our cover stories are chosen based on a variety of criteria, which includes the size of the animal, quality of the photos submitted, variety of the photos submitted (harvest and supporting), and if the angle and pose of the photo fits our cover design. If you’re interested in submitting your story and photos to be considered for one of our covers, make sure you send us harvest photos that showcase different angles. The more options our graphic designer has to work with, the better chance you have of making the cover.

PRINTED STORIES

All stories that are printed in the 2021 magazines will receive an exclusive story package! The 2021 printed story packages contain a Klymit Cush Seat, an Outdoor Edge RazorBone knife, a Pyro Putty Survival Pack (2 summer foil packs, 3 winter foil packs, a large mega inferno rod, and a multi-tool), 50 feet of Extremus orange paracord, a Huntin’ Fool branded ScopeCoat, a Huntin’ Fool branded Nalgene water bottle, a Huntin’ Fool hat, and four free copies of the issue in which the story is featured. Each story package is valued at $200. The opportunity to receive a great story package like this makes writing and submitting your story well worth your time.

TROPHY ROOM

Vortex Optics is continuing to sponsor our Trophy Room Photo Contest. To enter, submit your 2020 harvest photos by emailing them to submit@huntinfool.com. Winners will be chosen by a panel of Huntin’ Fool staff based on photo resolution, quality, and composition. The winning photo is featured first in the Trophy Room, and if you include a short comment about your hunt, it may be printed under the photo as well! The winner of this contest will receive a pair of Vortex Diamondback HD 10x42 binoculars valued at $279.99.

SUBMITTED STORIES

When you submit a story with a wide variety of photos, you’ll get rewarded! We want to be able to feature as many stories as possible, whether they be printed in our magazine or published on our website. Sharing your stories builds up our community. Just for sending us your story and photos, we will send you a set of Huntin’ Fool stickers.

WRITING AND SUBMITTING A STORY

To enter the 2021 Story Contest and be eligible to win any and all of the great prizes offered, write a story about your successful hunt from the 2020 season and submit it to us along with your harvest and supporting photos. Supporting photos include glassing, hiking, camp, landscape, etc. Please keep your story to less than 1,500 words. If it is longer, we will have to cut it down to fit within the magazine. Ensure the photos you submit are high resolution and visually support the story you are telling. The more diverse and high-quality photos you send us, the better chance you have of being published. The text and photos together tell the best story.
 
Submitting high-quality photos is extremely important. If the photos come through at a lower resolution, they will be too small and grainy to print. When you submit your photos, make sure you are sending us the originals and not just the small version on your phone. If you need help with this, email us at submit@huntinfool.com or check out the Submissions page on our website. One of the best ways to send multiple photos at once is by utilizing www.wetransfer.com. It’s easy and much more reliable than regular email. Also, when you submit your photos, please label them so that we know how to caption them if your story is printed in the magazine. We like to be able to put a face to a name within your story. If you utilize WeTransfer, send us an email with the photo descriptions so that we know who’s who.
 
If you need help writing a story, do not hesitate to contact us. We’re happy to provide tips on how to get started. There are three ways to submit your story and photos: email them to submit@huntinfool.com, send them to us on a flash drive via the postal mail, or send them via Dropbox or WeTransfer link to submit@huntinfool.com. If you use Dropbox, please email us your contact information and the information about your hunt, including state, species, outfitter, etc.
 
We begin working on each magazine two to three months before it is printed, so the earlier you submit your story and photos, the better chance you have of getting printed. You can find submission deadlines for specific magazines on our website. The same guidelines apply for the selection of the printed stories as the selection of our cover stories. We cannot stress enough how important it is that you send in high-quality harvest and
supporting photos along with your story. This gives you the best chance at seeing your story printed in our magazine.
 
When you submit your story, we’ll contact you to let you know that we have received it and have everything we need. In addition, we will stay in touch as often as possible to keep you updated on the status of your submission. Just because your story doesn’t make it into a state section issue doesn’t mean we won’t use it later in the year. If you are wondering about if/when your story will be printed, always feel free to reach out to us and we’ll update you on where your submission is in the process. As a membership-based organization, communication with our members is the key to everything we do.

Huntin’ Fool is a continuously growing community of hunters who help each other and share in their successes. Our magazine provides a common area where members from all over the world can share in each other’s experiences and inspire them toward their own successes. Submit your story and photos today to share your love of the hunt with others, and in return, you’ll be entered to win some amazing prizes. If you have any questions about how to submit your story and/or photos, email submit@huntinfool.com or call us at 435-865-1020. We look forward to reading about your 2020 hunt success!