Big-buck division winner.
Chris Mittag of Eganville won the biggest-buck division with this 250-pound deer.
Angela Limlaw
Chris Mittag of Eganville and Joe Messina of Windsor were the main winners in the most popular-ever Mill Valley big buck and doe contest.
Registration numbers reached 595, eclipsing last year’s record of 565.
“I don’t know if we can do much better than that,” said assistant organizer John Limlaw, who tipped his hat to chief organizer Sharon Hutson and Mill Valley Store’s staff for their assistance.
With wild apples down this year after the summer-long drought, hunters found many deer gravitating to the hardwood areas, where oak trees provided a plentiful crop of acorns.
Mittag, who hunts with the Todd Risto gang, brought down the heaviest buck, an 11-point deer that was field-dressed at 249 pounds. That earned him $400, while second-place Larry Schroeder of Eganville shot a 12-point, 230-pounder, to receive a STIHL chainsaw. Blake Griffith of Mink Lake’s 225-pound buck earned him a STIHL trimmer.
The prizes were the same for the top three in the biggest-doe division, as Messina shot a 159-pound doe for first place. The next two placings were Chris Coady of Arnprior at 141 pounds while hunting with the Colterman camp beside the old ski hill, and third-place Dave Zadow of Eganville with a 136-lb. doe.
There were also nine mystery prizes, including a two-man tree stand for hunter Andy Blemkie of Shamrock.
The biggest rack belonged to Glenn Verch. Glenn’s rack was 16 points to win a taxiderminist’s three-horn mount. The youngest hunter was his 12-year-old son, Darin, who shot a six-point, 149-lb. buck.
The oldest hunter was Phil Davies, 77, of Greater Madawaska. He shot a 96-lb. doe.
Organizers stressed that hunters’ registration fees made it possible to provide the wide variety of prizes and an $800 donation to Hospice Renfrew. A total of 92 deer were weighed, compared to 100 last year.