ANNOUNCING THE 5TH ANNUAL TRAPPERMAN KIDS ART & WRITING CONTEST !!!

I would like to announce the official start to my 5th annual Trapperman Kids Art & Writing Contest!

THE PRIZES:

FIRST PLACE: $100 PLUS a JoeGoodmanPrints.com prize package of prints and T-shirts!
SECOND PLACE: $75 PLUS a JoeGoodmanPrints.com prize package of prints and T-shirts!
THIRD PLACE: $50 PLUS a JoeGoodmanPrints.com prize package of prints and T-shirts!


TO ENTER:

To be eligible to win, you must be LESS than 18 years of age and a Trapperman member or family member only. You must have your parent's permission to enter, as the winners will be asked to pm me their addresses in order for us to ship the prize packages to you. You must submit your entry no later than 9 PM EASTERN TIME ON CHRISTMAS EVE, DECEMBER 24TH. NO EXCEPTIONS PLEASE! To submit your entry, you must post a scan or good quality photo of your finished drawing or painting, as well as TYPE IN your writing or story RIGHT HERE IN THIS THREAD. YOU MUST INCLUDE YOUR FULL NAME, AGE AND STATE YOU RESIDE WITH YOUR ENTRY. Ask for help from your folks, or other members here if you have difficulty posting. This is so all Trapperman members may see and read it. Previous winners may enter again! Let's see how you've improved over the years!

THE RULES:

This year's theme is: "THE BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!!!"

FIRST, write a story that describes, "The Best Christmas Ever!" and whatever that means to you. I'd like this story to be a few paragraphs minimum, if possible. I know this may be difficult for the very young contestants and we will consider this when we judge the winners. It can be a Christmas you once had, or a Christmas that you have imagined or dreamed about! Whatever you think best describes "THE BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!!!" This may be trapping-related, or a family story, or a completely fictional story you've created in your own mind. Let your imaginations run free on this one! Include many details to make your story interesting, who, what, where, when, why?

SECOND, You must draw or paint a picture that goes with this story and illustrates it in the best possible way. It may be FULL COLOR OR BLACK & WHITE. It may be done in PENCIL, INKS, WATERCOLORS, ACRYLICS, OILS, CHALKS, CRAYONS, MARKERS, THE KITCHEN SINK!!! Put as much effort as you can into it! I want to see what talented young folks we have here on Trapperman! Then have someone take a nice brightly lit photo or scan of it and post it here with your story!!


THE WINNERS WILL BE CHOSEN MIDNIGHT ON CHRISTMAS EVE. WE WILL TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION THE ENTRANT'S AGE GIVING NO ADVANTAGE TO OLDER OVER YOUNGER KIDS. AWARDS WILL BE BASED ON EFFORT, TALENT (AT THAT AGE), CREATIVITY, AND HEART. WE WILL ANNOUNCE THEM HERE ON CHRISTMAS MORNING, SOME TIME AFTER MRS. CLAUS HAS HAD HER COFFEE…..

PM me if you or your folks have questions.

WELL KIDS, I SUGGEST YOU GET BUSY!!!
AND GOOD LUCK TO ALL!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL THE TRAPPERMAN FAMILY!!!

From The Goodman's
Joe, Julie, and Carly
JoeGoodmanPrints.com

By the way, Christmas came a little bit early for me this year! Santa dropped this in my lap on Friday afternoon!!

I will be entering ASAP!!! Thank you very much for holding this Mr. Goodman!

Alright, Trapre! Ilook forward to your entry. Best of Luck to you!

How exciting ! Love to see all these artist's work , the written word too

Thank you, Sharon! I am always amazed at the variety and quality of work that gets entered here! i hope you kids are starting to come up with some good ideas! Can't wait to see the first entries!

I am just checking in on all you kids interested in my contest...... I hope you are working hard on your entry! There are only 3 days left until the Christmas Eve deadline, so I hope things are shaping up well. If any of you have questions, please private message me or ask them right here, OK!?

Keep working hard and Good Luck!

Joe Goodman

The Best Christmas Ever
Avery Koleno
Age: 16
State: Ohio



For most people, the day after Christmas is sad as they day that everyone waits for is finally over. While most people are taking down their trees and lights, I am out setting beaver traps. Here in Ohio, Beaver season starts the day after Christmas, and I have been going out every year since I was introduced to beaver trapping years ago.My family and I enjoy Christmas, as our family gathers every year to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. The year after a good friend of mine took me out to Check some of his beaver sets, I asked for some 330s for Christmas. I had located an active colony the summer before, and I was eager to get out and set some traps.

Christmas morning eventually came, a couple of Bridger 330 magnums were waiting under the tree for me. I wasted no time treating the traps, and by the next morning I hurried out the door to make some sets. The weather was quite cold, as it was -5 with the wind chill. Despite the cold weather and snowfall, I managed to make my way to the colony. The beaver were doing well, as the feed pile was large and fresh sign was not hard to find. The snow covered lodge wasn’t hard to spot, And I started to hack away at the ice with my hatchet. The ice was around 6 inches thick, and it took me a little while to chop out a decent size hole. I found a channel leading into the lodge, and made a set just like my friend had showed me the year before. I cabled my trap off to a tree near the house, and headed for home.

The next morning I woke up bright and early and made my way to the trap I set the night before. A fresh layer of snow covered the ice, but I could see that the sticks I had used to stabilize the trap were out of place. The snow decreased visibility, but I started chopping out the ice around my trap. After I had removed the ice, I eagerly started pulling on the cable. I could see a dark shadow moving under the ice, and my first beaver came up wth the 330! The beaver was only a 2 year old, but by how excited I was, it might as well have been a 70 pounder. I took me a while, but by the next day the beaver was stretched and drying.
Back in November, during deer season, I walked past that same pond and found peeled sticks floating in the water near a well maintained dam. As I’m writing this, we have 5 days left until our beaver season starts. In 5 days, its a guarantee that Ill be back at that same pond hoping to catch some beaver. Ever since that day, I have never missed the opening morning of beaver season, and I don’t plan on missing one any time soon.



The End

Here’s my picture. Thanks!

Good job, Ave! Now, you know you do need to submit a few paragraphs of writing as well, right?
Just checking....

Mr. Goodman, I posted the story above the picture. Is it not showing? Would you like me to try to post it again? Thanks again for this contest! I, and others look forward to it every year.

Yes, Avery! Everything is showing fine! Nicely done, and WELCOME TO CONTEST !!! Alright, kids!! Avery has just posted the first entry, and it's a DANDY ! You kids best be getting down to business if you want to try and top this one!!

Good job, Ave!

That's a great story Ave (and picture too). I'm near Medina Ohio and know how hard it is chopping thru the ice at that time of year. Be careful on ice. Falling thru isn't fun. Good luck this Season! Merry Christmas.

Thanks everyone!

I am very sorry I haven't been able to post Until now. It's been pretty busy around here...I finally got to cracking and did my art today!

The Best Christmas!

Micah Fetterolf
Age: 15
State: Pennsylvania



I had been dropping hints all year. Every time the thought even crossed my head I asked my parents. "Can I get a .22 for Christmas?” I really hoped that I would get one for my birthday, but when all I got was a Barlow Knife and a Fanny pack for holding a little bit of gear while deer hunting, I thought they forgot all about my year long dream of owning a quality .22.

That Christmas Eve I couldn’t sleep, knowing that since they didn’t get it for me on my birthday the chances of myself revealing the wonderful item Christmas day was much higher! Christmas morning came and when I woke up (apparently I fell asleep at some point) at 5:00 in the morning I just couldn’t contain myself to let my parents sleep! I got up, screamed “it’s Christmas!” to my brothers and bolted noisily downstairs. The moment my parents feet hit the downstairs floor I was begging to open the long rectangular box under the tree. But, I was forced to wait. We always have our close family come to our house in the morning to watch us open gifts and to spend time together. They usually start rolling in our driveway at around 8:00. So the next 3 hours were spent in mental torture, helping mom clean the house and getting breakfast around for the family when they came.

Eventually everyone was there at our house and in the living room. We did the reading of the birth of Jesus, like we have done every year on Christmas morning. I couldn’t concentrate while reading my part in Luke and stumbled through my words. I was so excited for the next couple minutes! I finally was given the “GO” from dad and tore into moms beautifully wrapped box so fast you couldn’t have said Squirrel hunt before I was down through the wrapping and to the box. It was a plain, long, rectangle cardboard box, but it had some weight to it. My heart pounded as I slid my Barlow knife down the box to cut the tape that hopefully held my new gun! All the tape was off. I opened it slowly and there in front of my eyes was a BEAUTIFUL CZ 455 model .22 LR with a Varmint barrel. The wood stock was so beautiful! Unlike any gun I had ever seen the hard maple stock was so shiny I could see my reflection in it!

That afternoon dad and I took it to the range and shot it in. We were hitting the bull’s eye every time we shot from 100 yards away when we got done! I was ecstatic at the ballistics!
Squirrel season reopened the day after Christmas and I got up bright and early to go out into the woods. I was 11 at the time so dad had to come with me. The sun was just peeping over the trees when I saw a squirrel about 50 yards out coming down out of the tree. I propped up, and made a good heart shot as the animal dropped to the ground. That day I shot an additional 2 squirrels and a rabbit!
At this point in time I am 15 and have shot close to about 50 squirrels and maybe 20 rabbits, along with a couple coons, possums, pigeons and groundhogs. Nothing beats the feel of those first two days with my gun, nature, and my father, whether I make a day’s limit or not!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Great story Trapre, good luck and Merry Christmas!

Are we allowed more than one art entry?

WOW! That is a very impressive entry, Micah! Welcome to the contest! You did, however miss one part of the rules of the contest. We would like each contestant to put their full name and what STATE you live in. If you could please edit your post and add that please! Look at Ave's post. Thats how I'd like to see all the posts laid out. Very nice job!!

ALSO, the judges have made a ruling on Trapre's question. There will be only ONE entry allowed per contestant. However, a contestant may delete his or her entry at any time and replace it with another, or make any changes to an existing entry, up to the deadline of 9 pm EASTERN TIME CHRISTMAS EVE DECEMBER 24th.


Let's keep those entries coming!

Ok sir! Fixed Immediately! Thanks for the correction!

Fantastic trapre!