SANDERS AND MINERAL COUNTIES – The end of another hunting season signifies the end of the annual rifle contest held by the Clark Fork Valley Press and Mineral Independent newspapers.

This year, the papers saw 63 entries with the majority of them coming from Sanders County.

As people came into the office or met with reporter Adam Robertson at the Mineral County Courthouse, they posed with their kill. Many were proud, displaying a new trophy to their collection while adding many pounds of meat to the freezer while others were just happy to shoot a spike before the season closed on the night of December 1.

Up for grabs was a coveted brand new Savage Axis 30-06.

Any hunter could enter the contest, no matter what the size or species of the animal was, as long as that animal was legally harvested and a valid tag was provided at the time of the picture. Entrants also had to be residents of either county to be eligible.

Plains Police Chief Shawn Emmett drew the winner of the rifle on Tuesday morning and 12-year-old Tandy Martin was the winner of this year’s rifle.

The contest was co-sponsored by Superior Antiques and Sporting Goods store.