Hunters took to fields and forests for Minnesota's annual firearms deer season. Here are some highlights from readers of the Minnesota Star Tribune. We'd love to share your snapshots, too, on Star Tribune online platforms and, possibly, in print.

Here is how to contribute: Send your name, city or town, age, a high-resolution image and details of your hunt in an email to outdoors@startribune.com. Please include relevant contact information in case we need to reach you with questions.





Provided by Kael Fontaine, Courtesy of Kael Fontaine
Kael Fontaine, of East Grand Forks, with his son. He writes: "Opening morning couldn’t come fast enough for my 5 year old son Aksel. As soon as I woke him up Saturday morning his first words were 'finally! We had to sleep forever!' We got dressed and headed for the stand around 6 a.m. After we parked the truck and got settled quickly into our stand, the morning was rather uneventful as only one yearling made its appearance around daybreak. For the next hour or so it took some convincing for Aksel to remain patient until at about 7:45 a nice doe emerged from the woods about 150 yards west of the stand. We only had one day of hunting together this year as his mother and I left for vacation on Monday afternoon. That being said the initial plan was to take the doe in order to assure that we had some venison. As I opened the window of the stand, out stepped this beautiful 3.5 year bruiser. Immediately my focus shifted to him as I whispered to Aksel 'Buck, Buck, Buck' I tried my best to calm my breathing as I could feel my heartbeat in my ears. After taking the shot I knew it was a good one as the deer didn’t take another step. A perfect heart/lung placement. As I cycled the bolt just to be sure Aksel instantly exclaimed 'You got him! You got him!' As I looked out in the field at the downed deer I was overwhelmed with excitement and thankfulness to experience this moment with my favorite hunting partner. I thanked god, gave the deer a moment, and we made our way out to this beautiful whitetail. Aksel hastily made his way across the cut beans for the picture perfect moment as we both admired just how nice of a deer he was. It is a morning I will always cherish and never forget.