A controversy over public lands’ management in Indiana’s 204,000-acre Hoosier National Forest turns out to be a microcosm of a burning (pun intended) national debate over using fire and targeted logging operations to create habitat for wildlife and a healthier, more diverse and more resilient forest.

I didn’t grow up hunting. Back in Minnesota, it always felt like something other people did to embrace the cooling temps and an excuse to sit in a deer stand and drink beer all day. Not me....Still, I struggled to take the leap on my own. I had always been the curious observer tagging along—helping prep gear, mapping hunts on OnX, waterproofing tents, packing food—yet never the hunter. That’s when I discovered Backcountry Hunters & Anglers’ Hunting for Sustainability program: a chance to finally step into the role I’d been circling for a few years.

Taking pictures of our backcountry experiences is just one way hunters and anglers capture their most beloved memories in designated wilderness, on Bureau of Land Management tracts, Forest Service parcels, and on public waters in between. And we want to see your pics! Our winners will take home over $8,900 in prizes from partners like Savage, Simms, Fishpond, Seek Outside, Benchmade, Sitka, First Lite, Walton’s, Irish Setter, Grundens, NRS, and more!