The lucky number in the first NWPA Outdoors Deer of the Year contest is 17.

That’s how many points each of the winners’ bucks had: Rob Potter’s Clarion County trophy and Bill Wiltse’s Crawford County non-typical.

Potter, of Erie, received the most votes in online balloting from Dec. 12-31 and earned inaugural Deer of the Year honors in the Erie Times-News/GoErie.com-sponsored contest. He wins a prize pack including a 145-pound Camo Poly Rope by SecureLine; “Steelheader’s Journal,” signed by author John Nagy; four GoErie.com camp mugs; a GoErie.com bottle opener; and a game tag protector donated by James Wolfgang, owner of Wolfgang Products in Saegertown and a contest entrant.

Wiltse, also of Erie, was named the Editor’s Choice winner after a review of the entries. He wins a prize pack including a 110-pound Camo Poly Rope by SecureLine; “Beyond Catch & Release: Exploring the Future of Fly Fishing,” by Paul Guernsey; four GoErie.com camp mugs; a GoErie.com bottle opener; and a Wolfgang game tag protector.

There were 28 photos uploaded, and 98 people registered to vote. The photos were viewed more than 80,000 times during the duration of the contest, and are still available at GoErie.com/deeroftheyear.

For even more images of successful hunters, visit the NWPA Outdoors Hunting and Fishing gallery.