Enter the one that didn’t get away in the GoErie.com Trout of the Year Contest.

Trout fishing season in most of Pennsylvania starts April 13, and from that day through April 30 you can upload a photo of you and your best trout. The public will vote on their favorites, and we’ll announce the public vote winner and an editor’s choice winner May 19 on the NWPA Outdoors page in the Erie Times-News.

Winners will receive a fish platter from Allen Stoneware Gallery.

The contest is open only to licensed anglers who are 16 or older at the time of entry, as well as to anglers 16 and under whose parents or guardians enter their photos. Participants must have either caught their trout in Erie, Crawford, Mercer, Venango, Forest or Warren counties, or reside in one of those counties and have caught their trout in Pennsylvania.

Good luck.

Joshua Luce, left, shot his buck while hunting with his grandfather, Robert Wisener, of Erie, on the first day of deer season. Luce’s 8-point had a 16-inch outside spread; Wisener’s 8-point had a 15-inch outside spread.

Your trophy buck could become the NWPA Outdoors 2012 Deer of the Year.

Enter your deer in the contest at goerie.com/deeroftheyear between Nov. 26 and Dec. 10 at 11:59 p.m. After a public voting period from Dec. 12-31, the Deer of the Year will be announced Jan. 6 in the Erie Times-News and on www.GoErie.com, along with an Editor’s Choice pick.

Deer legally harvested during any 2012-13 seasons are eligible. If you’ve already submitted a photo to the Times-News or to the GoErie Hunting and Fishing gallery, you’ll need to enter your photo again for contest purposes.

The contest is open only to individuals who are 18 years or older at time of entry. Entrants must have either harvested their deer in the Northwest Region or reside in the Northwest Region and have harvested their deer in Pennsylvania.

Opening day of Pennsylvania deer season Nov. 26 was good to Scott Johnson, who shot a 14-point. The buck had a 19-inch antler spread and weighed 157 pounds.

Scott Johnson

Your trophy buck could become the NWPA Outdoors 2012 Deer of the Year.

Enter your deer in the contest at goerie.com/deeroftheyear between Nov. 26 and Dec. 10 at 11:59 p.m. After a public voting period from Dec. 12-31, the Deer of the Year will be announced Jan. 6 in the Erie Times-News and on www.GoErie.com, along with an Editor’s Choice pick.

Deer legally harvested during any 2012-13 seasons are eligible. If you’ve already submitted a photo to the Times-News or to the GoErie Hunting and Fishing gallery, you’ll need to enter your photo again for contest purposes.

The contest is open only to individuals who are 18 years or older at time of entry. Entrants must have either harvested their deer in the Northwest Region or reside in the Northwest Region and have harvested their deer in Pennsylvania.

Erie Times-News videographer Matt Mead filed this report from Monday’s first few hours of deer season:

Deer season in Pennsylvania is less than four weeks off — time enough for hunters, from novices to experts, to add a bit more knowledge to their skill sets before hitting the woods Nov. 26.

Erie Times-News outdoors writer Mike Bleech is on the job. Starting Nov. 4, Mike’s Four Weeks to Better Deer Hunting series will be published each Sunday in November on the NWPA Outdoors page in the Times-News sports section and on NWPAOutdoors.com.

This Sunday, learn more about one of the most misunderstood elements of the hunt, the rut.

On Nov. 11, eliminate some of the guesswork from your days afield by learning how to properly prepare your rifle.

On Nov. 18, get Mike’s tips on hunting from a stand.

And on Nov. 25, learn how to make the most of the second week of the season, when hunter pressure decreases and opportunity grows.

Have a question for Mike? E-mail him at mikeb73@verizon.net.

The Erie Sport & Travel Expo wants to make you a winner in its Monster Buck Contest March 2-4 at the Bayfront Convention Center.

Enter your legally shot buck in one of three divisions: Open, for deer shot anywhere in the world; tristate, for whitetails shot in Pennsylvania, New York or Ohio; or junior, for deer taken by hunters 16 and under.

The public will vote for their favorite racks in each division. Votes will be tallied at the end of the Expo and winners will be announced March 10 in the Erie Times-News.

To enter, take your buck to the Bayfront Convention Center for check-in March 1 between noon and 8 p.m. The mount will remain on display throughout the Expo It must be picked up March 4 between 5-9 p.m. Security will be provided.

Get a look at some of the deer that theoretically could be entered in this year’s contest.

Add a camera to your list of final preparations for Monday’s Pennsylvania deer season opener.

Why? The Erie Times-News will publish select photos of bucks legally harvested during the 2011-12 hunting seasons.

Photos may be e-mailed to sports@ timesnews.com, submitted in person or mailed to Erie Times-News Sports Department, 205 W. 12th St., Erie, PA 16534. Photos, including does, also may be uploaded at www.GoErie.com/yourphotos.

Submitting a photo does not guarantee it will be published.

Please include the name, age and hometown of the hunter; weight and rack dimensions; harvest area; weapon used; and any other information that helps tell a story (for instance, is it an older hunter’s biggest buck ever, or was a great deal of tracking necessary after the shot?).

Please include contact information, including name and phone number. If the photo is to be returned, please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

If you get a noteworthy deer in northwestern Pennsylvania on opening day, let us know. Send an e-mail to sports@timesnews.com or call (814) 870-1704.

Good luck, and be safe.

So Rob Kupniewski, of Erie, got into a steelhead Sunday morning at Dobbins Landing.

“It was running pretty hard, and it went past the guy next to me and around the corner,” Kupniewski said.

And right into the grip of what apparently was a very hungry peregrine falcon, perhaps one of those that were spotted numerous times this year at the Blasco Library smokestack. Soon Kupniewski was fighting the falcon and the fish.

Ron Leonardi had the story in today’s Erie Times-News.

Contributed photo/Rob Kupniewski

Timmy Ziezula, 14, killed his first buck Oct. 1 at 6 p.m. in Cooksburg, Clarion County. The 10-point weighed 200 pounds and field-dressed at 160 pounds. Ziezula, a freshman at Cathedral Prep, hunted opening day of archery season with his father, Tim Ziezula.

Want to be featured in Deer of the Day and possibly in the Erie Times-News? Upload your trophy photo, with details including name, age, hometown and hunt information, to www.GoErie.com/yourphotos, or e-mail to sports@timesnews.com.

Weather could make or break your fishing, hiking, hunting or other outdoors outing this fall and winter. GoErie can help you can register to receive local forecasts and severe weather alerts on your mobile phone, or to get an RSS feed of daily weather reports and updates from GoErie.com/weather.