It’s important to sit down and take the time to enjoy the harvest. A full freezer is a sign of many things—success in the field, a plentiful winter ahead, and great meals to come. All of this is a result of your hard work and determination.

Alex Templeton didn’t know if her buck had made it through rifle season. She’d been watching him for nearly two years at that point, seeing him mature over the years on trail camera photos from her family’s Missouri farm. She’d decided long ago that this was the buck she wanted to hunt, but she hadn’t seen him at all through early, pre-rut archery season, and he’d dropped off her cams for the entirety of the mid-November rifle season.