First, it has to be said, you ALL made it very difficult to pick winners. The group of submissions were all outstanding and we wanted to say thank you to everyone who participated this year.
Judges from Trout Unlimited, Simms, the Yellowstone Park Foundation and the Outdoor Blogger Network all had their favorites (and fought for them) so between emails and phone conferences, the entries have finally been narrowed down and we have the official results.
Now for some Monday fun! We’ll be revealing the top 10 winners throughout the day starting with the sweepstake winner and by this evening we’ll be revealing our two Grand Prize winners. Be sure to check back here throughout the day as new results will be posted every 1/2 hour — hour-ish.
By revealing our top winners this way, we hope everyone will take a moment to visit each winning submission, enjoy the read and give each of them a well deserved Congrats.
We are proud to announce:
~Blogger Tour 2012 Grand Prize Winners ~
A Dark Form in the Land of Dreams by The Perfect Drift
Marc Payne&
On the eradication of wayward Macks by Sipping Emergers
Steve ZakurCongratulations to both Marc and Steve for their outstanding submissions. You both grabbed the attention of ALL the judges and certainly impressed a lot of others. Well done and all of us that worked on this project from Trout Unlimited, Simms, the Yellowstone Park Foundation and the Outdoor Blogger Network look forward to meeting you both in July.
Our two Grand Prize Winners get the following lot of fun: They are invited to attend the Blogger Tour of 2012 in Yellowstone National Park. Upon arrival, their food, lodging and transportation will be provided by TU, Simms and OBN.
They will also get the opportunity to fish for native Yellowstone cutthroat trout, Arctic grayling and west slope cutthroat trout, as well as brown trout, brook trout and rainbow trout throughout the waters of the world’s first national park. They will also get to speak to fisheries experts from the National Park Service and hear presentations from NPS experts who are working to recover and restore native trout species within the park’s boundaries. Additionally, they’ll hear from TU volunteers working to raise money for lake trout research in Yellowstone Lake, and from representatives of the Yellowstone Park Foundation, which is launching a major campaign to assist with lake trout removal in Yellowstone Lake.
The Grand Prize Winners will also receive upon arrival to Yellowstone the following prizes:
From Trout Unlimited: A Rod-and-Reel combo, TU membership, TU hat, Kirk Deeter’s Little Red Book of Fly Fishing.
From Yellowstone Park Foundation: National Park annual passes, YPF Hat, Tom Murphy Abundance of Summer – Yellowstone photography coffee table book.
From Simms: Headwaters™ Stockingfoot Waders AND a Headwaters™ Pro Waist Pack
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1st place Runner Up: Who wins the TU membership, TU hat, Kirk Deeter’s Little Red Book of Fly Fishing, Tom Murphy Journal, Simms Headwaters™ Sling Pack and Simms RiverTek® BOA® Boots
Is Entry #8 A Sense of Place by The Button Valley Bugle
2nd Place Runner Up: Will take home a TU membership, TU hat, Kirk Deeter’s Little Red Book of Fly Fishing, Tom Murphy Journal and a Simms Headwaters™ Tackle Bag
Is Entry #17 Cutthroat Country by the Gorge Fly Shop
3rd Place Runner Up: Who takes home a TU membership, TU hat, Kirk Deeter’s Little Red Book of Fly Fishing, Tom Murphy Journal, and a Simms Headwaters™ Pro Waist Pack
Is Entry #19 BALANCE by Fishing Poet
4th Place Runner Up: Who will receive a TU membership, TU hat, Kirk Deeter’s Little Red Book of Fly Fishing, Tom Murphy Journal, and Simms Headwaters™ Chest Pack
Is Entry #21 A Remembrance of Things Past by The Tailing Loop
5th Place — 10th Place Runner Ups will all receive:
- TU membership
- TU hat
- Tom Murphy Journal
- Simms Trout Trucker Cap
5th Place Runner Up: Is Entry #33 A symbol of Yellowstone by Chucking Line and Chasing Tail
6th Place Runner Up: Is Entry #12 Laboratory: For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People by Bug Chuckers, Inc
7th Place Runner Up: Is Entry #11 Cutthroat Conservation: Saving the Yellowstone Ecosystem by The Fisheries Blog
8th Place Runner Up: Is Entry #16 Family, falling in love, and fly fishing by The Working Mom’s Travels
9th Place Runner Up: Is Entry #27 Dude, Can we go back in Time? by the Ecological Angler
10th Place Runner Up: Is Entry #7 In Anticipation of Yellowstone by the Unaccomplished Angler
Sweepstakes Bonus:
Sweepstakes Winner: Entry #27 is The Ecological Angler – you have won a surprise package!
Thanks again to everyone who participated in this opportunity! Trout Unlimited, Simms, the Yellowstone Park Foundation and the Outdoor Blogger Network appreciated each and every one of your submissions and now we are looking forward to meeting a couple of you in July!
Note: Winners, please use the contact form below to submit your information.
Participation Bonus: The First 30 Essay submissions received a TU Membership and YPF Hat. If you were one of the first 30 submissions, please also fill out the form below so we can set you up with your participation prize!
Grand Prize Winners Note: Once we have your contact information we’ll get a hold of you with the details, schedule, etc and correspond with you. We’ll be presenting you with your prizes in person when you get to Yellowstone! Please remember: Grand Prize bloggers must be able to get to Yellowstone at their own expense—upon arrival, your food, lodging and transportation will be provided by TU, Simms, Yellowstone Park Foundation and OBN.
For the full list of contest submissions, please visit this link: Blogger Tour 2012
About Rebecca
The slow torture begins…. Good luck everyone!
We tortured you last year Mike, it only seems fair to torture this group as well =)
I agree, Rebecca. I totally agree.
TeeHee!
That there….the ‘TeeHee’ is the mastermind behind the evil slow rolling (just so I don’t get all the torture blame)
Why am I not the least bit surprised?
congrats to the winners so far! wow, it is just so exciting. I still can’t believe these contests even exist…. awesome in every sense of the word.
You make me feel like a sweepstake winner (a sweep – a sweepstake winner).
-BM
You should change that to Double Winner (double winner) =)
Yeah, this is an amazing contest. Thanks to the sponsors for putting it together. I’m not even bitter that I don’t get to go to Yellowstone in July. Really, I’m not.
Kirk- aren’t you STILL in Yellowstone? or recently returned? I thought so.
Was. Back for almost a week and ready to return!
Kirk ~ You do need to go one month later next year…convince the Firehole Rangers!!
And congrats on your top placement!.
If I suggested a “change” to the long-standing itinerary, I would be booted from the Ranger Corps. Besides, later in the year wouldn’t make a difference. Bad weather follows me where ever and whenever I go anywhere. I am called Dark Cloud.
Tappita, tappita- I thought I had an entry in this. Fingernail shavings are piling up….
Yeah can’t decide if I’d rather be in Kirk shoes or mine! Some great posts listed today… and to have a published author finish 10th speaks to the volumes of good writing out there by everyone.
Hey, Congrats to all the winners!
Wow! Stunned! I am humbled to be in the company of such talent participating in this contest and grateful for the selection. In Chris’ words, this should be an epic trip! And I couldn’t think of anyone finer to travel with than Marc. Thank you.
Congrats to you Steve!!
Great job to the winners. I hope someday to fish those waters. It was a very exciting contest with awesome prizes.
NOTE: I just added in in the body of the post, but please remember the participation prize we offered as well to the first 30 entries. If you are one of the 10 runner ups and filled out an information form above, we’ve got you!
If you were not one of the top 10, please fill out the information form so we can make sure you’ve got your TU membership and new hat.
Thanks everyone!!
Congrats to all of the winners today! A great contest and I look forward to reading all about the 2012 Blogger Tour next month!!
WOW!!!! Thanks so much to all of you. Reading through the submissions is impressive and I consider it an honor to have been selected. I look forward to seeing this dream come true, and look forward to meeting up with Steve too! Thanks again. See you in July!
Congrats to you Marc!! See you in July =)
Congratulations to all the winners and thanks to everyone who just educated me about the issues at Yellowstone. I had no idea.
It’s been an awesome week for writers & winners. I’m still smiling over your big win Donna!
I bet I’m smiling bigger than you are
Very impressed that OBN commands this kind of sponsorship.
Incredible! Thank you to TU, Simms, YPF, and OBN! A huge congrats to Steve and Marc on wonderful pieces. As a fisheries scientist who works to inspire and educate people to conserve our fisheries resources for future generations on a daily basis, I am proud to know that there is a crowd out there doing the same with such dedication and passion. All of these posts are examples of the great things we can do when our interests in the outdoors are focused on an important topic by incredible companies and organizations. Well done folks, well done.
Such formidable tales! Cheers to our winners and to all who share their passions – what a fine tapestry. High fives cutty