The Outdoor Page

Jackie Shepherd Jr. found these early morels near his home in Milford in March.

Dylan Mast, 15, a freshman at West Noble High School, trapped an 80-pound beaver Feb. 29 on private property in Mongo. Mast has been fishing since he was 3 years old and enjoys the outdoors. He works in the family business and started exploring trapping last season as an income, earning a moderate $100. He invested it in the current trapping season, and caught his first beaver — an 80-pound, 46-inch giant.

Dewey Slone shot a 17-point buck on the second day of deer season last fall on his farm southwest of Kendallville.

Kalli Aaron, 8, of Angola, shot her first doe on Sept. 25 with a .44 magnum. She was hunting with her father, Jim, during the state youth hunt. She donated her deer to Kain Processing in Orland to feed the hungry.

Skyler Plummer, 8, of Auburn, took a seven-point buck with a .357 magnum from 25 yards in DeKalb County on Nov. 20 during his first hunting season. The day before, he shot a doe. The buck weighed 135 pounds. He is the son of Mike and Sandra Plummer of Auburn.