While I agree about the main competition being between hunter and prey I also like the camaraderie that comes with "contests". I would enter and enjoy the contacts made. Some I have made over the years from past contests I still stay in contact with and consider friends. The egging other teams on was all in fun as this was all free to enter. Now if this was a pay contest I probably would stay away from it as it is just too hard to monitor who may be stretching the tape a litlle (or a lot!).
Really the contest on this forum has always been about getting people actively engaged in making posts and telling stories about their hunts whether successful or not. A plus was there were several folks that came to this forum because of the contests. Several forums are still doing good and booming but I agree Jake that Facebook has made it easier to communicate and get answers when needed in short time. Still I prefer these "national" settings as I enjoy getting a more broad selection of answers and opportunities.