The Outdoors Goes Indoors

Along with everything else, the 31st annual International Sportsmen’s Exposition is at the Colorado Convention Center today through the 27th. Adults are $12, kids 12 and under are free. Park at Coors Field for $5 and take a free shuttle to the Convention Center. Did I mention that kids are FREE? Sweet! I’m going Thursday night by myself, for obvious reasons (no kids to haul around), so I can hear Frank Miniter speak. He’s the fellow that wrote “The Politically Incorrect Guide to Hunting”, the book I mentioned in my very first column.

I finally found a copy of the book at the Barnes and Noble in Boulder. Let me repeat that – I finally found a single copy. I was not surprised that there was only ONE copy in all of Boulder. Nobody in Boulder is stocking the book in a quantity greater than one. What a shock. The copy I found was hidden between books by Hillary Clinton and Al Franken. My guess is that whoever was stocking the shelves when that book came in had a pretty twisted sense of humor. (If you didn’t already know, Hillary and Al are very outspoken gun control advocates. Both seem to believe that guns, any guns, are a problem. That’s a problem for hunters. We’ll talk about how gun control laws affect hunters another time.) I’ve read the first few chapters of the book already and I expect to finish it before I go and meet Mr. Miniter at the Expo. I may even have him autograph my copy while I interview him for a future column.

At the Expo you’ll find just about any kind of field and stream vendor, you could imagine, as well as dealers showing off boats and off-road vehicles. There will be: outfitters that will take you hunting or fishing anywhere in the world, nearby hunting clubs selling memberships for deer/elk/duck hunting, various state and national associations, and some great educational opportunities with the Colorado Division of Wildlife. From the DOW website: “DOW experts will be on hand to answer your questions and present seminars. The Pavilion includes new merchandise, educational exhibits, live raptors, a laser shot game to practice shooting, a catch and release fishing pond, spawning demonstrations, an archery shoot, an antique fish truck and more!” The DOW will be premiering a new DVD titled “Fly-Fishing Colorado”. I’ve got a few of their DVDs already I expect this one will be added to the collection. I will definitely be taking the kids to the expo, if only to see the DOW booth. The Division is offering an admission discount coupon at your local licensing agent. For anyone reading this column that would be the Ace Hardware store in Nederland. I called and confirmed that they do have the coupons – tell’m Drew sent you.

For those of you that have the time and money to go to the show twice, once by yourself and once with the family, there’s a vast array of seminars, presentations, and competitions to check out. As I already mentioned, I’m going on Thursday night to see Frank Miniter give his presentation, titled “Learn How to Defend Yourself with the Anti’s!”. From what I’ve already read in the book, I expect to learn some great tips and tricks for applying some logic to what can be a very emotional argument. Something like that whole “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus” thing, except that in this case “Hunters are Good People doing Good Things, Anti’s are Just Bambi Lovers That Think Hunters are Evil and Stupid”. Should be a lot of fun! Also on my hit list of seminars are: a lecture on hunting public land, fly fishing Wyoming with Jack Dennis, an introduction to using electronic collars (on dogs, not kids), and ice fishing for lake trout. What’s amazing is those are just a few of the 50 seminars they’re putting on EACH DAY! Overall there will be over 150 different seminars on hunting, fishing, dog training, and fly tying. (I’m just kidding about attending the ice fishing seminar. I still believe that I’d rather wait for hours in the dentist’s office reading “Highlights” than go ice fishing.)

While I’m there I plan to spend a fair amount of time talking to the folks at the national groups that I belong to – the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) and Ducks Unlimited (DU). Quick plug for RMEF and DU – if you hunt elk or duck in Colorado or anywhere else you need to be a member of these organizations. They do great work – they preserve habitat, they advocate for hunting and hunters, and they provide education to the general public on the value of habitat preservation and hunting. Good folks doing good work deserve our support. When I talk to the Elk Foundation folks I want to see if they have an official position on the plan to thin the elk herd in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) and make sure they’re aware of the plan to create a gravel quarry in Gilpin County. I think the plan they came up with for RMNP stinks and I’m strongly opposed to the quarry. If possible, I’m going to offer my time and energy to the Elk Foundation as another voice to the Gilpin County commissioners. We’ll see how that goes. With Ducks Unlimited folks I’m curious to hear about what they think about the shrinking access to rivers and lakes for hunting, as well as the 30 year decline in successful duck hunts in Colorado. Seems I picked one of the most difficult states possible, at the most challenging time in recent history, to start a duck hunting career. Both conversations should be interesting and I hope to be able to dedicate a column to each one down the line.

Since there’s a lot of outdoorsmen (and women) in Colorado and there’s no NFL football to watch this coming weekend, I expect the crowd at the expo to be pretty big. If you’re going with the family make sure you grab a coupon at Ace and get there when they open the doors at 10:00 A.M. That way you won’t have to wait too long for the kids to have a turn at the laser rifle shoot, the archery shoot, or the fishing tank. Have fun, I hope to see you there.