Outdoors with Don Q: Two interesting days at a sport show

Elaine and I spent last Friday and Saturday manning an exhibit at the ninth annual Grand Slam Club OVIS Hunter and Outfitter Convention held at the Grand Sierra Hotel and Casino Hotel in Reno.

We were there to help Paul Dankowski, Game Warden and Operation Game Thief (OGT) Coordinator for the Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW).

The two of us serve as State Directors on the OGT Citizen's Board, and had volunteered to man the OGT exhibit trailer for those two days.

OGT is the anti-poaching arm of NDOW and the OGT Citizen's Board is the group that pays rewards for information that leads to the conviction and sentencing of poachers of Nevada's fish, game and birds.
It was the first time that either of us had attended that convention, and boy oh boy, what a memorable experience it was.

There were exhibitors and displays from all over the U.S. and the world, including:
Africa, Alaska, Argentina (right across the aisle from our OGT exhibit), Arizona, Australia, Azerbaijan, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Idaho, Ireland, Oregon, Montana, Mexico, Nevada, New Zealand, Nunavut, Russia, the Northwest Territories, Turkey, Wyoming, the Yukon, etc.

Some of the many exhibitors included:
Backcountry British Columbia and Beyond, Blackrock Outfitters of Winnemucca Nevada, Extreme Mountain Hunts, Four Seasons Safaris of New Zealand, High Arctic Lodge, Jonas Brothers Taxidermy, Mexico Hunts, Nebraska Game and Parks, Northwest Territory Outfitters, Outdoor Network, Safari Club International, Sportsman's Warehouse, The National Rifle Association, etc.

Included in their very attractive and highly interesting exhibits were head mounts, shoulder mounts and full body mounts of animals such as:

Black Bear, Cape Buffalo, Caribou, Dall Sheep, Eland, Grizzly Bear, Kamchatka Snow Sheep, Leopard, Marco Polo Sheep, Mountain Lion, Mule Deer, Musk Oxen, Polar Bear, Red Stag, Rocky Mountain Elk, Rocky Mountain Goat, Thule Elk, Whitetail Deer, Wolf, etc.

In our strolls around the convention hall, we quickly discovered that this particular convention is not for "Joe Six Pack," but rather for those individuals who apparently can play Monopoly with real money. It was very interesting!
Here are several examples of big ticket items:

Each of the Friday and Saturday day passes for non-members was $50.
The full convention registration fee for a member was $450.
To ship a leopard home from Africa: $3,000.
A fur jacket was on sale for $6,000.
A 3-4 day musk ox hunt in Nunavut: $7,500.
A five day hunt in Argentina: $17,000.
A 7-day hunt for elephant in Africa: $19,500.
A Kamchatka Snow Sheep hunt in Russia was an auction item, and the winning bidder could take an additional hunter with him for another $22,500. Wow!
The OGT exhibit that we manned was a large display trailer that features all kinds of animals that have been poached in the State of Nevada.
The display includes Antelope, Bighorn Sheep, Mountain Lion, Mule Deer, Rocky Mountain Elk, Rock Mountain Goat, etc.

That display attracted lots of attention and spectators during the two days that we were there, and we had the opportunity to tell all kinds of folks about Operation Game Thief and how it works.
It was lots of fun and we met lots of nice people from all over the world, including one very nice gentleman from Russia who thought the displays were on sale and he was interested in buying one to take it home.
One of the most interesting highlights at the Grand Sierra Resort was when we went to our room on the ninth floor after the show closed at 4:30 p.m. on Friday.

Our room looked out onto the U.S. 395 freeway, it was 5:00 p.m., it had lightly snowed in that bitter cold weather, the freeway was like a giant ice skating rink, and there were five lanes of bumper-to-bumper traffic at either a complete halt or at very slow stop and go, stop and go due to numerous spin outs and accidents.
It was an incredible sight and I, for one, was delighted not to be a commuter on that jam-packed freeway. We were comfortably safe and sound in our room, and the only problem facing us was which restaurant to visit for our dinner that night.

It was a night outside that was not fit for man nor beast!

Bet Your Favorite Pigeon
Bet your favorite pigeon he can't tell you the big game hunt I would love to go on.
If he grins and says, "Don would love to hunt caribou in the Far North, but the cost of the travel, hunting fees and guide services are way beyond his pocketbook," he could be one of my regular fishing or hunting partners.

— Writer Don Quilici is the Outdoor editor for Carson Now and www.SouthTahoeNow.com. He can be reached at donquilici@hotmail.com