If you like to hunt or fish, it was pure heaven! That’s the only way to describe the just-concluded Dallas Safari Club Convention, which ran from January 5-8 in the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Arena in Dallas. We just got home, “The Wild Bunch” from Sporting Classics and I. And we had the time of our lives.
No matter what you might have been looking for, it was there to find. It would be difficult to think of anything relating to the outdoor sports that you couldn’t have found! If you wanted to look at the latest new guns, they were there. Looking for an antique or classic gun? There were multitudes of dealers there. You could easily have seen more fine side-by-side shotguns in one day, for example, than you could see in years of thrashing around in gun shops.
Folks who were looking for the hunting or fishing trip of a lifetime sifted through booth after booth of outfitters and compared them, one alongside the other. Best of all, they came from all over the world—North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and the Pacific. You name it, they were there.
Outfitters help hunters make memories, but taxidermists make those memories eternal. Plenty of beautiful mounts were on hand at the annual DSC convention this weekend.
Purveyors of clothing, gear, accessories, jewelry, and art were there, as well as sellers of shoes, boots, and knives. If it pertained to the outdoors, it was there! Outdoor publications were well represented, including, of course, Sporting Classics.
Actually, I think that we held down the “hot corner” of the whole show.
Associate Publisher (Creative) Ryan Stalvey with Dieter Krieghoff and the K-20 Parcours.
We were absolutely deluged with past, present, and future readers, and felt unbelievably fortunate to be able to speak to so many of our readers in one location. Publishers, editors, and writers thrive on input from their readers, regardless of what that input is. Luckily, the input was overwhelmingly positive. At times, the Sporting Classics booth looked more like a huge gathering of family and friends than anything else. Sort of a family reunion in Dallas.
Most of all, I want to voice our appreciation to those of you who stopped to see us. There is nothing more gratifying than hearing from you in person. For those of you who couldn’t make the show, we’ll hope to see you next year. You won’t regret it!