Well, now that I have my head on straight, I thought I would share a few thoughts on what it is like going to SCI for the first time. Now please remember I was traveling alone and was planning on accomplishing 2 things.
#1 order a pair of Boots from Russell Moccasins
#2 Book a Brown Bear Hunt

This is my story.
The flight from Calgary-Seattle was dead, no one to talk with but I did get a row of seats to myself
The flight from Seattle to Reno was GREAT!! Lots of talk about hunting and Salmon fishing.. Good guys all around.
Check into the Old Hilton/Sierra?
Easy check in and a large room. Room was ok.
Rush off to the convention, I arrived approx 1 pm. Get my gear and... WOW This place is amazing. Its huge, its like being a kid in a candy store, every corner something new, every both someone else that wants to talk hunting. I felt no pressure from anyone. Should be a great time
30 minutes later I find myself running from both to both and not accomplishing anything.. I settle down into a grid format in order to try and take it all in... That works for the first 2 rows.. Then I find myself gawking and wandering aimlessly.. Ok I need to get my bearings.. I need help.. Lo and behold I run into TJ Schwanky turns out he is the official photographer for the convention and is a writer of some note up here in Alberta. Nice to see a friendly face, we chat for a bit and make plans for later, his great friend Vanessa shows me to the Russell booth.
I get the boots I want, all custom fit for 91/2 4e feet and I am one happy camper.. I wander the rest of the day wondering where all the auctions are.
Back to the hotel, call everyone I know and tell them what a fantastic trip they are missing and the fact I think they are %$#4%^@# for not coming with me. They now know what kind of fun they missed out on. Grabbed a nap, woke up and headed to the Peppermill to see what was going on with the night auctions.
I didn’t see a deal that I was interested in. It seemed most things sold for a good dollar.
Downstairs and played some BJ till 2 in the AM. I did ok, up $200. Head back to my hotel and get the call of the craps table.. HUH!! That was quick way to lose $400.
Thursday
Up and at em. I have a goal now.. I want to book that Brown bear hunt.
I am having a tough time finding the right booths. I find BB guys but no boat based. Finally in frustration I head to the auction.
Some great deals to be had here. Especially if you willing to do a plains game hunt or head to some far away place to hunt a animal I have never thought of. Everything for NA goes at a good $$. I almost bought a Mule deer hunt in Nevada.. But it was just slightly above my max.
Ok back out to floor, I run across Glacier Guides and since I had a friend that has already hunted with them I drop by for a chat.
Jimmy says he is booked up till 2012. That’s to long for my dad, I know he will not be able to handle a hunt like that in 4 years. Jimmy and I have a good chat about our common friend and my situation. I ask him for some advice and he says come back tomorrow we can talk. I head on down to Baranof expeditions booth and have a great chat with James Boyce. Good fellow.. I like this guy
Back to the room, order room service and stay in to watch all the Brown bear videos I picked up. I order internet and use the hunting report to research all the guides I spoke with.. Turns out Glacier and Baranof are my front runners.
Speak with TJ again and he tells me of a hospitality suit that is being put on by the guys from the northern Alberta Chapter of SCI.
We make plans for dinner on Fri night.

Friday Morn
Off to the convention, still don’t know exactly what to do, I wander around aimlessly and have one of those fantastic lemonades.. That’s some good stuff. I drop by the cabellas booth and they are selling Baranoff expedition Brown bear hunts.. (Huh.. this guys name keeps coming up)
Off to the auction and once again great deals on plains game hunts and weird places. I wouldn’t pay more than 75% of the listed price if I was buying. I know you can get that and less. Turns out they have free beer.. Who knew??? Anyhow, I sit down with a nice fellow from California. We chat hunting and why we are there. I tell him about my goal of booking a Brown bear hunt with my Dad. The guy actually mists up and hides a tear. He explains he and his dad had always planned to go someday.. His dad passed away at the young age of 58 and the 2 of them never made it.
That’s it.. I head back into the convention with a steely look on my face and $$$ to burn. I am going to do this. I walk up to Glacier and start talking with Jimmy, I get to meet his daughter (Mutts) what a fantastic gal. Jimmy drags me down to. (wait for it) BARANOF EXPEDITIONS! That’s it I have made up my mind.
we haggle for a bit of dates and finally we get set for end of may 2009. I promise him I will be back on Sat with my Chq book.
What a rush, a long awaited dream is about to come true. Trophy size doesn’t matter the only thing that matters is that I get to take my Dad on a long awaited dream. The emotions were unbelievable. I actually had to go outside and calm down, I phoned my wife and I explained to her in a jerky voice what I had done.. She started to cry, Hell I started to cry. Even know as I write this I find myself emotional. This was something I remember my Dad talking about way back in the Mid 70's. Now here we were 30 years later and I was taking on the responsibility of putting this all together.
WHAT A RUSH!!
Back to the hotel and meet up with TJ & Vanessa. Out for a great meal, a few drinks at the bar, lots of hunting chat with people I don’t know and then up to the SCI Northern Alberta Hospitality room.
I walk into that room and its like I am immediately surrounded by good old friends. Lots of chat more than a few drinks and now I can say I am the newest member of a chapter that meets 3 hours away from my house. I think I also volunteered to sponsor the suite for next year.. Not sure as things get a little fuzzy. LOL
I close that place down and head down stairs to celebrate with who ever I can find. We close down a BJ table and I head off to the room.. HOLY crap its 9 am.
A idea has been brewing in my head that if I phone Dad and tell him just how much $$$ he has spent, he will hang up on me and start calling my younger brother his favorite...
So I phone the airlines and get my tickets moved around to head to Phoenix for 2 days before I head home. Check out of the hotel, get over to the convention pay my deposit, have another glass of that great lemonade and make my way to the Airport. I flew into phoenix rented a car and showed up on Mom and Dads doorstep with only 5 minutes notice.
I think I sold him on the hunt. Its a big stretch for him (and I) but I know its worth it. I alternate between talking him into it and talking Mom into letting him go.. She was a much easier sell.
At the end of it all, and I think this was destiny to do all this, because every hunting channel we turned on had Brown bear hunting in Alaska on and when we made a trip to Cabellas there is on of the videos playing that we had just watched at home.. Its destiny I kept telling him.. Next thing I know we are looking at 375's and high end scopes...
After a few days of being at home, I believe he is convinced. He hasn’t told me for sure, but he has told me that he can not go this year, so make sure we don’t move the hunt up.
YAHOOOOO!!!

Anyhow, its a long story, thanks for reading. I had originally hoped to go to Africa with him and actually that was the main point of going to SCI. But a few days before I left, he called and said.. "I would love to go to Africa, but I have always dreamed of Alaska" Though this post should perhaps be in the ALASKA section, I found all the good info on SCI right here. I hope you will excuse me.

Since this was SOOOO long, I will post up another about what I found great and what I found could use some improvement to the show.

Thanks for everyone’s help
Calgary Guy

Great things about the Show and about Reno
#1 No pressure from the sales people.
#2 Great Auctions.. Good deals if you go to the Day auctions
#3 Reno is very glad we are there. The people are polite and very helpful
#4 Good food in Reno and what seems like good prices
#5 quick drinks and low table limits
#6 this truly is a hunters heaven. Everyone will speak your language
#7 Polite people. I always make it a habit of trying to hold doors.. This is one of the few places that I found with people who say thank you. It was like being in a small town or in Calgary 10 years ago. Nice to see, I blame hunters for that.. Good people no matter how much $$$ they have.
#8 The convention is HUGE.. They need to have the booths better organized. I would like to see NA hunts over here, Guns over there, Outdoor gear here, African hunts there and so on. I know it must be tough, but surely they come up with something better than what they have.
#9, it would be nice to be in a place that had the ability to hold all functions.
#10 Make sure you take a backpack with wheels.. Trust me, you will need it!
#11 stay at a hotel within walking distance of the convention. Though the shuttles were good, I found myself in a cab more than I planned.
#12 Go for the whole thing if you have never been before, I know I missed things that I wanted to do.. You will need the time
#13 Take lots of cash.. Plenty of neat things to buy.
#14 The Americans shouldn’t make it so tough for us to buy scopes and guns. But my wife thanks the USA for that small gift
#15 Be outgoing, you will meet a ton of different people with a whole world of experience. Defiantly a High point for me
#16 have a plan, but be flexible
#17 There are 4 great reasons to go to SCI.
---#1 to plan a trip to Africa.. all the resources are at your finger tips
---#2 To plan a trip in North America.. Lots of guides, lots of great info
---#3 To plan a trip to someplace you never even knew had animals.. The possibilities are endless
---#4 Just go because you like to hunt, fondle the guns, talk with Reps, get new dreams if you have made you old ones happen, see the mounts, meet new friends.

Anyhow that’s how I see SCI convention.

BTW.. They are most defiantly going to have to find a new place. Its to bad, but I cant see that town being able to handle a bunch more.

Thanks
Jamie

What a great story! As a teenager I grew up hunting with my uncle Guy Anderson, Jr. We had some great times. I miss my old hunting and fishing buddy!

I wish you and your father breat success on your hunt.!

Nice story and trip report. Congrats on booking a trip up my way for bear with your dad.

Calgary,

You brought tears to my eyes. I applaude you for what you did and assure you that it will make the rest of your life fuller in significant ways.

My dad's dream was to hunt the African plains game in Kenya and Tanganyika. He never got the chance, as his health and fortune both crashed in later life. His dreams became mine as a boy, then as a young man. Now, in my later life, I have realized many of those dreams, even with my quite limited resources.

It shouldn't end here.

Be assured, my friend, that my joy and best wishes accompany you and your father on your brown bear hunt.

Kindest Regards,
L2S

My father was not a hunter, but my older brother lover to hunt in Africa. He bedgered me for years and finaly I agreed to go. It turned out to be his last hunt, he died of cancer at 54 a year later. Three years after that hunt I took my two sons to Botswana.
You will treasue that bear hunt, well done.

Your dad raised a great son. Thanks for sharing your story.

I hope both of you have the time of your lives.

Calgary Guy:

Loved the recap of your visit, but more importantly LOVED the PURPOSE of your trip!

I'm in the same boat as you are. I'm 32 with a 3 1/2 year old at home. ALL of my money goes into my 401K, my wife's 401K, my ROTH IRA, her ROTH IRA, our annunity, and our life insurance policy.

Then $$$$ goes into my son's 529 college savings plan.

Then we put what's left after the normal bills into a "short term" account for our next house or another investment property.

At the end of the month, there ain't much left!

However, that old bastard of mine, my dad, is 55 and not getting any younger. He learned he has a mild case of diabetes late last year, and to tell him to cut back on the cokes, pizzas and cheese steaks, well, it's easier to keep a hooker away from a democratic convention.

However, we have decided to do a cape buffalo hunt together, a 2X1 hunt in the 2010/2011 time frame.

We're in the same boat, dude...

Calgary Guy,

That's a wonderful story. Little did my father know when he taught me to hunt rabbits and squirrels all those years ago in south Alabama that I would some day hunt Cape buffalo in Africa. He's long gone, but I thought of him in the Selous last year and how proud he would have been that the love of hunting that he instilled in me would result in the eventual outcome. I just wish that we could have done it together.

I think it's wonderful that you are doing it. I wish you all the best for you and your dad.

Well guys thank you all for the kind words.
I have been trying to express myself to a few people around home, and when I start blabering on about this whole experiance, they get a glazed look in their eyes and I switch the subject. Its nice to be able to speak with folks that speak the same language.

577 Nitro... You have no idea just how much we both are in the same boat. I am 38 my kids are 8 and 6. I have already taken my 6 year old Son on an 8 Day hunt into the bush of Northern Alberta. He says it was the time of his life... I say I KNOW it was the time of mine.
Dad will turn 60 this spring or next. He also has type 2 Diabetes, along with 2 shoulder operations, a blown Achilles tendon and a diet that consists of cold hot dogs... But on a positive note, he thinks that by eating turkey dogs he is helping himself. LOLOL.. What a guy.

Dad obviously was the one that introduced me to hunting, and it was my love of the sport that has convinced him to keep at it. We were fortunate enough to hunt the NWT after Caribou 2 falls ago. Now its time to get really serious about a hunt.. After all, I said what are we going to do, waste that Airline travel case for the guns? LOL
When I plan a hunt, he is always on the top of the consideration list. We book our hunts around him, so that he is as comfortable as possible. But that still hasn’t slowed him down. The past 2 November deer hunts have been cold... And I mean COLD. 2 years ago it was down to -49 with the wind for 4 days solid... Then it warmed up to a balmy -35. He can still tough it out with a great sense of humor. I cherish our time together. And hope it goes for at least another decade.


Good luck to all those that are taking their Dads or Sons hunting. Its priceless.
Thanks
Calgary Guy

Dads and sons hunting. Great stuff. But virgins in Reno? I really, really, doubt it...............

Calgary Guy,
That is great stuff and thank you for sharing about your trip. I know how you feel about your Dad. Mine traveled frequnelty when I was growing up and we missed out on a lot of time together, though he was very generous in sharing what time he did have with me. Now that he is retired, we are making up for it. But he is pushing 70, so we are knocking out the big stuff early. We are in the middle of planning an Africa trip for 09. Good luck to you and your dad on your bear hunt!!

Adam

Hey guys, just to let you know, our Brown Bear hunt has been moved up to the begining of may.. THIS YEAR.. I have 5 weeks to get dad and I ready.
What a rush!
I started another thread if anyof you want to track this adventure.
I will post storys and taoles as we go along, followed by a few thousand pics when we get back.

It was a pleasure re-reading this story and all your comments.

Jamie

BTW the new thread is in the Alaska section.

Thanks
jamie

I took my father to RSA two years ago and have never regretted it. Thankfully, I have been lucky enough that I could cover all of my father's expenses, except for trinkets for his friends.

He too had always wanted to hunt Africa and enjoyed it immensely. I wouldn't trade those two weeks for anything.

Colin

im 33 with 2 daughters 2 and 9months old told them already that they can only marry a guy that has a game farm of more than 3000ha and he must deliver my land cruiser on the first date.

friend and family makes hunting great and the fire. me and my dad has one trip every year and my brothers join us if they want. i normal work my ass of for my animals and i give him the easy ones but its great fun. when i was a youngster my grandpa use to go with. around the camp fire a lot of memories was formed and jokes.

what makes a great hunting trip? its the company, the hunt and the big outdoors thats why i love this sport

What a great story.
When I was young and started to hunt in the late 60's my dream was also Alaska. I grew up in Michigan where the noraml rifle was a 30-30 and a big one was 30-06. At 14 (legal age for deer hunting) I had worked 2 summers and saving my money and bought a M70 300 win mag. All my grown up relatives thought I was nuts to waste my money on that rifle for deer hunting. My response was that rifles for when I go to Alaska.
In May of 1982 I threw everything I had, including that rifle into the back of my Chevett and drove to Alaska. I never went back.
Here is wishing you and your father a great hunt in the LAST FRONTIER.

Seems like there's a lot of us in the same boat! Dad and I are partners (we're both Land Surveyors) in business, and we hunt all over together, last Sept. in the Selous. I'm 36, with a 5 year old daughter, and Dad's 57, but I consider myself lucky to spend this kind of time together while we're still both relatively young and healthy. Sometimes, the wife "frowns" at the amount of money spent, but you can't trade these memories for anything. To anyone whose Dad is still healthy enough to go: Book it while you can. I am!! BN

Guys, here is the link to what happened on our hunt. I hope you enjoy it.

Jamie

https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/8521043/m/630107738

Good your dad got a bear and you both hunted.

Regards