For those of you who attended, what are your initial thoughts? I thought Wednesday was somewhat light - but I believe that won't continue as the week progresses. Good reports from the outfitters I spoke to. Nice layout again. A friend who attended the day auction commented " the recession is definitely over!"

I'll post some pictures when I get there today.

Wednesday seemed quieter in the halls, but buoyant. maybe a few cancelled flights slowed down the gate.
The upper hall is nice an bright. I hear they will be going to a single level next year, though.
Staying at the Luxor and loving it.
book by leopard hunt - the one that was aborted by becoming a lion hunt!
more later….Dave

Some Africa outfitters are booked through the end of 2015. Hard to get to talk to the outfitters I want to speak with.

quote:

" the recession is definitely over!"

That's good news!
I just wish someone would tell my customers that. They don't seem to know this.

quote:

Originally posted by bwana cecil:

quote:

" the recession is definitely over!"

That's good news!
I just wish someone would tell my customers that. They don't seem to know this.

yeah, not exactly the crowd I would poll to know when 'the recession is over'.

quote:

Originally posted by bwana cecil:

quote:

" the recession is definitely over!"

That's good news!
I just wish someone would tell my customers that. They don't seem to know this.

Anyone that believes that horseschittt needs their head examined. 15-19% is the real unemployment rate, personal debt is at record highs, etc, etc. etc.

Thanks for the pics. I'm headed out tomorrow and can't wait to spend Saturday walking the floor.

quote:

Originally posted by JGRaider:

quote:

Originally posted by bwana cecil:

quote:

" the recession is definitely over!"

That's good news!
I just wish someone would tell my customers that. They don't seem to know this.

Anyone that believes that horseschittt needs their head examined. 15-19% is the real unemployment rate, personal debt is at record highs, etc, etc. etc.

Not in Midland, Texas. We have 2.8% unemployed! highest wages in the US and I cannot hire enough $30 per hour guys willing to work 2 weeks on 2 weeks off to keep drilling crews full. If someone is out of work it is because he doesn't want to work.

I live in Midland, TX, tell me about it. You and I both know how fortunate we are. Most areas of the US are really struggling. Only the O'Bama loving liberal retards think the recession is over.

I have really been enjoying the show so far. Can't keep my credit card in my wallet! Look for the guy wearing one of Will's Red Dirt Elephant Ball Caps!

We are having an awesome show. It is great to see all the faces, old and new from AR. Biebs working really hard at Euro optics stand. He is doing a special on some Swrovski bino's for buy one get one free....I heard.

Thanks for all the words of encouragement and support when our marketing material got stuck in the snow storms.

Anyone wants a chat.....stop by at 4570.....

Cheers,

quote:

Originally posted by dogcat:

quote:

Originally posted by JGRaider:

quote:

Originally posted by bwana cecil:
[QUOTE]" the recession is definitely over!"

That's good news!
I just wish someone would tell my customers that. They don't seem to know this.

Anyone that believes that horseschittt needs their head examined. 15-19% is the real unemployment rate, personal debt is at record highs, etc, etc. etc.

Not in Midland, Texas. We have 2.8% unemployed! highest wages in the US and I cannot hire enough $30 per hour guys willing to work 2 weeks on 2 weeks off to keep drilling crews full. If someone is out of work it is because he doesn't want to work.[

Dag, i am sending resume to you, too freaking cold here in Virginia anyway!!

"Only the O'Bama loving liberal retards think the recession is over"

I'm certainly not one of those but I did jokingly tell the girl at SCI PAC who pimps everyone to buy a $100 raffle ticket that I couldn't buy one because they give all that money to the Republicans and none to Democrats. It caused her great consternation and she stomped off.

Guys, the "recession is over" was meant to be hyperbole. Not intended to start an economic debate.

If I can get my 3G connection to speed up today I'll post more pics.

Not trying to turn this into a political issue, but in Feb. 2009 all 3 of my business's & most of my friends business's took a 16% drop, in 2010 they took another 8% drop. I quit checking after that, it was just too depressing.
I have yet to experience any increase in sales over the last 5 years.
My wife & I have cut our salaries in half over this time frame.
Thankfully, I've had no debt or I'm not sure I could have survived.
There are people with money out there & I am happy for them.

Wednesday did seem a bit light, but Thursday was busy! Let's see how the week shapes up.

More pics from Friday posted

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
Some Africa outfitters are booked through the end of 2015. Hard to get to talk to the outfitters I want to speak with.

Larry..I assume the hunts that are booked thru 15' are elephant, lion (wild) and buffalo?

Been a crazy show, outfitters have done a super job in marketing and selling our hunts, think there 5 buffalo and 2 Elephants left till end of 2015 season,

Nice to see the crowds booking,

Booked a Forest Elephant for May and Mnt Nyala for November 2015,

Hope you all had a great show as well,

JK

Enjoyed the show and seeing old friends and making some new ones.
I thought this was the most stunning mount but there were some others that were great also. I just have a soft spot for buffalo.

quote:

Originally posted by Safari2:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by larryshores:
Some Africa outfitters are booked through the end of 2015. Hard to get to talk to the outfitters I want to speak with.

Larry..I assume the hunts that are booked thru 15' are elephant, lion (wild) and buffalo?[/QUOTE

Yes , some are totally sold out.

Charl,
It wasn't the marketing material that sold us. It was you and Erika. Great talking to you both, and see you in 2015!

quote:

Originally posted by infinito:
We are having an awesome show. It is great to see all the faces, old and new from AR. Biebs working really hard at Euro optics stand. He is doing a special on some Swrovski bino's for buy one get one free....I heard.

Thanks for all the words of encouragement and support when our marketing material got stuck in the snow storms.

Anyone wants a chat.....stop by at 4570.....

Cheers,

Every single outfitter or booking agent that I talked to said they had a great show. Much improved from last year.

I have been going for about 25 years. It is interesting to see who is no longer there and how those who have exhibited for years have changed over the years.

I got to see a lot of my friends from all over the world. Regrettably , we never made it the AR get together.

We hit the show HARD the first 2 days. We did a lot of outside activities the last 2 day. We shot machine guns and a 50 cal Barrett at 1,000 yards . Damn that was fun. One of my Christmas presents was the rental of a Lamborghini out here. We drove it up to Mt Charleston today. It was spectacular.

We had a hell of a lot of fun. I can't wait for next year.

Show was good for me, a couple of observations compared to 2012 at Mandalay Bay.
1. Layout was good with what seemed to be wider aisles.
2. Thursday, Fri attendance seemed much lower than before perhaps due to travel issues, definitely much higher on Friday.
3. Day auctions for hunts went super fast, Thursday was over when I stopped by at 2:30pm. Friday ended quick as well.
4. As said earlier lots of outfitters booked up. Some Mozambique outfits seemed nearly desperate especially with the inability to sell Lee trophy hunts. I had one pushing an illegal PAC type hunt, thanks to AR for arming me with the knowledge to stay clear of that!

Just a few thoughts as I wait for final flight back to snowy frigid MT.

Damn auto correct, should say elephant trophy hunts not lee

I agree with Larry, most of the outfitters I spoke with had an excellent show. The thing that surprised me the most was the number of nice quality vintage English doubles that were for sale and not at astronomical prices. Someone looking to spend under $28K for a English double had lots of nice choices.

One of my Christmas presents was a cab ride in well used Dodge Challenger. It worked, but was not so spectacular.

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:

One of my Christmas presents was a cab ride in well used Dodge Challenger.

Mopar or No Car. Obviously Mr. Shores didn't realize that when he got stuck with a Lambowhatitsname.

wasn't Lambo something or other the name of the 16 year old Moroccan hooker that the former President of Italy got caught with at one of his bunga-bunga parties

Just returned home from the show. Had a great time as always. Saw many of my old buddies and made some new ones. So much to see and do makes it impossible to get around to everything. I have to say I much prefer the Vegas venue.

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:
wasn't Lambo something or other the name of the 16 year old Moroccan hooker that the former President of Italy got caught with at one of his bunga-bunga parties

Maybe the Prime Minister - it would have been wishful thinking for the President, I reckon he's longer in the tooth than anywhere else.

you are right. i get confused as we only have 1 person at the top of the pyramid of corruption. this whole prime minister/president/premier thing has always confused me. i do remember that the whoremonger's name is Berlisconi( sp??)

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:
you are right. i get confused as we only have 1 person at the top of the pyramid of corruption. this whole prime minister/president/premier thing has always confused me. i do remember that the whoremonger's name is Berlisconi( sp??)

The young lady was known as Ruby the Heart Stealer.
Don't ask me how I know

quote:

Originally posted by hunt99:
Show was good for me, a couple of observations compared to 2012 at Mandalay Bay.
1. Layout was good with what seemed to be wider aisles.
2. Thursday, Fri attendance seemed much lower than before perhaps due to travel issues, definitely much higher on Friday.
3. Day auctions for hunts went super fast, Thursday was over when I stopped by at 2:30pm. Friday ended quick as well.
4. As said earlier lots of outfitters booked up. Some Mozambique outfits seemed nearly desperate especially with the inability to sell Lee trophy hunts. I had one pushing an illegal PAC type hunt, thanks to AR for arming me with the knowledge to stay clear of that!

Just a few thoughts as I wait for final flight back to snowy frigid MT.

Dear Hunt99

I have not been in Vegas but i know that was a great show.
I have been trying to alert AR fellows for the " non exportable elephants " and PAC elephants in Mozambique because obviously they are totally illegal. I am so happy to see that at least you did not come into one of these hunts because if caught it can happen a hunter to go in jail !
I am very curious to know which outfitter offered you such a possibility , is it possible to know it ?
Thanks and take care.
Indi

It was an excellent show- Lots of traffic and great to see so many friends again. The sales were as excellent if not better then ever before!

The only issue we had was SCI registered us as Myles McCallum Safaris- so alot of people had trouble finding us so thanks to all of you that walked the isles to find us! Need to get home and make sure Milo has not demoted me to "Myles McCallum Safaris" full time PH!!!! Thanks again guys! Cheers Buzz

Just back from Vegas and another great SCI Show. Vegas is not my favorite place, but must admit this years Show overall was better than two years ago. Seemed the overall layout and setup was better, aisles seemed a little wider, more benches for resting, good lighting and lots of taxidermy displays. Crowds dispersed because of the very large total area which helps getting around and seeing everything.

I worked in a Mozambique outfitters booth some and we sold ALL the Buff, Leopard available for 2014. One Lion hunt and plains game all that is left for this year. NO PAC Ele hunts in this booth! All the other outfitters I personally know indicated they had a great Show as well. I am sure the crowd size was effected some by the bad weather back East, but appeared to be pretty much a FULL HOUSE.

Food and drink prices high as usual, it's Vegas. Didn't eat or drink at the Show, so can't comment on the "Show Food" thing. Really a long walk from Luxor, where I stayed, to the Show venue, further yet from the Excalibur. Lost a couple of pounds so that's good.

Meet up with several AR folks, chatted some with UEG in Matt's booth, saw lots of old friends as well. Worked on some details for future hunts, looked at lots more.

Since I attend both DSC and SCI this year got a real good prospective of both venues. My conclusion is that BOTH Shows have a lot to offer. Not all that different really, Dallas had some folks that were not at SCI and quite a few exhibitors were not in Dallas but were at SCI. It cost me more to go to Dallas than Vegas from Albuquerque, but already knew that going in. Not much to do after the Show closed in Dallas, TOOOO much maybe to do in Vegas after Showtime. More real buyers in Vegas than Dallas, most likely because SCI is members ONLY and Dallas is open to all comers. Plus and minus I guess to this difference.

Actually glad I was able to extend my SCI Shows to 17 straight years and enjoyed my trip to DSC as well. Would attend either with no hesitation in the future.

Larry Sellers
SCI(International) Life Member
Sabatti "trash" Shooter

It sounds like most had a good show, as far as operators go? Wish I was there.

quote:

Originally posted by Larry Sellers:
Just back from Vegas and another great SCI Show. Vegas is not my favorite place, but must admit this years Show overall was better than two years ago. Seemed the overall layout and setup was better, aisles seemed a little wider, more benches for resting, good lighting and lots of taxidermy displays. Crowds dispersed because of the very large total area which helps getting around and seeing everything.

I worked in a Mozambique outfitters booth some and we sold ALL the Buff, Leopard available for 2014. One Lion hunt and plains game all that is left for this year. NO PAC ELE HUNTS IN THIS BOOTH :

Larry Sellers
SCI(International) Life Member
Sabatti "trash" Shooter

NO " NON EXPORTABLE" or PAC ele hunts .......shit ....good good it seems things are changing hummmmm !
I wonder what's happening.....

It was a great show. Sold several hunts, met with clients on others and generally had a great time. As usual, the food and beverage prices were crazy but that is Vegas. I will be back again and again.

Excellent show and my feet and back still hurts.
Didn't book anything, 2 kids in college so money tree will not bloom anytime soon
Still paying for trip year ago and saving money for trip booked for next October from last year.
Damn elephants will be one day the end of me ( hopefully just financially )
Enjoy the weather as well. Some of you from MT know , we missed some brutal temps and sheeeet load of snow.
Getting home at midnight so I"ll shoveling some tonite and some in the morning.
Anyone feeling sorry for me? :-)

My wife and I made our first visit to the SCI show this year and got to visit with many of out outfitter friend that we never have time to visit with at DSC. Having only attended and worked at the DSC show for several years, it seemed to have a different but not bad dynamic...people were not as friendly as in Dallas (and that includes some of the outfitters) and the SCI staff I talked to were borderline rude. Some of these outfitters said they were having a really good show...some said not so much. One outfitter had 18 buffalo left for this year in Zim and was having a hard time selling them; however, everyone of the outfitters I spoke with had pretty much sold out on leopard and elephant for 2014 and 2015 at DSC and had finished selling their quota by Friday. It seemed to me were many more non-hunting type booths than at DSC, but they seemed to be selling stuff. Since registration was on the second level the second level exhibitors were getting first crack at customers and some exhibitors on the first level were complaining about that, and I'm sure it was exactly the opposite last year when registration was down stairs. I guess you can't please everyone all of the time. All in all it was a pretty nice show, I prefer the DSC show (but that is to be expected) and I would not mind going back again.

Karl

I never realized how standing and talking non-stop for 8-9 hours a day gets to your back and feet...whew! Easier to track Buff and Ele for 15 mils a day.

I met a lot of you out there, and it was a pleasure. Moved a ton of Blasers and components at the show, so you'll see a lot of new "converts" out in the hunting camps this year :-)