I have been sitting here thinking about the SCI convention over the years . It has changed drastically. I am not sure how long I have been going . My best guess is between 35 & 40 years. During that time, I missed one convention. I had tickets for that one . Decided not to go for some reason or another .

The first show I went to was in the bottom floor of the (then) Reno Hilton. It was tiny. Smaller than some of the side halls now . The growth has been amazing .

There have been many many serious hunters that we used to see year in, year out . Many died from one reason or another . Often old age . Perhaps the worse to me was to see some elderly gentleman who was once a hunter who did many safaris, sheep hunts, etc going through the show in a wheel chair or scooter. I could see the look in some of their faces. It about killed them that they could not do it any longer . As I age, I hope it doesn’t happen to me.

Then there are the exhibitors. Some just disappear. I often don’t know what happened to them. Some sell out. Some go out of business. Some die. I vividly remember one outfitter from the RSA that I talked to every year . One year he didn’t show . Never seen again . About 10 years later , I found out that he had died in a car wreck. I was quite sad.

I also remember a mother/daughter team that sold some type of clothing . The daughter was fairly young when I first saw her. Probably in her 20’s. Now she is a grandmother.

The technology on display has changed incredibly. No comparison between 1982 and 2022. In 1982 , we couldn’t comprehend some of the technology that is common today .

Now, I am one of the aging guys . I wonder how much longer I can do it?

Now that I stop and think about it, it’s been nearly 20 years attending for me .. I didn’t make it every year but haven’t missed very many.

The biggest change for me was Reno to Vegas I guess.. and next year Nashville..

I hope to have another 10 years of good hunting before time catches up with me (I’m a bit younger LOL)

Change is inevitable I guess :-)

Oh.. and I am counting the days till convention :-)

This year especially I am looking forward to walking that floor!!!

When I first started going, it was cool to see people who were in the hunting videos we were watching at the time! Now I know many of those folks personally and the 20' giants have become 5'+ bull shitters Nah thats a joke.

But the biggest change I see is that it had a very festive atmosphere, people would literally cheer someone who bought a big hunt and there would be big celebrations. Now you skulk away like a child molester with a guilty look if you have bought a lion or ele hunt! Keep it on the low down.

Sadly this seems to be the biggest difference and yes everyone is getting older for the most part!

I do feel Covid has taken the steam out of a lot of folk as well who just dont want to travel like they did!!! Hope it all comes back this year. From all accounts DSC was a smaller show but those that went were looking to go hunting.

Hope to see some of you next week in Vegas.


Arjun Reddy
Hunters Networks LLC
30 Ivy Hill Road
Brewster, NY 10509
Tel: +1 845 259 3628

SCI Booth 1751 (Las Vegas 19th to 22nd January, 2022)
Western Hunting and Conservation Expo Booth 444 (Utah 10th to 13th February)

"Sadly this seems to be the biggest difference and yes everyone is getting older for the most part!"

Don't ever get get upset about getting older.

Sure beats the alternative!

But life changes, and I bet hardly any of you has gone through the changes I have been through.

Growing up in a tiny community, no running water, no electricity, no roads.

I remember the first motor car that came here.

In the same city that rivals any in the world today in advancements of what we call modern life.

Enjoy being old, and make the best of it.

I do.

quote:

Don't ever get get upset about getting older.
Sure beats the alternative!
Enjoy being old, and make the best of it.

Amen, my friend.

Larry, it’s still a candy shop, even though at our age we’re definitely not kids anymore!

I’ll never forget seeing Elmer Keith at the first show I attended. I had never seen him before. For you kids out there, he was by then a living legend.

He was dressed in jeans with a wide belt having a huge silver buckle, a cowboy shirt with a string tie, a Western-styled sports jacket and pointy-toed cowboy boots.

He had an unlit stogie in his fist and an umbrella-sized ten gallon Stetson on his head.

He was holding court at a gun-related booth (I don’t remember which one).

I wanted to introduce myself and tell him how much I admired his work.

But I was too star-struck!

Now, I wish I had done so. We’ll never see his like again.

I first went in 2011 prior to my first Tanzania hunt.

Since then, I missed one due to hunting Cameroon while it was going on, last year due to Covid, and this year due to work conflicts.

I’m not sure what the future holds. I’m not really wild about the moving from place to place in the future.

quote:

Originally posted by crbutler:
I first went in 2011 prior to my first Tanzania hunt.

Since then, I missed one due to hunting Cameroon while it was going on, last year due to Covid, and this year due to work conflicts.

I’m not sure what the future holds. I’m not really wild about the moving from place to place in the future.

I wonder the reaction to the changes in location.

quote:

Enjoy being old, and make the best of it.

I do.

+1

I see Cecil Fredi, the gunstock man, quite often here in Vegas, as he lives near me in northwestern Vegas, which has still sections that are quite rural-farms, horse properties and orchards. Cecil, who is, I believe, aged 82, was a part of the very first SCI Conventions held here in Vegas and gave me many of the first Safari Magazines and information that he had collected for a number of years. I believe that he told me that the very first one which was held at the Riviera Hotel had a total of approximately 6 displays/booths. On another note, did you all see that Mike Boyce of Animal Artistry just passed away after a 9 month battle with cancer?

I have been going since 2010 and missed couple
Enjoying the atmosphere and old and new found friends and the road trips are great as well ( 12-14 hrs) which I do sometimes in a day and sometimes over night in back of my pickup - nothing like Winter camping…
See you guys over there

quote:

Originally posted by boarkiller:
I have been going since 2010 and missed couple
Enjoying the atmosphere and old and new found friends and the road trips are great as well ( 12-14 hrs) which I do sometimes in a day and sometimes over night in back of my pickup - nothing like Winter camping…
See you guys over there

Have a toast for Jason.

I have been invited many times to attend the SCI convention. I have only attended one time.

I was in Reno for work and stopped by animal artistry and Mike Boyce to visit on bringing back animals from a scheduled hunt in Tanzania later in the year. A wonderful visit and I received a tour of the facility. I have since that visit brought all my taxidermy work to animal artistry and my wife likes their work.

Mike suggested that I should consider staying over a day and take in the convention on Saturday. It was a good suggestion and I enjoyed my self.

What became apparent is that I am a little fish in the realm of hunting and SCI had many big fish walking around purchasing hunts. I am sure that there were hunts that I could afford the layout was enormous and it would take you days to cover the floor(s).

While this is a SCI thread, DSC is more in line with my flavor. But again I am a small fish in a big pond.

I have been going to SCI for twenty years and what I have noticed is an explosion in the number of Namibian outfitters and how plains game hunts have come down and stayed down in real costs due to all the competition.

Twenty years ago RSA buffalo hunts were also more expensive than free range hunts in most of the rest of Southern Africa. This has also flipped. Game ranch breeding and competition has worked out well for us consumers.

I can't say the same for all the unemployed/underemployed PHs and underutilized outfitters though.

Once the USA economy adjusts to reality (I don't know when, our current insanity could last a long time) there will be a hard reckoning for every facet of our sport.

We should all party on while we can.

Hunting conventions like DCS, SCI, Sheep show are the only places where I am totally at ease knowing I am surrounded by like-minded souls :-)

You can walk up to a booth, a bar or even an escalator and easily startup a conversation with the people around you about guns, optics, hunting, fishing, reloading...

Total awesomeness :-)

After seeing Reno a couple of times I would say Vegas, Nashville etc can be a factor for a foreigner like me to come back and see a new place in America.

SCI - old men in scooters

DSC - Young men pushing baby strollers.

Which is the future of hunting?

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
"Sadly this seems to be the biggest difference and yes everyone is getting older for the most part!"

Don't ever get get upset about getting older.

Sure beats the alternative!

But life changes, and I bet hardly any of you has gone through the changes I have been through.

Growing up in a tiny community, no running water, no electricity, no roads.

I remember the first motor car that came here.

In the same city that rivals any in the world today in advancements of what we call modern life.

Enjoy being old, and make the best of it.

I do.

But always remember: 'Getting old isn't for sissies." Bette Davis

My first was n Reno 1989,maybe 300 vendors. Only missed 3 conventions not going this year.Those that are going tell the rest of us what your impressions are and mask wearing.

Like others have stated, I am anxious to see what the attendance demographics looks like next year when it is in Nashville..

I know quite a few here in the midwest that state they would attend if it was within driving distance..

Vegas is not within driving distance of the East, South and Midwest - Nashville is a easy drive...

Can't wait to find out!!

quote:

Originally posted by hvrhunter:
My first was n Reno 1989,maybe 300 vendors. Only missed 3 conventions not going this year.Those that are going tell the rest of us what your impressions are and mask wearing.

I'm not bothered by the mask mandate. The majority of COVID precautions (from a public health standpoint) are basic tenets of hygeine that healthcare has been preaching for decades: stay home if you're sick, wash your hands, cover your cough.

I had COVID last week (fully vaccinated and boosted) and it was quick and mild for me. I'm more worried about aging parents and my young kids with any respiratory illness I may bring home (not just COVID).

I'm very much looking forward to the convention next week. The movement of locations annually is something I'm used to from medical conferences. It's a nice way to see different cities. Some venues are great, others are tolerable depending on the allure of the conference. I have no problem with the change of scenery.