I made a quick one day flight in and out of Dallas to attend DSC. Mainly to see Leon DuPlessis.

First off the AR room is great - thanks DSC for the room and beers. Was there with Larry Shores and Biebs graced us with his presence till he decided to go flog a gun to another AR member. Biebs has aged from the stress Obama has put on him with these new laws stopping his AR classified based internet gun selling business

Back to serious stuff - over all the show looked slow. $33 oil and the depression in the energy sector seems to be taking a toll. The lion and elephant hunting has also taken a toll. Looking around its looks like Africa hunting is headed to a buffalo and plans game package in the next 5 years. My gut is Leopard is next on the target list.

Overall worth the 1 day trip - always like DSC.

Mike

Guys I talked to said it was pretty good overall. There are always pockets of more and less activity though. Today it seemed was pretty busy at DSC to me though.

quote:

Originally posted by TexKD:
Guys I talked to said it was pretty good overall. There are always pockets of more and less activity though. Today it seemed was pretty busy at DSC to me though.

Good to hear it picking up.

Its great DSC lets public enter for $20 a day. Its in my opinion one of the best features of DSC Convention.

Mike

There is absolutely no doubt that the convention is a bit slower this year. In Texas, I suspect that is almost entirely due to the collapse of the oil boom.

That said...the BVC has booked all but one of its lion for this year as of early yesterday.

Ele is definitely a bit slow.

It is not just oil.The low price of oil is no doubt caused by a low demand.Things aren't moving anywhere.

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:
There is absolutely no doubt that the convention is a bit slower this year. In Texas, I suspect that is almost entirely due to the collapse of the oil boom.

That said...the BVC has booked all but one of its lion for this year as of early yesterday.

Ele is definitely a bit slow.

That is great to hear on the lion. That is 11 lions booked there as I believe their quota is 12.

Any word on Tanzania and Zambia bookings?

I suppose the industry is becoming more competitive too.I think that outfitters who take part of their profits and put it back into their areas will do better.

I'm kind of curious how Zimbabwe bookings were overall and if Cecil had any effect. I hope the Zimbos had a good show!

While lion and elephant wasn't on my personal menu, I did talk to a couple of guys regarding both. As it was they didn't seem to have any changes in the numbers of each nor the age or quality of each, nor the price of either. I did and still am thinking about a tusk-less in Zimbabwe for a different time, but as I said it wasn't primary on my list.

As this is the Africa Forum that should be first and center. But there has to be guys like me too that are looking at other places. Mine were New Zealand, Namibia, and Nebraska. The places I seriously talked to at DSC in those had some scattered openings in 2016, but only 1 or 2 for 2016, and were booking pretty well in to 2017.

Two guys that had never been to any kind of safari or hunt show came with me too. One booked a trip and the other is working on it still. They aren't full bag elephant and lion but they are good trips.

I don't know about anyone else, but 1-2 US trips a year, and 1 longer away trip with Africa being maybe the second, or even third year, is all I am up for in time or money. I know there are guys who can and do go Africa 4 times a year and I hate them - but for me, and especially taking my family along or trying to get a hunt together with friends, then I have other places in my sights too.

I suspect some things are off somewhat. It is hard to have a record year every year. But I think the good places, with good operators, are still going to do fairly well.

Right where I was sitting several times there were ladies writing out checks and guys calling to MasterCard to approve charges though.

Hopefully next year I will get to spend all 4 days at the show.

I am interested in Alaska fishing, Costa Rica fishing inshore and offshore, New Zealand red stag, Argentina red stag, European/Turkish boar and good us axis and whitetail non fenced.

I know this is all there at DSC. I normally just hang out around the guns and the Africa outfitters.

Mike

everyone I talked to said things were slow. Their American clients had cancelled all their lion hunts.

Larry, I think it may be because you were with Mike....he seems to cast a pall of gloom wherever he goes :-)

Like Larry, all my responses were that things were slow and hardly anyone had sold a lion hunt. Talked to the major players and more modest outfits and the answers were the same. There were some cancellations for 2016 offered that were great deals. Friday and Saturday's auction held many great bargains for hunts that went for less than half the quoted price.

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:
Larry, I think it may be because you were with Mike....he seems to cast a pall of gloom wherever he goes :-)

True Biebs - if only I bought your Blaser I would be in eternal happiness - until the bolt blows half my face away one day

Mike

quote:

Originally posted by Dutch44:
Like Larry, all my responses were that things were slow and hardly anyone had sold a lion hunt. Talked to the major players and more modest outfits and the answers were the same. There were some cancellations for 2016 offered that were great deals. Friday and Saturday's auction held many great bargains for hunts that went for less than half the quoted price.

There has been a real wealth effect hit that has been brought on my energy, commodity and cyclical crash.

Oil is at 2003 levels. Equities for oil & gas, mining, cyclicals are at 2008 lows and does not look like a 2009 bounce anywhere near term.

At the same time DG hunting prices are up 60-65 percent since 2008 - only think cheaper is airfare.

I think for the hunting crowd client base there is real financial pain. DSC and hunting in general is much more dominated by hard industries. Don't think hunting is the in thing in silicon valley.

The lion and elephant trophy bans will have a serious impact. Very few clients will pay six figures to only take pictures. Very few will pay a sliding scale trophy fee on ivory weight when ivory cannot be imported.

A few booths were set up by companies selling physical precious metals - bars of silver.

Mike

Mike is right . The stock market got hammered the week of DSC. That couldn't help either.

I think another is the aging client base. As the clients get older, some are more focused on saving for retirement than going on yet another safari.

I did have someone tell me they sold 2 cancelled lion hunts to Russians. Another told me that they sold one to an American who basic comment was f&%k Obama, I am going anyway.

I thought is was a pretty good show - I got a great deal on a Swarovski spotting scope from EuroOptic and got to talk to friends like Mike Jines and Beretta 682E (Mike). It was a shame we could not drink in the upper section of the show - that is where my friend Leon DuPlessis from Save Safaris had his booth. So, I had to drink with Buz and Miles at Charlton McCallum- great guys who welcomed me even though I was not a client (well, mostly they welcomed my 18 year old Glenmorangie).

quote:

Originally posted by subsailor74:
I thought is was a pretty good show - I got a great deal on a Swarovski spotting scope from EuroOptic and got to talk to friends like Mike Jines and Beretta 682E (Mike). It was a shame we could not drink in the upper section of the show - that is where my friend Leon DuPlessis from Save Safaris had his booth. So, I had to drink with Buz and Miles at Charlton McCallum- great guys who welcomed me even though I was not a client (well, mostly they welcomed my 18 year old Glenmorangie).

It was a pleasure meeting you at Buzz's booth. The 18 year old Glenmorangie was excellent!!!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by subsailor74:
Mike - the pleasure was all mine - thanks!
I also got to meet up with Tamela Moss, Ira Stutzman, Tom and Dan Bogaczyk and Dirk de Bod.

quote:

Originally posted by subsailor74:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by subsailor74:
Mike - the pleasure was all mine - thanks!
I also got to meet up with Tamela Moss, Ira Stutzman, Tom and Dan Bogaczyk and Dirk de Bod.

Hi sailor.. Did Leon say how bookings were going?

I stopped by the AR room in the basement in the middle of the day on Friday and found it locked. Would have liked to have met some of you guys face-to-face. I did bump into Retreever in a hallway, but didn't get to speak with him.

The Weatherby banquet had good attendance Wednesday evening, but the food could have been better and its folding wooden chairs were neither comfortable nor appropriate for a $300-a-plate shindig.

The DSC dinners had better food and real chairs, but I expected to see a lot more people. I'd heard that the banquets were sold out, but there seemed to be room for lots more tables in the room.

I liked the way the firearms displays were separated from other vendors. It was good to see and talk with many old friends again.

Bill Quimby

My observations. Everyone I talked to felt that business was off this year. I left today around noon and this morning there was virtually no one there. It was not just the outfitters who were noting that business was off, most the gun dealers were of a similar view. One high end dealer I spoke with indicated that had it not been for a great day on Thursday, the show would have been very poor for them. All that said, Karl and Rebecca put on an incredible event despite the headwinds presented by crude oil price, the stock market, USFWS, etc. and the number of exhibitors continues to grow.

Bill, one of the highlights of the show for me was picking up a copy of your book, Sixty Years A Hunter. I look forward to reading it.

I think it opened at 2 daily Bill.

If someone lives in Dallas or close by - just think what a great deal it is for $20 to go attend DSC. The gun shows in Florida are $10 and they are painful at best.

I decided to go on the last minute after texting with Subsailor74 . My all in cost with flight, rental car, parking, and DSC was only twice what it would cost to go to any amusement park in Orlando. I am glad I did the one day trip.

I need to go to SCI just once to contrast it to DSC.

The booze and gun rules make little sense but it's state law. I wish I could have had some single malt with the admiral but Biebs did claim he bought me 2 buds in the AR room.

Let's hope the energy sector and financial market pick up in 2016.

Mike

I always enjoyed the DSC show, but over the past few years, I have not been able to attend because it is held when the boss still has hunters coming in, and as much as I enjoy the show and as much as I would actually like to meet other members of AR, given the choice between driving to Dallas and being in a blind trying to help someone get a deer, well you know.

Does anyone know the dates on 2017 show?

I'm sure Karl does.

quote:

Originally posted by Safari2:

quote:

Originally posted by subsailor74:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by subsailor74:
Mike - the pleasure was all mine - thanks!
I also got to meet up with Tamela Moss, Ira Stutzman, Tom and Dan Bogaczyk and Dirk de Bod.

Hi sailor.. Did Leon say how bookings were going?

When I last checked with Leon on Saturday, he had not booked a hunt.

I guess everyone is just waiting to book their hunts at the SCI Show in Vegas?

Enjoyed meeting different AR members face-to-face. I kept a tight rein on Slugslinger so he couldn't buy all of Biebs' rifles. We did talk to a number of outfitters about a group hunt. There are four of us, three African virgins and me. Guns? Today will be confirming a new rifle from the show. Got home last night(Sunday). My cat has been all over me ever since.

Did anyone have an opportunity to visit with our ole friend Peshotan "The Myth" Pavri? I had invited him (via Lion Aid's Facebook) to join me for an adult beverage or two. Perhaps he was detained at Customs and Border Protection or eventually realized that Texas is an "open carry" state. Hmm?

quote:

Bill, one of the highlights of the show for me was picking up a copy of your book, Sixty Years A Hunter. I look forward to reading it.

Thanks, Mike. It's now nearly 70 years that I've been a hunter. This past elk season near our cabin, a flat tire on my truck took me to the absolute limit of my physical ability and finally made me realize my wife is right -- I'm too damned old to hunt by myself any more.

Hope you enjoy the book.

Bill Quimby

quote:

Originally posted by billrquimby:

quote:

Bill, one of the highlights of the show for me was picking up a copy of your book, Sixty Years A Hunter. I look forward to reading it.

Thanks, Mike. It's now nearly 70 years that I've been a hunter. This past elk season near our cabin, a flat tire on my truck took me to the absolute limit of my physical ability and finally made me realize my wife is right -- I'm too damned old to hunt by myself any more.

Hope you enjoy the book.

Bill Quimby

Bill,

Flat tires are for youngsters. No grandchildren?

Best

Andrew

I hope everyone had a good time at the show, some good double rifles ordered and some good safaris were booked! Gentlemen this is the first DSC convention that I have missed since 1982!

I was tied up with two doctors, one for a follow-up Doppler scan of my carotid arteries and the other for an annual heart scan! No change found though so I suppose that is good. Damn it is hell being old!
.....................................................................

With the dollar so high for us Scandinavians many people I talked to hold back for other hunts.

A 50K hunt 2008 would cost over 65K with todays rates and then add the increasing safari rates, the "big safaris" market here will probably also go down.

Clara and I arrived Wednesday and left Sunday morning. We thought it appeared much less crowded than the past 2 years and the dealers and outfitters we talked to felt the same way. We attended the Thursday night banquet and the life member breakfast. Jim Shockey did a wonderful presentation at the breakfast. We showed a video and talked about hunting on TV "then and now" and hit hard on what we must do now on hunting shows. Very interesting and enjoyable.

As always, the DSC Team did a wonderful job. Thank you for all of your hard work. As with all annual events, there is always room for improvement and I look foward to seeing the show get better every year (and it has).

We have sponsored at least one table for the past few years yet we are starting to find the banquets less and less enjoyable. Dinner should be enjoyed with your friends and family at the table. It is almost impossible to do that. The speakers drone on and on without getting to the point or they get to the point and never get off of it. The recognition should be separate from the dinner and (with the exception of the special award or guest speaker) speakers need to have a time limit. The highlight of Thursday night was seeing Dixie getting her well deserved recognition. We always invite some non-DSC friends to the banquets. 100% have joined afterwards and 100% have booked hunts at the show.

We bought some books, bought a hunt at the life member breakfast, bought a LAW rifle and Clara "won" some jewelry at the silent auctions. The best part was seeing old friends and making new ones. We will be there again next year.

Safe travels everyone...........Larry

I do some marketing work for Capt Peacock http://www.captpeacock.com/
They sold out several weeks of Amazon fishing trips...in short did really well.
I spoke to some South African guys that said sales were down, several of my artist friends did well but then I spoke to two that said they were down.
As I no longer work for DSC I didn't attend the banquets. Just like with my artist friends, I heard from some that they were great, others that they weren't.
I heard from a lot of people complaining about DSC dropping DEF. But then heard from the guy that runs DEF (Scot with one T) that they're doing really, really well after being dropped by DEF having secured a lot of donations.

I can't speak for everyone but I am being much more careful about how I spend money now compared to before.I would only pay half for a buff hunt compared to what some are asking.If prices were to my liking a trip to one of the conventions would be much more interesting.

It was our first show to set up our knives at. We sold every thing but the one piece. Some people got sticker shock and some were fine with it. Many people seemed as they appreciated the work shown which was good. The sales were better than we expected for a first time we will be back next year.

In our opinion it was a better educated crowd about knives than a few others that we attended as a first time. It seemed that many knew exactly what they were looking for and at. Regardless if you are hunting, fishing or cutting your daily bread everyone must have a knife.

As a vendor the loading back up was a booger but we learned on that too. I enjoyed meeting a few of you face to face so thank you for dropping by. I could not get around the show like I normally do due to the amount of people that was looking and that had questions.
Some of the comments were funny such as the one guy that said the knives were too pretty to use, so I offered to make him an ugly one.
I was just kidding, I am not taking orders but it was still funny.
Thank you to the show staff they did a good job.

Jerry, Shon and I had a great time visiting your booth and meeting your lovely wife. I am still amazed at how you can develop those Damascus patterns to reflect the theme of your knives. Look forward to your little show.

Dutch