Wall Street Journal

By MARK YOST

Harrisburg, Pa.

'I think people are stressed out about the economy and just want to go out and shoot something."

So said Lee Lightsey of Outwest Farms in Okeechobee, Fla., who pretty much summed up the sentiments at this year's Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show, one of the biggest -- and best -- hunting and fishing expos in the U.S.

If there's a sharp downturn in the U.S. economy, it wasn't evident here when the show opened (it ran Feb. 7-15). Traffic was backed up and long lines snaked around the 25-acre, eight-building State Farm Show Complex. According to show organizer Ed Several of Reed Exhibitions, advance ticket sales were about equal to last year, while they were down 4% at his PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando.
[Hunters] Associated Press

The Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show drew large crowds, despite the economic downturn.

"We were really surprised when Chevrolet and Toyota both came back," Mr. Several said. He also noted that Cabela's, the outdoor store, and Thompson Firearms, a unit of Smith & Wesson, are both new attendees this year.

"We're expecting it to be a tough year," said Jason LaChance of Thompson. "So we have to make an extra effort to get our guns in people's hands and convince them why they should buy one."

This is also an important show for outfitters that run both high- and low-end hunting and fishing trips. Many said that four-and five-figure big-game hunts for exotic animals haven't been hurt at all by the downturn in the economy, while lower-priced trips are seeing a slight dip.

"The higher-end hunts are doing well," said Ron Nemetchek of North River Outfitting in Athabasca, Alberta, which specializes in hunts -- for trophy-size whitetail deer -- that cost between $7,000 and $8,000.

But Brad Bowser, who runs Bowser's Guide Service in Linneus, Maine, had an unprecedented 16 cancellations last year for the 40 or so black-bear hunts he leads every year. The $1,300 trips require a 40% nonrefundable deposit. "The economy has the people who still have a job afraid to take time off," he said.

Usually, he has about 15 hunts already booked for the fall season. So far, all he has are eight. "We're looking for it to be a slow year," he said.

But in Zimbabwe, times are still good for outfitters. "The big boys are still spending money," said Dudley Rogers of Tshabezi Safaris, which offers five-day elephant hunts for about $8,000 and 10-day leopard hunts for $11,000.

As for Mr. Lightsey, whose Outwest Farms specializes in $5,000 alligator hunts, "The economy hasn't impacted me a bit," he said. "We're busier this year than ever."

Outfitters that feature fly-in fishing trips to Canada actually expect this to be an up year. That's because high gas prices and the rise of the Canadian dollar discouraged Americans and Canadians alike in 2008. "The Americans didn't come north because gas was $6 a gallon and the Canadians went south because their dollar was worth more in the U.S.," said Jack Kwiatkowski of Shenango Lodge in Foleyet, Ontario.

The Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show is also a good place to come and see the latest innovations and take the political pulse of the kill-it-and-grill-it crowd. The neatest innovation I saw was the Quick Shot Gun Sling from J&J Technologies in Wisconsin Dells, Wis. It's basically a gun sling made out of thick, stretchable rubber that allows you to carry your firearm in front of you and raise it quickly when you see your prey. It also doesn't make a lot of noise, like traditional leather slings with metal buckles. J&J was also selling a bottle opener made from a .50-caliber shell casing that I couldn't resist.

If you needed a ghillie suit -- the shapeless camouflage outfit that military snipers wear -- or a duck blind, or a stainless-steel jalapeño griller, or a 400-square-foot prefabricated log cabin, this was the place to come. And most everything was on sale.

This was also a good place to come to get a dose of healthy skepticism about global warming and diminishing animal populations. For instance, while some may be appalled at the idea of elephant hunts in Zimbabwe, the fact is that there are too many elephants there. According to some estimates, Zimbabwe can support only about 45,000 pachyderms, but the population is closer to 100,000. "It's greater than it's ever been, up from a low of about 30,000 in 1960," said Mr. Rogers of Tshabezi Safaris.

As for the widespread canard that polar bears are dying because of melting polar ice caps, North River Outfitting's Mr. Nemetchek said, "We definitely have to do something about the polar-bear population. It's growing."

As for his overall business, he wished the media would "shut up" about the economy. "It's not that bad," he said. "They make it sound a whole lot worse than it is."

Mr. Lightsey, the alligator hunter, had his own explanation for the disconnect between the media's economic doomsday reports and the overall continued strength of hunting and fishing.

"Maybe people are spending the money because they think Obama's gonna help us all out."

The crowd around his display all laughed.

Mr. Yost is a writer based in Chicago.