I know you have been waiting for this, so I shall keep you in suspense no longer. My last report on the DSC show was a few years ago. I was banned, like Mark Sullivan, because I commented on the silicone, rhinestones and size 14 bodies in size 6 skinny jeans too much to suit the management.

I snuck in this year and got past the guards by telling them I was Judge G's nice twin brother, not the evil one.

Here are my observations -

1. Great set up, tough venue due to it's size. I was toasted a bit by the $12 for parking and the $3 Dr. Pepper, but hey, business is business and somehow this is related to the fiscal cliff, so I paid up. The Dallas Convention Center makes sense and is easy to get to and get out of. The old site was... old.

2. DSC volunteers are the best. The lady that took my $20 day fee was nice, told the best places to go and offered to walk me in. Being as how I look like JudgeG, I thought she was coming on to me, but really she felt sorry for me. Oh well.

3. The map of the place had print that was 2 size font, so it was useless. Good thing I enlarged the online version and marked my targets well. Come on, get bigger print in the map so a guy can plan where to go and find a bathroom....

4. Traffic seemed light this year, maybe due to the size of the venue and th width of the aisles. I could not squeeze close enough to some of the silicone queens to see if "they" were real or not. Too much personal space and I was nervous that the real JudgeG would get in trouble for bumping into a pair of .... coconuts too many times.

5. I talked to my favorite agents and everyone told me that had sold all of the lions and elephant hunts they had available but could make one available to me if I committed quickly and wrote a check. The boldest one started to fill out the contract before he saw I had no checks. So, I guess business is booming. It was odd to see Johnny Hulme in the Zambezi Hunters booth but realize he was not an owner with them anymore. He is hunting for them and free-lancing.

6. I actually saw Larry Potterfield! I wanted to ask for an autograph but he said, "Thanks for the business" to me, like he does on TV and I forgot to ask. Also, he called me Judge G, so I had to play the part of the successful elephant hunter and could not really ask for an autograph. He was real nice.

7. What happened to the big SHE Safari area? My bride needed a new wardrobe and I could not find them. I hope they are still around as that outfit is the reason my wife goes with me. She likes the clothes. As a matter of fact, she wore a camo, tailored shirt the other day to the grocery store and I lost her in the produce section.

8. The Heym guys. You are killing me. Those guns are the best I have ever seen. I have to have the new Martini version or I will go blind.

9. The custom gun makers area - you guys lost me. You all did not seem to have much out or show some of the stuff I was slobbering to see. Kind of reminded me of the last blind date I had - lots of hope followed by no so lots of hope.

10. Nosler guys - great set up and great young guys selling for you. Your guns look good and I hope shoot good.

11. Where was Jack Acheson and Sons?

12. I was disappointed in the number of high fence steroid deer outfits there. I know they are getting the business from guys who buy horns and not hunts, but I saw more than I remember seeing. There is a new one that is high fencing mule deer in NM. Oh well....

13. Best host at a booth - Marina Lamprecht, wife of Joof of Hunter's Namibia. She was handling the booth for her husband who was back in Namibia. She was elegant, classy and sold me on everything she said. JudgeG will be hearing from her about the hunt I book booked. Wow! what a delight as opposed to the rank and file hunt sellers. She was wonderful. I just have to figure out how to get my wife to go somewhere else when I go there.

14. Fernado Saiz - another gentleman. He is a long time hunting outfit in Spain. He was close to the front door, very polite and endured my 7th grade Spanish fumblings. I have to hunt with that guy, he has been doing this for about 40 years. Gotta go.

15. The Detail Company - I stumbled into these guys having heard of them but knowing nothing about them. They are a boutique agent outfit sending people to a few exclusive places they know a lot about. The gentleman I visited with was the Argentina expert and talked me into going for a 5 species bird hunt. I don't have a shotgun and I am doing this! He had been to the place he was representing 11 or 14 times, I am not sure, but it was a lot. He loves it and I could tell by the way he talked that I have to go.

16. Ekland - where were your people in your booth? I went by twice and no one was home.

17. Buzz Charlton - you are a rock star! You had them 5 deep at your booth booking hunts. Way to go.

18. I did not see Chifuti, where they there? Since Craig B is not on TV as much with them, I wonder if they are still selling as many hunts.

19. Marc Watts - are you dead or just invisible?

20. Cindy Garrison - I know where you have been hunting and saw the pictures. Your host said you were a perfect lady and that he wants to hunt with you (or for you) again. I am not naming names, but you did something to resurrect your hunting career. Good girl. Stay good, please.

21. I refuse to lower myself to take shots at the Dallas ladies again. However, most of you are aging gracefully. Others are fighting it a bit. I saw some lips that looking like you were dipping Skoal again....Botox must be covered by insurance now.

Oh well....

DSC - great show, keep it up!

Respectfully submitted,

JudgeG's Not-too-Evil Twin

Too much to drink???

She Safari and Chifuti were there...Chifuti booth was busy.

This was my first trip to DSC. I thought it was great. I had more fun than I ever have at a show.

If I had complaints, they would be as follows:

1- The floor guide was useless. Alpha is great if you know the name of the company. If you don't, you are in trouble. I would recommend sorting the vendors by nature of their goods or services in addition to the alpha listing. Mary Lynn & I walked through the entire venue 3 times looking for one particular thing before we finally found it.

2- There needs to be more places to sit scattered around the venue.

My wife and I had a great time and I'd like to publicly commend Karl and his lovely wife for the Yeoman work they performed. In my opinion it was the smoothest running convention to date (and I've been going every year since 01) and the dinners and auctions were the best yet. Thankfully my aviator eyes are still somewhat ok, but yes the font was small, but in the big scheme of thngs, that falls into the picking flyshit out of pepper department.

My wife says THANKS AGAIN for the great breakfast Karl!!

Dogcat,

I don't know about you, but I saw plenty of size 1 & 2 ladies there to offset the size 12-18's.

They are smaller and hard to see. Like size 2 font!

Bring your glasses next time!

41-13

Good report. Sounds like people had fun-sorry I missed it this year.

Funny.

Crowd was off, for sure. Not sure if this was based on fiscal and economic issues or the fact that the convention started on the day after the US work force returned from the second long holiday weekend in two weeks. This is one way of saying the convention was TOO early.

I brought two ladies with me. Neither was a size 12 . . . more like a 2 and a 4 (their size, of course, not font).

Kreighoff introduced an ejector rifle at DSC. This was absolutely unknown and they should have done a better job of announcing that.

Nice to see Mavros back at DSC.

100k jeeps and helicopters are for another show, in my opinion.

I still have not located the silent auction.

Lots of familiar faces, which is always the highlight for me.

Actually, I think the crowd was larger than in the past, but the additional spaces spread them out. I know that more money was raised than ever before... and with just five employees (and a whole lot of dedicated volunteers), DSC puts on one heck of a show... and a great big congratulations to Rebecca and Karl for pulling it all off.

It was my first taste of DSC and I loved every minute of it. I would make one very sold suggestion which will help draw more people. Why on God's green earth do you plan this convention on the last weekend of the Texas whitetail deer season? It makes absolutely no sense at all. I guarantee that's one reason 5 of my buddies didn't come with me and no telling how many others made one last hunting trip. Wait until hunting season is over...........pretty simple.

The Judge is right. I think we will see that attendance was up by over 20% (I know that is true for Thursday and Friday), auction revenue will set an all time record, our evening banquet attendance will break records and I heard excellent reports on the floor from outfitters, gun makers and clothing and boot sellers. Business in some of the jewelry booths looked to be down a little but I may be wrong. Business in the furrier booths looked to be strong. I suspect that Karl will post a report after he has a chance to recover. Judge, our paid staff actually consists of 9 folks, but your point is valid. And our friends Karl and Rebecca made all of us very proud.

Comments about the maps and directories are well taken and will be forwarded to the ED and next years' chairman. We once had a section in the Lone Star Outdoor News insert that identified outfitters by country - don't know why that went away. Unfortunately, we have no control over the parking rates or drink prices. I agree with dogcat that additional seating would be nice and I'll add that to the post Convention report.

And I agree whole-heartedly - Marina Lamprecht and Fernando Saiz are class acts and great ambassadors for hunting.

A few of you got to hear Chris Kyle, author of the best selling American Sniper, speak at the Life member breakfast - what a great man and a no holds barred speaker.

Will, you were close - the Silent Auction was 2 aisles over from the $100K jeep.

It was great see Mike, Cherie, Cecil, old friends Dave Fulson and Ivan and to meet Ernest, Buzz, Mark Young and a few other AR folks.

Thanks to all who attended and/or exhibited.

Richard T. Cheatham
Immediate Past President

quote:

Originally posted by JGRaider:
It was my first taste of DSC and I loved every minute of it. I would make one very sold suggestion which will help draw more people. Why on God's green earth do you plan this convention on the last weekend of the Texas whitetail deer season?

We are glad you enjoyed the show JG. Unfortunately, although it seems simple, date selection isn't really, as has been fleshed and hashed out in another thread on this forum. I promise that most of the 400 to 500 volunteers who help at the show are Texas deer hunters, like me, many of whom, like me, would have likely spent the last weekend at the lease had they not been working the show.

I may be wrong, but the year I chaired the Convention, it ended the Sunday after the season ended. The show hasn't always been so early and over the next 10 years will not always end on the last weekend of the season, but the conflict will exist for many of those years. We regret that, but it is what it is.

If you make it in '14 find me and I'll treat you and your buddies to a few drink tickets.

Richard T. Cheatham

The differences were immediately noticeable. We bought tickets at the door. It was so easy compared the Reno, not to mention a fraction of the price. It was well organized. Lots of places to get something to drink or eat. Helpful personnel.

This was my first time. I am going again.

Need some more rubbish bins on the floor... clients kept dumping it on me.

Great show though....

my second show after 15 or more years going to SCI. no comparison. keep up the OUTSTANDING WORK...

We had a great time seeing some old friends and making a few new ones.

The last couple of years we have made a point of bringing another couple along, introducing them to DSC, hunting opportunites, etc..that's been a big hit with our friends...

Had a chance to meet Karl and his lovely wife...great folks...

We did our best to see a furrier and the auctions do well...

Great Show! Thanks!

All: The ticket counting is not complete;but it is close. I, like Ricardo and Jugge G, think the overall attendance count will be up from last year. Our auctions were very succesfull, a lot of money was raised, much of which will be spent in the form of grants to further our mission statement. Sadly, I could not attend or even make an appearance at the AR dinner because of a very tight schedule, but I was very pleased to have been able to provide funding to help you out a bit. Many kind comments have been posted and all are appreciated, Rebecca and I signed up make this the best convention possible for our exhibitors and attendees and we gave it our all. We both feel that any praise should be directed to our volunteers; they busted their asses to make us look good and that includes several AR members. I will post a fairly comprehensive report regarding the convention in a couple of days ( I didn't book a hunt but was able to contractthe flu on Friday). Thanks to all you that attended and a special thanks to those who decided to become DSC members.

Karl

I cant tell you how much I enjoyed coming back to DSC! It has been 20 years since I have been and I cant believe how much it has grown in every way. The Saturday evening dinner was superb with John and Chrissie Jackson winning the award.

Thought I am not that old (51)I am a DSC veteran. Last time I was there Clayton Williams and Ann Richards were both in attendance on the heels of the infamous Governors race...Not many people I met, even Texans, go back that far at DSC. It was held at Dallas Market Hall that year and the year before out at the Airport Hyatt.

Attendance.
Friday after noon during a radio interview Ben Carter said that at that time both days attendance was up 27%.... a real testament as to what hunters think of DCS.

This was my first, wife and I have attended several SCI events in reno and vegas. This was by far nicer than both of those venues. Folks were very friendly, almost like we had been friends for along time. The town was very easy to get around. The actual hall was easy to figure out. A few of the above suggestions are good and would only make this better. We will for sure make this again.

Well this was my first year to go to the convention so I, of course, came down with the flu. I did manage to spend 2 hours there one of the days, but I really don't recall much. I talked with Greg Brownlee, and saw some very nice firearms, some jeeps with drywall for paint, and a few of Siegfried & Roy's white lions. For the short time I was there, I really enjoyed myself.

I somehow got lucky with parking too because the lot I parked in was free (convenient too considering I showed up about noon).

Plan for next year, don't be sick!

At the seminars saturday afternoon on the Ruger stage Jim Shockey was the obvious star as a lot of people had to have their picture taken with him. Last year during the saturday night auction once he got up from his chair he wasn't able to sit back down again because so many wanted to talk to him. I thought it interesting that he was such a star.

Will: next year I'll give you a guided tour & make sure you can find the silent auction & spend some of that Alabama money you have in your piggy bank.
As for the sm. font: I use a magnifying glass & highlight any & all booths I wish to visit. (I do this at home before I leave for the show)
To all who think Marina Lamprecht is so great: Be jealous! I had breakfast with her this morning!(yes, my wife was with me) I just call her, Marina Darlin. She is a magnificent hostess.
I saw a lot of EYE CANDY there myself, I even told 2 of them to go ahead & slap me because I certainly needed it.

quote:

Originally posted by Matt Graham:
Need some more rubbish bins on the floor... clients kept dumping it on me.

Great show though....

Put a fence around the booth next year!

quote:

Originally posted by Matt Graham:
Need some more rubbish bins on the floor... clients kept dumping it on me.

Was it the face or the place....?

Gotta hand it to the DSC folks, this was a great show. I did not find the She booth and my daughter and granddaughters are going to be upset with me. Really enjoyed meeting a lot of the AR members at the show. Oh, and the highlight was the actual hunt that Mike put on, courtesy of B&M, for his daughter Mercedes.

Thanks for the kind offer Ricardo. I may take you up on that! I've been to the Reno SCI show before and enjoyed this one much, much more. In Reno, I was never more unimpressed with a bunch of stuffed shirt guys trying to impress people with how wealthy they are. Pathetic really, but SCI is pretty much a joke anyway IMO. The DSC was very different, in a good way. Keep up the good work and congrats on another successful convention.

Thanks for the compliments dogcat and Ricardo! I believe that is the responsibility to EVERY exhibitor to be well informed, professional and responsible in their booths. After all we do represent the greatest conservation initiative of our time, and should do so with pride. I am novice on the AR site but hope to become a regular!

We also had a very good show! This is also my fisrt post, although I have lots of friends on AR. Great site!

Welcome Marina Darlin!

i really enjoyed the show but its so big you really need a couple of days to take it all in. think the wife and i will have to plan two days for it next year.

Interesting & helpful report, I hope to experience DSC next year. I'll use this as a template, of sorts, for comparison with SCI in a few weeks.

About the Dallas Ladies, for fairness & equity's sake, lets have a gal rate the boys next year! I didn't see many young studs in the photos. I'm getting a bit broad-in-the-beam and snowy on top, not unlike many of the gents in the photos! No offence guys, just signs of a life well lived!

I was walking the show Sunday afternoon & walked right into Wayne LaPierre! For my friends from other countries that may not know who he is, he is the executive vice president of our NRA.
I got to speak 1 on 1 with him for a couple of minutes, though that was pretty cool.

No offence taken joester.
You can check out my bum anytime you like, just don't point & laugh.

Thank you, dogcat. Athough I couldn't make it, reading your report makes me feel as though I was actually there.

quote:

Originally posted by Matt Graham:
Need some more rubbish bins on the floor... clients kept dumping it on me.

Great show though....

You need a high fence, mate!

I always enjoy Dallas. It's my favorite show and it was our best year ever. I didn't get to the AR dinner this year (clients) but enjoyed some fine dining Dallas provides. Vehicle problems came all at once but 4 new Michelins and 4 new brakes and I'm good to go minus my bank account. Otherwise it was great to see old friends and make new ones. If our Government could operate as well as the DSC convention, we'd all be in Africa this summer...damn I hate liberals...they're useless. LDK

quote:

Originally posted by dogcat:

quote:

Originally posted by Matt Graham:
Need some more rubbish bins on the floor... clients kept dumping it on me.

Great show though....

You need a high fence, mate!

.... maybe I just needed a bin??

Welcome to AR Marina - you are a great ambassador for sport hunting!!

Karl - you and all your team did a great job. Sorry I missed you at the NYE party...

What is up with you guys. You all leave your cameras and cell cameras at home.
Frank