Syracuse.com - New York Sportsman's Expo kicks off today at state fairgrounds

[HuntingNY-News]

The event runs through Sunday. I'll be at the event from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday. Stop by and say hello. Don't worry, I won't bite.

The size and enthusiasm of Central New York’s hunting and fishing crowd is hard to ignore. There are more hunting and fishing licenses sold here than in any other region of the state — a major reason behind Bass Pro Shops’ decision to build its store here.

So when the Great Northeastern Sports Show, a fixture at the state fairgrounds for more than a half century, announced last fall it was canceling its show set for this month, outdoors enthusiasts across the area were crestfallen.

One company, the Results Group, which is based in Syracuse, announced it would pick up the ball and hold an outdoors show next year at this time at the new SRC Arena at Onondaga Community College. But what about this year?

Enter a group of Rochester business owners. With only seven weeks to work on a show, Patti Cartwright of Coral Productions and John Lennox and Norm Wightman of Wight-Ox, LLC, scrambled to deliver an event.

The result is this weekend’s New York Sportsman’s Expo, which kicks off today in the Horticulture Building at the state fairgrounds.

“We got a tremendous amount of feedback from people, folks who didn’t want to see this show die, who didn’t want to miss a year,” she said.

The event will feature more than 100 exhibitors, Cartwright said.

She mentioned that a handful of celebrities will appear, including:

- Haley Heats and her husband, G.O., who star in the family outdoors show “Family Traditions with Haley Heats,” on the Sportsman’s Channel.

- Team Realtree pro staffer Tim Andrus, who regularly appears on the outdoor shows on the Outdoors, ESPN, Versus and Pursuit channels.

- David Genz, known as “Mr. Ice Fishing.”

- Laura Francese, a Buffalo Jill and Martin Archery Girl.

“We’ll have an archery range and a 30-foot rock climbing wall sponsored by the U.S. Army,” she said.

Also on the event schedule is a turkey-calling competition on Saturday (registration starts at 10 a.m., with competition at noon), along with a duck and goose calling contest on Sunday (registration starts at 11 a.m., with competition at 1 p.m.). Both will have entry fees and cash prizes determined by the number of registrants, Cartwright said.

Other highlights include the Northeast Big Buck Club exhibit; retriever dog demonstrations given by Worthington Kennels; a raffle for a Canadian bear-hunting trip worth more than $1,700; a trout fishing pond for the kids; talks/demonstrations by Wildlife Defenders, a group that features a variety of exotic animals; and an area staffed by Thorne Bros, a popular fishing/ice fishing retailer out of Minnesota.

Cost is $9 for adults (13 and up); $4 for ages 6-12; free for 5 and under; $7 for seniors (65 and up); and $6 for police, firemen and military (with ID).

For further information, call 585-254-2580 or see the event's Web site. There’s a $1-off coupon available on the website.

See you there

I’ll be at the New York Sportsman’s Expo from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday. Stop by and say hello. Don’t worry, I won’t bite.

I’m always eager to hear from readers with story ideas related to the outdoors. Also, I welcome feedback on what I’ve done, what I should have done and what I need to get done on this outdoors page.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog