Guns.com feels a special connection to the Eastern Sports & Outdoor Show, which will run from February 5-13, 2011 at the PA State Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania mostly because one of Harrisburg’s own prodigal sons plays an instrumental role in our writing staff (and will be attending the event this year).
A glimpse at the latest press releases once again promises more manufacturers, more new exhibitors, more attractions and expert guests than ever before. The 2011 Show will feature more than 1,200 of the best outdoor companies & brands, guides, outfitters, retailers, and manufacturers. We have watched the world’s largest outdoor trade show grow steadily year after year and this year will see nearly 300 new companies making an appearance.
Event Director Chris O’Hara said of the Shows gains, “The demand for more manufacturers and new products grows each year, so we had to add a new hall featuring some of these great products. This new hall, called the Archery & Hunting Haven, will offer everyone attending a chance to see more exhibitors, more of the latest archery and hunting gear and expert guests like Chris Brackett and new this year Corey Brossman and Joella Bates.”
Here’s a short list of new attendees and additions:
Manufacturers making their first appearance at the Show:
• Mossberg
• Savage Arms
• Gamo Airguns
• Nosler Custom Guns
• Jim Benton Outdoor Adventures
Exhibitors offering gun sales including:
• Kinseys Outdoors
• East Coast Gun Sales
• Schryver Gun Sales
Contests and events including:
• Predator Calling Contest
• US Open Turkey Calling Contest
• Legal Heat, Conceal Carry Permit Class
Archery & Hunting Haven
• More Archery & Hunting Equipment
• Archery Trick Shoot with Chris Brackett
• Bow Fishing Seminars with Corey Brossman sponsored by Innerloc Broadheads TV Show “Innerloc’s Out There”
• Campbell Cameras… “Filming Your Own Hunts”
Fishing Experience
• Interactive area for all ages and skill levels.
• An all-new Casting Stage and Demo Pool
• Expert Guest Seminars with Pros including Hank Parker and Babe Winkelman, plus local and regional experts
• Bass Pro Hawg Tank
• A Fishing Simulator to test your skills
• Fish filleting and cooking seminars/demos with Professional Chef, Virginia Lazo
• Trout pond fishing for the kids
• Capital City BassMasters Casting Kids competitions on Sunday, Feb. 7th and Sunday, Feb 13th
• Daily fishing lessons for kids and adults provided by Capital City BassMasters
Family Food Specials and Daily Cafeteria Specials
• Daily Cafeteria Specials featuring Pepsi Products and 1,200 seats to relax and enjoy your meal
• Sportsman’s Lounge featuring Wild Game Foods in the NorthWest Hall
• Kids and Family Specials with great family pricing
And, of course, the traditions that you’ve come to expect:
• Chuck Adams
• Randy Oitker
• Fly Casting Demos with Dusty Wissmath and Frank Angelo
• The Bass Pro Hawg Tank
• Deer Butchering with Chef Albert Wutsch
• Sausage & Jerky Making with Rick Fetrow
And this is not even touching the world-class lineup of seminar speakers, which includes some of the biggest celebrities and intellects in the outdoor and shooting arenas.
Here’s a rundown of the Show’s scheduled speakers:
Michael Waddell– Appearing February 5, 6, 9-13
Through his Outdoor Channel shows Bone Collectors, Realtree Roadtrips with Michael Waddell, Hunt Masters, and Turkey Call, Waddell has become one of the most popular and entertaining personalities in hunting world.
Ralph & Vicki Cianciarulo– Appearing February 5 – 13
The Cianciarulos are the husband and wife co-hosts of the award-winning Archer’s Choice and The Choice television shows. Vicki Cianciarulo is credited with taking the largest wild white-tailed deer by a female on camera, with her Colorado buck scoring over 200 inches. She also has numerous black bear, caribou, moose, dall sheep, whitetail, mule deer, antelope, a turkey Grand Slam, and many different African species to her credit. Her history includes outfitting and guiding for both bear and deer, serving on conservation boards and editing and producing television shows.
Ralph Cianciarulo is a well-known international bowhunter, a noted videographer, a seminar speaker, and a TV personality for Outdoor Channel.
Lee & Tiffany Lakosky– Appearing February 5 – 13
Husband and wife hunters, Lee and Tiffany Lakosky, are best known as stars of Getting’ Close–one of the highest-rated shows in outdoor television–and The Crush with Lee & Tiffany.
Chuck Adams– Appearing February 5 – 11
Adams is the world’s best known and most widely published bowhunter, authoring 4,550 magazine articles and 10 full-length books. He appears 25-30 times each year on ESPN, WGN, and TNN television networks and stars on ESPN’s Whitetail Country and Advantage Adventures shows. He is the youngest archer ever inducted into the National Bowhunters Hall of Fame and SCI Bowhunters Hall of Honor.
Chris Brackett– Appearing February 5 – 13
Brackett is the former host of Arrow Affliction and originator of EXTREME AERIAL BOWFISHING. Brackett will hunt anything and is obsessed with all things hunting. His mission is seeking out the latest and best in hunting equipment and techniques and sharing that knowledge with his fellow hunters. He also enjoys showing off his impressive archery skills.
The Benoits– Appearing February 5 – 13
The Benoit brothers will present a new seminar video presentation showing the latest season’s hunts with many tips on how to take big bucks.
Pat Reeve & Nicole Jones– Appearing February 5 – 13
Reeve and Jones are co-hosts of Driven TV on Outdoor. They are driven whitetail hunters who live and breath hunting. Jones has harvested a wide range of impressive animals including countless Pope and Youngs, one Boone & Crockett, a 12-foot alligator, antelope, and many African Species. Reeve has bagged over 50 Pope and Young bucks including the largest typical ever taken by a hunter on professional video, scoring 200 inches Boone and Crockett.
Jim Benton– Appearing February 5 – 13
Benton is host of the new show Chambered for the Wild on the Sportsman Channel, which features big-game hunts from around the globe. He has hunted all species of North American big. Benton has been tested by the frigid ice flows of the Arctic to become the first hunter to harvest two Polar Bears on the same hunt. He has also endured the sweltering heat of the Sonora Desert to hunt wide-racked Mule Deer. Other trips have taken him as far as Zambia to hunt Lion.
Matt Morrett– Appearing February 5 – 13
Morrett has earned five World Champion Friction Turkey Calling titles, five U.S. Open Turkey Calling Championships, and the coveted Grand National Champion title.
Eddie Salter– Appearing February 5 – 8
Salter is currently recognized as one of the countries leading authorities on turkey and deer hunting. He has appeared on ESPN, TNN, Outdoor Channel, numerous hunting videos and recent television commercials for Hunter’s Specialties, Inc. He also has been featured in numerous outdoor magazine articles and radio interviews.
Steve Criner– Appearing February 10 – 13
Criner is a Hunter’s Specialties Pro staff member. He conducts seminars all over the country and films for the Operation Predator video series. He has also been featured on numerous radio and outdoor TV shows such as H.S. Outdoors and Babe Winklemans Outdoor Secrets.
Alan Probst– Appearing February 5 – 13
Alan Probst is one of the best trappers in the county. After running his first trapline at the age of seven, it has been all about the outdoors since. Probst was a Bio-Chemistry Fisheries Science major in college before embarking on a 10-year professional baseball. He is the owner/operator of Alan Probst, Inc., which has produced four outdoor television programs including: North American Trapper, Sportsmens Outdoor Strategies, Hunt Doctor and Hlathini Safari’s African Adventures. Probst has also written professionally for the “Pennsylvania Outdoor Times” and “Outdoors Magazine” on a monthly basis as well as periodic features for other national publications such as “Fur-Fish-Game.”
Joella Bates– Appearing February 5 – 13
Bates is the first woman to take the Big 5 of Africa with a bow and the first bowhunter to take the Big 5 in a single safari. She is the first woman to take a turkey grand slam with only a bow and arrow.
For up to the minute information and a complete schedule of seminar speakers and events visit 2011 Eastern Sports & Outdoors Show website.