Sportsman's Expo At North Idaho Fairgrounds

The Idaho Wildlife Council has scheduled the ninth annual "North Idaho Sportsman's Expo and Big Game Show" for February 7-8 at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds. Show hours are Saturday, February 7 from 9 a.m.-6 p.m.; and Sunday, February 8 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Cost of admission is $3 for adults, persons under age 12 enter free. In addition to the North Idaho Wildlife Center, the two large fairgrounds exhibit buildings will be used for events and displays. Exhibits and commercial booths will include taxidermy, wildlife art, hunting and fishing equipment. Sportsmen's club members will be present to meet with sportsmen. The Coeur d'Alene Lake Anglers Association will have a fish tank set up and stocked with hatchery trout. Equipment will be provided, and kids can fish for a nominal fee. The North Idaho Hunting Retriever Trial Association will hold retriever demonstrations. A concession stand operated by the Shriners will be available with food and drinks. A kid's casting contest will be held on Saturday that will qualify one local young angler to go on to additional competition. Casting contests on Sunday will be for prizes. The Idaho 4-H shooting trailer will be here for the first time, for youngsters to receive instruction in proper rifle shooting techniques and try their skills with an air rifle. One of the highlights is always the antler/horn display and competition. Fish and Game employees and volunteers will be scoring hunter taken animals using the Boone and Crockett scoring system. There is no charge to enter as many specimens as you like. Anyone with an antlered or horned animal is encouraged to enter it into the show, mounted or not, regardless of year taken. Top scoring entries will receive ribbons and plaques. Specimens previously measured by an official measurer will not be scored again but will be placed on display. Antlers and horns may be dropped off Thursday, February 5 from 5-8 pm, or Friday, February 6 from 4-8pm. They may be picked up at 3 p.m. on Sunday, after people have had the opportunity to enjoy the display. Trophies delivered on Saturday may not be measured depending upon time availability of the scorers. No trophies will be accepted on Sunday. In past years, we have not taken trophies until Friday. People were then disappointed when they arrived to see we had only scored a few of the entries. We are asking that anyone planning to enter will bring specimens in on Thursday of at all possible. That way, we can have many of the entries measured prior to the opening of the show. There is not much is going on to satisfy the outdoor cravings of local sportsmen. With this event comes the opportunity to meet with others of similar interests to re-live the last hunting seasons, while we consider hunting and fishing outings to come. This is always a very enjoyable event. I hope you can attend.