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Milwaukee Sports Show

Anyone headed down to the Sports Show at the Fair Park? I'll be there from noon until 4 looking to drum up some business today. If I see any great deals on gear, I will try to post them here.

Annual start to spring. IMO it is not as good as it once was, but still worth the trip every other year. Always good to look at trips and dream. Will be going tonight.

If you happen to pass by booth 614, say hi to friend Capt. Lee and his wife Lisa; they're holding down the fort in the Algoma Chamber of Commerce booth!

I would go just to see Blood Trail, but shacks come off this weekend, and have to put some winter hours in ......

My son and I will be there on Saturday after his soccer practice. This is also an annual stop for us. We attended the Ice Fishing Expo and Musky Expo at State Fair Park this winter.

Haven't been there in years, quit going when it became more of a home improvement/flea market. Is it the same now or did it change for the better? If it has changed, would like to get out this weekend and do something.

I haven't been in about five years. Prefer the Deer and Turkey Expo in Madison.

Was there yesterday. It was something to do but very disappointing. More of a home improvement flea market than ever. I won't go back. Not what it used to be.

My son and I went and still enjoyed it. We bought more bucktails. There really aren't many deals out there gear wise. I like visiting with the people from the resorts that I know. I might be gullible, but I enjoy the shows and it sure does get the blood boiling. I'm ready for the open water to come, of course after tomorrow's hard water outing and next weekend's too...

I went Friday,It was nice time because of the company I was with.

It used to be an incredible show. I remember helping set up a booth for Mac's Archery in the early 70's. The entire Auditorium was the tank show. It ran two shows a day and three on Sat and Sun. The skywalk led to the MECCA where both floors were hunting and fishing outfitters and merchandise. It ran for a week and a half and you could go three or four times and still find something you didn't see before. The Journal/Sentinel cheapened it up. Clients left, and where replaced with boats. The tank show now takes place in a large tub. A fraction of what it all used to be.

Went with my family on Saturday. The show was packed. Enjoyed it very much. The world is different than when sports shows like this one ran for more than a week. Every sporting goods big box store now has seminars, every niche in the outdoors world has a show. I like the Milwaukee show because its fun to walk and see something of everything. Five days or less is what most vendors want these days, anyway. If all you are interested in is archery or bowhunting, obviously you should go to another show. If you want a general show that includes archery and is a family show, this one works for me. The West Town Archery folks had a very nice display and three spots to shoot to variety of products.

IMO the days of shows like this are completely different than they used to be. You used to go see what was new, now with the internet you not only know what's new but you know the best price already. You used to go for outdoor entertainment, now you have 4 outdoor channels on your TV. You used to go for seminars, now Cabelas and BPS have seminars every weekend this time of the year.

This show used to be much longer but the vendors threatened to pull out if they didn't make it shorter. 9 days is a long time to be at a show and it's not cheap to be there. They tried to get me to stay by offering me 1/2 price and then free booth space. That was nice but just the cost of hotels, food and paying people to be there was over $10,000 for 9 days.

Stagtek,

You nailed it. I have very fond memories of my dad taking me to the Sports show as you describe it. The one at the fair is ok but stopped going years ago.

I now take my sons to the Deer & Turkey expo in Madison. We have pictures of them holding black bear and grizzly cubs, something they will always remember. The long walk of buck mounts and the speakers are always informative.

Zinger, there was also an incident that happened in the early nineties. The Journal ran an anti-hunting or gun control article during the sport show they were sponsoring. I know about six or seven vendors pulled out immediately, as a boycott to the article. I believe Buck Rub was one of them.

I stopped going to the Milwaukee Sports Show back when they got rid of the taxidermy competition/exhibit.

Stage, you are right. I worked in the Whitetails Unlimited booth back then and we were one of the groups that stopped attending. But it's more than that. The 10-day shows were a drag. One year I worked Detroit's 10-day Outdoorama, had a few days off and worked Milwaukee's 10-day show. What a long three weeks that was. Glad those days of standing in booths are over. Today I'd never do more than a day here or a day there. Along with some educated members who were a pleasure to talk to, saw some real dandies at the shows back in the 80s and 90s. Learned real quick the difficulty DNR has in trying to educate the public in deer management. Heard a lot of "no deer" talk back then, too! Guess some things never change.

I haven't attended any for 12 years but may go to Madison next month...just down the road. I'm a trad archer so most of these have very little to interest me...but there are a couple items I'd like to see before buy.

As an interesting aside, Bowhunter Magazine's John "Maggie" McGee came to our local club's banquet some time back and I took him to the Madison Expo. He was amazed at the large attendance with no animal rights protesters...said "back home" that would never fly...huntings in good shape here. He also noted the guide/outfitters in attendance and commented that one doesn't want to book hunts thru them...said the guys you wanted don't need to attend shows...they're booked on results. Never thought of that.

Agree more than ever with the Internet that a good guide probably wouldn't need to do sport shows. A couple exceptions might be if the guide wants a tax write-off and enjoys meeting folks/seeing his "regulars" more than once a year, or a new guide with a great area looking for first-time clients.

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