Hunting is Conservation at 2017 DSC Show, Jan. 5-8

The Dallas Safari Club’s (DSC) Adventure Convention & Sporting Expo, Jan. 5-8, opened this morning at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas in the name of hunting and wildlife conservation. As I entered the exhibit hall, two things were immediately clear:

• There isn't nearly enough time to see and do everything.
• I need to make more money!

Appropriately named the “Adventure Convention,” the DSC show is set to draw 50,000-plus hunters and offers something for everyone, starting with 1,800-plus booths. Search out the hundreds of hunting and fishing outfitters from A to Z, literally, representing everything from Alaska to Zimbabwe. Check out some of the world’s best taxidermists. Visit with gunmakers, archery and ammunition makers, equipment manufacturers and trade associations starting with the NRA.

Or maybe you just want to bring the great outdoors indoors. Peruse booths packed with artwork, collectibles and custom gifts. Or redecorate the home, thanks to the home-furnishings companies displaying everything from rustic to elegant antler chandeliers and hand-crafted furniture. And for us ladies, did I mention there are multiple jewelry exhibitors and three furriers on hand?

Just as important, spend a few hours building your skills by attending one of many DSC seminars such as: African Tips for Trips, Improving Your Wingshooting with New HD ShotKam Footage, Fierce Fishes of the Amazon, Packing and Planning Tips For Your Next International Hunt, Hunting Coues Deer, Managing Wildlife & Property Through Food Plots and Advanced Reloading.

On a more serious note regarding seminars, every hunter is concerned with the future of hunting and wildlife conservation, which is what this NRA Hunters’ Leadership Forum website—NRAHLF.org—is all about. There are three seminars, in particular, that I will attend: Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD): The Sky is Not Falling, presented by Dr. James Kroll, a biologist I met a good 20 years ago at a stop along the NRA Great American Hunters’ Tour; Carter’s W.A.R. (Wild Animal Response)—Season 2, presented by Ivan Carter as he fights against Africa’s heavily-armed poachers; and Lethal Compassion: Defend Hunting Better by Analyzing the Minds and Motives of the Anti-Hunter presented by NRAHLF.org contributor Michael Sabbeth.

By the way, if money were no object, I have the Alaska bug these days—Don’t we all?—I already would have booked a dall sheep hunt with Vast Alaska and a Kodiak bear hunt with Adventure Mountain Hunts (AMH). You can’t miss the 10.5-foot Kodiak bear on display in the booth. (For perspective on its size, check out how huge its paw is compared to a 6-inch dollar bill.) And for some overseas adventure, I’d already be signed up with Trophy Hunting Spain for ibex and then, of course, Africa always calls.

Clearly, I need more money. Fortunately for us hunter-gatherer adventure types, the annual DSC show is a fun place for the entire family simply to enjoy each other’s company, share our stories and dream. For more info on the DSC show, call 800-9GO-HUNT or email [email protected].