Posts Tagged → ATV
Great American Outdoor Show is under way
The Great American Outdoor Show is under way here in Harrisburg, PA, and I highly recommend that everyone who can visit it before it ends this weekend. It is held at the Farm Show complex between Cameron Street and MaClay Street, which is something like ten or fifteen acres of space. And this show fills that all up with vendors of every sort, visitors, lots and lots of hunting and fishing guides and outfitters (I am not really clear on what the difference is between a guide and an outfitter) from all around the world, hunting dog trials in the arena, hunting how-to demonstrations, calling contests, etc.
Archery, modern firearms from cheap utilitarian to high-end-more-expensive-than-your-car, black powder firearms, knives (t-o-o-o-ns of knives, especially Pakistani-made Damascus blades), survival gear, pickup trucks (Dodge Ram appeared with a huge array of trucks this year), ATVs and UTVs, tractors, rifle slings, handgun holsters, body armor and related “tactical” stuff (some day I am going to explore exactly what “tactical means, because like the vague and abused term “bushcraft” it can mean a lot of different things), dog cages, recreational boats, tons of camouflage clothing, cowboy boots, wool socks, travel trailers (there are some real neat new additions to the sort of “survivalist” doomsday trailer genre), especially the “OverLand” style kit, which turns a pickup truck into a Swiss Army knife of travel comforts neatly packed into a tidy package, log homes, log furniture and cabin decor, wild game cooking classes…I know I am forgetting something.
And in case you have not read this fact before, I am the guy who started the 2013 boycott of the old Reed Exhibitions show, which predated this current show. It started in response to their sudden demand that vendors not display AR15 platform rifles, because of the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting. Our boycott led to the failure of the longstanding Reed show in 2013, which then was taken up by the NRA in 2014. The rest is happy history.
If you do an internet search on this subject, you will find some articles where I was interviewed. My favorite line from those interviews was “The British did not understand us Americans in 1776, and they still don’t understand us in 2012.”
We are in 2025 now, twelve or thirteen years later, and based on things that many British politicians and police are saying about extraditing Americans violating their speech laws, it sure seems the British still do not understand or respect Americans.
If you enjoy any kind of hands-on outdoor recreation, namely hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, boating, then this show is definitely for you. The entrance fee is $15.00 per person per day, although there are probably various discounts and bulk purchases that I do not understand. They are out there if you look.
And if anyone sees famous political activist Scott Presler there, please call me. I am a pathetic groupie of his, and I spent all yesterday looking for Scott, like a lost and sad little puppy. He said he would be at the Great American Outdoor Show…
Great American Outdoor Show is on
This is a fake rhino, not a real one. It’s meant to provide people a realistic trophy without actually killing a living animal
Pro-America, pro-fair elections hats are highly popular with this audience
Right now I’m sitting in a nice old fashioned wooden rocking chair in the Farm Show complex in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, at the Great American Outdoor Show. Been chatting with each successive guy who sits in the rocking chair to my left about every ten minutes. We all agree America is in huge trouble, and we worry about our kids’ future.
Surrounded by “Make My Day Come And Take Them” tee shirts, holsters, every type of firearm accoutrement, custom knives, lots of firearms manufacturers hawking their wares, many NRA staff, the top hunting guides and outfitters in America and Canada, outdoor clothing, RVs, ATVs, boats, boots, bows, trucks, campers, kayaks, anoraks, and exotic stuffed animals both real and fake, I am totally in my element.
If you enjoy the outdoors, and all-America types, this is the place to be. It runs through this coming Sunday, and I hope to see you here.
Hunting/ retrieving dog competition pool
This is the self-proclaimed “Selfie Stand” where visitors are invited to document their visit. So I did
Great American Outdoor Show is in Harrisburg, and it is Fantastic
The Great American Outdoor Show, which used to be called the Eastern Outdoor Show until the former promoter turned anti-gun and tried to block vendors from showcasing their modern sporting rifles, is on and happening in Harrisburg through Sunday.
I have been volunteering a bit for the PA Federation of Sportsman’s Clubs, not nearly as much as I have in the past, but still contributing and selling raffle tickets to friendly people who visit the booth.
Last year the Federation raffled off a Bushmaster AR-15, and this year we are just doing cash. Right now the pot is a few thousand dollars, and by the time the raffle is drawn it’ll be much more. Some of the proceeds go to support the Federation, so it’s a good cause.
I stopped in to visit the Unified Sportsmen booth the other day, but the person I sought was not there and the volunteers were just leaving, but I am looking forward to hearing their perspective on sportsmen’s issues.
The River’s Edge canoe and kayak sales by Neill and Evelyn Andritz sold me on a Hobie kayak. But let me tell you, these kayaks today are not your Nanuk of the North kayaks of old. My friends, these things might as well be on the space shuttle for when our guys find water on Mars, because they are nothing like the sloppy, floppy, tipsy, floating death traps we used to squeeze ourselves into. Today’s Hobie kayak is a blended hybrid, using the best qualities of canoes, surf boards, and kayaks to bring small-craft fishing into the 22nd century. The Mirage Pro Angler 14 and the Mirage Outback were the two I had to choose between in the end, but being a “Big Guy” means that the 600-pound capacity of the Mirage Pro Angler is a must-have.
And beyond the fat-guy-and-all-his-gear capacity, the technical bells and whistles are amazing. Stand-up stabilizing bars, leg-driven flipper drives that look and power like an orca tail, bait coolers, adjustable seats that would be at home in a Maserati, sleek rudder controls you can use with your elbow, hand, or foot, storage lockers running the full length for stashing kit so big you can harpoon the shark of your dreams, rod holders everywhere, holes for masts, and so on.
And all this above is about just one vendor with two small self-powered boats I liked in the Farm Show complex that is loaded to the gills with gear, knives, guns, outfitters from around the world, specialty clothing and footwear, trophy services, archery gear so sophisticated I feel like I am Stone Age when I handle it, RVs, ATVs, camping gear, bug-out survival gear, and so on and on for much more.
The Great American Outdoor Show is worth visiting if for no other reason than to say you went and witnessed one of the wonders of the world. It is the biggest show of its kind in the world, and even if our new governor, Tom Wolf, isn’t interested in attending (incredibly that is true), you definitely should.