The fourth annual NRA Great American Hunting and Outdoor Show will be held at the Frederick Fairgrounds E-ventplex in Frederick, Md., Jan. 25-27, 2013. The event has added vendors this year and all 200 booths at the E-ventplex are expected to be filled.
Vendors will offer all types of hunting gear, guns, optics, calls, knives, sporting art, archery and fishing tackle, outdoor clothing and more. You can book trips on the spot with guides, outfitters, and fishing charters and talk with superb taxidermists.
Staff from www.NRAhuntersrights.org will be on hand to discuss hunters’ rights issues, and we’ll be giving away a Henry lever action youth .22 rifle courtesy of Henry Repeating Arms Co.
While the vendor exhibits are the main draw, the show will also feature an impressive lineup of seminar speakers. Returning for 2013 are Pat Nolan of Ponderosa Kennels, who will be talking about retriever training, and Ken Penrod, one of the East Coast’s top fishing guides for rockfish, smallmouth and largemouth bass in the waters of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. More speakers may be booked before the show opens—check http://www.nrahuntingshow.org/ for updates.
Also on display will be some of the best mounts from NRA’s Great American Whitetail Collection, a mind-blowing group of the largest and highest-scoring whitetails in the world.
In addition to exhibiting some of the largest whitetail racks in the world, the show will again feature the NRA Mason/Dixon Big Buck Contest, where any paying attendee can enter a buck free of charge. Any antlered deer (whitetail, Coues, mule or sika) taken in North America will be accepted with a valid field or check tag attached to the mount, although sheds will not be accepted. All deer will be scored, but only free-ranging deer will be eligible for awards. Following judging and evaluation, awards will be presented for the top state entries in both the typical and non-typical categories. Top entries in the youth and women’s categories will also be awarded.
“The NRA Mason/Dixon Big Buck Contest is a great way for hunters to compare their whitetail trophies to others from surrounding communities,” said Bob Davis, manager of NRA’s Hunter Services Department. “They also have the opportunity to see how their harvest stacks up against mounts from the Great American Whitetail Collection.”
Many NRA staff members will be on hand at the show to answer questions and distribute information on programs such as Women On Target and NRA Instructor Certification.
General admission to the show is $10, but NRA members can get in for just $8 when they present their valid membership card. Visitors can also join or renew their NRA membership on site for only $35 and receive a free weekend pass to the show. Children age 9 and under receive free admission. Kids can take part in the NRA Li’l Hunter Scavenger Hunt and the NRA Laser Shot System.
For the most up to date information on the show, visit: www.nrahuntingshow.org.
