Deer & Turkey Expo

I'm playing catch-up this week, so I'm going back to Saturday to talk about our visit to the Minnesota Deer & Turkey Expo over in Owatonna, Minnesota. (there will be some hunting references in this post, so if you're not a fan of hunting you will want to skip this post)

This was a pretty big show and had many interesting seminars mostly relating to deer and turkey hunting. Mr. Johnson had a list of seminars he wanted to attend. Here's a picture of him studying his schedule to determine where his next seminar was being held.

There were a lot of guys in camouflage jackets at this expo. I have a real hard time at events like this because I'll be walking along and then start talking to the guy in camo right behind me, only to turn around and find it's a complete stranger and not Mr. Johnson at all!

I was anxious to hear my friend Michele (you remember--chickie mama from last week?) give her talk about her Arctic bowhunting adventure from last spring. Michele does a lot of bowhunting all over North America and she's also a huge advocate for getting more women and children into bowhunting. When I started bowhunting, she was the first woman bowhunter I had ever met. She was so helpful and supportive of my efforts. It was one thing for me to have a guy teach me how to shoot a bow or learn about deer and their habits in the woods, but I truly think when it comes down to actually "shooting" that deer, women look at in a totally different way than men do. Anyway, before I digress any further, I need to get back on track here.

Michele is on the Mathews Bow Company Pro Staff. Here's a picture of us together.

Here's a picture of Michele preparing for her talk.

There were several younger kids there and it gave Michele a chance to talk to the kids and emphasize to their parents about how the future of hunting is in the hands of parents and other adults who will take the time to share this experience in a positive way with kids.

Here are some pictures Michele shared from her Arctic bowhunting adventure.

They had to travel across the pack ice on these big sleds.

Some of the trip also involved travel with dogsleds. Michele is a big dog lover, so she had lots of pictures of these hard working dogs.

Here's one of the little tents they slept in. I just kind of shook my head and chuckled when Michele shared this story, because I'm definitely a wussy compared to her (fair weather and above freezing is about the only weather I hunt in!)

Another benefit of attending this show was that we found some really great new chairs to sit on while we're turkey hunting from the blind. Dean Redmann of Innovating Dreams, LLC has invented the Comfort Hunter chair.

We met Dean at this show and he showed us all the great features of his neat little chair: folds up and is easy to carry like a backpack, adjustable legs, an adjustable seat that swivels, and sturdy enough to support a full-figured woman like me, but the thing that really sold me--it reclines! So if the turkeys are a no-show during my hunting season, at least I won't have to relax on the ground this year (like last year).

This is a really neat little chair and I can see it going along with me on birding hikes too--wouldn't this be so much nicer than sitting on the ground or a stump? And how about that reclining feature for hawk watching?