Did any of yall attend the expo in waco? If so what did you think about it.

I attended on Friday. It was okay. I saw two talks, one by guess and the other by the folks from Jaeger Pro. The vendors were not terribly numerous and there wasn't a lot that I would have thought was new, innovative, or unexpected. The hall in which it was held wasn't that large and a goodly chunk of space was occupied by two helicopters from competing heli-hunting outfits. The helicopters seemed to be a waste of space. I understand why they were there, but they didn't do anything and there wasn't much focus on them.

Attendance was light on Friday. You certainly got to chat as long as you wanted/needed with vendors and that was nice.

The talks I saw were interesting. guess' talk was very interesting and guess gives a dynamic talk. The JaegerPro talk was just weird. The guy has a neat operation and a neat plan for removing hogs in large numbers, but said some really bizarre things during the talk that just didn't make sense and did so repeatedly.

While there was several vendors with NV gear, but it was a lot of the limited selection of NV gear that you would expect to see for the most part. I was disappointed in that regard. I was hoping to see new or innovative NV gear and it just wasn't there. They had good stuff, don't get me wrong, but stuff I had seen before.

If it wasn't for the talks and chatting with people I knew, the whole thing could have been done in an hour. A person with a lot of questions could have spent more time with vendors, of course. It just depends on your needs.

We were there all weekend and enjoyed it. Had some good times with good friends and mad a ton of new friends. This is the second yr for the Expo and it grew from last yr. Looks like it's Ken and Jeff are going to bring it back to Waco next yr, so you can bet it will continue to get bigger and better each yr. If any of you guys and gals enjoy the art of hand calling predators you need to make plans on visiting the expo and calling contest next yr. I competed in the contest this yr and went home with a 4th place finish in the a World Calling Competition. There was some awesome callers in the contest this yr and fully expect it to get harder next yr.

I was there saturday afternoon. Several vendors didnt have things to sell, just displays. They told me I'd have to find a local dealor or buy on-line. I personally think last years show was better. They didnt have helicopters taking up half the expo and had more vendors

I thought the helicopters were a nice touch, but I did expect more vendors and such. Considering its only the second year I'd say it was pretty good but they need to advertise more. I have several family members that live in Waco that knew nothing about the show until I told them. And I would have not know about it if Glenn had not posted it up.

I was also there Saturday. Had a great time visiting with some old friends from around the country. Got some good info on products but the main kicker was the NV dealers near the front entrance. I jumped the gun on my NV 2 weeks ago. One dealer had the new FLIR RS32 and made me one heck of a deal. Thinking of selling my ATN GEN 3. Also had the pleasure of dining with Gerald Stewart and Randy Watson Saturday evening.

I was down there Saturday early afternoon. I went down to make contacts with a few of the big wheels in the industry trying to round up more sponsors for our Youth Varmint Hunts. On that end we were VERY successful! I would say that this being the first year I've gone I expected to see a few more booths with vendors selling stuff but it was pretty good. Was able to see some stuff that I hadn't seen before and will probably been spending some $$$ soon because of going

I don't know that I would drive down there every year, but I might go every other year. My parents live there so it was a good excuse to go see them while I was down there, plus the new Cabela's is there. It wasn't very big but it was still pretty nice.

I've always wanted to go, but that is a heck of a long drive and a lot of time that I just don't have. I'm glad it went well though.

No new info on the atn x sight?

The World Predator Expo dropped off the radar over on Predator Master Forum, almost no promotion at all compared to the last year. Seems that they might have been a little disgusted with the Expo organizers not being paid sponsors over there. I figure that cost some in the attendance figures.

I talked to Tyler at UNV last week and he said the last he heard, it was still going to be in April sometime. With such a high demand just for preorders, I hope they make enough. I ordered mine almost 3 months ago, back when mid-late March was the eta.

The only hunting Forum booth was Predator Posse. What's up with that?? Was good to see Bob, Benny and a few others

I'll say it wasnt a bad show but it could a lot bigger. Maybe more quality vendors and maybe a predator contest will draw folks. Maybe have it during predator season. All the contests and most predator hunting is over till fall.

Have a gun show along with it.

I thought it was pretty good. My wife decided for me to drop some Money on the eagle night site so she can use it. And I picked up a leafy suit from Jeff Thompson. I will still go again next year.

I am glad all you guys were able to attend, I was one of the vendors there with Insights Wildlife Nutrition.
I had a great show, I took some products Friday what I thought I would sell during whole show. I sold out of Hog Products in 3 hours Friday. Called an had more delivered Saturday morning, 2x as much, I sold out that day. Had about the same delivered Sunday morning, rain was a setback, but still sold a lot that day . It was interesting being on the vendor side an hearing the stories, you would think all those vendors were on there last dollar. LOL

All in all, I had a blast. I met some really good contacts an new clients to come hunt this fall. I was amazed by some products an just shook my head at others, sometimes you just want to say ( That's a bunch of CRAP!)

If anyone is interested in our Hog Line of Attractants, look up insightsnutrition.com .

Thanks all the sales gentleman.

All-in-all the Waco show was a success.....the crowd could've been bigger but we made a lot of great contacts.

As far as NV/thermal optics go, we tried to bring several new thermal products to the show...like the COTI, FLIR RS-32, FLIR RS-64 and the IR-Hunter from IR-Defense. We also demonstrated all of these units on Saturday night, in the park, across the river from the Convention Center...after a free BBQ meal that we sponsored, along with Lightforce, Nightforce and Scurry Outdoor South.

In addition to the new optics, we also featured the TuskIR384 from Summit Night Vision group...a great scope with a ton of features.

We also had a full line of suppressors and integrally suppressed firearms from Cottonwood Armory, Keechi Creek Arms and SilencerCo, like the new Harvestor30....a 30 cal suppressor, rated for a .300 Win Mag, that only weighs 11.3 oz.

We were fortunate and had a great weekend. If you missed out on the show or the live demo, we still have plenty of scopes in stock and can arrange some "after-the-show" discounts!

Thanks for your support!

Hey Clark -

What is the ETA on the IR Shooter Digital NV scope and what will the display and vid output specs be?

Is the heart of the system based on EBAPS?

.....Based on Intevac's patented Electron Bombarded Active Pixel Sensor (EBAPS) design for extreme low-light level detection, NightVista M611 is a small footprint digital image intensified (DI2) cameras and sensor module designed for daylight, low light or night imaging missions....

Thanks,

Ben

Ben,

They are expecting to ship in May....we are taking "pre-release" orders now.

The specs on the IR Hunter are very similar to the FLIR RS line....with a 320x240 and a 640x480 unit. The entry unit, however, is 160x120 (as opposed to the 240x160 from FLIR)

They plan on offering the following resolution/lens options:

160x120 20mm - 2x optical 4x digital
320x240 20mm - 2x optical 8x digital
320x240 35mm - 3x optical 12x digital
320x240 50mm - 5x optical 20x digital
640x480 20mm - 1x optical 8x digital
640x480 35mm - 1.5x optical 12x digital
640x480 50mm - 2.5x optical 20x digital

The price points are also very similar to the FLIR line...with MSRP starting at $3995 and topping out at $8995. (FLIR is $3495-$8995)

They also plan offer the scope with 2 eyepiece options...an ocular eyepiece (for use as a dedicated weapon sight) and an optional collimating eyepiece (for use as a thermal clip-on in front of your daytime scope).

Give me a shout if you have any questions. Thanks.

Ben,

Either I mis-read your ealier post or it was edited after I responded....sorry.

The scope that I mentioned in my earlier post was the new thermal weapon sight, the IR Hunter, from IR Defense. You apparently were asking about the "IR Shooter Digital NV scope".... I don't have any info about that one...sorry.

I appreciate everyone that came out to the show. With this being our second year, we were quite pleased with the attendance but as always we would love to see more come through the door. Keep in mind, this is not a TTH Extravaganza and will never be. This show is predator and wild hog specific and will have its growing challenges as it moves forward. In hope that everyone will keep checking up for next years event.

Thanks,

SOS KEN

I enjoyed the show it was HFACs second year, my first. We met some great people and tremendous connection for moving the ministry foward.

We had a great raffle and gave away a dozen prizes and raised $1,000 for "Hogs for a Cause"

Many thanks to Scurry Ourdoors South for inviting us. We will be back next year.

Dave

Do yall think the show would grow if you added a predator hunt contest?
And maybe a hunting rig contest.

Ken Scurry said they are going to work on adding a hog and predator hunt in conjuction with the show.

Weigh-in would be interesting!.....practically across the street from Baylor!