Sportsmen’s Expo set to offer a wide variety of activities

Hunters, fishermen and outdoorsmen, this one’s for you.

The International Sportsmen’s Exposition is planned Thursday through Sunday at the Las Vegas Convention Center’s South Hall. The expo is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $12 or free for active military personnel and children 15 or younger. Parking at the convention center is $10.

The event will feature more than 500 booths from more than 350 companies showcasing their products and services.

John Kirk, a spokesman for the expo, said attendees will be able to experience plenty of family-friendly attractions. The expo also partnered with the Nevada Department of Wildlife to provide a youth fair with activities for kids.

The highlight is a 40-foot-long catch-and-release fishing pond with more than 300 pounds of trout filling it. Kirk said instructors will provide fishing rods for kids and teach them to fish for free.

Also at the expo will be fly-tying demonstrations, an animal identification center, a shooting simulator, a rock-climbing wall and a 9,000-square-foot archery range with trees and 3-D targets in the size and shape of real animals.

“(We) combine a variety of outdoor activities at a single place at a single time,” Kirk said. “There’s a huge opportunity for exposure and to bring various people into outdoor pursuits.

“If you’ve never tried archery and you want to, you can. If you want to explore fly-fishing, you can step up to the pond and get a rod and cast a fly for the first time. After you look at or try those various products or sports ... folks can figure out what to do around town after we’ve left.”

This is the event’s second year in Las Vegas and also serves as the annual convention for the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

Mark Holyoak, a spokesman for the foundation, said there are more than 500 chapters around the country. The annual convention, he said, “is an opportunity to draw on and generate more enthusiasm for conservation.”

The foundation has been involved in nearly 200 conservation and outreach projects since 1985 and donated more than $15 million to those efforts, according to its website.

The expo is also to feature music, seminars and competitions — including an elk-calling contest with champions from the past 25 years, Holyoak said.

For more information and a schedule of events, visit sportsexpos.com.

Contact View education reporter Jeff Mosier at jmosier@viewnews.com or 702-224-5524.