World Fishing and Outdoor Expo, Part 2

Wear Some Good Hiking Boots

The World Fishing and Outdoor Expo last weekend was a lot of walking and a lot of fun. I particularly enjoyed the knife booths. There was a rod and gun club there selling old knives, mostly folders -- Bucks, Brownings, Schrades, Victorinox--in other words, the good stuff. I had to be dragged away from fondling them. There was another knife maker there selling Damascus everything--straight razors, skinning knives, swords. The smith was there, and claimed he hand-forged everything himself. Me, I was in the market for a cheap guthook knife. Now, I know--why get a cheap knife? Well, for two reasons. The first is, on occasion, I'm cheap. I try to save my gear money so I can spend money on experiences. The second, and more important reason, is that the knife it was replacing was also cheap. I'd had a bag stolen from me that had my last cheap guthook knife in it, a promotional knife from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, which had probably cost them all of $1.50 when they bought it wholesale. 

The fine folks at Five star Cutlery (307 Cranberry Road, South River, NJ, 848-459-2175) had a big booth there and, while Big Mike was across the aisle, buying  a scope from Blue Grass Optics, I picked up a little guthook skinner. 

I liked the bone (or faux bone) handle, the ridges on the spine, the finger contours and, especially, the shape. It was not their cheapest guthook, but it was under $20, which means if it walks away as well I won't care that much. If they'd had this one in stock I'd have gone for it in a heartbeat:

Now, I'm a turkey hunter, but I'm not a turkey killer. I love Turkey hunting--no: I'm obsessed with turkey hunting--because I've never been successful. Turkeys are not only smart, they will openly mock you. Everybody I know has a story like this one. The very first time I went Turkey Hunting I went to the Great Swamp (go there, for kayaking, hunting, whatever: it's awesome!), I spent all day calling, and the only answering calls I heard were from another hunter. Nothing stirred otherwise. Dejected we drove back to Yonkers, and there on the side of the Saw Mill River Parkway was the biggest wild turkey I've seen, before or since. It was huge. It was standing tall, craning it's neck, watching the cars go by with a lordly air, as though he merely tolerated the presence of all these people and their cars in his forrest.  If we'd swerved we'd have killed him, but of course we couldn't, and I swear, as we went by, the flipped us the human. I've been hooked ever since. The Nassiveras, Ted Sr. and Ted Jr., who own TSN Custom Turkey Calls, had a very nice show special going. They'd gotten in some wood for there push-button calls that was wrong somehow (thickness, density, I don't know) so they'd made a run of simple box calls with it, which they were selling for $10 apiece. 

Seriously: how often do you get a hand made box call from a champion caller for $10?? 

The coolest product I saw at the show, however was the Nockturnal GT strobing arrow, at the Weaknecht Archery booth. 

I'm not the best bow hunter in the world. In fact, I almost never get a shot off. The best shot I've ever taken at a deer, he jumped my string, dropped low, and I fired over his back. I'd have loved to have one of these lit nocks, as I never did locate that arrow. The light switches on using a patented toggle when the arrow is knocked. The strobe effect makes it easy to follow in the air and impossible to loose. It's like having a tracer round for your bow.

That's about it for the sports show. I really had fun, and it was worth the slog through the blizzard.