Great Alaska Sportsman Show

I know the title says "SportsMAN Show," but wow.

I was flat-out ignored at two gun booths - including the one that employed several women.  But judging from the hot-pink shirts they wore rolled up to show their bellies, I don't think they were there to attract female customers.  That wasn't a huge surprise, as I don't like going to either of those stores for the same reason.

I also stopped by the Ducks Unlimited booth to listen to their spiel on why I should go to their raffle, which pointedly included that they were raffling "things for the ladies too, like weekends in Tuscany!"  When I said I'd rather hear about the guns, I got a rather awkward "...Oh." 

Finally, the gentleman giving the lecture on "Planning Your Hunt" kept making smart comments like "don't let your wife see this part," or "cover your wife's eyes so she doesn't get all mad about the price," and he even included a slide in his powerpoint of an enraged housewife menacing the poor husband with a frying pan.  Talk about not appealing to the female portion of your audience - which was about 1/4, including several of us who were NOT there with our menfolk.

Anyway, all of that aside, it was a very productive day.  The bear skinning class was fantastic, and well worth the entrance fee for the whole show.  I'm now very confident on being able to do everything but the detail work - and I think if I stop by his shop for a few quick pointers, I'll be able to do that, too.  I also had several people come and talk to me about my hunts and wish me luck, which much made up for the earlier irritation.

I didn't come home with any firearms, but I did get a start on building my skinning kit and also picked up a bug repellent system that was on sale and came highly recommended.  Plus, there were korn fritters!