Shot Show 2013 Impressions

Though certainly not a newbie to the glitz and glam of Vegas, this was my maiden voyage to the Shot Show and when this incredible event is placed against the back drop of the city of sin, you create an overall visceral experience with A LOT of WOW factor. It is difficult to describe the Shot Show in the written word, for it needs to be experienced firsthand to be fully appreciated.

Quite honestly, the immensity or entirety of the experience is overwhelming. My participation was as media presence and I enjoyed getting a chance to meet with different product vendors and see the latest, greatest and newly released hunting products.

As a blogger and publication writer, I was granted permission to attend for this event is not open to the general public. For the writing crowd, Shot week started with a real BANG, with Monday’s festivities that started with tour buses transporting hundreds of us out into the waste lands of the desert to “play” at a titanic sized gun range. Coined “Media Day”, this event had me firing, throwing and operating a wide selection of weaponry including; crossbows, SOG knives and hatchets, 1911 Pistols, Benelli and Browning Shotguns and a mind blowing selection of fully automatic firearms.

Of all of the vendors, most impressive were the individuals from KRISS, their firearms, sales staff, weapons overview and shooting suggestions were spot on. Despite temperatures that hovered around 40 degrees F all day and sustained 30 mph wind speeds with gusts up to 40 mph, all of the vendors were in great spirits and did everything to make participants have a fantastic time.

The fuel for this successful event was surely the food. Lunch was a decadent selection of comfort foods, provided free of charge. Included in this “feast” were pork ribs, chili, mac and cheese, potato salad coleslaw, cookies, brownies and a huge selection of beverages . . . AND thankfully, piping HOT coffee! The lunch tent was a VERY welcomed short escape from the desert weather that attempted to punish us throughout the course of the day and had even this Maine boy glad he brought 3 heavy base layers, wool hat, boots and gloves.

HIGHLIGHT of media day was most certainly seeing Full Metal Jacket drill sergeant, Glock Representative and general tough guy . . . Ronald Lee Ermey!

Monday night found many of us on the social media platform Twitter at a “Tweet-up” or meeting of twitter users at the V-Bar in the Venetian. This laid back drinking hole, promoted an easy to talk atmosphere and wait staff that were amazingly gorgeous. As is usual, the tweet-up participants were a great blend of fun people with unique thoughts, ideas and opinion . . . AND of course there was free alcohol. I met several people I have been following for years and even met a few new “twerps” that I am planning to follow. If you are not on twitter or have never been to a tweet-up, I strongly suggest you do!

Tuesday was pure insanity; the Shot Show floor is 600,000 square feet and covers multiple floors. Slowly wandering around the hunting section alone, took me 5 hours and I still didn’t even come close to seeing all of the companies that were represented. Favorites include the fine ladies at Prois, who work tirelessly to promote more women entering the sport of hunting. Also the infrared/night vision company MODARMORY.com who graciously offered to set me up with their IR technology and video camera for night hunting coyotes this winter season. Our shared hope is that I will be able to capture video of shooting of coyotes that will be posted on their website, my blog and also features in various predator hunting presentations I plan to offer.

After the show closed its doors at 5:30, I was treated to a social event at the bar Lavo in the Venetian Palazzo hosted by tacticalgear.com. These fun events, offer a great way to socialize and make new connections. I could see immediately, that some people are very practiced with this art form, being very good at promoting themselves, their companies, blogs and websites. I have a lot to learn from these well “polished” individuals before Shot Show 2014! It is my sincere hope, that I will be able to return to the Shot Show next year but as with so many things in life, I will need to make that decision when the date moves closer. Maybe what I REALLY need to do is find a SPONSOR!