SCI Vegas convention

S

stinkystomper

Guest
I bought my hotel rooms and convention tickets last week for the sci vegas convention. Figured I'd take my wife to the trace adkins and that female country song singers dinners. I'm plannin on having a good time and was wondering if any of you guys were gonna go? I got tickets for the auctions as well. Their gonna auction off a lord derby eland hunt in the CAR as well as a marco pollo sheep hunt. Their also gonna auction off a zambian sable hunt for a high fenced area that has an awesome lodge and some 49 inch type sable. Hopefully one of those hunts will go for cheap and I can get a dream hunt at a great price.

So who else on here is planning on attending? I'm staying at mandalay bay if any of you wanna meet up and go oogle over some dead stuff with me.

BTW the RMEF elk camp convention is in vegas at the exact same time. Soooooooo I bought tickets to that as well along with all their auction dinners lol
 
My friends will be there from Namibia, my son and daughter in law will be there with their film business, and 5 of us will be down to finish booking our hunts and arrange the May PG trip. Staying at the Luxor and will be in the show Friday/Saturday
 
I will be there for Thur and Fri and then the wife is flying down Fri night and we are going to do a few things over the weekend to get her away from the kids for a couple of days. I don't ever book anything for SCI until right beforehand as usually you can get some killer deals on hotels the week of. Or at least that was the case for Reno. LV might be different. Going to study the live auctions carefully this year as I think the economy is not great and some things will go for a steal.
 
My wife and I will be there. Never miss it.

Will be depositing and paying off my 2012 hunts while there.

------------------
DRSS
 
Hey Stinky, or any of you other guys:
Can you give us an idea of what goes on at the convention. I checked out the SCI website and saw the entertainment lineup, but what do you do day to day? I assume you walk around the giant LV convention center and check out the latest and greatest in gear, meet outfitters, drool on guns, etc. Is that the idea?
I'm not sure I could pull off 4 days, but maybe the Fri/Sat.
Thanks for your input.
 
It is thousands of booths with outfitters, gear vendors, custom rifles, live auctions, silent auctions. people people and more people. I just go and roam for two days and call it good. I have met some many neat people and people I will hunt with in the future. The taxidermy displays are totally amazing as well. I go every year that I get a chance even if I have no intention of booking anything.
 
There is more free info and literature than you can read in a month, all the latest firearms and bullet catalogs, the outfitters are all willing to chat and visit even if you're not able to book anything yet, there are awesome display videos to watch in most booths, and trophy wives and girlfriends out the gazoo! Good sale prices on a lot of equipment also.
 
like has already been said. if you study the auctions you can get some steals. im gonna spend a lot of time at auctions and hope that i can get a good deal. however my business is in the oilfield and the texas new mexico area is booming right now and ive heard a lot of oil guys talk about dropping some serious dough in africa this year so ya never know. heck they even have thermal vision they are going to auction off. im definitely going to try and pick up the higher quality flir on the block.

does anyone know how far in advance they print the actual auction agendas. the website isnt the best help right now.
 
The SCI convention is quite an event, but also quite expensive to attend. Entrance fees are outrageous. You will rarely, if ever, see such a large display of double rifles and high end safari rifles, along with countless outfitters, brokers, etc.

I have not personally found the SCi convention to be a very friendly atmosphere for the avearage hunter. So much is geared toward the wealthy hunter after $100K+ full bag safaris that it is easy to get lost in the hubbub. I have gotten very tired of the atmosphere and stopped going to SCI. Now if you like to watch the trophy wives in leopard skin leotards hanging on the arms of old men two to three times their age, then this is the place. You will see more fur, tuxedos, and high class hookers than in any other hunting convention in the country.

In order to get my Africa hunting convention fix, I now atend the DSC convention each year instead. While many of the outfitters are the same, the atmosphere is so entirely different that it is refreshing. I really enjoy the hospitality in Dallas, and the entire show is family friendly and really pleasant. I'm glad I saw the spectacle that SCI has become, but now prefere to spend my time and money with the good folks at DSC.

Bill
 
I have not been to DSC but I will diagree with llamapacker. I am just an average guy who has been to Africa once, CA a couple of times and AK a couple of times. I absolutely love SCI. Yes it is for the expensive hunts for those people but I have met some absolutely amazing people that are just like me. I have gone to dinner with several of them even. It is what you make it. I wander aimlessly and love it. I love to see 100k guns, taxidermy mounts are unreal and yes the eye candy is great as well. I can hardly wait to go.
 
My wife and I will be there. Already booked at Mandalay. It should be a good time in Vegas. I know the outfitters are not happy about it not being in Reno, but it will definitely make getting there easier. We are going to try to make the Dallas show this year for the first time.
 
Why are the outfitters not happy about it? The ones I have talked to are ecstatic. Easier travel. More things to do; more places to stay, etc, etc.
 
crap, woodruff can you please delete all the comments about arm candy and hot women before my wife sees them. You guys are gonna get my trip canned.

I've never been to sci and hope its not the snooty type of convention. I'm a pretty regular guy I think and hope I'm not dealing with the super wealthy better than thou guys. Heck I'm really just hoping to find a safari deal to add onto my sable and leopard hunt for next year and am not about to get into a pissing contest with some idiot because he wants to show everyone how rich he is.

I will plan on it being a fun time and if its not then I will just leave and walk down the street to the RMEF national convention. If any of you want to get together just ask the front desk at mandalay bay for my room number and stop by any time. BTW my name is Tony Pennington
 
Most are not happy because Vegas is so big and so much to do. In Reno it is easy for The outfitters to mingle at the bars & restuarants like Rum Bullions because everyone is confined to just a few places. In Reno You can tell everyone is in town for the show & in Vegas you won't even be able to tell SCI is in town except in Mandalay Bay. Plus they scheduled it during Superbowl weekend so everything is going to be packed. I like it better in Vegas and so will most of the people attending, but for the vendors Reno is a better location.
 
Don't forget the seminars. I've moderated SCI's "Your First African Safari" for 23 years and it continues to draw 250-300 members every year. Our panelists are the top people in their fields of expertise. In 2012, they'll be:

Craig Boddington, speaking on firearms and ammo choices for Africa.

Johan Calitz, on what your outfiter/PH expects from you, and what you should expect from them.

Beverly Wunderlich, telling why it pays to book your safari through a registered booking agent.

Jack Atcheson, Jr., on what to do to ensure the best mounts on your wall and how to get your trophies shipped home.

Ludo Wurfbain, publisher of Sports Afield and owner of Safari Press, on what to read before, during and after your safari.

There's a question and answer period after each presentation.

The seminar will be held Thursday morning from 11 to noon. Check your registration materials for location.

Hope to see you there.

Bill Quimby
 
What are peoples thoughts on the price of the auction hunts? I keep thinking that overall things will be down as the economy is just not strong and people are scared. I am going to be watching a few of the auction hunts for sure and hopefully steal one from an outfitter that I already had a high interest level in.
 
Booked my hotel and it was $45.00 per night at the Excalibur for Wed and Thur night. I was shocked so cheap. Booked my plane ticket for $139 roundtrip. Great prices I thought.

I was surprised on the pricing where it is Super Bowl weekend.
 
LAST EDITED ON Nov-09-11 AT 02:06PM (MST)[p]>What are peoples thoughts on the
>price of the auction hunts?
>I keep thinking that overall
>things will be down as
>the economy is just not
>strong and people are scared.
>I am going to be
>watching a few of the
>auction hunts for sure and
>hopefully steal one from an
>outfitter that I already had
>a high interest level in.
>
I agree, the Outfitters have been hurting the last few years. I know a couple of South African Outfitters who won't be coming to the States this trade show Season at all, due to lack of funds. I think you will find some amazing deals there!

If they are not selling hunts, they have no choice, but to drop their prices.

Best of Luck,
Jeff
http://www.elkmtngear.com
 

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