Now that the Harrisburg (Eastern, Sports & Outdoor Show) show was cancelled, a good number of those exhibitors have signed on to appear at the Greater Philadelphia Outdoor Sports Show set to open Feb. 14-17 at the Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks (Montgomery County), Pa.
With over 200,000 square feet of space, the show will feature the gamut of fishing, hunting, camping, paddle sport equipment and outfitters. In addition, there will be boats, motors, RV’s, ATVs and other sports vehicles.
Tackle companies displaying include Shimano, Daiwa, Quantum, St. Croix, Okuma, TFO, G. Loomis, Rapala plus smaller tackle makers whose wares are only found at sportsmen’s show at this.
If you’re an avid bass angler, sign up for Bass University to learn from the pro’s like Davey Hite and Paul Elias (register at www.bassuniversity.com and get free admission to the show).
Other attractions include the American Fly Fishing School with a casting pool, Myles Keller, legendary bowhunter and member of Bowhunters Hall of Fame, Dave Dudley, Mark Menendez, Blaine Mengel, Capt. Brian Immekus, Capt. Dan Hubbard, Mike Accord and Chris Gorsuch, all seasoned sportsmen who will give fishing and hunting seminars.
On the hunting side, Leigh and Travis Creekbaum (hosts of “The Chase” airing on the Sportman’s Channel), Pennsylvania outdoor writers Tom Tatum and Freddie McKnight will share local hunting knowledge.
Family entertainment includes Wolves of the World, an amazing show featuring a pack of live wolves on the Ford Stage and the only traveling wolf pack in the U.S. Learn how the Sandlofer family rescued these wolves and how they interact. The Sandlofer’s will explain the history of wolves, how they’ve been misunderstood and the conservation efforts in place to help ensure the call of the wild will endure. They’ll be seen climbing ladders, walking across planks, performing leaps from a standstill, jumping through hoops, rolling barrels and more. At the end of the show select audience members will be invited into the wolves’ habitat to watch them being fed.
There will also be live raptor presentations, gun dog retriever demonstrations, a fishing simulator, trout pond, live red deer, a marionette show and other family attractions.
If you’re a fresh or saltwater angler, don’t miss underwater cinematographer Mike Laptew give his “World’s Most Amazing Fishing Video” show. I have two of Mike’s underwater trout videos and they are superb and informative. For this show he’ll show fish in their environment like schools of giant stripers, blitzing bluefish, feeding fluke, tog, flounder and false albacore doing their natural underwater thing.
For turkey and deer hunters Lane Benoit will talk turkey while Peter Fiduccia will share his deer knowledge and offer hunting tips.
There will be cooking demonstrations, seminars on kayak fishing, eastern predator hunting, NJ jetty fishing, shad fishing, poppers for bluefins, all offering multiple shows throughout the four show days. To see this extensive list check www.sportsshow.com and select the Philly show in Oaks. The site will also give driving directions.
Show hours are Feb. 14, 1:00 p.m. – 9 p.m.; Feb. 15, 12:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.; Feb. 16, 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.; and Feb. 17, 10 a.m, – 5 p.m. Admission is $12 for adults, $3 for children 5-11 while kids under 5 are free. Tickets may be purchased online at the above web address.
To automatically receive outdoor news and views from Nick Hromiak, click on the “Subscribe” notation on this page.
Comments