GARDEN CITY, Idaho — Expo Idaho was hopping on Saturday for the third day of the Idaho Sportsman Show. This annual event will have its final day on Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
The show brings together all kinds of vendors where event-goers can find the latest in gear and technology. The event also highlights conservation, with representatives from Idaho Fish and Game, the Forest Service and BLM.
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The Idaho Sportshow also features a wide range of demonstrations from hunting dog demos, to a kids' archery shoot and we even caught up with Grinz N Finz, who showed what bowfishing is all about while giving people a chance to shoot a bow from a boat.
"When they are on the run, and you hit a fish, I still get chills," said Travis Oviatt, who runs this business with his wife. "It is so cool to see your arrow take off and disappear in the deep water, like I got it."
Grinz N Finz have been taking people out on the Snake River for six years.
When it's dark outside, the boat uses a variety of different lights to illuminate the water, giving people an opportunity to shoot up invasive species of fish, including the butterfly carp.
The annual expo serves as an educational opportunity for many outdoors enthusiasts and their families.
"Those are a mix between a koi and a carp, and that's what fishermen from all over hire us for," said Oviatt, who enjoyed his day of demonstration at the Idaho Sportsman Show. "That’s our main passion; we don’t make a lot of money doing this, but I love teaching."
The show also allows hunters and anglers to visit with vendors and find that bucket list adventure.
Several outfitters from Idaho come to the show, but patrons will also find guides from across the nation and even across the world, like Darryn Van Zyl from South Africa.
"Our family ranch has been coming to this show for 31-years now," said Van Zyl of Mount Carmel Safaris. "It’s a great show for us, we have a lot of clients and a lot of friends."
While we were at the booth, we met a local who has gone on several hunts with Mount Carmel, who has a private ranch in the most northern province of South Africa, with 30,000 acres available to hunt.
"We have 30 different species of game on our property, so it is unbelievable, the experience you have is in another league," said Van Zyl. "Every year, we have about ten groups from Boise that come visit us."
The Idaho Sportsman Show continues on Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Tickets cost eight dollars for adults, seniors pay seven dollars and children 12-and-under get in free.
