Buckmasters Expo Back in Montgomery By DAVID RAINER
After a two-year hiatus, the Buckmasters Expo is back home in Montgomery, set for a three-day run Aug. 15-17 at the new Renaissance Hotel and Convention Center
“We’re excited about being back home in a brand new facility – a five-star facility with the Renaissance Hotel,” said Buckmasters founder and CEO Jackie Bushman. “Dr. (David) Bronner has done it again and it’s extremely first class.
“It will be completely different from the Buckmasters Expo at the old convention center. We’ve got more floor space in the main hall and we’re excited about that. The main difference is that we had Young Bucks outside, but there’s a parking deck there now, so we’re going to have Young Bucks inside this year.”
When construction on the hotel and renovation of the convention center started, Buckmasters and city officials had hoped to keep the expo in Montgomery. But it quickly became obvious that the project wouldn’t allow it and Buckmasters took the expo to Greensboro, N.C., during the construction period.
“We were basically in touch with the folks in Montgomery right before we left,” Bushman said. “The deal was they were trying to do construction around us, to try to keep in Montgomery. But the construction got so complicated from parking decks to hotels that we all agreed that we should wait to get it built and have it ready before we brought it back.
“Once they said they would have it done, we said we’d be back in 2008. They got it finished and had their first event in February.”
Bushman said there has been a definite buzz in the outdoors community about the expo and said the exhibitor space of 300 booths has been completely sold out.
“The thing I’m most excited about, though, is we got enough help from State Tourism (Alabama Bureau of Tourism & Travel), the mayor (Bobby N. Bright) and local sponsors so we don’t have to charge at the door,” Bushman said. “That’s a formula that worked very well for us in the past. A can of food for the food bank will serve as your ticket. Hopefully people will bring more than one can. The food bank is in desperate need of canned meat. They are only getting 10-15 percent of their needs for meat donated. I think we provided enough food to meet a portion of the needs for 180,000-200,000 meals the last time we were here.”
Some proceeds from the expo and fundraisers will also allow Buckmasters to fund a new program that will honor members of the United States military.
“Another thing we’re doing during the whole weekend and that’s raise money for our new program, ‘Takin’ Heroes Huntin,’” Bushman said. “We’re going to take some wounded soldiers out in the field this fall and next fall. We’ll take money raised at door. If people don’t have canned food, we’ll take donations. We’ll do a drawing and an auction for our life members and whatever money is raised will go to take these heroes hunting.
“We’re working with the U.S. Army, which is one of our sponsors, to help coordinate with the soldiers through our Buckmasters American Deer Foundation. We’ve got adaptive equipment to overcome their disabilities. And we’re going to find places to take them hunting, whether it’s landowners or outfitters or whatever. It’s our way of saying thank you to the troops for their service. The number of soldiers we’ll take will all depend on the money. We have 35-40 banquets nationwide and we’ll try to coordinate with that. It’s in its early stages, and when we have the dollars raised, we’ll figure out what we can do.”
Expo hours are 3-9 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
The Charlie Daniels Band and Johnny Lee will perform for Buckmasters members at the Train Station on Saturday night.
Also scheduled during the weekend is the Top Bow Indoor World Championships.
The Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources will hold a Hunter Education Field Day on Friday, Aug. 15, starting at 5 p.m. Space is limited, so pre-registration is required. For those who have completed the online Alabama Hunter Education program, register at www.outdooralabama.com/hunting/education. Those registered should print and bring the final report of completion to the Field Day.
“New this year is a seminar series,” Bushman said. “We’ve got Fred Eichler of Easton’s Bowhunting TV show. He just completed his grand slam, taking 28 animals with his long bow. We’ll have Lee and Tiffany Lakosky of ‘Scent-Lok’s Gettin’ Close.’ She’s shot more big deer than the so-called experts, with a bow, too. And Michael Waddell (Realtree Road Trips) will be there, too.
“We’re doing a big deal for Life Member night with those four and myself. We’ve got a lot happening and hope everybody will drive up and come see us.”
Bushman said with the development of the riverfront, the expo may become an indoor-outdoor event at some point. Right now, he’s just glad to be back home.
“It’s bigger and better,” Bushman said. “We’ve added a lot of things. We didn’t leave because we wanted to. We had to leave, and now we’re glad to be back.
“And people need to keep in mind that the exhibitors will have all the latest equipment there. This is one of the last shows of the year for these exhibitors, so everybody will be putting stuff on sale. One thing about our show that’s different from other shows is we have the manufacturers there. It’s rare to have them available to talk to and then step across the aisle and buy the product from a local dealer.”
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