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Trade and boat show features all things outdoors

by: andrea hahn
the southern

Sunday, January 8, 2006 12:24 AM CST

MARION - The first thing a person hears when walking into the International Outdoor Trade and Boat Show at the Williamson County Pavilion is a bunch of geese.

Not a flock - they aren't real geese. They are contestants in the International Goose Calling Invitational, which has been held in Southern Illinois for 10 years.

When a person walks farther into the main expo area, the event becomes a shopping extravaganza. And at this one, the wives sit and wait (some of them) and the husbands get the credit card and the got-to-shop eyes.

Chad Irvin, of Sesser, was shopping for some new camouflage. He was accompanied by girlfriend Ursula Medveczky, of Sesser, and his three children, Dakota, 11, Breanna, 8, and Cheyenne, 1. Ursula was already decked out in a new-looking camo jacket. Chad was going for the head-to-toe camo look.

"We came here looking for some deals," he said. "They sure got enough of them."

Dakota already hunts with his father, and Breanna said she'd like to try it - "If I can sit still and not talk for long enough," she said. The Irvins usually hunt at Rend Lake, since Chad knows the territory. However, he said, he is looking to branch out to other areas in Southern Illinois and see what the hunting is like on other waterways.

"We tried to hunt this morning, but we couldn't call anything in. So we came here," he said, before wandering off to look at more camouflage.

Dennis Prince of Carterville was representing Jackson County Ducks Unlimited at the show. It's the first year the conservation group has attended the show, though they have put in appearances at other Southern Illinois outdoor living events.

Prince said the national organization raised about $187 million last year, 87% of which went directly into waterfowl habitat restoration. Southern Illinois has seen money raised come back home as Ducks Unlimited has purchased, donated or helped restore areas in Randolph County near the Mississippi River and the Cache River State Natural Area in Johnson and Pulaski counties.

Prince said migration patterns have changed, bringing fewer ducks and geese to Southern Illinois than in decades past. However, he said, waterfowl hunting is still a vital part of the Southern Illinois hunting culture.

"I deer hunt and waterfowl hunt," he said. "I like them both. I don't really like one better than the other. There may be more excitement in waterfowl hunting because you are always seeing birds. There is more sitting and waiting in deer hunting."

Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge Park Ranger Kaila Tyner said the show gives the refuge a chance to introduce itself to area hunters who may not be familiar with everything the refuge has to offer.

"We have a controlled goose hunt, and I've been getting a lot of questions about it, and I've been handing out a lot of maps," she said. "I think this show brings a lot of northern hunters down here - maybe not from really far north, but from farther north than we usually see."

Tyner said the waterfowl numbers have diminished at the refuge as well as the rest of the state, but said hunters still seem to be satisfied with their hunting experience.

"We have people who come every year for 30 years. And then it's word of mouth," she said.

Tyner said field guides from the refuge's wildlife store seem to be big hits at the outdoor show. Some of them may be hard to find in general bookstores, she said.

The big item at the boat show, of course, is boats. From the fancy bass boat with glittery paint to the low-profile starter bass boat, there is everything to make a waterfowl hunter or bass fisherman suffer from boat envy.

Representatives of Lake Shore Boats and Motors in Mount Vernon said there aren't a lot of out-the-door sales generated on the floor of the show. However, they hope the exposure and the opportunity to comparison shop will bring customers back.

The trade show continues today from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

andrea.hahn@thesouthern.com

(618) 529-5454 ext. 15076