• Jan. 27-29th
• Fri 2-9, Sat 9-7, Sun 9-5
• As always, the Huntin’ Time Expo has FREE PARKING all weekend long, with easy entrance and exits
• Regular admission is $10, kids 7-12 years old are half off, adults 70+ are half off, and kids 6 and under are free
• All kids are FREE on Sunday

GET YOUR $1 OFF COUPONS in:

Advance Newspapers

Michigan’s Woods N Water News

Michigan Outdoor News

Also keep an eye on our Facebook page for free ticket giveaways!

http://www.facebook.com/HuntingTimeExpo

Friday, January 27th

4:00      Ed Spinazzola (QDMA)

Food Plot Cover & Site Layouts

5:15      Tony LaPratt  (Whitetail Boot Camp)

Maximizing Your Property Potential for Bigger Bucks

6:30      * Town Hall Meeting * QDMA /  MDNR

Russ Mason (DNR Wildlife Chief) / Tony Smith (QDMA)

A Private Public partnership for bigger bucks

Saturday January 28th

10:30   Dean Stratton (Stratton Game calls)

The Art of Calling Game and Predators

11:45   Greg Abbas  (A-way Hunting Products)

Exploiting a Gobbler’s Weaknesses and Habits

1:00    Tony LaPratt  (Whitetail Boot Camp)

Maximizing Your Property Potential for Bigger Bucks

2:15     Ed Spinazzola, (QDMA)

Food Plot Cover & Site Layouts

3:30     Fred Abbas  (Away Hunting Products)

Secrets of Mock Scrapes, The Deadliest Tactic of All”

4:30     Jason Herbert (Outdoor Writer / Speaker)

Tactical Turkey Hunting

6:00     Q-1 Video

Big Buck Pole Banquet  (Invitation Only)

Sunday January 29th

10:00   Dean Stratton (Stratton Game calls)

The Art of Calling Game and Predators

11:15  Fred Abbas  (A-Way Hunting Products)

Secrets of Mock Scrapes , The Deadliest Tactic of All”

12:15   Ed Spinazzola, (QDMA)

Food Plot Cover & Site Layouts

interesting article in the Detroit Free Press recently

http://www.freep.com/article/20111222/NEWS06/112220521/1118/RSS

What a cool story! Stuff like this doesn’t happen often, we’re glad it happened to such great guys! Way to go fellas.

When my son Noah Smith of Kent City, MI returned from a tour of duty in Iraq with the US Army in the summer of 2010, I ask him what kind of hunt would he be interested in. “I’d like to ride horses and hunt in the mountains”.  Well, an elk hunt out west was in order! We attended the “Huntin Time Expo” at the Delta Plex in Grand Rapids in January of 2011 with the intention of having an elk hunt booked before we left that night.

After talking with about 20 elk outfitters we settled on “Backcountry Outfitters” out of Pagosa Springs Colorado.

As it turned out a very good choice.

We liked the idea that they owned all their own horses and mules and we would be packing in about 8 miles to a tent camp and hunting everyday starting with a horse back ride further into the mountains.

 On November 4, after a 1650 mile road trip to Colorado with our friend Brian Braun of Ann Arbor, we pack in on horse back to our tent camp for the week.  

The second day of the hunt, November 6, Noah and I rode out about 3 miles from camp and spotted elk on the far side of a huge valley. Jumping off the horses we pulled our guns out of the scabbards. Noah was about to take this trophy 6X6 and 20 seconds later I took a 5X5 elk.

Our guide, Monty, stated later that in all the years he has been guiding he never had a father son team shoot two elk standing next to each other in a span of 20 seconds!!

If you would like to see Noah’s elk, I think we will have it on display at the Backcountry Outfitters booth this January at the “Huntin Time Expo” in Grand Rapids.

There’s a wide variety of vendors from all aspects of the outdoor industry coming to the show this year. Be sure to check out our “2012 vendors” page to see a list of who’s coming. Plus, we have plenty of informative and useful seminars scheduled as well. Stay tuned for more info!

Depending on who you talk to, deer season was slow, mediocre, or great. Regardless, this last weekend of muzzleloader should be good. It’s finally cold, and the deer are really going to be thinking with their stomach’s. Hunt near preferred food sources and be ready right at last shooting light, they’ll probably show up late.

A friend of ours recently shared this.

“I pulled my 20 gauge semi-auto out to go deer hunting tonight.  Action open, safety on….as always.  Put a slug in the chamber and hit the button to close the action.  The action slammed shut and BOOM!  Again safety on and nothing near the trigger so actually two things failed….the safety and the firing pin was somehow in position to contact the casing when the action slammed shut.”

He got his truck bed with a solid hit. Remember, safety’s can fail. ALWAYS treat a gun as if it were loaded, and be sure to point the muzzle in a safe direction at ALL times.

A steady trickle of deer are being shot all over Michigan. Remember, wear orange and be safe! Good luck to everyone this upcoming holiday weekend.

Mixed reviews so far about our gun opener. Many locations were covered in a thick blanket of fog most of the morning. One thing is for sure, these colder temps and high volume of hunters out this weekend will really have the deer on their feet. Good luck and be safe!