The 2011 ATA trade show in Indianapolis was definitely one to be at.  Not only was there a great showing  of vendors but as promised, the new and inventive products were everywhere.  Almost every one of the 513 exhibitors had new products to display and show off.

Mike "WVwhitetail" Snider, Denny "Bugfixer" Chambers and myself (Hunt Master) arrived at the ATA show Thursday morning and marveled at the immense conference center and the incredible amount of exhibitor’s booths there.  Some were simple and basic in design while others were massive and obviously took a lot of time and money to setup.  I have been to and worked quite a few outdoors shows in my day, including Buckmasters in Montgomery Alabama but I had never seen anything like this.  It was almost immediate sensory overload.  It made all of the other shows I have attended tiny in comparison.  This place was gigantic and held more booths than 3 or 4 of the biggest shows I have ever attended combined.  All in all it was a massive display of archery and hunting related booths with tons of stuff to see.  It was almost overwhelming but we went right to work…

Our job there was to find new and interesting products and bring them to you, the reader.  It’s a job we took seriously and while it was so easy to get distracted, after all we are hunters, we stuck to the mission as best as we could and have brought you quite a few articles on products and companies.

It didn’t take long to realize we would struggle to visit every booth and bring you information of every one of them.  I am not sure we could have done that in a week, much less in 3 days.  However, we did spend the first day visiting our sponsors, spending time with them and getting a quick look at most of the booths.  Yes, that took us a full day and we only covered about two thirds of the show.

From there we started in on companies with new and exciting products.  We talked with CEOs, Presidents and the leaders of all of the major companies. Unlike the regular outdoor shows, the ATA show is the one where most of the booths are staffed by the top dogs.  So much wheeling and dealing is going on it boggled the mind.  They took time to explain their new products, improvements to existing products and did so with so much courtesy and true interest that it set me back a little.  No competing with the end users of their products for their time because they weren’t there to sell.  They were there to show and show us they did!

I encourage you to look through all of the articles in the special ATA issue of TalkHunting magazine and see what we worked so hard to bring you.  While we could not cover every company and product we have brought to the table a good mix.  Also keep in mind these are not product reviews.  We are not here to tell you what is good and what isn’t.  These are just informative articles to show you what is new for 2011.  So sit back, warm up your mouse hand and get to clicking….  Your next favorite hunting accessory may just be discovered in the next article…

By Robert Householder

Robert was introduced to hunting by his uncle, Jeff Hendricks, at a very young age. He grew up in the outdoors, hunting and fishing at every opportunity. He started, as most boys do, with hunting squirrels and rabbits but was soon deer hunting with his uncle and thus started a true love for deer hunting. Jeff and Robert were two of a kind and stayed in the woods or on the water as much as possible until his uncles death in 2007.

Robert was introduced to turkey hunting by a close friend, Jerry Golden, and soon developed a passion for hunting this elusive bird. It remains one of his favorite game to hunt.

Robert has branched out of just hunting in Alabama to include states like Iowa, Mississippi and Georgia. He hopes to continue to hunt game in other states in the future. Robert is a veteran of the first Gulf war and served in the USAF for a total of 7 years, including assignments in Germany, Nebraska, Texas and Illinois.

Robert is the owner of an IT Managed Services company (www.gtinow.com) in Greenville, Alabama and is the founder of TalkHunting. He has been married to his wonderful wife, Annette, since 1985 and has 3 grown children, 2 sons and a daughter. He also has one grand daughter, (Katie) and one Grandson (Jake). Robert is also a hobbyist beekeeper.

God, Family and the outdoors are his life.....

Comments(1):

1. I'm in!

   Next year, I don't want to get left behind. I know how hard you worked, (I was at Buckmaster's with you) but I know you had fun too. I just wonder how many people wanted to get pictures of you. "look mommy, it's Hunt Master!"

   Monday, February 14, 2011 Brent