Midland Texas Safari Club Extravaganza this weekend anyone interested?

[Mojave]

We think we are going but I can’t find an exhibiter list.

 

[Mojave]

Called SCI today in DC, they are not affiliated.

Kuiu will be there, so..... and I am some what of a Kuiu fan boy, but I have been in Kuiu trade booths in Germany many times before.

No phone to call about the show, and emails go unanswered.

What else is there to do in Midland-Odessa?

 

[Theringworm]

I am pretty sure you won’t find an Outfitter or exhibitor list. I haven’t ever been but I know several of the New Zealand and African guys stop in as they are just finishing up at DSC, and then headed to Houston.

Not much here in Midland to do. There is a new large Black Rifle Coffee company store front and Ally Outdoors has a nice indoor shooting range and retail shop.

 

[Mojave]

Thanks, we were going to do the childrens museum and the I-20 wildlife area after we are done at the show. I am pretty sure we will drive home on Sunday vice Monday.

Black Rifle ought to be interesting.

 

[Fitzwho]

The Petroleum Museum is actually pretty interesting, Museum of the Southwest is here also. This time of year and as dry as it has been you can probably skip the I-20 Wildlife Area and look at the Sibley Nature Center. Anytime there's water and later in the spring it can be nice. Kid's stuff would just depend on the age. There's lots of parks with playgrounds in town (Grafa and Opportunity being the bigger/nicer ones) and there's a couple trampoline/tumbling facilities.

Depending on the direction you are driving to/from... Abilene has a nice zoo.

Try Eccentric Brewing and Tall City Brewery if you like to try local beers. Eccentric is just down the street from the Horseshoe Convention Center. Tall City will have a food truck for lunch and dinner and has a nice patio. Take my daughter there all the time. Not to mention its only about a mile from my house.

Food:
Cork and Pig Tavern in Midland or Odessa (there's a kids playground next to the one in Midland)
Italian: Garlic Press, Venezia, Ray's Italian Bistro, or Italian Village
Tex-Mex: Cancun Grill (downtown), Gerardo's Cantina, T-Kilaz, Abuelo's.
Others: Michael's for a burger, Murray's Deli, Pi Social and Wall Street Bar and Grill (downtown)
Ally Outdoors has an indoor gun range, quite a selection of guns and a pretty decent lunch menu.

 

[Mojave]

This is what I needed. Thank you.

 

[JeffP_Or]

The Petroleum Museum is actually pretty interesting, .....

Is the Chaparral Exhibit with the Jim Hall cars still out there by the Petroleum Museum too? I think too the Petroleum went through a big upgrade/clean-up not long ago.
Wadley Barren Park used to have a pond with playground/walking paths - if the park thing is of interest [since Grafa was noted]. Kids used to be able to fish Wadley Barren [bluegill and carp maybe as I recall?] - and feed the ducks [though it might be dry with the drought I suppose].
Is La Bodega still good for Mexican food? Might be dating myself on that one [and Luigi's downtown] - always the get back to places when visiting.
Went to Fannin Elementary and was a MHS Bulldog long ago.

EDIT: Apologies for the semi-hijack but there used to also be a Civil Air Patrol Museum out by the airport?

 

[Theringworm]

La Bodega and Luigi’s are both still here. La Bodega isn’t what it used to be . Luigi’s is still good. Lots of other new places to go to and some other long standing originals that are still great. Getting good service is the hardest thing to come by any more in this town.

Agree with the above. I wouldn’t go to the I-20 wildlife area. Way too dry. Children’s and Petroleum museum would be good places to visit. Some descendants flakes to go to if you have kids. They just restocked some of the ponds in town with trout if you want to try your hand ms at fishing. There is a trampoline park that just opened up.

If eating out for diner go early, or you’ll be eating forever.

 

[Fitzwho]

The

Is the Chaparral Exhibit with the Jim Hall cars still out there by the Petroleum Museum too? I think too the Petroleum went through a big upgrade/clean-up not long ago.
Wadley Barren Park used to have a pond with playground/walking paths - if the park thing is of interest [since Grafa was noted]. Kids used to be able to fish Wadley Barren [bluegill and carp maybe as I recall?] - and feed the ducks [though it might be dry with the drought I suppose].
Is La Bodega still good for Mexican food? Might be dating myself on that one [and Luigi's downtown] - always the get back to places when visiting.
Went to Fannin Elementary and was a MHS Bulldog long ago.

EDIT: Apologies for the semi-hijack but there used to also be a Civil Air Patrol Museum out by the airport?

the Jim Hall cars are still there. They pull them out and drive them around the parking lot every once in a while.

My daughter goes to Fannin, live two blocks from there.

 

[Mojave]

Air quality sucks in Odessa and Midland nothing like New Mexico desert

 

[one66stang]

I will be there, talking to a few more people on Africa trip

 

[Mojave]

I think for the location and size of the show it was a great show.

There was quite a bit of variety of outfitters. 8-12 South African outfitters, 3-4 booking agents selling trips all over Africa, and 1-2 guys from Canada, New Zeland, Alaska and 8-10 outfitters from Texas, and maybe a couple of whitetail ranches from the midwest.

There was a couple of disabled veteran program outfits that only seemed interested in talking to one another.

A couple of places that did womens fashion clothing.

3-4 taxidermist.

Kuiu had the truck there, and had someone was making high drive South Texas type trucks.

I don't actually know what I thought I was going to see, but I was presently surprised.

Big surprise was my wife speaking to all the ladies in the African booths, and figuring out if she would want to do it or not.

Also since my wife speaks fluent Spanish, she tried to get us a deal with the Spanish outfitter but he wasn't having it.

I felt like there was two camps. Either high pressure sales or no interest in talking to anyone.

Price wise I feel like Africa is about $1000-2000 more expensive than it was in 2019 when I went to the last hunting show I have been to Jagd and Hund in Germany. That is a bigger show, similar to SCI, so there isn't much to compare it to.

Canada pricing for moose is $1000-3000 more than 2019. Goats were pretty much $10,000 in Alaska and $12,000 in Canada. And now they are just $15-25,000 everywere except Kodiak because of the draw.

New Zealand is where things are different. For some reason outfitters in NZ think that their stags are worth $5000-10,000 more than the same stag in the US, Canada, Argentina or Europe.

There was "sadly" not an outfitter from Botswana or Namibia.

The Spanish outfitter had prices reflective of the American shows.

Europeans get better pricing on Europe by going through a European agent. For instance they had a $6300 flat rate on ibex for a mid-grade ibex, plus $2500 for 5 days of hunting. We can typically do $4500 for the entire flat rate hunt by booking through an agent that books the European stores.

Anyway I had a nice time, and was glad to see my wife interested in supporting it. Even though she thinks it is a stupid waste of money.

 

[Mojave]

Midland is actually a much nicer town than ehere we live in Las Cruces. We stayed in Roswell on the way home to do the alien thing. Roswell is slso nicer than Las Cruces.

 

[JeffP_Or]

Thanks for the recap on the show @Mojave and the current Midland status @Fitzwho and @Theringworm! Not surprised at the pricing you note above. I also think NM has seen some rough times. Glad you had a good visit - your wife should go along to Africa even if she doesn't hunt; it will be worth it.

I grew up 2 houses away from Fannin Elementary - back when it was the original open courtyard/breezeway design, window walls at all classrooms and no air-conditioning! Trout fishing? Who would have thought - I can't imagine even planters surviving very long.

 

[S-3 ranch]

Midland is actually a much nicer town than ehere we live in Las Cruces. We stayed in Roswell on the way home to do the alien thing. Roswell is slso nicer than Las Cruces.

Wow las cruces must have taken a bad turn, midland is a absolute nightmare unless you’re in a certain zone/ bubble area
the oilfield trash has ruined the whole area

 

[Mojave]

Wow las cruces must have taken a bad turn, midland is a absolute nightmare unless you’re in a certain zone/ bubble area
the oilfield trash has ruined the whole area

There are 15,000 new American applicants every day in El Paso. We have a homeless problem you can't imagine. Quite literally hundreds of them, I bet there are 2000-3000 total.

Midland was fine.

Oilfield expansion is going to turn all of that Roswell to San Angelo into a crap hole. What will it be 30 years from now when it is all tapped, just a mountain of trash.

It's all private, so they won't clean it up.

 

[one66stang]

I live here in Midland and went to the show, met with several Outfits for a second time since DSC last week. Actually won a gun in one of the raffles about 5 minutes after walking in the door. There were some outfits from Namibia I got a quote from one and really liked the guy.

 

[Mojave]

Wife thought all the booth babes selling raffle tickets were too much. I thought they looked classy, but I wasn't really paying attention. I was trying to find the kind of deal I wanted to find.

I missed the Namibia guys, do you know who was there?

 

[one66stang]

Wife thought all the booth babes selling raffle tickets were too much. I thought they looked classy, but I wasn't really paying attention. I was trying to find the kind of deal I wanted to find.

I missed the Namibia guys, do you know who was there?

Dzombo Hunting Safaris was who I visited with and looked at a hunt in Namibia