Inside the Great American Outdoor Show

Walking into the Great American Outdoor Show on opening morning is somewhat overwhelming for those of us not accustomed to the grandeur of American guns shows. For nine days each February, the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex becomes a mecca for hunters, fishers and outdoor enthusiasts. There’s over 1000 exhibitors and a jam-packed schedule of demonstrations and events, drawing over 200,000 visitors.

With nine halls of guns, archery, fishing tackle, boats, outfitters, clothing and equipment, navigating the show takes a little pre-planning. Thankfully the show’s website has an excellent interactive map to help plan the most efficient route through the complex. While a single day might be enough if you’re ruthless in how you spend your time, to get the most out of the show – especially if you plan to speak to outfitters and book a hunt or two – it’s best to factor in two or even three days.

The Shooting Sports Hall included about 300 exhibitors this year and was one of the most popular and crowded places – even though no firearm sales are permitted at the show. The exhibitors I was most interested in included Savage Arms, Henry Repeating Arms, Trijicon and Maven Outdoor Equipment. Of course, there were plenty of AR platforms from the likes of SIG SAUER and Heckler & Koch, and handguns from Colt and Ruger.

The Ruger/Marlin booth was incredibly popular. With demand still far outstripping supply of Ruger made Marlin rifles even in the US, shows like this are the only opportunity for most people to handle any of these greatly improved lever actions. The newly released Model 336 Classic in .30-30 Win and Model 1894 in .44 Rem Mag/.44 Special or .357 Mag/.38 Special, with sharply chequered black walnut stocks and deep satin finish blueing, caught my eye. But the Model 1895 Dark Series in .45-70 Govt was a crowd favourite, with people patiently waiting to chat to the Marlin rep and handle the gun. The Dark Series is aimed at those wanting a lever action rifle with a modern appearance and ability to use a wide range of accessories. It’s equipped with a full-length Picatinny rail, anodised aluminium barrel shroud, muzzle break and plethora of M-LOK attachment slots. Frankly, the Dark Series is all a bit too ‘tacti-cool’ to appeal to my tastes, although I did appreciate the scalloped shape of the nylon-polymer stock being a visual homage to the boat-paddle stocked Ruger M77.

Savage Arms might not be the first brand that comes to mind when thinking of premium lightweight hunting rifles, but front and centre of their display was their newly released Impulse KLYM (pronounced ‘climb’). The Impulse KLYM is built on Savage Arms’ innovative straight-pull action mated to a PROOF Research carbon fibre wrapped stainless steel barrel and custom carbon fibre stock from Fine Ballistic Tools. The rifle is fitted with a 1.5-4lb user adjustable AccuTrigger and a 1-piece 20 MOA rail giving plenty of elevation for long-range shooting. The Impulse action is a super-slick straight-pull, with six stainless steel ball bearings in the bolt head engaging recesses machined into the barrel extension when the bolt is closed. When the trigger has been squeezed, or the bolt release button pushed, the ball bearings retract, allowing the bolt to be cycled. The angle of the bolt handle can be adjusted to five different positions, but even more interestingly it can be swapped entirely to the other side of the bolt for left-handed operation. The KLYM is available in chamberings ranging from 6.5 Creedmoor to .300 Win Mag and weighs in at an incredible 2.99kg (when chambered in 7mm PRC). The Savage Arms rep assured me that the stock geometry and Omniport muzzle brake are highly effective in soaking up the felt recoil when firing magnum rounds from such an incredibly light rifle. The KLYM would be right at home chasing tahr and chamois in the New Zealand mountains but, with a retail price over $US3300, there may be very few making their way to the Southern Hemisphere.

Alongside displays of ornately engraved lever-guns, Henry Repeating Arms unveiled their new Lever Action Supreme Rifle (LASR), a magazine fed sub-MOA short-throw lever action, which in function reminded me more than a little of Browning’s BLR. However, unlike the BLR, the new LASR has an internal hammer. Initial offerings will be chambered in .223 Rem and .300 Blackout.

The show’s enormous line-up of demonstrations and talks covered topics such as species-specific hunting techniques and tactics, animal tracking, home butchering, wild game cooking and getting the greatest accuracy from your rifle.

I took a little time out from wandering the exhibition halls to watch some deer butchering and cooking seminars, learning that all the whitetail deer used at the show were shot by the Pennsylvania Game Commission to limit damage to the Gettysburg Battlefield. In fact, 600 whitetails were culled from Gettysburg last year and every single one that was deemed fit for human consumption was donated. This really underscores the difference between the North American model of wildlife conservation, in which animals are managed to the benefit of every citizen, and the waste often caused by Australian Government management practices.

The Large Arena at the centre of the Farm Show Complex is the ideal place to take a break, sit down and have a bite to eat while still being entertained. This year it hosted both the DockDogs Competition and the Pennsylvania Lumberjack Championships. DockDogs includes four different disciplines, the most entertaining being ‘Duelling Dogs’, where two extremely energetic dogs drag race each other to launch off a platform and retrieve a dummy from the opposite end of a 40ft-long pool. Between DockDog heats, the lumberjacks kept the crowd entertained with the usual wood chopping events plus axe throwing and ‘Hot Saw’ contests. The noise of the hot saws, unmuffled motorbike engine-powered chainsaws, was phenomenal.

For the keen archer and bowhunter, the show hosts a 3D Bowhunter Challenge. The course features 30 shots at an assortment of 3D animal targets, ranging out to 40yds. Heats were shot all week, with the finals held on the last Saturday and Sunday of the show.

The Hunting Outfitter Hall boasted over 340 outfitters from across the United States, Canada, Africa and even New Zealand, as well as some spectacular taxidermy. From wild pheasant hunting in South Dakota, the biggest whitetail deer in the US, moose in Maine, Cape buffaloes in Zimbabwe, hogs in Texas, running hounds for black bears in the Appalachian Mountains or massive red deer in New Zealand, you can find the outfitter at the show. If you are serious about booking a hunt, I suggest visiting the show on a weekday when the crowds are smaller, so you can make the most of the opportunity to speak to as many of the outfitters as possible. The sheer number of options can be truly daunting. Should you be able to book a hunt in North America, the show is an outstanding opportunity to also get a close up look at some of the country’s top taxidermy studios.

The other exhibitors were divided into the Archery Hall, Outdoor Lifestyle Hall, Fishing Hall, Boat Hall and Outdoor Product Hall. Each of which could easily occupy the outdoors person for several hours. As well as the opportunity to try on clothing and boots that we rarely see in Australia from the likes of KUIU and Crispi, some of the manufacturers and retailers were offering marked discounts on gear purchased at the show.

If you ever happen to be in the north-east of the United States during the first week of February, make your way to Harrisburg to enjoy at least one day (or nine) of the Great American Outdoor Show. And here’s an inside tip from the locals, park at the Harrisburg Bass Pro Shops and catch the free shuttle bus; you will save an hour or two in a traffic jam. The 2025 Great American Outdoor Show is scheduled from February 3-11.

Visit greatamericanoutdoorshow.org