An EPIC Event

As Ed Sullivan used to say, “It was a really big show.” The EPIC Outdoor Game Fair, held September 23 to 25 at the Foxhall Resort and Sporting Club, a half-hour west of the Atlanta airport, was primarily sponsored by Safari Club International and Quail Unlimited. SCI puts on a heck of a convention each year in Nevada. It is first class, and so was the EPIC.

As a game fair, the EPIC was meant to display all of the outdoor activities. And they gave it a really good try. On the shooting side there was a new 15-station sporting clays course designed by Marty Fischer. Marty was there filming for his TV show. The shooting area was sponsored by Beretta, and the company was there in force with many new guns as loaners. In addition to the sporting course, there was a 5 Stand and a beginner’s trap with a certified instructor on hand for free instruction. There was even a Crossman air-gun range. It was a great way for someone who hasn’t shot to be introduced. There were also trick-shooting exhibitions by Patrick Flanigan and Scott Matthews.

There were two huge tents for the 130 vendors listed. Eight major gunmakers, including Perugini & Visini and FAMARS, were on tap, and Connecticut Shotgun was there with its classy travel coach display. There were another dozen fine-used-gun vendors too. Additionally, there were many hunting trip outfitters, plus equipment and clothing vendors. And, of course, SSM and other magazines were there.

But that was just the beginning. Shooting is only one of the outdoor sports celebrated at a game fair. The EPIC also had polo matches, fly-fishing, dog trials (including distance jumping into a pool), archery (where we shot at flying foam disks thrown by a new Laporte machine), ATV events, birds of prey demonstrations, canoe and kayak opportunities, and country music concerts. The equestrian displays included a fox hound pack, barrel racing, jumping, plus a really neat mounted cowboy-action event where one shoots balloons with pistols from a racing horse.

It all sounds great, and it was. But no one came. The show’s sponsors were estimating something in the area of 30,000 attendees. I don’t think they got a tenth of that. When my wife and I drove home on Sunday at 1 PM, the huge public parking lot had barely 100 cars in it.

What happened? The show couldn’t have been better organized. The events and displays were really impressive. Game fairs are popular elsewhere, particularly in England. Nearby Atlanta has a large population, and Georgia is an outdoor-oriented state.

Monday morning quarterbacking might point to the relatively high $29 individual admission plus $5 parking, but reduced-price tickets were available by advance purchase or Groupon.

Hard-core shotgunners on this Website and others pointed out that the EPIC shotgunning was steel-shot only, except for one 5 Stand, effectively banning fine guns. But Beretta had all sorts of interesting loaners for free.

The EPIC also ran against the Vintage Cup, in Maryland, on the same weekend. In many cases vendors had to choose which one to attend. Friends at the VC told me that things there were down by about half from last year. Nobody wins when a conflict like that occurs.

But that still doesn’t explain the lack of attendance. The fair was aimed at the outdoors family, not so much at manic shotgunners like us. Either the general Atlanta population didn’t hear about the fair, didn’t care about the fair or couldn’t afford to go.

It will be interesting to see what happens with EPIC next year. I can’t emphasize enough how good an organizational job this fair was. It was really a neat way to spend a weekend with an amazing variety of activities. If they could just get people to come.

I do hope that’s a fair appraisal. Until next time. Boots off. Beer open.