Columnist Paula DelGiudice: New gizmos debut at SHOT Show

Paula DelGiudice

Thursday, Jan. 20, 2000 | 10:23 a.m.

Paula DelGiudice's outdoors notebook appears weekly. Reach her at PDelGiudice@compuserve.com.

Thousands of retailers, manufacturers, distributors, manufacturers' representatives and members of the outdoors press descended upon Las Vegas last weekend for the 22nd annual Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show and Conference. Sponsored each year by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the SHOT Show is the "granddaddy" of shows for those in the outdoors trade.

Each year, manufacturers of every type of product trot out their wares to the buying retail public. It's there new gizmos and gadgets that you'll find lining your favorite sporting goods store in a few months are unveiled for the first time.

In addition to the product lines, the NSSF presents a number of workshops and presentations to help its members improve their bottom line -- that's the "conference" part of SHOT.

Las Vegas is the favorite site of the SHOT Show, according to NSSF president Bob Delfay, who told me the show would come here every year if it could book the space. This year for the first time, the SHOT Show is being held at the Sands Exposition and Convention Center rather than the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Manufacturers have been stepping to the plate during the past few years (in some states as a result of legislation mandating the use of safety devices on firearms) to produce firearms safety items.

One of the items making its debut at this year's SHOT Show is the Saf-T-Trigger, a small, highly engineered device that when installed in a gun's trigger guard makes firing the trigger impossible.

It's just one of a myriad of products appearing for the first time. There will be hundreds of other new products unveiled at the show, which is not open to the general public.

The SHOT Show closes today.

* TURKEY DEADLINE: Hunters are reminded that the deadline for applying for Nevada's spring turkey hunts is Friday, Jan. 28.

A total of 15 tags are available for Moapa Valley in Clark County with another 60 being offered for Mason Valley Wildlife Management Area in Lyon County near Yerington, according to Nevada Division of Wildlife spokesman Geoff Schneider.

Applications are available at most stores that sell hunting licenses and at the NDOW offices, 4747 Vegas Drive in Las Vegas and 744 South Racetrack Road in Henderson.

* COMMISSION SEEKS PROPOSALS: The Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners is seeking project proposals that would be funded through the state's Wildlife Heritage Trust Account for the enhancement of the state's wildlife.

Proposals should be submitted for consideration by mid-March and will be reviewed by the county wildlife advisory boards before being considered by the commission at its meeting May 6.

Money for the Wildlife Heritage Account comes primarily from the sale of big game bid tags and Partnership in Wildlife tag drawings. Program information along with project proposal forms may be obtained at the Nevada Division of Wildlife, 4747 Vegas Drive.

* DUCK SEASON WINDS DOWN: A disappointing waterfowl season in the southern end of the state is entering its final stages with some hunters wondering why ducks and geese remain in short supply.

Though the season started out warm and dry, hunters kept expecting fall flights to improve as cold temperatures arrived and snow began to fall in Canada.

Hunters at Overton Wildlife Management Area in Clark County have had dismal results in recent days with less than one bird being harvested per outing. Goose hunting has been somewhat slow with 13 geese being taken during the past week.

Most of the water is covered with ice at Key Pittman WMA in Lincoln County. Bird counts at the facility are low and hunter success has been poor. Equally slow hunting has been found at nearby Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge.

Hunters have had fair success on the small amount of open water at Wayne E. Kirch WMA in Nye County. Hunters who are familiar with the area have been taking about two birds per day.

Duck season closed in all counties except Clark and Lincoln last Saturday. The duck season in Clark and Lincoln counties as well as the statewide goose season ends on Saturday.