Columnist Paula Del Giudice: SHOT Show draws thousands

Thursday, Feb. 7, 2002 | 10:46 a.m.

Paula Del Giudice's outdoors column appears Thursday. She can be reached at desertdenizens@aol.com.

The Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade Show and Conference (SHOT) wrapped up its largest exposition here on Tuesday.

The SHOT Show is the world's premier exposition of firearms, ammunition, archery, cutlery, outdoor apparel, optics and camping equipment and related products.

Held at the expanded Las Vegas Convention Center, the show encompassed 490,000 square feet of exhibit space with 1,400 companies on hand.

SHOT serves as the annual buying show for retailers, and it was estimated that more than 17,000 buyers (including 1,900 overseas buyers from 65 countries) passed through the doors of the convention center.

The SHOT Show is not new to Las Vegas. The SHOT Show was held in Las Vegas in 1995, 1997, 1998 and 2000.

Cris Tomlinson, NDOW biologist, said eagles arrive in Nevada each winter when areas to the north become frozen. With more mild temperatures, the state is a good location for the predatory birds to find food such as fish, waterfowl, rodents and rabbits.

"The highest concentrations of bald eagles is at Lake Mead National Recreation Area," Tomlinson said. "Cottonwood Cove on Lake Mohave and the area north of Echo Bay on Lake Mead are good locations for seeing them."