Ultimate Outdoors Expo this weekend

Mississippi's first Ultimate Outdoors Expo will include a 3-D archery range for testing your aim, as well as new equipment.

By going outside, door opens to hands-on opportunities

If there is one major thing that most outdoors shows, which promote hunting or fishing equipment, share in common, oddly enough, it is the indoors.

“Very limiting to their scope,” said Dan Robinson, one of three Metro Jackson sportsmen who decided to step out of the box … or out of the door, so to speak. “Seems that by going outdoors in the right place, you would have the opportunity for a more hands-on show. That’s better for exhibitors and lots better for the consumer.”

Their theory gets tested this weekend at the first Ultimate Outdoors Expo, which opens Friday at the Mississippi Off-Road Adventure Park just east of I-55 in South Jackson. Show hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. on Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are $10 daily or $20 for a three-day pass for ages 16 and over, and $5 daily for children ages 5-15. Admission is free to children under 5.

“I think this Expo has the potential to be the biggest outdoor show in the state,” Robinson said. “This will be the first such thing that is actually held outdoors In Mississippi, and that’s really how all outdoor shows ought to be.

“Think about it. Why are all outdoors shows held indoors? That’s the same question that a friend and I asked one day last winter when we were sitting around on the porch at the farm. We kept talking about it and realized that it was something we needed to seriously look into.”

The more people they asked, Robinson said, the more obvious it became that such an outdoor Outdoors Expo was needed.

“Everybody loved the idea, and got behind it and then we found the perfect place when we contacted Jeff Perrett at the Mississippi Off-Road Adventures Park; he was all up in it,” Robinson said. “He’s got over 700 acres at the part that we can use and it includes all kinds of terrain that is ideal for an outdoors show.

“What we will be able to offer exhibitors and customers is an opportunity to test-drive products in a hands-on situation.”

Those hands-on opportunities include:

* Gun and 3-D archery ranges

* Demonstration areas for tractors, ATV’s/UTV’s, golf cars and outdoor power equipment

* Boating/waterfowl area

* Retriever training

“We even have a free campground area on-site this weekend,” Robinson said.

In addition to scores of hunting and fishing vendors, events will include seminars by biologists and hunting/fishing experts, food vendors, a fun zone for kids and monster mud trucks.

The show promises some interesting new equipment exhibits.

“Carry-All Boats out of Arkansas will have a jon boat that the front tilts down like a military landing craft so you can drive a 4-wheeler into it,” Robinson said. “Gator Trax Boats from Louisiana will have a couple very unique low profile duck blinds that are actually small boats.

“And, a Mississippi company, Superior Outdoor Supply from Louin,  has a new treestand that is unlike any treestand I have ever seen. It pivots 360 degrees and is fully adjustable while on the tree. You have to see it to believe it.”

And this weekend, you can see that and do it outside in a tree.

Scheduled Exhibitors

Van’s Sporting Goods

Strike Hold

Mossy Oak Properties Recreational & Timberland Sales

Line X of Jackson

MWFP Foundation

Larry Smith-Vaniz Realty

Superior Outdoor Supply

AntBees Vending

Sartain’s Heritage Properties

Brown’s Gunsmith

Camper Corral

Reed’s Metals

Limit Out Supply

Watson Quality Ford

Rick’s Pro Truck

Pat Man Fan Club

Tom Smith Land

Republic Services

A.M. Calls

Muddy Water Camo

Southern Beverage Company

Blue Ribbon Kennels

Magnolia Retrievers

The Welding Works

Rolling Video Games of MS

Burgers and Blues

Space Jump of Jackson

Gregg’s A-List

Jr. Olympic Archery Development

Mississippi Ag

Bass Pro Shops

Mississippi Sportsman Magazine

The Radio People

CCBR Metal Buildings

Haygood Game Calls

Gulf States Golf Cars

The Tractor Store

Gator Trax Boats

Paul Meek Outdoors

Southern Obsession

NRA

Hammer Stahl

Amazing Animal Presentations

Southern Waterfowl Retrievers

Mississippi Trappers Assn.

Polar Snow

Tail Spin Waterfowl

Let-Em-Lite Calls

Headcrusher Calls

Got Gear Motorsports

Southern Caliber Apparel

Carry All Boats

Mosquito Mist Control

Womack Firearms

Custom Knives by Arthur

P & P Beaver Control

Up in Smoke Bar-B-Que

Dillon Manufacturing

MS Dept. of Wildlife, Fisheries & Parks

MWFP Foundation Super Hunt

About Bobby Cleveland 1343 Articles
Bobby Cleveland has covered sports in Mississippi for over 40 years. A native of Hattiesburg and graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi, Cleveland lives on Ross Barnett Reservoir near Jackson with his wife Pam.

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