2012 WV Fishing, Hunting, and Outdoors Sports Show Recap

Ronnie Hardy of Hardy's Custom Calls

The beginning of this month was the 11th annual 2012 WV Fishing, Hunting, and Outdoors Sports Show. I've been attending this show roughly for that last five years. Over this time I have watched it expand into a great show, it won't rival any of the large shows for many years to come, but it is a great place to find some new gear and talk with some of the local West Virginia vendors.

Last year was the first year I attended the Sports Show as a blogger, at that time I was still new to the idea and didn't fully grasp the idea or understand what I was doing here. Even with that, I still managed to make a great contact in Ronnie Hardy of Hardy's Custom Calls, you may remember reading about him here. He was there again this year with a few new products and all of his great classics. Look for a product review of his new Diamond Wood Striker towards the end of Spring Gobbler Season.

To make a connection with a local West Virginia company and owner in Ronnie Hardy and Hardy's Custom Calls is priceless and something I couldn't have imaged to happen in my first year and half of blogging and my first sports show last year as a blogger, this year I was hoping would lead to a few more connections and if I was lucky it would have been be another West Virginia company. After walking around this year's show it was a very good to say the least, it expanded again this year and had great new vendors.

This year I found a local West Virginia  fishing company that produces limestone sinkers and hunting company that products mineral/attractants for whitetail deer. One I had been watching for a while now, RockyBrook Sinkers, is based out of Morgantown, WV. For a little more information on their company you can read the snippet below from their site...

"RockyBrook Sinkers are more than just sinkers… They help you catch fish! It’s all about their unique shapes and specific density which makes them harder to snag and easier to free when snagged. They add natural "action" and "suspension" to your lures and bait. They’re odorless, have no residue and blend-in with surroundings making them invisible to fish. They make a loud rattle when rolling rocky stream beds or clickin’ two together. The cool part is Limestone is used to help fisheries. It’s the only “rock” that raises pH and produces alkalinity to improve water quality."

I picked up a variety pack of sinkers from RockyBrook Sinkers to test. Here's another product review coming out in the next few weeks, I have used them in larger waters, but haven't been able to test them on smaller streams, that should change after this week.

The other company is newer but has still managed to caught my attention, Horn Hounds, they are based out of Metz, WV. As an up and coming company, Horn Hounds are in the process of releasing more products to their line including cover scents and DVDs, for more information on them here is a blur about them from their site...

"As a new face to an already thriving industry, we here at Horn Hounds are proud to present to "YOU", the hunting world, our complete line of mineral products, cover scents, and of course, our hunting DVD's! Coming soon in the early Spring of 2012 will be our line of Minerals which we will release at the Outdoor Hunting Expo in Columbus,OH in March.The main flagships of our mineral line will be our field proven line of minerals aptly named "Buck Chow"© and also our time tested cover scent which you will see us use again and again in our videos named appropriately --Trail-Be-Gone ©"

I was unable to get any of their products for testing at the WV Fishing, Hunting, and Outdoors Sports Show this year, but am hoping to get some in the near future to test it out for a product review. None the less it is great to see another West Virginia company coming into the mix.

Hardy's Custom Calls & Hardcore Pursuit TV

Image Credit: Hardy's Custom Calls

As many of you should know, if you don't by now, I'm from West Virginia and love to help out any West Virginia companies or organizations I can. I met Ronnie Hardy of Hardy's Custom Calls back in March at the 2011 WV Hunting, Fishing, & Outdoor Sports Show. I actually bought an aluminum friction call, "Fatal Attraction," off of him and proceed to e-mail him and tell him how much I like it and asked if I could post about his company, luckily he agreed. But that's not where this story ends, we continue to e-mail each other back and forth periodically. In mid April Ronnie told me about being invited on a hunt in Michigan to chase some long beards with the Hardcore Pursuit Team.

This past week, I got the news that the episode Ronnie shot while turkey hunting in Michigan is going to be on the Season 3 Premier of Hardcore Pursuit TV. If you want to hear Hardy's Custom Calls first hand, watch what seems to be a great group of guys hunt some thunder chickens, or at the very least support a local West Virginia boy tune into the Sportsman Channel: Wednesday, June 29 at 9:30 AM, Thursday, June 30 at 6:00 PM, and Friday, July 1 at 11:00 PM. Below is the preview of this weeks episode.

HCP Week 1 Preview from Hardcore Pursuit on Vimeo.

**I am not sponsored by or associated with Hardy's Custom Calls or Hardcore Pursuit TV.**