A Little Something For Every Outdoors Enthusiast At Show

She was dressed with the grace of a Nordstrom saleswoman and had the poise of an executive making quarterly reports to corporation directors.

But those images quickly vanished in the mind of anyone who stopped by her booth for more than a few seconds Thursday at the Big Horn Sports and Recreation Show.

Carrie McKinley is “the turkey lady.”

“That’s what the kids call me when I go to talk to them at schools,” she said. “Say turkey to most kids, and they think of white birds and Thanksgiving dinner. Their eyes get big when I bring in one of these,” she said, pointing to a lifelike mount of a strutting wild gobbler.

Carrie was staffing the National Wild Turkey Federation booth during the show at Spokane Interstate Fairgrounds. Her husband, Dan, president of the local NWTF chapter, was in the background, dressed in camouflage with an assortment of calls that simulate every conceivable sound and language uttered through the beaks of wild turkeys.

They’re hunters, for sure. “But our main message is that we’re not a hunting club,” Carrie said. “Our purpose is habitat.”

The message is being heard through Sunday because the Big Horn Show provides a forum for 22 hunting, fishing and conservation clubs among aisles teeming with outfitters, taxidermists, manufacturers and outdoor retailers.

This offer is remarkable, considering the show is sponsored by the Inland Northwest Wildlife Council, one of the region’s leading hunting, fishing and conservation organizations.

Why would one club offer a forum to clubs that might compete for members?

“We give them booth space for one-eighth the commercial rate because we want them here,” said Bob Panther, show director. “We have made a commitment to get all these clubs to work together. It’s the right thing to do. We’re all dealing with the same issues.”

Indeed, the Spokane Fly Fishers had a poster listing the club angling schedule. Next to it was a list of the club’s summer conservation projects.

The Spokane Bird Dog Association was promoting its upcoming training seminar. Pheasants Forever told of the upcoming fund-raising banquet.

The Spokane Walleye Club had a tank of live fish recently caught below Grand Coulee Dam - and the club members were more than willing to tell how you could put a similar mess of fish in your freezer.

Countless products are for sale at the show. For example, you can get the pitch on Rockie Jacobson’s palate plate game-call diaphragm, a patented design that helps tongue-tied hunters hit the high notes without a squeak.

Jim Burns, at the White Elephant display, can cut through the fog on using Global Positioning Units.

This is the commercial side of the show. But much of the value is free.

Fly fishing guide Donn Dale can steer you straight on Clark Fork River insect hatches - even if you don’t book a trip.

David Morrison’s obsession has produced a valuable book and a stunning display of Oregon big-game records, some of which were resurrected from the obscurity of barns and attics.

The biggest bulls and bucks aren’t always taken by trophy hunters - or by humans, he said. Morrison uncovered the largest non-typical elk in Oregon, a bull that died in a fight with another bull near Wallowa Lake.

Jim Zumbo, hunting writer for Outdoor Life magazine, was in the seminar room sharing 37 years of elk hunting experience. Anyone who hunts 130 days a year ought to have a few insights worth hearing. Gordon Steinmetz of Big Wally’s in Coulee City was selling nifty new fishing maps of Lake Roosevelt, Banks Lake, Potholes Reservoir and Lake Wallula on the Columbia.

He also had the latest info on fishing waters:

“Ice is off only at the north end of Banks Lake … Ice is just coming off Lake Lenore, but water’s cold and fishing is lousy … Potholes should be the first Columbia Basin fishery to warm enough for good fishing …”

Nudge Steinmetz a little, and he’ll tell you how and where the savvy anglers are hooking rainbows at Lake Roosevelt.

That alone might be worth the price of admission.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Rich Landers The Spokesman-Review