The Shooting Village at Safari Club International Foundation and Quail Unlimited’s EPIC Outdoor Game Fair will offer unique and broad hands-on opportunities for Game Fair participants. Headlined by Shooting Sportsman Magazine, Beretta, Laser Shot and John Rigby & Co, the shooting sports program will fulfill every aspect of the event’s goal to foster Education, Participation, Instruction, and Competition. The EPIC Outdoor Game Fair will run from September 23-25, 2011 at the Foxhall Resort & Sporting Club outside of Atlanta, GA.

Legendary shotgunner and sporting clays course designer, Marty Fischer, is helping to organize the shooting components of EPIC Outdoor Game Fair and is designing the new, 15-station championship sporting clays course at Foxhall. The shooting village will cater to every level of shooting sports enthusiasts. From complete novices who will receive an introduction to the shooting sports from some of the top shotgun instructors, to experts looking to shoot a Marty Fischer course, to gun collectors and wingshooters searching for unique shooting opportunities, this event will have it.

“The course that I’m designing at Foxhall will truly be first class and will be one of the finest courses in the country – and I’ve built a bunch of them,” Fischer stated. “With this course, the Beretta 5-Stand and Wobble Trap areas and the Laser Shot simulators, as well as the unique capability to test fine guns that will be available in the Shooting Sportsman Fine Guns and Wing Shooting Pavilion, we are creating one of the most comprehensive shooting areas open to the public at any sportsmen’s show.”

Equally enthusiastic is Shooting Sportsman magazine that will headline the Fine Guns and Wing Shooting Pavilion within the shooting village. Featured within that Pavilion will be some of the top fine gun manufacturers, including John Rigby & Co., as well as wing shooting lodges from around the world. Associate Publisher, Terry Bombeke, says that the ability to work with such well-established groups as SCIF and QU were his draw to taking a lead role on the event.

“Our goal was to consolidate the wing shooting and fine gun area so that all of these companies can exhibit together in one defined space featuring the best in guns and wing shooting opportunities around the world,” Bombeke commented. “We believe that combining our brand, that brings a readership of over 60,000, with the broad memberships of SCI and QU, will make EPIC Outdoor Game Fair a one-of-a-kind, must-attend event.”
“The EPIC Outdoor Game Fair’s goal of introducing the next generation to sporting traditions, and ensuring our future in the outdoors, is important. Rigby fully supports the new EPIC concept, and we’ve been pleased to be able to watch this idea develop and be put into action,” said John Reed, President of Rigby Ventures. “The Game Fair is designed to add new dimensions of participation to sports shows, where attendees can touch, feel, and even use a variety of sporting products instead of just seeing them on the store shelf. We are pleased to be able to bring a little ‘Rigby Tradition’ to this fine event.”

Although Game Fair participants will be allowed to bring in their own, cased guns to shoot the courses, Beretta U.S.A. will be providing shotguns at the wobble trap and 5-stand areas for those who would like to try something different. In addition, Beretta will be featuring its Trident Program that rates lodges around their world for their sporting amenities by bringing in some of its accredited lodges to exhibit at the event.

“Beretta is excited to be a part of the EPIC Game Fair and continue its partnership with SCIF,” said Carlton Nether, Shoots and Events Manager for Beretta USA. “We look forward to making this one of our premier events every year.”

Beyond traditional shotgunning opportunities will be a simulator area, sponsored by Laser Shot, Inc., where Game Fair attendees will have the chance to virtually “hunt” on some of the most challenging (and basic!) computer simulations. Laser Shot is renowned for its hunter education as well as military and tactical training simulators.

“Laser Shot is excited about the opportunity to participate in the Epic Outdoor Game Fair Event with SCIF and QU as a sponsor showcasing new laser detection technology and games,” concluded Alan Winslette, Laser Shot Vice-President & COO.

More information about the event and sponsor opportunities is available on the EPIC Game Fair website, www.epicgamefair.org or our blog, epicgamefairblog.org.

Safari Club International Foundation (SCIF) is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that funds and manages worldwide programs dedicated to wildlife conservation, outdoor education, and humanitarian services. Since 2000, SCIF has provided $47 million to these causes around the world. Visit www.safariclubfoundation.org for more.

Quail Unlimited® is the oldest national, nonprofit conservation organization dedicated to the management of America’s wild quail. Known as “America’s Leader In Quail Conservation SM,” our overall vision is to restore America’s quail populations for future generations. Our core values include the wise stewardship of our land and its resources, and the continuation of our proud heritage of conservation, therefore, leaving a legacy and firm foundation for our youth and families to build upon. Visit www.qu.org.

In an effort to actively engage families in the great outdoors, leaders of Safari Club International Foundation (SCIF) and Quail Unlimited (QU) announced that they will be hosting the first annual EPIC Outdoor Game Fair. The event will be held September 23-25, 2011 in Douglasville, Georgia at the Foxhall Resort and Sporting Club. Modeled after European game fairs, EPIC Outdoor Game Fair will provide hands-on activities bringing outdoor sporting Education, Participation, Instruction and Competition to families, youth and individual enthusiasts – hence, the name EPIC Outdoor Game Fair.

“If we aren’t bringing in more people to the outdoor sports and making it easier for them to get engaged, then we’re not doing our jobs,” stated Joseph H. Hosmer, President of SCIF. “We expect this game fair to be the largest event of its kind to support the future of outdoor sporting traditions in the United States.”

EPIC Outdoor Game Fair will feature numerous hands-on opportunities as well as seminars from the industry’s most recognized experts. Foxhall’s 1,100 acres along the Chattahoochee River will be transformed into “villages” featuring shooting, archery, fishing and fly fishing, boating and kayaking, equestrian, dog training, ATV use and more. Vendors from each of these outdoor recreational interests will represent the finest manufacturers in the world, including many fine gun exhibits, and outstanding food and beverage options throughout the three-day event. Sponsorship and exhibiting opportunities are still available.

“From beginner to expert, every level will have a something to learn and do through the EPIC content the Game Fair offers,” QU President Bill Bowles commented. “Families will find the Game Fair an outstanding opportunity to spend time in a world class resort setting while giving every member of the family time to experience the outdoor activities they know or want to learn more about.”

“I would like to thank the following sponsors: Beretta, Eukanuba, Laser SHOT, Shooting Sportsman Magazine, and John Rigby & Co. Gunmakers, Inc. for their commitment to partner with QU and SCIF in our inaugural year of the EPIC Game Fair,” concluded Cam Harris, Chairman of QU.

The EPIC Outdoor Game Fair website launched this week with more detailed information about the event and venue as well as the hosts and sponsors. The site will grow and expand to be the one-stop place for information about the event and for ticket sales. In addition to the website, the EPIC Outdoor Game Fair Blog will provide a social networking hub to receive regular updates as event planning continues. www.EPICGameFair.org

About SCIF and QU

Safari Club International Foundation (SCIF) is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that funds and manages worldwide programs dedicated to wildlife conservation, outdoor education, and humanitarian services. Since 2000, SCIF has provided $47 million to these causes around the. Visit www.safariclubfoundation.org for more.

Quail Unlimited® is the oldest national, nonprofit conservation organization dedicated to the management of America’s wild quail. Known as “America’s Leader In Quail Conservation SM,” our overall vision is to restore America’s quail populations for future generations. Our core values include the wise stewardship of our land and its resources, and the continuation of our proud heritage of conservation, therefore, leaving a legacy and firm foundation for our youth and families to build upon. Visit www.qu.org.

In the last decade, Safari Club International has spent $140 million on protecting the freedom to hunt through advocacy, research and education to ensure that the hunting heritage is accessible for future generations. These programs benefit hunters throughout North American, and the majority of the work is funded with proceeds from its Annual Hunter’s Convention,  January 20-23 in Reno, Nevada.

Through direct involvement and partnerships with other conservation organizations, SCI contributes to dozens of projects in the United States and Canada every year. Earlier this year, Safari Club International Foundation (SCIF) and Mossy Oak joined forces to help ensure healthy white-tail deer populations throughout North America. They have provided funding for white-tailed deer research at the University of Georgia and the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study.

The project will investigate reasons for expansion of epizootic hemorrhagic disease viruses (EHDV) and bluetongue viruses (BTV), better define the impacts of these viruses on deer populations, and then develop recommendations to control and curtail spread of the diseases if possible. The research findings will be shared with the hunting public and wildlife professionals to better maintain healthy white-tailed deer populations throughout North America.

On the West Coast, SCI’s efforts also contributed to the successful vote by the California Fish and Game Commission against extending the current lead ammunition ban for big game hunting to the hunting of small game and upland birds in so-called condor “range.” SCI filed comments that agreed with the finding of the California Fish and Game Department that the extension of the ban was not supported by the science.

The participation of Safari Club International (SCI) in a federal lawsuit has helped ensure that hunters in Idaho and Montana can continue hunting wolves under state seasons. The Montana federal court denied a preliminary injunction requested by Defenders of Wildlife and other plaintiffs who sued to stop the hunting season, and to challenge the delisting of Idaho and Montana’s wolves.

SCI was also instrumental in successfully challenging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s ban on the import of polar bears from Canada. When the FWS listed the polar bear as threatened in May 2008, it also determined that imports of polar bear legally hunted from approved populations in Canada would no longer be allowed, as they had been for the previous 12 years. In June, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia rebuffed the FWS’s attempt to have SCI’s lawsuit dismissed without full briefing on the merits.

Another key research project funded by SCI involves the decline of woodland caribou in northern Quebec and Labrador. The caribou herds are vital to the local Inuit and Cree Indians who hunt them for subsistence, but also rely on income generated from guiding and outfitting hunters. Early indications have shown that loss of habitat and predation by black bears are two crucial factors that need to be addressed in order to preserve this resource and hunting opportunity.

These are just a few examples of the conservation efforts in North America that are made possible through the generous support of its Convention exhibitors, donors, advertisers, members and corporate sponsors. For more information on these and other conservation projects in North America, visit the SCI web site at www.safariclub.org.

SCI-First For Hunters is the leader in protecting the freedom to hunt and in promoting wildlife conservation worldwide. SCI’s approximately 190 Chapters represent all 50 of the United States as well as 18 other countries. SCI’s proactive leadership in a host of cooperative wildlife conservation, outdoor education and humanitarian programs, with the SCI Foundation and other conservation groups, research institutions and government agencies, empowers sportsmen to be contributing community members and participants in sound wildlife management and conservation. Visit the home page www.safariclub.org or call (520) 620-1220 for more information.

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