At the first-annual Barwick gun and hobby show held Saturday, organizer Scott Stafford already was booking tables for next year before the day was out.
“The first Saturday in May works into the circuit so that will be our weekend,” he noted.
With almost 600 people (not counting exhibitors or children) coming from northern Minnesota, and as far away as North Bay and London, Ont. and Moose Horn, Man., Stafford said their attendance expectations for the show were more than doubled.
Door prize winners were Joe Krahn from Barwick (a Daisy Red Ryder collector sign) and Bill Caul from Blackhawk (a Remington jack-knife in a tin box collector set).
Meanwhile, James Lundgren’s set of antlers took the prize money. His deer, shot in 1975, may well be the record-holder for Ontario.
From the white tail master listing, measurer Doug Berry pointed to the 1958 record-holder that had a net score of 189 1/8. Berry and fellow measurer Dale Chambers scored Lundgren’s antlers at 189 5/8.
A team of two or three professional measurers will need to verify the scoring done in Barwick before it will be an official record.
“Between the two of us, we say that this is going to be one of the top five typicals in Ontario,” noted Berry. “[Lundgren’s] deer was the winner today, hands down.”
With a $5 entry fee per set of antlers and 17 entries, Lundgren took home the $85 prize.
“But it’s not about the money,” said Stafford, stressing it’s about camaraderie “and getting to see some impressive antlers.”
The way he sees it, large antlers are exciting because they are the wiliest of deer—the ones that are best able to elude the hunter and represent the greatest challenge.
Interest in collecting shed antlers, and taking photos with trip cameras along trails, is a positive way for people to capture something of these majestic animals while allowing them continue to roam free.
Ted Brown, from Timber Wolf Lodge on Highway 502, was the winner in the non-typical category. His set of antlers recently was scored and declared #6 in all of Ontario (non-typical).
He had no one challenge him at the show.
“What really impressed me was the calibre of the antlers that came in here today,” said Berry. “I have not seen so many big bucks in all the time that I have been scoring antlers.”
Stafford said he has a few ideas about ways to improve the show next year. In the meantime, he’s grateful for the support both from the exhibitors and the public.