It’s called the Hunters Extravaganza, but organizers of this week’s event say most of the Golden Triangle should feel welcome.
“I’d guess that 85 percent of Lowndes County residents would have an interest in it,” Lowndes County Extension Agent and Director Reid Nevins said.
What he meant was that while the Lowndes County Hunters Extravaganza is certainly geared toward hunters, its overall theme and purpose is conservation. Land owners, outdoorsmen and people with a simple interest in wildlife might find something to help them in their hobbies, Nevins said.
It is being held Thursday at the Trotter Convention Center in downtown Columbus. Doors open at 4 p.m. Tickets cost $5 each and can be purchased at the door. The first 500 attendees receive a free “Hunters Extravaganza” plastic cup and everyone is entered into a raffle. More than $1,000 worth of door prizes will be raffled off.
The door prizes were donated by local vendors who will be at the event showcasing their products. Boats, tractors, ATVs, hunting gear, guns, trees, food plot supplies and more will be on display.
“It will cover everything that hunters can use,” Nevins said.
Nevins helped put the event together. He said similar events are routinely held in Tupelo, Jackson and Birmingham. This is the first time the Extension Service has held one in Lowndes County.
“Hopefully, we can make it an annual event,” Nevins said.
There will be archery contests for both adults and children at the event. The adult first place finisher will receive a Thompson Center Venture Rifle and the youth winner will receive a dove hunt at Prairie Wildlife.
Magnolia Records, the official records program for Mississippi Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, will have representatives at the event. For no charge, attendees who bring a deer they harvested can have its antlers officially measured and put on the record books.
Proceeds from the event will go to a scholarship to be given to student studying forestry or some other wildlife-based field at Mississippi State University, Nevins said.
For more information, contact the Lowndes County Extension Service at (662) 328-2111.
William Browning was managing editor for The Dispatch until June 2016.
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