Gun & Horn Show draws many new vendors

BONNERS FERRY — On Feb. 8-10, the Kootenai Valley Sportsman Association hosted the annual Boundary County Gun & Horn Show, this time drawing many new vendors.

All 80 tables were filled with guns, knives, ammunition, supplies, jewelry, art, and much more, drawing a large crowd all three days and giving the 35 vendors a great opportunity to sell their wares.

“It has been a challenging year but everything came together,” said Earl Irving, Kootenai Valley Sportsman Association show organizer, on day two of the show. “We are sold out, just like last year, and we have 15 new vendors. Attendance looks pretty close to last year, so far. It should be a good show overall.”

The show is in its 26th year and Irving feels like it is a good fit for the community.

“No. 1 because of the variety that we have,” said Irving. “You have the horn show going on as well.”

Ian Gruner from Addy, Wash., has been coming to the event as a vendor for five years, but he remembers coming to the show 15 years ago with his father. His table was filled with all kinds of accessories, including ammunition, specialty shotgun ammunition, other bulk ammunition, as well as the parts and pieces that go with the sporting goods industry.

“I really like the community atmosphere that this show pulls together,” said Gruner. “I have done shows this small and smaller, as well as shows that have about 1,000 tables, and it is a different atmosphere at those settings, than it is here.”

He feels that the Boundary County show is more family orientated.

“Families getting together and trading stories, trading knowledge, and trading ammunition and all that other stuff that goes with it,” Gruner explained. “It has that family dynamic that I like a lot better than the commercial atmosphere you get in the big cities at the big shows.”

The new vendors were excited about the show as well, including Devon Cole from Bayview, with Cole’s Custom Cutlery. His table had a spread of hand forged knives with exotic handles such as giraffe bone, moose paddle, rams horn, and elk leg bone.

There were vendors from as far away as Superior, Mont., and all the way from Cheney, Wash., as well as many local vendors. One local was Evan Phillips, owner of the Woodsman’s Shop in downtown Bonners Ferry, who attended the show for the first time this year, offering his knife sharpening services.

“All of the vendor tables are full up and there is a lot of traffic, a lot of interest in my business and what I do, offering my services,” said Phillips.

Another first time local vendor offering a sharpening service was Allen Avery

“I run a business called Professional Tool Sharpening and I sharpen all manner of tools, from knives, scissors, all the way to sawblades and drill bits, and everything in between,” said Avery.

“I think it is a pretty good time,” Avery said about the show. “I have made more than enough to pay for my table, so I am happy.”

John Vandiest was here for the first time, selling guns and accessories, after having reservations about coming because he had heard that the tables were not always filled in the past.

“I am really impressed with what they have done this year, and I am really happy to be here,” he said.

The Gun & Horn show has garnered a reputation over the past 25 years, and has grown mostly through word of mouth.

“They heard how good the show is, that it is a good buying and selling show, and they are anxious to take part in it,” said Irving.

With a large amount of gun purchases at the show, Irving assured that all were done according to state and federal law.

Many people found exactly what they were looking for at the show, while other came to browse, often with their families.

“It’s bigger, it’s better,” said attendee Lewis Clark. “Last year when I came, there were not that many items that were interesting. I have only gone through a quarter of the show and I am seeing all kinds of stuff that I didn’t see last year.”

Clark said that he enjoyed seeing how much activity the show brought this year, not only from the local community, but from outside of the county as well.

While guns, knives, and related accessories where the highlight of the show, there were other vendors who brought art, crafts, jewelry, and other items. Local wildlife artist Vicki Bleile had paintings, prints, and rocks depicting wildlife.

“A lot of people have a hard time equating between wildlife art and killing them, because they are so beautiful, but I am a hunter, so I can talk to these people,” she said with a laugh.

This fact was hidden in some of her elaborate wildlife paintings, as Bleile had placed hidden hunters in some of them.

“I have lost a lot of sales at art shows because of that… but here it works,” she said.

Will Counts, from eastern Washington, was selling guns and knives for the first time at this show.

“It’s nice, there is a lot of people,” he said. “The promoters are very easy to work with and very helpful.”

“What really is cool, is when you look around and see a father that may be in with his five sons, or a dad in with his daughter who is a shotgun shooter, and you see them and they are buying their first knife, or their first gun, or their first shotgun, just seeing the smiles on their faces,” Irving said, describing one of the highlights of putting on this show.

Whether it was the swapping of goods, or the swapping of stories, both buyers and sellers enjoyed a weekend break from winter at the Gun & Horn Show, and left a little more prepared for the upcoming hunting seasons.