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Thirty-seven year old Pennsylvania native, Jason Michael, has been hunting turkey for 20 years. He has traveled the country and the world and has become the “man to beat” among bow hunters. Jason has racked up 4 turkey Grand Slams and a turkey World Slam, for which he has made several TV appearances. As this year’s key-note speaker, Jason will be speaking on a variety of topics including: bow hunting and decoying for spring gobblers, as well as, what it takes to hunt turkey successfully. Don’t miss Jason Michael Friday night at 7:00 pm, Saturday at 1:00 and 6:00 pm, and Sunday at 11:00 am.
Tom Austin
Tom Austin is a lifetime outdoorsman who enjoys everything from hunting, fishing, trap and sporting clay shooting, and all related activities. He is a collector of outdoor memorabilia and has in his collection every Columbia County hunting license beginning with the first one in 1913. He has written the outdoor column for the Press Enterprise for the past 35 years. Tom, along with wife Mary Lou, owned a hunting and fishing lodge in northern Ontario, Canada and were the founders of the Early Bird Sports Expo. Tom is a member of various outdoor related clubs and organizations and a 35 year member of the Pennsylvania Outdoor Writers Association. He will be speaking about Pennsylvania collectibles, hunting licenses, patches, pins, books, etc. on Friday at 11:00 am.
Joe Viljoen
Joe Viljoen’s heart lies with the plains of South Africa. Since childhood, Joe has been passionate about nature and its resources. In later life, Joe’s passion grew to include professional hunting. Joe took his more than 20 years of experience and dedication in nature and established his well-known hunting outfit, Brave Heart Safaris, which allows him to share his knowledge with people who wish to hunt the “Big 5” on the plains of South Africa and its neighboring countries. Today, Brave Heart Safaris is now a family outfit with a base camp situated on Chazen, Private Nature Reserve located in the Vredefort Dome World Heritage Site. Joe’s sons, Micha and Zen are also involved with all aspects of nature conservation and qualified to hunt the “Big 5”. But, Brave Heart Safaris is not just for hunting. With their knowledge and experience of hunting and nature, Joe and his sons have also started a photography outfit, known as Africa Through Your Lens, which creates an opportunity for people to capture the sights of the beautiful African countryside. Joe will be speaking on such topics as: what it takes to hunt in South Africa, how to hunt to conserve natural resources, and much more Fiday at 4:00 pm and Saturday at 11:00 am
Doug Garrison
Doug is the President of the North Central PA Branch of the Quality Deer Management Association. He is also an official measurer for the Boon and Crocket Club, as well as, the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association. Doug will be speaking about scoring and aging your whitetail deer on Thursday at 7:00 pm.
John Gensemer
The Gensemers have been in the meat business since 1900, so it was only natural for John to grow up working in the butcher shop. At age 7, he was given his own skinning knife (although the blade was intentionally dull) to help butcher hogs and by age twelve, he was able to fully butcher a steer from stunning to splitting the finished carcass.
From the beginning of John’s career, deer season has been a large part of the Gensemer business. Several hundred deer carcasses pass over John’s cutting block each year to be turned into steaks, tenderloins, roasts and burger. Thousands of pounds of other products are made from the meat including: ring bologna, sweet bologna, jerky, hot sausage, sweet pepper burgers, and with the addition of a new vacuum stuffer this year, hot dogs and pepper snack sticks. Wild game from many different states and Canada have been processed by John including elk from Wyoming and Colorado, Moose and caribou from Canada, deer from North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Illinois, Ohio, and New Jersey just to name a few.
John regularly gives butcher shop tours and cutting demonstrations for students from area schools, 4-H and FFA groups, and at the Bloomsburg Fair. This year, John will also be giving a demonstration at the show on Saturday at 3:00 pm in the seminar area.
Jeff Nichols
Jeff graduated with a Master’s Degree in Forestry from West Virginia University in 1984. He is now Director of Procurement at Deer Park Lumber where his goal is become a fore-runner in today’s forest industry. Jeff will be speaking on behalf of Roaring Run Forestry and Wildlife Services about Forest Management and Timber Harvesting on Friday at 1:00 pm.
Barrett Wiggans
Barrett graduated with an A.A.S. in Forest Technology form Paul Smith’s College in 1994. He is now employed as a Forester with Deer Park Lumber where he meets with local landowners to create forest management plans. Barrett will be speaking on behalf of Roaring Run Forestry and Wildlife Services about Forest Management and Timber Harvesting on Sunday at 1:00 pm.
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