Unicoi thoughts & questions

I started going to Unicoi in '93, when it drew a standing room only crowd. Wall to wall venders & 500+ people came to the show, the banquet sold out on Fri. Where are they now?
FYI, Unicoi is one of the first, if not the first, shows of this kind in the S.E., started around '77 or '78. Some of the legends in the call making business came to this show trying to get their foot in the market, Cost, Lee, Kirby, Clay, Duval, Stowe& Battey. This show is a part of turkey call history, that will be lost.
As a vender, how long will you attend at a break-even or loss? Visiting old friends & making new ones is good for the heart & soul, but can you continue to absorb the expense?
I think that if enough people write to the Pres. of the Ga. state chapter with your concerns about attendance, it may get their attention. This show needs to be advertised, ads in the CON mag. are not enough. Radio stations & newspapers reach a lot of people.
How many threads have you seen about Unicoi & replys are, when & where is it? The people in Georgia don't know?
What are your thoughts, would you write a letter? No threats, just your concerns & opinons.
I'll see y'all in Agusta. As a vender?

BOB

I think it is a result of loss of hunters and too much else to do to get ready for turkey season. Most of the other shows have fallen as well. The boat show was slow this year too.

Bob,

I'd write a letter. I'm sad to say I wasn't able to get up there this year. But I'd HATE to see that show die off.

My guess is that a small reason some folks didn't go was because the NWTF is gonna be in Atl this year. Probably not the main reason. But I'm sure some folks stayed home knowing they'll actually be going to that show instead.

BTW...I'm glad I caught you at the Atlanta Turkeyrama last year since they aren't doing it this year. That little call got carried all over the place last year...and convinced a few birds to do a suicide march too!

Have any of you noticed that the attendence has declined for the past 5 yrs.? Why?

BOB

I've only been going for two years now Mr. Bob and this year was WAAAY down from last year IMO.

I wrote a half page write up in January's issue of WoodsNWater (60,000+ issues) in an attempt to drum up some business. I reckon it didn't work?

I hope we can somehow revive the Unicoi show as my family has a great time up there when we go!

This year was the first year I had ever heard about the Unicoi show. I am from N.C. It was a long ride, but I would do it again. I would have loved to see it about 10 years ago. Has the vendor dropped off over the years also? It looked like there was room for a few more in places.

Last yr. there were a few empty tables, this 50% less tables.

BOB

It was the real deal 10 years ago.

Now it's merely a shell of the show it once was.

I do know that when they moved the Unicoi gathering to Macon that hurt. My wife and I, her father and mother, and another couple would go up to Unicoi for the whole weekend. We got out of the habit when it moved to Macon and hadn't gotten back into since.

There has to be a underlieing reason why many of these shows are declining.

I will add that my wife's parents and the other couple that I mentioned are in their late 70's. They had been going to Unicoi since the early days. I don't know if a core group of people that used to attend or getting older and not able to attendor just dieing.... thought I'd throw that out

This was my 3rd year attending. I had been told that it wasn’t necessarily a place where a vendor would make a lot of sales, but it was a place where a lot of call makers enjoyed gathering and just have a big get-together. The first year I attended there looked to be quite a few vendors and a fairly decent crowd. Last year, a few vendors from the previous year were not there and the crowd was fair. Quite a few folks stayed (Saturday night) and we had a great time sitting around the fireplace and shooting the bull. This year, numerous vendors were not there, no crowd, and no one stayed Saturday night.

I agree Bob, I feel like some aggressive advertising would help. This is the same with the Turkeyrama, I don’t feel like it is being aggressively advertised which isn’t fair to the vendors ($500 for a booth). I really don’t believe the nationals has much to do with it; even though I have been doing this for just a few years I have seen the drop off in interest since I started.

I can understand the Georgia NWTF considering moving the convention and show to rotating locations. I don’t know if it will do any good but they do know there is a problem and want to do something about it. BossGobbler (Greg Brown) is the state secretary (I think he is) and I spoke with at length about it. He also frequents this forum and I’m sure he is a source that understands our concerns and is probably in a position to make those concerns known (don’t mean to put you in an awkward position Greg).

I enjoy the Unicoi show, it’s a beautiful place to have the show and I hate to see it moved somewhere else.

I worked there for almost 10 years.............................it used to be the best show around. Used too you could not move while walking around with all the folks elbow to elbow. Also they charged a entrance fee at one time as well. Personally, I go every year because of the conveince of it being right down the road...................... But from a average hunters point of view (and I'm not trying to downgrade anyone by no means) most of the custom stuff sold is just too expensive.............. Years ago there was a good mixture of both mass produced calls and custom made stuff as well for a happy meduim. I went the other day and there was some sho nuff pretty custom made stuff on display. Also, they moved the state championship or some high prestige event down to Perry or something like that....................and it has went down hill from there. The turkey convention used to the second biggest weekend for Unicoi behind the Fireside Craftshow now it is way down the list. I personally think if they would bring the "championships" back and do a LOT more advertising that it could be brought back to what it was in the past.........................

I'd like to see a few seminars offered at Unicoi. I've often enjoyed the seminars at events better than the booths. Seems years ago, Unicoi offered seminars but this has gone away. Don't know if it would help or not, but it couldn't hurt.

Unicoidawg,
The Georgia State Championship as well as the Dixie Classic are both still held at Unicoi in conjunction with the other events. The Realtree Grand America is held in Perry, but to be honest I thought that is where it started too?

Ive been going for about 15 yrs to Unicoi. It has decreased in attendance especially the past 2 yrs. I hope they can revive this event and keep it at Unicoi.

I've never been. It always falls on the last weekend of deer season.

Darrell

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Unicoidawg said:

I worked there for almost 10 years.............................it used to be the best show around. Used too you could not move while walking around with all the folks elbow to elbow. Also they charged a entrance fee at one time as well. Personally, I go every year because of the conveince of it being right down the road...................... But from a average hunters point of view (and I'm not trying to downgrade anyone by no means) most of the custom stuff sold is just too expensive.............. Years ago there was a good mixture of both mass produced calls and custom made stuff as well for a happy meduim. I went the other day and there was some sho nuff pretty custom made stuff on display. Also, they moved the state championship or some high prestige event down to Perry or something like that....................and it has went down hill from there. The turkey convention used to the second biggest weekend for Unicoi behind the Fireside Craftshow now it is way down the list. I personally think if they would bring the "championships" back and do a LOT more advertising that it could be brought back to what it was in the past.........................

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Think you hit the nail on the head right there, The calling bruoght many there to compete and spectate. There were some nice calls there but it can be hard to pull out 50. on a call when I just spent 50. in gas to get there..
Unicoi is a little far of the beaten path for most of us.

The calling contests are still there..................................

They moved one of the big ones away at one time and the next year it was way down........................Now as far as it being there now that may be the case........ but it went downhill originally back a few years back when that one (whichever it was) was moved. One of the interns we had at the park was the daughter of some big wig at the NWTF and she said they keep talking of moving the whole event away????? I really hate that because I have meet some mighty good folks there and had some good times at the convention. I just remember the days when there where booths everywhere upstairs and down..........also folks having to wait in line to eat at the resturaunt and a huge crowd............................We need to get it revitalized somehow

trkyhntr70 said:

it can be hard to pull out 50. on a call when I just spent 50. in gas to get there..

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I thought it was hard to find a call for $50.