What was your impression of the TTHA show this weekend in Dallas?

[358 Norma]

Awesome, your going to have a great time hunting with the Tsala Safaris family!

 

[Fixfire]

Yes, actually finalized last details for June 2026

Details?!?!

 

[Mark Biggerstaff]

Details?!?!

June 15-28 2026 with Tsala.
Mozambique for non export Bull Elephant and Hippo. Brandon will be PH. Really excited about this hunt.

 

[Fixfire]

Thank you!! Tsala and Brandon are the best!! I’m with them again in May for Mozambique Buff!

 

[Hornedfrogbbq]

Just a FYI the main parking is in the back in underground parking garage. It’s the easiest to do I think

Man i never found it...ended up on a surface lot and a bunch of us got stuck waiting for idiots to move their illegally parked trucks and trailers that pulled in later. Stupid. I'll find it next time for sure.

 

[358 Norma]

Thank you!! Tsala and Brandon are the best!! I’m with them again in May for Mozambique Buff!

I'll be hunting with them in early June for Buffalo and Kudu!

 

[Green Chile]

Man i never found it...ended up on a surface lot and a bunch of us got stuck waiting for idiots to move their illegally parked trucks and trailers that pulled in later. Stupid. I'll find it next time for sure.

Once you figure out the entrance, and I agree that it wasn't well marked this year, it's really decent parking for $20. If you have parked in the garage for DSC, it's the same place.

 

[Trout Tracker]

My wife and I went down on Saturday, and spent both Saturday and Sunday at the show. I was impressed with the amount of South African outfitters present, and glad that I wasn't still "shopping" for one this weekend...it would have been a daunting task. Compared to last year, I was pleased to see a significant increase in the amount of exhibitors, and the diversity of the hunts/adventures offered. I am hopeful that this show will continue to grow and that the growth will attract other exhibitors to attend. Absent, or marginally present were artists (sculptors, painters etc...) big name firearm manufacturers (Ruger, Beretta, Winchester....) and Accessory manufacturers. The only tripods I noticed for sale required a trailer to move, and few options for gun slings (except a few made from hides). Surprisingly, I didn't see any upper tier optics dealers (Swaro, Zeiss, Leupold...).
One thing that I did notice was the pleasant nature of the SCI individuals present. They were excited, helpful and wore a smile. I was also pleased to finally meet one of our AHr's there- Dave West and his wife. My wife and I walked away with a few sacks of wonderfully scented candles. I'll be back again next year!

 

[Franco]

We enjoyed the show. Missed seeing some of the outfitters who attend DSC, but we will connect at SCI. There were enough outfitters there to start planning some future hunts. I booked a mountain lion hunt, won the G2 whitetail hunt, and will be spending the weekend with a PH planning a leopard hunt.

My wife found what she was looking for at Alaska Furs (again).

Dave's party Saturday night was a great opportunity to meet a few you in person - thank you Dave.

Looking forward to next year, I think it will only get better.

 

[Hornedfrogbbq]

We enjoyed the show. Missed seeing some of the outfitters who attend DSC, but we will connect at SCI. There were enough outfitters there to start planning some future hunts. I booked a mountain lion hunt, won the G2 whitetail hunt, and will be spending the weekend with a PH planning a leopard hunt.

My wife found what she was looking for at Alaska Furs (again).

Dave's party Saturday night was a great opportunity to meet a few you in person - thank you Dave.

Looking forward to next year, I think it will only get better.

I always wonder who wins all the stuff I enter!!!

 

[Dave Fulson]

I attended the entire SCI-TTH show. A dramatic upgrade from last year, which was also a very good show. More vendors, bigger names and certainly a very global feel. I know of several big safaris sold in Tanzania, so the right kind of customers were in attending. Most of the companies I work with and operators I talked to were very upbeat. I was told, as I certainly did not attend DSC last year, that board members and management were always 'on the move' when exhibitors I talked to said they tried to flag them down to get some pointed questions answered. Several exhibitors I know well told me that. On the other hand, The TTH CEO was all over the place, and both the CEO Laird Hamberlin and SCI 's President Jeffery Meyerl were up and down the isles greeting members, attendees and of course exhibitors. The same with several SCI VP's. I think SCI is certainly in the DALLAS DRIVERS SEAT from here on out and they have my full support.

 

[mdwest]

Surprisingly, I didn't see any upper tier optics dealers (Swaro, Zeiss, Leupold...).

I didn’t see Swaro or Leupold, but Zeiss had a very nice booth set up… they were near the center of the floor, directly beside the guy that was selling dirt bike tours of South Africa (super nice guy that had a KTM 500 in his booth)…

They weren’t selling their wares.. they were just showing their new scopes that are being released this year along with a few staples that have been in the lineup for years… if you were a buyer they were referring people over to Kenzies Optics a couple of isles over..

 

[mdwest]

CEO Laird Hamberlin and SCI 's President Jeffery Meyerl

My wife had a long, fun chat with Laird and his wife… they were walking the floor and checking in on exhibitors… it turns out she’s from the same town in Mississippi as Lairds wife, and my father in law is from the same tiny town as Laird… they did a walk down memory lane and talked about little locally owned establishments in town, a particular restaurant they all love, etc.. they were super friendly, and actually gave my wife the courtesy of offering her very valuable feedback on her booth, gave her tips on things they have seen before successful for exhibitors at SCI shows, etc..

 

[Mountainshadows]

In my opinion a lot more people and vendors. If definitely felt more professional this year. In my short time to walk around I found quite a few more things that certainly peaked my interest and got me to conversing with some folks than I did last year.
As with others, I think it will only get bigger.

 

[LimbNoMo]

In my opinion a lot more people and vendors. If definitely felt more professional this year. In my short time to walk around I found quite a few more things that certainly peaked my interest and got me to conversing with some folks than I did last year.
As with others, I think it will only get bigger.

You nailed it. Definitely felt more professional this year.

 

[txtrout75218]

I missed last year due to other comments. I attended Saturday specifically to meet with a couple of outfitters and to just take the show in. I liked it, was able to visit with a few vendors, and ended up being there the whole day. So I guess that says I enjoyed the show.

The show had a different vibe than the last DSC I attended in Dallas, and that's not a bad thing. I can see this show taking DSC to the cleaners with continued support from SCI.

While DSC moved because of the impending Dallas convention center remodel, and there are really only about five to seven convention centers that can handle truly large events in the USA, and two of them are in very blue states, many people.wont go the Atlanta. I don't blame them.

I'll get off the soap box. I liked the show just wish there were more rifle/gun retailers/builders there. DSC did a much better job on that.

But I'm interested in seeing what TTHA/SCI can do with this show. I like not havig to see too much high fence Texas deer hunting.

 

[Philip Glass]

I was only able to attend on Saturday but was there all day. It has obviously grown a LOT from last year. There were almost 2k vendor numbers but a few blocks of numbers missing. I would say there were at least 1500 vendors there. There was plenty of room and enough traffic on Saturday to have a good vibe in the exhibit hall.

You could tell the word is getting out that the old DSC location and dates are still good for show attendance. There were more big name vendors attending this year than last. There were not a lot of artists displaying and that could certainly improve as I think Texas shows are good for their sales, from what I have heard. There were definitely big name artists missing that I had hoped to see.

In talking to outfitters, the established ones are booking 2-3 years out, which is a good sign. I think there were quite a few tire kickers but DFW is typically a good place to book safaris, etc. There were a lot more African outfitters present than last year. I booked a hunt for '28 and discussed a couple of pending rifle builds with Parkwest Arms.

As to feedback, I would say they could have had more workers signing people in as they arrived. That line took 30 min and was pretty long. Since they were scanning in pre-paid attendees, that could have been a little better. Also, I heard some confusion on food...people were asking if there was food in the exhibit hall...there was not. It was just a little confusing but outside of the hall, there were food options but somewhat limited seating/tables. Just a few little things to work on.

I'm curious what others experienced and thought of the show. I'm pleased that there is a good show for us to attend here after so many issues with DSC moving away from its base.

It was fantastic all around. I was there Thursday-Sunday helping in a friends booth and with SCI. It was bigger, with bigger names involved, it had a nice floor layout, and most everything went off as planned. There were the usual headaches moving in but they have already been addressed by Christina and her team. Yes if you came on Saturday and we're not pre registered you had a bit of a wait other than that it went pretty well checking in. The food was a better offering but just down in the Fourier and was easy to find with plenty of seating. Two of the big influencers told me that many more gun and ammo companies will be there next year.
TTHA OX has cemented itself as a premier Hunting and outdoors show. It will be interesting to see what the future holds. Especially the next two years where it directly coincides with DSC!

 

[mdwest]

I have a feeling the number of gun dealers and manufacturers will expand considerably over the next couple of years…

I only saw two booths this year (I wasn’t specifically looking for, but didn’t notice otherwise) with “fine” rifles… one a couple of rows over from us was a double booth that had several European doubles (I noticed Heym and Chapuis) and several high end euro sxs shotguns along with a couple of dozen very fine bolt actions… the other was also a double booth with numerous fine guns.

What was notably missing was the manufacturers (rigby, Heym, etc..)..

Now that the floor and the audience is very affirmatively changing from pigs and whitetail to an international hunting focus I’m pretty sure the manufacturers will be on their way soon.z

 

[Philip Glass]

I really like their getting more Africa outfitters. It always struck me when I lived there and attended every year it was 90% deer 10% all else. Great to see that is changing

Keep in mind the Outdoors Extravaganza - OX was designed to be a different show entirely versus their summer shows which are called the Hunters Extravaganzas. And yes they are 90% DDT (deer, ducks, turkey).

 

[Philip Glass]

This year will likely be my last at DSC, so i anticipate it will be TTHA and SCI next year as I dont think
I have any conflicting hunts at this point! Talked to 2 outfitters who said they are done with DSC, ine said they wouldn't even waste their time going to DSC except they already had hotels and their displays going there.

I heard the exact same thing from several exhibitors. Last DSC for many.