SCI Convention 2026 - Who Is Joining Me?

[Philip Glass]

I know we have our AH get together thread that is going to be great with @Rare Breed handling all the planning but I wanted to start another thread specific to the SCI Convention it self. This is an opportunity to ask questions or pose a complaint about convention for all of us to kick around.
Nashville has become the home of the incredible SCI Convention and it will be there for the foreseeable future. Since moving from Nevada every metric is up in attendance, total dollars raised, etc. This coming year looks to be another great one.
I serve on some SCI committees so I'll be there all week. I'll attend some but not all of the evening banquets. I certainly won't miss the finale on Saturday night featuring Little Big Town! I encourage everyone to attend at least one banquet night if for no other reason than to see how well SCI pulls off these big events. It is an incredible professional production and each night is different. Celebrities like Donald Trump Jr. are always in attendance.
I'll mention some unfortunate downsides to Convention. You need to book hotels very early to get the ones adjacent to the beautiful Music City Center and those are expensive. I know because I'm there for a week! Other hotels a bit further away are still available but don't delay! It is expensive to attend and you must be a member. This is true but it is the main fundraiser for SCI that carries the mission all year long fighting for hunters rights and keeping wild places wild. So when you buy your 4 Day pass or a ticket to an evening event it is all going to the mission we all support.
There is simply nothing like the SCI Convention and I hope you will join me and raise a glass to conservation!

Here is the link to convention:

Convention 2026 | February 18-21 | Safari Club International - Safari Club International Convention

Prepare to experience the greatest hunting show in the world!

convention.safariclub.org

 

[Mark A Ouellette]

Hi @Philip Glass , I will spend three days, Thursday- Sat on the SCI floor. My charming wife will walk the floor on the Thursday. As a couple we are not hard to spot in that crowd Hope to see you and many other AH members. If you see me, please say hello!

My wife will sightsee or do whatever women do in Nashville on Friday and Saturday.

We will of course attend the AH dinner. Thanks @Rare Breed !

PS: I received a substantial military discount at the Sheraton Grand Downtown. They may have sold out but it’s worth checking out!

 

[Franco]

Philip,
My wife and I will be there, hopefully meeting up with Mark and his wife. We will also be attending the AH dinner.

Do you know if SCI has published the program with a list of vendors and booth numbers?

 

[skydiver386]

Tina and I will be there with more AH hats to hand out. SCI puts on a fantastic show and we plan to chat with several AH sponsors about hunts in 2026 and beyond.

 

[kdenn]

We will be there Wednesday and Thursday. Gets so crowded later in the week. Great event to attend, so much to see.

 

[pkjohnson]

May I get the thread/link to the AH get together from @rarebreed? My wife and I will be attending but, only for 3 days. I want to see if we are there when it occurs.
Also, I'm hoping to bid on a few of the safaris while we are there but, this is our first time, I've never done it. Does anyone have ideas or helps? Thanks!

 

[Ryan Brown]

My wife and I will be attending the show Friday and Saturday. We are staying downtown. The rooms may be more expensive but we will save on Ubers. I recommend avoiding taxis.

 

[wesheltonj]

My wife and I will be there Thursday and Friday. Shopping for a big buffalo, and spending the evenings on Broadway weather permitting. Will try to make the AH dinner,

 

[deewayne2003]

Fly in Thursday evening and will attend the show Friday and Saturday.

 

[lhook7]

We are getting to town on Tuesday and leaving on Sunday.

 

[hornhunter!]

My wife and will be attending Thursday through Saturday. This will be our 3rd Convention and we really enjoy coming to it and seeing all the great booths and people.
Can't wait!

 

[ActionBob]

I know we have our AH get together thread that is going to be great with @Rare Breed handling all the planning but I wanted to start another thread specific to the SCI Convention it self. This is an opportunity to ask questions or pose a complaint about convention for all of us to kick around.
Nashville has become the home of the incredible SCI Convention and it will be there for the foreseeable future. Since moving from Nevada every metric is up in attendance, total dollars raised, etc. This coming year looks to be another great one.
I serve on some SCI committees so I'll be there all week. I'll attend some but not all of the evening banquets. I certainly won't miss the finale on Saturday night featuring Little Big Town! I encourage everyone to attend at least one banquet night if for no other reason than to see how well SCI pulls off these big events. It is an incredible professional production and each night is different. Celebrities like Donald Trump Jr. are always in attendance.
I'll mention some unfortunate downsides to Convention. You need to book hotels very early to get the ones adjacent to the beautiful Music City Center and those are expensive. I know because I'm there for a week! Other hotels a bit further away are still available but don't delay! It is expensive to attend and you must be a member. This is true but it is the main fundraiser for SCI that carries the mission all year long fighting for hunters rights and keeping wild places wild. So when you buy your 4 Day pass or a ticket to an evening event it is all going to the mission we all support.
There is simply nothing like the SCI Convention and I hope you will join me and raise a glass to conservation!

Here is the link to convention:

Convention 2026 | February 18-21 | Safari Club International - Safari Club International Convention

Prepare to experience the greatest hunting show in the world!

convention.safariclub.org

Philip do you know if tickets to the convention can be purchased for Thursday and Saturday? Or even Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday? Skipping Friday.

And can tickets be purchased at the door by the day? Gina really only wants to attend a day or two at the most. Can she attend the evening events without attending the convention that day?

 

[thoma018]

My wife and I will be in for all four days. Looking forward to meeting/putting names to faces. Seems there is a lot of homework to do, sorting out the vendors/outfitters that may serve us best...they all seem to make their package the "most appealing". I find that in talking to some vendors, they are just representatives of an outfitter and are never on site where you may hunt. You are assigned a guide/PH who may or may not represent what the vendor implied or promised. How does one validate the vendor.......endless questions/personal references (that are contactable) ?
This is all new to me so maybe I'm basing my bias on past experience--a couple of which (in the US) were (much) less than represented.
We are looking forward to it though and hope to meet many at Jonathan's on Friday night for the dinner.

 

[thoma018]

@pkjohnson :
GREAT NEWS!!! Once again, we are booked for our SCI dinner where we have had it for the past two years! The following are the details:
LOCATION: Jonathon's Grille Germantown
717 3rd Avenue North
Nashville, TN 37201
615-678-1140
DATE/TIME: Friday night February 20, 2026
6-10 PM
The private one room is upstairs...I will have an AH sign for all to see.
Like DSC, I will have plastic name tags, so they do not come off. Please put your real name and your AH name if you are a member.
Everyone will take care of their own meals and drinks meaning you are responsible for the bill.

Looking forward to another awesome time!!!!! Please bring your friends even if they are not members so we can meet everyone and talk about Africa!!!!!

This finishes up our two dinners! I have already posted on this thread the details for our Friday night February 6, 2025, AH dinner for DSC in Atlanta now this completes our SCI AH dinner in Nashville. Now if I can just finalize our Atlanta Big Bore shoot on my farm, I will have the trifecta!!!!!

 

[BeeMaa]

Flights, hotel and tickets to the show booked for three days. Mrs. BeeMaa and I will see everyone Friday night at the AH dinner!

 

[ActionBob]

May I get the thread/link to the AH get together from @rarebreed? My wife and I will be attending but, only for 3 days. I want to see if we are there when it occurs.
Also, I'm hoping to bid on a few of the safaris while we are there but, this is our first time, I've never done it. Does anyone have ideas or helps? Thanks!

Post in thread 'AH Dinners for both DSC & SCI 2026'

Wednesday at 6:16 PM

Me and my wife will be attending the Nashville Dinner.
Looking forward to putting names and faces together.

• Bandera

• 

The AH dinner is Friday evening.

By all means yes support the SCI fund raising events. However do all the research well before the auction on Safaris or hunts... Know exactly what you are bidding on and what extra costs you can expect. Lots of threads on here about auction hunts. I've bought a $1500 hunt that when all in came to $25,000. I just chalked that one up to a $1500 donation to SCI and didn't go on the hunt. On the other hand I got one heck of a great deal on a mountain goat/moose hunt that I enjoyed immensely.

Especially beware of the inflated (often hugely inflated) trophy fees on extra animals. The ploy is to auction off a simple cheap hunt for several days with one or two low cost animals. The up sell more animals after you shoot your included animals the first morning out.

Study the hunt deals on this site beforehand so you have base knowledge of what is available.

Buyer beware but you can get some truly great deals and even get the opportunity to buy hunts that have limited availability.

 

[Ridge Runner]

If everything goes well I'll be attending the SCI AH get together on Friday evening for sure.

Since I already have hunts in the planning process for 2027 the number of days attending the SCI Convention is still undecided at least 2, maybe 3 days to just see what's available and to visit with outfitters I've previously hunted with.

 

[MontanaPat]

I will be at SCI on Wednesday thru Friday and at the AH dinner, look forward to seeing everyone

 

[Russ16]

I’ll be there. Undecided if it will be Thursday-Saturday or just Friday and Saturday.

 

[Wildwillalaska]

I’ll be there. First SCI convention, haven’t been to any big conventions other than WSF Reno since DSC back in like 2004. Booked a room for Tuesday through Sunday. Still sorting if the misses is coming along or solo, and how many days. Hope to attend the meet-up and other fun events.