My guess is it’s going to take a few years, a lot of hard work, and a lot of marketing to start converting large numbers of Southeastern hunters into “international hunters”..
The easy part (which won’t be easy at all) will be attracting them to the show…
Getting them to buy is another thing all together..
Most well healed south eastern big game hunters I know dream about guided elk hunts out west, chasing brown bear in Alaska or Canada, etc… Africa and Europe aren’t really on their radar as hunting destinations..
There are certainly some international hunters in the Southeast.. many of them are regulars on AH… but the “culture” is definitely different and the density compared to TX isn’t close..
I think the chapter system is DSCs best hope.. get them involved in outreach and bringing new members on board… and there’s a chance…
But without a lot of marketing dollars spent (and spent very wisely and precisely), ATL is going to continue to be a disaster…
And I think it’s going to take some time..
If you market well you MIGHT get Georgians, Alabamans, Tennesseans, etc to show up… but it’s going to be a stretch to get many that are more than a 4-5 hour drive to do it.. and they’ve lost the commitment of a huge % of the older membership they prior to 18 months ago they could have counted on..
The problem is.. if those curious new Georgians, Alabamans, etc don’t buy hunts… outfitters are going to rapidly start abandoning the show..
And if that happens.. the show is dead in a matter of just a few years…