SCI or DSC Convention Poll

[BeeMaa]

My wife and I have been to a few conventions but none as large as the DSC or SCI.
Wanted to see where you guys and gals go and just as important, why?

 

[Philip Glass]

I go to both. SCI has more booths and big name entertainment at the banquets. DSC is crowded on Saturday because you don’t have to be a member to attend. Some things are similar. You see many of the same outfitters at both. At DSC we have an AH dinner that is fun. I’ll miss DSC next year due to my Safari in Cameroon
I also attended the Sheep Show in Reno this year and enjoyed it. Bit different crowd there.
It was my first time to Reno and I must say I’m not a fan. Weather issues, taxi issues, hotel issues (Peppermill messed up my reservation both times!), and just not anything good to say about Reno.
Hope SCI gets back to and stays in Vegas! Just the number of flights and the price makes it better for me not to mention everything else.
Philip

 

[WAB]

We have done both but have settled on DSC. To us it has a more laid back atmosphere.

Another factor is just the way SCI seems to have gone. I really struggle with the way SCI treats the outfitters with the required donations for booth location, etc.. I am also not a fan of their awards program, as to me it takes the focus away from what hunting should be and encourages the harvesting of the wrong age class animals.

 

[CAustin]

I hope to do them both some day work permitting

 

[BeeMaa]

I hope to do them both some day work permitting

Wait, wait, wait, wait just a minute.
You have hunted SA, KwaZulu, Natal, Kalahari, NW, Limpopo, Gauteng, APNR Kurger Area...not to mention several of the US States and you are waiting on a work schedule that will accommodate the SCI & DSC convention?
Maybe I've been drinking just a wee bit too much or I really need your kind of problems.

 

[CAustin]

Wait, wait, wait, wait just a minute.
You have hunted SA, KwaZulu, Natal, Kalahari, NW, Limpopo, Gauteng, APNR Kurger Area...not to mention several of the US States and you are waiting on a work schedule that will accommodate the SCI & DSC convention?
Maybe I've been drinking just a wee bit too much or I really need your kind of problems.

Yep! Every time I plan to do something it’s like the CEO of my company finds out and calls a mandatory meeting. When I go to Africa she can’t get me!

 

[BeeMaa]

Yep! Every time I plan to do something it’s like the CEO of my company finds out and calls a mandatory meeting. When I go to Africa she can’t get me!

There is a lot to be said for being "out of range" when it comes to work.
Hope you make it to both...someday.
Cheers.

 

[Red Leg]

I am a life member of both and have attended both conventions. Last time at SCI was two years ago. We have been to DSC every year for the last five. We much prefer it. There is very little difference in size any longer. We do not go to attend the banquets - they are interminable - and if I am going to buy an auction hunt (rarely) it will be with a local organization. We use the three or four evenings to catch up with old friends over dinner or at the bar (particularly our AH friends ). And other than visiting other friends on the floor, we actually spend more time with vendors who are selling everything from fine art, to fine guns (where I first held the prototype to the Rigby Highland Stalker), to books, to boots (JB Hill are the best), to the two swings of (all things) now sitting on the patio.

I personally find DSC a much friendlier environment. Virtually everyone is a volunteer and it shows. And the show can indeed be crowded on a weekend, but one never ever has the sense that you have been granted a favor to be let in the door.

 

[jpomazi]

Hi, Had some questions for you veterans of the DSC show. Am a lifetime member of SCI and have been attending since 2012. Really enjoy the show but consistently hear people rave about the DSC convention and how they enjoy it more then SCI. I assume like SCI you have to be a member to attend the show? Confused because Phillip stated on above thread you didn't have to be a member to attend on Saturday. If you do have to be a member does your spouse also have to be one? Any other comments on what makes it a better overall experience would really be appreciated. Thanks, John

 

[WAB]

You do not have to be a member to attend DSC. Read Red Leg’s comments above. He captures the reasons many of us prefer DSC.

 

[mdwest]

You do not have to be a DSC member to attend the show.

As others have stated above.. I think the biggest thing that makes DSC “different” is the all volunteer workforce..

Everyone working the event is a DSC member and is there because they want to support their organization... and it shows..

The shows are similar in size and many of the vendors and booths are the same..

DSC is just “friendlier” in many people’s minds (I agree)..

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

I prefer DSC for the reasons others have posted and I won’t bother to repeat. If DSC didn’t exist however, I’d attend SCI.

Now I would like someone to either confirm for me or correct me on this. But I happened to be looking at the SCI and DSC exhibitor list this week. If I’m not mistaken DSC has some 916 exhibitors and SCI has 852. If correct I think this would be the first year the DSC show was larger than SCI.

 

[Jfet]

https://www.biggame.org/membership/dsc-100-volunteer-info/

This is our secret at DSC. My coffee cart always has the best coffee. See ya at DSC and then you ought to go to SCI too.

...and no you don't have to be a member to attend any of the days of the DSC Convention.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

https://www.biggame.org/membership/dsc-100-volunteer-info/

This is our secret at DSC. My coffee cart always has the best coffee. See ya at DSC and then you ought to go to SCI too.

...and no you don't have to be a member to attend any of the days of the DSC Convention.

Been a few mornings prior to the show opening I greatly appreciated the coffee cart!