2009 Convention News
February 5-8, 2009 – Salt Lake City, Utah

•    New Thursday – Sunday Expo Format!
•    Wild Sheep Foundation “Sheep Family” Friday Evening Banquet!
•    Ladies Luncheon, International Night, Life Member Breakfast and More!
•    Jeff Foxworthy to emcee Saturday Grand Finale Banquet!

The 2009 Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF) Convention and Western Hunting & Conservation Expo (WHCE) will be the place to be for the sheep hunter and conservationist. We once again are teaming with our conservation and industry friends at the Mule Deer Foundation and Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife to produce one of the finest sporting expositions in North America.

By popular demand we have made some significant changes to the event. First and foremost, to better reflect our attendance pattern and maximize quality attendance at a weekend show, we have modified the expo days from Wednesday to Saturday to a new Thursday through Sunday show format. The expo, with more than 600 booths, will open to the public Thursday, February 5th at noon and run through Sunday afternoon, February 8th at 4:00 pm. The expo hours are as follows:

Thursday        Noon – 6 pm
Friday            10 am – 7 pm
Saturday        9 am – 6 pm
Sunday        10 am – 4 pm

Expo Features -
The expo features 600 exhibits in Hall A-E of the beautiful Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah where we will host the finest guides and outfitters from around the globe, custom and exotic firearms for the mountain hunter, fine knives, sporting equipment, wildlife artists, taxidermists and wildlife displays plus special exhibits for the sportswomen including jewelers, fine furniture, clothiers and furriers. North American and International hunters and anglers will find everything they need to outfit their outdoor adventure at the WSF 2009 convention and Western Hunting & Conservation Expo. Current Expo Sponsors include Kings, Cabela’s, Sportsman’s Warehouse, Toyota and Utah Tourism. The WSF and WCHE team salutes our convention sponsors!

200 Utah Tag Drawings worth $1.5 million! Non Utah resident ONLY drawing for bighorn sheep -
Once again we will offer a special permit drawing for 200 of the finest Utah big game tags valued at over $1.5 million! For only $5 per unit (and Utah non-resident license if applicable) you can apply for bison permits (5); black bear permits (5); trophy mule deer permits (40); world class trophy bull elk permits (85); trophy bull Shiras moose permits (6); mountain lion permits (7); trophy pronghorn permits (18); mountain goat permits (3); desert bighorn sheep permit (1); Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep permit (1) and wild turkey permits (29.)

And, new for 2009, we will also conduct a non Utah Resident ONLY drawing for Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, desert bighorn sheep, mountain goat, Shiras moose and bison!

WSF Auctions -
Our legendary afternoon and evening auctions feature more sheep and limited permits than available anywhere on earth plus North American, South American, African, Asian, South Pacific and European hunts, fishing trips, safaris, art, firearms and sporting accessories for every budget.

New Events Planned – Jeff Foxworthy to emcee Saturday Grand Finale Event!
Changes and improvements have been made to our banquets and special events as well. Our evening events kick off with a Wednesday Welcome Back Party and Opening Ceremony in the Salt Palace Ballroom. Thursday evening will feature a Turkish-themed International Night for WSF members and other international hunters featuring a cocktail party, banquet, international awards program and brief international auction all in the stunning Grand Salon Ballroom of the Five Diamond rated Grand America Hotel. The Sheep Foundation feel, identity and family will join together again for a Friday evening banquet, audio visual program, conservation and special awards and a brief auction in the Salt Palace Ballroom. Our Friday evening banquet is sponsored by Medjet Assist – the Wild Sheep Foundation’s official medical evacuation provider.  The evening events will culminate with the Grand Finale combined WHCE banquet Saturday evening emceed by none other than comedy and television star, Jeff Foxworthy!

Daytime events include a High Tea for ladies Thursday at the Grand America Hotel, our legendary day auctions in the Salt Palace Ballroom Friday and Saturday, a high energy Ladies Luncheon with live and silent auctions at the Marriott hotel Friday and a WSF Life Member Breakfast in the Salt Palace Saturday morning. The High Tea and Ladies Luncheon are sponsored by SHE Safari a premier ladies sporting clothier.

Full registration for the convention is only $355 per person and includes the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evening banquets as well as the day auctions, seminars and four-day expo admission. A table of ten for these events is only $3,550 before December 15th. We are creating an online registration program for your convenience and expect the system to be online by late July. A full listing of WSF event pricing is available online at www.wildsheepfoundation.org.

In addition to our banquet and auction events, the four-day expo will feature seminars by industry experts, scientific symposiums, chapter and affiliate meetings and our Annual WSF Membership Meeting. Visit www.wildsheepfoundation.org or the WHCE site www.huntexpo.com for up-to-date listing of the expo schedule of events.

Hotels
We expect an attendance in 2009 of more than 23,000 and our hotel room block will fill up rapidly. We have room blocks at the following properties: Radisson Hotel Downtown, Marriott Downtown, Hotel Monaco, Shiloh Inn and Salt Lake Plaza. You may book your hotel online at www.huntexpo.com or www.wildsheepfoundation.org.

Join fellow sheep and mountain hunters at the 2009 Wild Sheep Foundation Convention and Western Hunting and Conservation Expo!

The Place to Be in 2009!