About 30,000 hunters and their families attended the 17th Buckmasters Expo Aug. 20-22 at the Renaissance Hotel & Convention Center in Montgomery, AL, according to a release issued by the show's coordinators.


The Salvation Army of Montgomery and the area's homeless benefitted most from the popular event. Admission was one can of food per person. By the time the doors closed, Buckmasters staff collected 58,103 pounds of canned goods -almost twice the food collected in 2009.


“We are so grateful to Buckmasters and the generous support of hunters and the Montgomery community for making it possible for us to meet this need,” said Carolyn Key, a Salvation Army spokesperson. “Last year, we prepared more than 150,000 meals and assisted nearly 8,000 families with groceries. With the success of our partnership with Buckmasters, we will be able to do far more.”



“A team effort made this year's event another success,” said Buckmasters CEO Jackie Bushman. “We couldn't have pulled this off without the combined support of the Alabama Tourism Department, the Montgomery County Commission, City of Montgomery, Chamber of Commerce and national and local sponsors. We also have an incredible Buckmasters staff.”


The centerpiece of Expo was the Buckmasters Top Bow Indoor World Championship, in which 48 archers competed for the bowhunting industry's top prize of $25,000. Tom Boatwright of Perdido, AL prevailed to become the new world champion.


Another highlight was the awarding of the Golden Laurel Citation to Clay Tiringer of Saskatchewan, whose 2009 deer is a new provincial record as well as the No. 2 archery buck in all of Canada. The award is presented annually to the season's most significant entry in Buckmasters Whitetail Trophy Records.


Other Expo attractions included the Young Bucks game-filled kids area, the outdoors Dock Dogs competition and daily demonstrations by the Stihl Iron jack Timber Team lumberjacks.


The wall of white-tailed deer antlers was popular, too, as hunters brought their mounts to be measured and displayed. Racks were measured at no charge by master scorers. Of the 90 racks taped, 17 scored high enough for inclusion in Buckmasters Whitetail Trophy Records.