CARTERVILLE - With clear, sunny skies and the temperatures hovering around the mid-70s when the 30th annual Southern Illinois Hunting & Fishing Days opened Saturday morning at John A. Logan College in Carterville, most vendors were optimistic that visitors would turn out by the thousands to take in the show.
They were right.
One of the most popular outdoor shows in the country, Hunting & Fishing Days annually attracts upward of 40,000 people, lending credence to those who call Southern Illinois an outdoorsman's paradise.
In addition to the numerous vendors displaying the latest and greatest merchandise and ideas to help the hunter and fisherman find success in their respective hobbies, there is always an impressive re-enactment group that features a dozen or more area residents who enjoy living like trappers, hunters and native Americans who lived here in the 1700s.
Mike Eckols of Johnston City was dressed as a 1770s buck skinner with the re-enactment group that calls itself the Stinking Springs Sharpshooters, composed of men and women from throughout the region.
Eckols was enjoying a conversation alongside Ralph Brannan of West Frankfort, another early trapper re-enactor among the group.
Bill Fox, Thompsonville, was dressed as a buck skinner and was tending the campfire in front of their teepee.
When asked if the coffee he was brewing over the hot coals was strong or bitter, Fox shared a tip on how to brew a smoother pot of coffee at a campsite.
"We get the water hot, throw the coffee grounds in, then we throw an egg shell in there to make them sink and get the bitterness out of them. Then after they've boiled good, you put just a small amount of cold water in there and it makes the grounds sink to the bottom."
And according to Fox's wife, Rebecca, Fox not only makes the coffee when they're camping, but "he actually does most of the cooking. He's good at it, too, or I wouldn't eat it!"
Hunting & Fishing Days first began three decades ago when organizers Dwight Hoffard and Ron Allen wanted to put on a family-friendly event that would bring national attention to the region's hunting and fishing heritage.
