The Wild Deer Expo returned to Lardner Park on October 11 and 12. The Expo is a must-visit for many deer hunters, and being every second year, it is ideally timed.
This year's Expo saw well over 100 brands demonstrating their wares to over 7,500 visitors who made the trip into the heart of sambar hunting country to enjoy a great day at the expo.
Once again, the Australian Deer Association (ADA) was a proud event partner, helping to promote and run the event across the weekend.
The Expo is an important feature of the deer hunting industry; it is a tangible demonstration of its size and the passion held by so many, not just in Victoria, but Australia, with guests travelling from nationwide to display and attend.
It also provides a great opportunity for members to swing past and say hello to those manning the stand. Your words of support and encouragement over the weekend are deeply appreciated. It is great to see the ADA stand act as a social hub at these events, with members and long-time friends bumping into each other and catching up.
Events such as these are only possible because of the hard work put in by so many people behind the scenes. As The Deer People, we are fortunate to have so many volunteers willing to lend a hand to make the event the great success that it was.
On behalf of the ADA and the Wild Deer team, thank you to the following volunteers for their valued contribution:
Paul Arden, Rob Cumming, Penny Cumming, Mat Findlay, Aaron George, Anthony Gray, Paul Gray, David Howell, Michael Ketelaar, Lynn Kilkenny, Martin Kilkenny, Sean Kilkenny, Peter Mannaert, Matthew Murphy, John Petrie, Mitch Rickarby, Steve Robinson, Zack Smith, Trent Wade, Kevin Yarbrough.
As a special mention also to Billy Auldist, who kindly let the ADA display his 2024 Arthur Bentley Trophy-winning sambar stag, which was a crowd favourite.