Spend the day watching outdoors flicks October 2 at the Warren Women's Club, 310 Market Street. Tickets are just $5, and they are good all day. The event is called the 2010 Sportsman Film Festival. A fund-raiser for The Boonies, it is being sponsored by GRO-Warren and the Council on Tourism.
The time for entries in done for this year, so now it is time to relax and enjoy the show.
Categories for the films which have been entered are firearm hunting, bowhunting, freshwater fishing, saltwater fishing and wildlife/conservation observation. All of the films in those categories will be no longer than 15 minutes. Open Feature is a category for films that are longer than 15 minutes.
Article Photos
Mike Bleech
Outdoors Columnist
Of course what better place than Warren could there be for a festival of film on hunting, fishing and wildlife.
"The opening was there," said Boonies Secretary/Treasurer Joey Roy. "We thought we'd draw a lot of interest from the sporting community."
Although Roy is neither a hunter nor a fisherman, he works with several. His observation of their enthusiasm for the outdoor sports was the inspiration for his idea.
"The Sportsman's Film Festival is a fund-raiser for The Boonies International Film Festival. The board of directors have been looking for a pet fund-raiser, something that they're interested in doing, or think that will work well. In this case Joey (Roy) came up with the Sportsman's Film Festival," according to Jeff Clark, executive director of Boonies, Inc.
The mission of The Boonies is to educate, promote and support artists of all ages involved in the independent film industry, as well as to promote the location and natural resources of Northwestern Pennsylvania to the film industry.
Working with this mission statement gives it high potential for drawing visitors to the Warren area. The Warren County Council on Tourism and GRO-Warren are sponsors of the Sportsmen's Film Festival.
"I think it's a good way for Boonies to get our name out there to local and regional people, let them have fun with their films and the way that they're filming," Clark said.
The Sportsman's Film Festival will be held at the Warren Women's Club. Tickets cost $5, and they are good all day.
"It seems like a lot of fun to me and I think that the people, if they understand what it is, I think that it will be fun for them as well," Clark said.
This is an exciting new concept, a very unusual opportunity for local hunters and anglers, as well as anyone who is interested in making or viewing independent films. The Sportsman's Film Festival is geared toward amateur film makers. After the initial event it should grow as sportsmen, many of whom have been making films for years, see what it is all about and lose their fear of the unknown. Next year it will be held in conjunction with the winter sports show in Warren County, and entry will be open for as much longer period.
Some tips on hunting
deer on the KQDC
During the decade I have worked with the Kinzua Quality Deer Cooperative I have become much more aware of the great extent that deer hunters are creatures of habitat. In the parts of the KQDC where most hunters like to hunt deer, densities have been reduced to very low numbers, less than five per square mile in some areas.
At the same time deer density is over 30 per square mile in some places where hunters have not been going. Private lands are the places where deer are most abundant on the KQDC, and the most obvious reason is that very few hunters go there.
Roads on private lands in the KQDC are unlocked for hunters. Signs have been posted on roads to let hunters know they are allowed to hunt there. Yet hunters have been hesitant to hunt on the KQDC private lands.
This Saturday, Sept. 25, at 3:30, I will do a seminar on this subject in The Lodge Room at Gander Mountain, in Erie. I will show on maps where deer are most abundant, and explain a few things about the KQDC that may be useful to hunters. I will not promise that you will see 50 deer in a day, but I can promise that I can help you find an area where deer density is probably much greater than where you have been hunting lately.