Stories unfold during annual Spokane sportsmen’s show

It started 50 years ago with a group of hunters gathering in a room to ogle at its trophy big-game mounts.

Since then, the Inland Empire Big-Game Council has become the Inland Northwest Wildlife Council, and the sportsman-oriented show the group founded has expanded into a massive, annual family-oriented event.

The Big Horn Outdoor Adventure Show, which will take over the entire Spokane County Fair and Expo Center Thursday-Sunday, will include hundreds of hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation vendors and groups plus attractions such as stage performances by leopards and other large cats, competition for dogs leaping off docks, target-shooting ranges and fishing ponds for kids.

But underneath the wildlife council’s big event to raise money for hunter education and wildlife conservation programs are countless stories from the field, where it all takes root.

Here’s the background on just a few faces in the crowd.