I would agree that the vendors were quite busy, and it appeared to me that there were more "for sale" items at this Fest than at any of the 4 other events we've attended. We bought a new vest, new dog vest, and Irish Setter 8" " Wingshooter" boots (quite a special on those). I admit to being absolutely astounded at some of the prices asked for hunting boots, clothing, premium dog food etc. You'd think some of that stuff is made of gold...
As alluded to earlier in this thread, one of the very best things about this particular show is the people we met--quite by accident, we bumped into a retired veterinarian from east central South Dakota that we have hunted with in the past, and he enthusiastically invited my son and I back again this Fall, saying he has good numbers of wild birds on private land. And we were fortunate enough to see a member of the Pheasants Forever staff, who we had hunted with last Fall; he also asked that we keep in touch and if possible we might put together another hunt this October.
And finally, we were surprised to meet a member of our own NW Indiana community, who had brought his German dog (Drathaar"?) to the show to help man his breed organization's show booth. A Friday night dinner with my wife at Minerva's kept her happy. Good show--very well attended and apparently successful.