Beginning the week after Christmas, you can’t make it through the grocery store without seeing heart-shaped boxes wrapped in red cellophane. If you’ve lived in North Idaho very long, you know that the Bonners Ferry annual Gun and Horn Show means the same thing: Valentine’s Day is just around the corner!
This year, for the 27th year in a row, the Kootenai Valley Sportsman Association (a nonprofit organization supporting Idaho youth programs and wildlife rehab) will once again provide the men of Boundary County with the opportunity to buy something meaningful for their sweethearts. The Exhibit Hall at the Boundary County Fairgrounds is the place you will want to be in order to guarantee a smooth Valentine’s Day.
Honestly, what says “I love you” like a rifle? To celebrate how your beloved is unique, personalize her gift with a custom gun stock. Don’t buy her just any knife from a big box store—invest in a specially crafted hunting knife made by a local bladesmith. The vendors coming from Washington, Montana and other towns in Idaho have only one purpose in mind: to help you sweep her off her feet come February 14.
If guns and knives somehow aren't enough for her, there will also be ammunition, sporting goods, hides, wood shelves and cabinets. Who needs chocolate anyway? The key to her heart is surely homemade jerky, even though she may not be so bold as to tell you so.
After you have done all this for your lovely wife or significant other, you deserve to get something for yourself. Wildlife art and handmade jewelry will be available, as will food from vendors and firearm raffles. To top it all off, certified horn scoring will be available on-site. If you really love her, you know where you’ll be February 7 through 9.
Idaho Fish & Game will also be at the show Friday and Saturday with bobcat tags so you don't have to go to Coeur d'Alene!
Hours of this year’s show are Friday, noon to 6pm; Saturday, 9am to 6pm; and Sunday, 9am to 2pm. Admission is $5 or free with a $20 KVSA membership. For additional information, you can visit KVSportsman.com.