The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is returning to the International Sportsmen’s Exposition (ISE) at Cal Expo in Sacramento Jan. 16-19. This is the largest hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation show of its kind in northern California.

Wildlife officers, fisheries and wildlife scientists, hunter education instructors, license agents, and other CDFW staff will be available during the show to answer questions and provide information regarding fishing and hunting opportunities throughout the state. CDFW’s license sales booth will be located in the Pavilion Building (adjoining spaces 3700 and 3822) and licenses, tags, report cards and warden stamps will be available for purchase. Customers may pay by credit card or check.

A new addition to ISE this year is the Recruitment, Retention and Reactivation (R3) experience, an interactive journey through the show to encourage the public to learn more about hunting, fishing and the shooting sports. Participants will be led to R3 stakeholder booths by map to take part in various hunting, fishing and shooting sport activities at each stop. This pilot effort is led by CDFW’s R3 team and will be housed in the main CDFW booth, where participants will end their R3 journey, take a quick survey and receive an outreach bag.

Additional CDFW booths and highlights include:

• Hunter Education Program — Located in the Youth Fair Expo Center, wildlife officers and hunter education instructors will be available to answer questions and provide information about basic, advanced and bowhunter education. Interactive training materials, including a free laser-shot hunting simulator, will also be available.
• K-9 Teams — CDFW K-9 wardens and their wildlife officer handlers will be available for questions and interactions. Look for them at CDFW booths.
• Wildlife Officer Recruitment — CDFW’s Law Enforcement trailer will be on display outside of the Pavilion Building, featuring a display of taxidermy and a free enclosed laser-shot hunting simulator. Wildlife officers will be on hand to answer questions about employment opportunities.
• CDFW Youth Fair Exhibit — Explore the salmon life cycle and try your luck on the Salmon Survival Spin. Play a round of salmon bingo, learn to cast or view the Mobile Fish Exhibit.
• Keep Me Wild Booth — Information about black bears will be available at the Youth Fair. Youths can make a bear track and help a black bear find the way to its cave. CDFW also has information about how to vacation safely in bear country.
• Online Harvest Reporting — Tag holders can view their online profile and complete all tags that require reporting. The tag holder will receive a report confirmation number that should be written in the space provided on the report card. The harvest report card will not have to be mailed in physically. CDFW encourages all tag holders to use this online service to meet their harvest reporting requirements.
• Outdoor California — Free copies of CDFW’s award-winning magazine will be available (as supplies last) at the main booth.
• Youth Essay Contest — CDFW and the California Wildlife Officer Foundation will be awarding this year’s contest winner, 16-year-old Blake Iverson of King City, a lifetime hunting license with a bird hunting privilege package for his outstanding essay emphasizing the theme, “What can CDFW do to get more people involved in hunting? And what can you do, personally, to get more people involved in hunting?” Iverson and the second- and third-place contest winners will be honored on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 11:30 a.m. at the Western Bass Aquarium Demo Tank in the Pavilion Building. Stop by to congratulate them and get information on how to become the next youth contest winner.
• ..What to Do if You Encounter Them — CDFW staff will provide advice in two hour-long discussions about how to coexist safely with bears. The talks will be held at the Outdoor Product Showcase Theater in Building A on Thursday, Jan. 16 and Sunday, Jan. 19 at 2:30 p.m.

The Cal Expo State Fairgrounds are located at 1600 Exposition Blvd. in Sacramento. ISE show hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is $16 for adults (tickets may be purchased in advance online). Youths age 15 and under are free. There is a $10 charge to park on the grounds.

For additional information and schedules, and to purchase tickets, please visit www.sportsexpos.com/attend/sacramento.