Live animals, cooking demonstrations, art classes and famous guns. There’s only one place in Wyoming where people can learn it all — the Wyoming Outdoor Expo. This year's event is called ExpoLive and held May 6-8 online. With a full schedule of unique activities, anyone interested in the outdoors will find something engaging. Make plans to attend and sign up online.
ExpoLive boasts 12 upcoming live presentations and tons of ideas on how to explore nature and recreate outside. The state’s largest outdoor education event, hosted by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and numerous partners, is the official kickoff to summer, and gets kids, families and outdoor-lovers ready for the warmer weather.
“ExpoLive is different from other online events you’ve attended over the last year,” said Kathryn Boswell, hunter and angler participation coordinator. “The presentations are designed to be interactive with questions, polls and games, so the best way to participate is during the broadcast.”
Anyone can participate in the ExpoLive with free, engaging, digital sessions. Register for the event early and receive a free collectible 2021 Wyoming Outdoor Expo sticker mailed to you and special discounts from OnX Hunt. When registering, attendees can elect to sign-up for emails and texts for notifications of the weekend schedule so no one misses a presentation.
The Expo fun has already started. Leading up to the main event, there are two pre-sessions, set to broadcast on the Game and Fish Facebook page.
“Pre-sessions are a weekly taste of what’s to come with the unique ExpoLive demonstrations,” Boswell said. “Come learn and see a little about what ExpoLive is all about.”
Pre-events include Oui oui sous vide beginning at 7 p.m. April 22. This demonstration shows more about how to use sous vide circulators to cook wild game meat as well as how to use the tool to make a do-it-yourself European pronghorn mount.
The following week Game and Fish will host Don't stop retrieving - Training hunting dogs at 7 p.m. April 29 where attendees will learn dog training tips for retrieving, pointing, flushing and shed hunting.
Beginning May 6, the full ExpoLIVE event kicks off. Watch these sessions either on wyomingexpo.com, Wyoming Game and Fish Department Facebook page or Wyoming Game and Fish YouTube Page.
The schedule includes:
| Morning | Afternoon | Evening | |
| Thursday, May 6 | Gross, weird and wacky wildlife (10-10:30 a.m.) | Meet Jupiter the Great Horned Owl (2-2:30 p.m) | Trivia (7-8 p.m.) |
| Friday, May 7 | Wyoming’s scaly and slimy Critters (10-10:30 a.m.) | After the hunt: Behind the scenes! (12-12:30 p.m.) Picture yourself in an outdoor career (2-2:30 p.m.) | Firearm Friday: Guns that won the West! (7-7:30 p.m.) |
| Saturday, May 8 | Hunt like a pro: Application tips, strategy and hunt planning (9-10 a.m.), Keeping up with kokanee! (10:30-11:30 a.m.) | Painting Pronghorn: Texture and biology (2-3 p.m.) | WY Responsibly (4:30-5:30 p.m.) |
Planning to attend but don’t know what events are best for you? Game and Fish Conservation Education Coordinator Ashley Leonard recommends narrowing in on presentations that spark interest, especially for kids. Youth are one of the main attendees of Expo. More than 3,500 Wyoming students from 20 counties are participating in the event in their classroom with special activities and question and answer sessions developed just for students.
“Lots of kids are already excited about wildlife and the outdoors from the activities they are doing at school,” Leonard said. “ExpoLive is the perfect springboard from school to home to get your family having fun together outdoors.”
For kids - and adults - who like weird facts and seeing animals up-close, Leonard recommends Gross, weird and wacky wildlife, Meet Jupiter the great horned owl and Wyoming’s scaly and slimy critters.
Hunters, shooters and history buffs might like the Firearm Friday: Guns that won the West!
“The Wyoming State Museum has a collection of firearms that are extremely special to our state, including a Winchester rifle used on an 1879 big game hunt in Wyoming by the son of a sitting U.S. President and a Colt revolver carried by a posse member in the 1939 manhunt for Earl Duran of Powell,” Boswell said.
Some events do require a little preparation. Painting Pronghorn: Texture and biology leads ametuer wildlife artists through a step-by-step painting workshop, blending biology with art. To create during the presentation, participants will need the following materials: heavyweight paper such as watercolor paper, card stock, or poster board; lightweight paper like copier paper, drawing paper; oil pastels; waxy crayons; watercolors or watered-down food coloring; a paint brush; scissors and glue. Optional materials are a printer to print the provided image, black paint to paint the silhouette and tape to keep your painting in place.
For those who are inspired to get outside today Expo@Home is a good launchpoint with videos and activities from Game and Fish and partners. Find information about rock climbing, cooking, birds, mammals, fish and more to start any outdoor adventure.
More information, a full schedule of ExpoLive sessions and register for ExpoLive at wyomingexpo.com and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department Facebook page.
