Featured Guest Speaker Dick Bernier

An expected crowd of more than 600 is expected for Saturday’s SOLD OUT Annual Adirondack Sportsman Dinner in Schroon Lake.

This year’s event, at the Mountainside Bible Chapel Complex, features more than a dozen workshops and presentations. The featured guest speaker is Dick Bernier, a legendary whitetail buck hunter, Christian, photographer and author.

For the uninitiated, Dick is a living legend. Dan Schmidt, from Deer & Deer Hunting (1-year) [Print +Kindle] , said of Dick:

“Dick has perfected the craft of outsmarting wilderness bucks, having tracked down and killed dozens of hog-bodied whitetails and knows more about deer behavior than many professional biologists.”

Dick is the author of four popular books, The Deer Trackers, On The Track , The Deer Tracker’s Journey and his newest release, Dickie the deer : the salvation of a fawn. He also writes monthly columns for regional publications devoted exclusively to the whitetail.

Spokesman for the event, Pastor David Peterson, said the dinner began in 1996, with seminars and guests speakers, but the emphasis back then was on the dinner, which featured game dishes, donated by local hunters.

“We took an informal survey a few years ago and discovered that the people were coming for the seminars and speakers. So we no longer do the game dishes,” David told Schroon Laker today.

While sportsmen and women will learn all about the great outdoors, there is a spiritual component to the day.

“Our featured guest speaker Dick will share his personal experiences about hunting and how that relates to God. It’s not so obtrusive but an opportunity to bring a spiritual message to the day.”

More than $4,000 in prizes, from fishing, hunting and outdoor gear will be given away as door prizes.

The seminars are:

Handgun Basics, by Bill Pitcher

Firearms Maintenance and Cleaning, by Charlie Yellot & John Torborg

The ABC’s of Hunting the Big Woods, by Dick Bernier

Adirondack Stuff, by Gary Hodgson

Backwood Brookies, by Joe Hackett

Survival, by Marty Simon

Disaster Preparedness, by Marty Simon

Smoking Meat, by Mr. P (Chris Palmatier)

Hunting For Monster Bucks, by Pat & Tony Salerno

Big Cats of the Adirondacks, by Paul Jensen