The annual hunting and fishing show is back to blow away those winter blues, and this year's visitors can take a shot at computer-simulated steelhead salmon fishing and check out the latest in super-quiet, electric ATVs.

"It's a sure-fire cure for cabin fever," says Bob Gerding, 72, who celebrates his 13th year hosting the show that brings guides, outfitters, lodges, retailers and outdoor enthusiasts together at the Manuel Lujan building on the State Fairgrounds in Albuquerque this weekend.

The show kicks off at noon today and will run through Sunday evening, with $8 admission and free admission for kids under 12. Parking at the fairgrounds is an additional $4.

Guests will find plenty to do at the show and get to meet many interesting people in the outdoor industry such as Roger Alink, 63, of the Wildlife West Nature Park in Edgewood, who likes to engage guests of the show with a raptor on hand.

"They're a big hit with people," Alink, a falconer, says of the American Kestrel he typically has on display. "And this is a great place to network and meet all sorts of people interested in wildlife."

This year, Alink will unveil a new addition to his stable of raptors, a big Harris hawk.

Alink is the founder of the nature park in Edgewood where many species of animals native to New Mexico have found a home because they can no longer survive on their own in the wild.

The park is open to the public and has been constructed entirely with youth labor under grants from the New Mexico Youth Conservation Corps, Alink says.

Other features at this year's hunting and fishing show include informational seminars by many vendors including fly fishing in Northern New Mexico by longtime guide and author Van Beacham.

There will be seminars about fly fishing for bass, white-tailed deer hunts, African safaris and other subjects.

Among the more than 100 vendors will be one featuring a selection of remote-control helicopters and cars with demonstrations that the kids are sure to enjoy, Gerding says.

There will also be cast-iron skillet cooking demonstrations, taxidermists with mounts of bears, mountain lions and other wildlife on display.

Representatives from San Juan River fishing lodges will be on hand to entice anglers with videos, pictures and firsthand accounts of the excellent trout fishing to be found on one of the West's top 10 trout streams.

Visitors will find many of New Mexico's sporting, wildlife and other special interest groups on hand to educate and inform them about outdoor-related issues and how they can get involved.

And through it all there will be raffles and door prizes given away, including a guided fly-fishing trip and taxidermy gift certificates, Gerding says.

Outdoor gear-heads will also find displays of the latest in recreational vehicles, campers and other equipment.

And Bob Turner's Ford Country in Albuquerque is giving away four free tickets to the show to potential customers who take a test drive in any new or used car on the lot, Gerding says.

For more information about the show, visit www.bobsoutadv.com.

Karl F. Moffatt is a longtime New Mexico journalist and avid outdoorsman who can be contacted through his blog at www.outdoorsnewmexico.com.

IF YOU GO

Take I-25 south to Central Avenue in Albuquerque and head east toward the mountains. Turn left at San Pedro and follow to the entrance. Upon returning home, take an alternative route by proceeding east on Central Avenue to the frontage road alongside I-40 and follow to State Road 114 and a drive through the scenic towns of Cedar Crest and Madrid to Santa Fe.