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Article from www.usatoday.com “money” section.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/2005-11-30-hunt-fish_x.htm
A-hunting we will go — after time at the spa
By Edward Iwata, USA TODAY
In his earlier years, retired doctor Jack Jamison drove far into the woods and fields to hunt for deer and birds. He hauled his game, cooked his food, bedded down in old cabins and tents.
Orange-capped Jack Jamison, right, and his son go hunting with a guide from Rough Creek Lodge.
By Mark W. Williams for USA TODAY
Times have changed. On a recent morning, Jamison and his son, Kevin, a commercial real estate broker, drove to the Rough Creek Lodge outside Dallas. The luxury resort offers hunting, bass and fly fishing, fine dining, a spa and lodging for $200 to $1,200 a night. (Photo gallery: Hunting and fishing go upscale)
During their half-day hunt, the Jamisons bagged quail, pheasant and chukar, a type of partridge. Then they enjoyed lunch as the lodge staff cleaned their birds.
"It's a dandy place," Jack Jamison said. "They make hunting pretty pleasant."
The outdoor industry is aiming for sportsmen and women like the Jamisons. Hunting, fishing and the shooting sports are storming the mass market and luring upscale consumers at a healthy clip.
More hunting and fishing lodges are vying for corporate and family dollars. Millions of anglers, hunters and target shooters are shelling out billions of dollars on gear, from $300 fly-fishing rods to $10,000 shotguns. Outdoor retailers such as Cabela's are expanding nationwide, opening superstores that attract legions of shoppers and tourists. Outdoor trade shows are drawing more exhibitors each year.
Many of the enthusiasts are baby boomers in their peak earning years — and their kids are joining them, according to industry groups and marketing reports.
"People are spending more on outdoor sports than they ever have," said Michael Callahan, senior vice president at Cabela's, the No. 1 U.S. hunting-and-fishing retailer.
From 2003 to 2004, sales of hunting and shooting products surged 8% to $2.9 billion, while fishing gear sales rose 2% to $2 billion, reports the National Sporting Goods Association trade group. Anglers and hunters spend tens of billions of dollars more on lodging, travel and other costs, according to industry groups and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
After a decade-long dip in hunting and fishing license sales, the decline leveled off last year, when 56 million licenses were sold, reports the Fish and Wildlife Service.
Many of those license holders are affluent baby boomers from their 40s to almost 60. Half of U.S. hunters have household incomes of $75,000 a year or more, the Sporting Goods Manufacturing Association reports.
"People of all economic levels hunt and fish, but it's evolved into a middle-class activity over the past 10 years," said Thomas Doyle, vice president of research at the National Sporting Goods Association.
Dave Bean,a 51-year-old public relations consultant in Albany, N.Y., was taught by his father to hunt squirrels when he was a boy. Now, Bean and his wife take their five teenagers to fish for salmon and hunt deer, bears and birds from New York to Alaska.
Bean spends $3,000 a year on outdoor gear, including camouflage clothing, duck decoys, waders, rifle scopes and electronic-training collars for his bird dog, Kodiak. "I've got the disease," said Bean, laughing. "It gets in your blood, and now my kids love it, too."
Hunting, fishing and shooting are getting a big lift from:
National chains and trade shows.
Cabela's, Bass Pro Shops, Gander Mountain and other retailers are huge attractions.
Some of the "destination" megastores boast forest and waterfall displays, gun and archery ranges, museumlike dioramas of wildlife and huge aquariums. At the Silverton Casino Hotel Lodgein Las Vegas, tourists flock to a Bass Pro Shops Outdoor Worldstore that resembles a frontier hunting lodge from the 1800s.
The market leader: Cabela's, a $1.6 billion publicly traded company founded in 1961 when Dick Cabela and his family sold hand-tied fishing flies for $1 each.
Customers drive hundreds of miles to shop at Cabela's 13 vast stores. Picture a Home Depot and Disneyland for hunters and anglers, where they can buy canoes and kayaks; antique rifles for $250,000; women's swimwear; and kids' snow parkas. There's even a $43,000 log cabin that outdoorsmen can assemble themselves.
Eight more Cabela's stores are in the works.
"There's an awful lot of competition in this space today, and we're expanding at a dramatic pace," Callahan said.
Meanwhile, more than 100 hunting, fishing and shooting trade and consumer shows fill U.S. convention halls, with exhibitors' space growing 3% a year, according to associate publisher Michael Hughes of Tradeshow Week magazine.
The annual SHOT show, the granddaddy of hunting trade events, is expected to draw a record 40,000 people and 1,700 manufacturers to Las Vegas in February, said spokesman Bill Brassardof the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the event sponsor. Exhibitors will take up 615,000 square feet — a 25% increase from 2002.
"It's hard to grow a mature trade show, but we're extremely pleased with recent growth," said foundation President Doug Painter.
Ritzy hunting-and-fishing lodges.
From pheasant lodges in South Dakota to elk-hunting resorts in New Mexico, owners are renovating their facilities, offering recreational activities for families and enticing more couples with romantic getaways.
In the luxury and corporate markets, more executives and other rich folks are buying properties to build outdoor resorts for business clients and the public, said Helen Sevier,publisher of Stratos, a magazine for corporate and private jets.
Some 80% of Stratos readers hunt or fish, so Sevier plans next spring to publish a worldwide directory of hunting and fishing resorts.
"Absolutely, this is a growing market segment," Sevier said. "People are willing to pay for the quality of the experience."
The Rough Creek Lodge near Glen Rose, Texas, is an 11,000-acre spread with hunting grounds, hiking trails and fishing lakes.
Corporate guests — such as Nokia, ExxonMobil and JPMorgan Chase — participate in team-building contests that include archery, target shooting, all-terrain-vehicle races and chili cook-offs. Families ride horses and mountain bikes through oak-filled forests, said lodge general manager Paul Boccafogli.
"When the economy is strong, more people have discretionary income and want to travel — and they want great amenities and service," Boccafogli said.
In the Alaskan wilderness, the Talon Lodge flies in renowned chefs — Hawaii's Sam Choy and Napa Valley's John Ash — to cook for guests at the small island resort in Sitka.
Owner Philip Younger, a former Hilton Hotels marketing executive, bought the property in 2003. He renovated old existing lodge cabins for $1.5 million, added a spa and bought boats and a catamaran. Packages run from $2,400 to $3,200 a night.
"You're going to see a lot more of these upscale environments," said Younger. "People love the spectacular settings."
Sports shooting.
Some 19.8 million people in the USA in 2003 engaged in target, trap and skeet shooting — a 13% jump from 2002, reports American Sports Data. Those shooters are spending billions of dollars a year on shooting gear, range fees and memberships.
From 1993 to 2002, for instance, sales of ammunition — mainly to sports shooters and hunters — jumped 32% to $626 millionin 2004, says Frank Briganti,NSSF research manager.
Sales of clay targets also are soaring. White Flyer, the largest U.S. maker of clay targets, has seen its sales rise 10% in the past two years, said Senior Vice President Brian Skeuse.The company is building a fourth manufacturing plant to meet the demand.
At the Sacramento Valley Shooting Center, near Sacramento, membership is nearing a record 1,000. Range President Tom Hausecredits shooting clinics for women, family barbecues and the range's website.
"It's a lifelong activity," said Hause, a National Rifle Association master shooter.
Fishing strong.
Angling is the top U.S. outdoor leisure activity, with 44 million Americans taking part, according to a recent Harris poll and American Sportfishing Association President Mike Nussbaum. "Fishing is still phenomenally popular," he says.
A big boost comes from fly-fishing, as more high-income baby boomers and their kids try the sport. Some 18 million Americans fly-fished in 2004 — a 44% leapfrom the year before, according the Outdoor Industry Association and the Leisure Trends Group.
In Montana, a mecca for fly-fishing that gained fame from the book and Hollywood film A River Runs Through It, Simms Fishing Products seeks to branch into the mass market — while staying loyal to hard-core fly-fishermen.
Founded 22 years ago, Simms is best known for its waders. Now, the company makes fishing apparel and accessories, including footwear, backpacks and luggage it sells to national retailers.
The formula is working. The private company has enjoyed 20% sales growth since 1993, according to CEO and owner K.C. Walsh.
"The challenge has been how do we grow our product line," Walsh said, "while continuing to keep our (original) customers satisfied."
But hunting, fishing and shooting still face obstacles to their growth.
Hunters face shrinking lands to hunt on, as cities and suburbs grow, and rural lands diminish. Many busy working parents and youths rarely find time to get outdoors.
And on the political front, hunters still face attacks from anti-gun and animal-rights activists.
Fishing, hunting and shooting groups hope to lure more people — especially women, kids and minorities — into the sports. The Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation has a marketing campaign called "Take Me Fishing," while the National Shooting Sports Foundation and the NRA offer shooting classes for beginners.
George Dolnack, 75, a retired General Electric engineer in Gap, Pa., said he's easily spent tens of thousands of dollars over the decades on hunting, fishing and target shooting.
Dolnack's late father taught him the sports. He taught his three sons, and they're showing their kids. That's four generations of outdoor consumers in the Dolnack clan.
Dolnack, who makes regular pilgrimages to outdoor stores, took a visiting cousin to Cabela's last year. The relative flew home with hundreds of dollars of fly-fishing gear.
"He could have pitched a tent and shopped for three days," Dolnack chuckled.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/2005-11-30-hunt-fish_x.htm
A-hunting we will go — after time at the spa
By Edward Iwata, USA TODAY
In his earlier years, retired doctor Jack Jamison drove far into the woods and fields to hunt for deer and birds. He hauled his game, cooked his food, bedded down in old cabins and tents.
Orange-capped Jack Jamison, right, and his son go hunting with a guide from Rough Creek Lodge.
By Mark W. Williams for USA TODAY
Times have changed. On a recent morning, Jamison and his son, Kevin, a commercial real estate broker, drove to the Rough Creek Lodge outside Dallas. The luxury resort offers hunting, bass and fly fishing, fine dining, a spa and lodging for $200 to $1,200 a night. (Photo gallery: Hunting and fishing go upscale)
During their half-day hunt, the Jamisons bagged quail, pheasant and chukar, a type of partridge. Then they enjoyed lunch as the lodge staff cleaned their birds.
"It's a dandy place," Jack Jamison said. "They make hunting pretty pleasant."
The outdoor industry is aiming for sportsmen and women like the Jamisons. Hunting, fishing and the shooting sports are storming the mass market and luring upscale consumers at a healthy clip.
More hunting and fishing lodges are vying for corporate and family dollars. Millions of anglers, hunters and target shooters are shelling out billions of dollars on gear, from $300 fly-fishing rods to $10,000 shotguns. Outdoor retailers such as Cabela's are expanding nationwide, opening superstores that attract legions of shoppers and tourists. Outdoor trade shows are drawing more exhibitors each year.
Many of the enthusiasts are baby boomers in their peak earning years — and their kids are joining them, according to industry groups and marketing reports.
"People are spending more on outdoor sports than they ever have," said Michael Callahan, senior vice president at Cabela's, the No. 1 U.S. hunting-and-fishing retailer.
From 2003 to 2004, sales of hunting and shooting products surged 8% to $2.9 billion, while fishing gear sales rose 2% to $2 billion, reports the National Sporting Goods Association trade group. Anglers and hunters spend tens of billions of dollars more on lodging, travel and other costs, according to industry groups and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
After a decade-long dip in hunting and fishing license sales, the decline leveled off last year, when 56 million licenses were sold, reports the Fish and Wildlife Service.
Many of those license holders are affluent baby boomers from their 40s to almost 60. Half of U.S. hunters have household incomes of $75,000 a year or more, the Sporting Goods Manufacturing Association reports.
"People of all economic levels hunt and fish, but it's evolved into a middle-class activity over the past 10 years," said Thomas Doyle, vice president of research at the National Sporting Goods Association.
Dave Bean,a 51-year-old public relations consultant in Albany, N.Y., was taught by his father to hunt squirrels when he was a boy. Now, Bean and his wife take their five teenagers to fish for salmon and hunt deer, bears and birds from New York to Alaska.
Bean spends $3,000 a year on outdoor gear, including camouflage clothing, duck decoys, waders, rifle scopes and electronic-training collars for his bird dog, Kodiak. "I've got the disease," said Bean, laughing. "It gets in your blood, and now my kids love it, too."
Hunting, fishing and shooting are getting a big lift from:
National chains and trade shows.
Cabela's, Bass Pro Shops, Gander Mountain and other retailers are huge attractions.
Some of the "destination" megastores boast forest and waterfall displays, gun and archery ranges, museumlike dioramas of wildlife and huge aquariums. At the Silverton Casino Hotel Lodgein Las Vegas, tourists flock to a Bass Pro Shops Outdoor Worldstore that resembles a frontier hunting lodge from the 1800s.
The market leader: Cabela's, a $1.6 billion publicly traded company founded in 1961 when Dick Cabela and his family sold hand-tied fishing flies for $1 each.
Customers drive hundreds of miles to shop at Cabela's 13 vast stores. Picture a Home Depot and Disneyland for hunters and anglers, where they can buy canoes and kayaks; antique rifles for $250,000; women's swimwear; and kids' snow parkas. There's even a $43,000 log cabin that outdoorsmen can assemble themselves.
Eight more Cabela's stores are in the works.
"There's an awful lot of competition in this space today, and we're expanding at a dramatic pace," Callahan said.
Meanwhile, more than 100 hunting, fishing and shooting trade and consumer shows fill U.S. convention halls, with exhibitors' space growing 3% a year, according to associate publisher Michael Hughes of Tradeshow Week magazine.
The annual SHOT show, the granddaddy of hunting trade events, is expected to draw a record 40,000 people and 1,700 manufacturers to Las Vegas in February, said spokesman Bill Brassardof the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the event sponsor. Exhibitors will take up 615,000 square feet — a 25% increase from 2002.
"It's hard to grow a mature trade show, but we're extremely pleased with recent growth," said foundation President Doug Painter.
Ritzy hunting-and-fishing lodges.
From pheasant lodges in South Dakota to elk-hunting resorts in New Mexico, owners are renovating their facilities, offering recreational activities for families and enticing more couples with romantic getaways.
In the luxury and corporate markets, more executives and other rich folks are buying properties to build outdoor resorts for business clients and the public, said Helen Sevier,publisher of Stratos, a magazine for corporate and private jets.
Some 80% of Stratos readers hunt or fish, so Sevier plans next spring to publish a worldwide directory of hunting and fishing resorts.
"Absolutely, this is a growing market segment," Sevier said. "People are willing to pay for the quality of the experience."
The Rough Creek Lodge near Glen Rose, Texas, is an 11,000-acre spread with hunting grounds, hiking trails and fishing lakes.
Corporate guests — such as Nokia, ExxonMobil and JPMorgan Chase — participate in team-building contests that include archery, target shooting, all-terrain-vehicle races and chili cook-offs. Families ride horses and mountain bikes through oak-filled forests, said lodge general manager Paul Boccafogli.
"When the economy is strong, more people have discretionary income and want to travel — and they want great amenities and service," Boccafogli said.
In the Alaskan wilderness, the Talon Lodge flies in renowned chefs — Hawaii's Sam Choy and Napa Valley's John Ash — to cook for guests at the small island resort in Sitka.
Owner Philip Younger, a former Hilton Hotels marketing executive, bought the property in 2003. He renovated old existing lodge cabins for $1.5 million, added a spa and bought boats and a catamaran. Packages run from $2,400 to $3,200 a night.
"You're going to see a lot more of these upscale environments," said Younger. "People love the spectacular settings."
Sports shooting.
Some 19.8 million people in the USA in 2003 engaged in target, trap and skeet shooting — a 13% jump from 2002, reports American Sports Data. Those shooters are spending billions of dollars a year on shooting gear, range fees and memberships.
From 1993 to 2002, for instance, sales of ammunition — mainly to sports shooters and hunters — jumped 32% to $626 millionin 2004, says Frank Briganti,NSSF research manager.
Sales of clay targets also are soaring. White Flyer, the largest U.S. maker of clay targets, has seen its sales rise 10% in the past two years, said Senior Vice President Brian Skeuse.The company is building a fourth manufacturing plant to meet the demand.
At the Sacramento Valley Shooting Center, near Sacramento, membership is nearing a record 1,000. Range President Tom Hausecredits shooting clinics for women, family barbecues and the range's website.
"It's a lifelong activity," said Hause, a National Rifle Association master shooter.
Fishing strong.
Angling is the top U.S. outdoor leisure activity, with 44 million Americans taking part, according to a recent Harris poll and American Sportfishing Association President Mike Nussbaum. "Fishing is still phenomenally popular," he says.
A big boost comes from fly-fishing, as more high-income baby boomers and their kids try the sport. Some 18 million Americans fly-fished in 2004 — a 44% leapfrom the year before, according the Outdoor Industry Association and the Leisure Trends Group.
In Montana, a mecca for fly-fishing that gained fame from the book and Hollywood film A River Runs Through It, Simms Fishing Products seeks to branch into the mass market — while staying loyal to hard-core fly-fishermen.
Founded 22 years ago, Simms is best known for its waders. Now, the company makes fishing apparel and accessories, including footwear, backpacks and luggage it sells to national retailers.
The formula is working. The private company has enjoyed 20% sales growth since 1993, according to CEO and owner K.C. Walsh.
"The challenge has been how do we grow our product line," Walsh said, "while continuing to keep our (original) customers satisfied."
But hunting, fishing and shooting still face obstacles to their growth.
Hunters face shrinking lands to hunt on, as cities and suburbs grow, and rural lands diminish. Many busy working parents and youths rarely find time to get outdoors.
And on the political front, hunters still face attacks from anti-gun and animal-rights activists.
Fishing, hunting and shooting groups hope to lure more people — especially women, kids and minorities — into the sports. The Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation has a marketing campaign called "Take Me Fishing," while the National Shooting Sports Foundation and the NRA offer shooting classes for beginners.
George Dolnack, 75, a retired General Electric engineer in Gap, Pa., said he's easily spent tens of thousands of dollars over the decades on hunting, fishing and target shooting.
Dolnack's late father taught him the sports. He taught his three sons, and they're showing their kids. That's four generations of outdoor consumers in the Dolnack clan.
Dolnack, who makes regular pilgrimages to outdoor stores, took a visiting cousin to Cabela's last year. The relative flew home with hundreds of dollars of fly-fishing gear.
"He could have pitched a tent and shopped for three days," Dolnack chuckled.
How does one do that? You could add ALL of my hunting gear cost up and be luck to break $300.00.