Where did the hunting department go?

[22-rimfire]

Try Sportsman Warehouse (SW); it might be a little more to your liking. Still will be a big store, but not like Bass Pro or Cabela's. Gander Mt's that I have visited are closer to SW. But the prices.... need I say more? I prefer the Mom & Pops and they get most of my dollars.

Growing up, my favorite sporting goods stores were hardware stores that carried guns, ammunition, and sporting equipment. Now I tend to prefer smaller stores that carry fishing and hunting stuff and lots of general shooting supplies.

 

[hacksaw]

Thanks again Steve...

You just took me on a REAL nice trip down memory lane. I remember walking down the road from the high school I attended to the little Mom & Pop sporting goods store where I bought my huntin' & fishin' gear.

You smelled the dust first, then the gun oil in neatly lined up bottles on the counter next to the register, a real register, looked like it was made in the 1930's. Still worked just fine thank you. Picked up a box of shells for my 30-30, yeah, it was (still is) a Mod. 94. Old man knew me by sight, always stopped by a few times a month to see if he had any new used rifles that I may be interested in.

He sold out while I was in college, its a "convenience" store now. I miss the old smelly sporting goods stores.....

 

[Chuck Spears]

Don't give up on capitalism yet. The sporting goods free market will correct itself.

 

[Art Eatman]

The free market is exactly what has brought about these changes. Small business people are slow to realize that what they must sell is service. They must persuade people to WANT to come into the store. And, to some extent, focus on inventory that's not available in the BigBox stores.

Now, McBride's in Austin is no small operation, although it's no Cabela's. Joe told me that he has about 15% between cost and retail, most rifles. (We didn't get into discussion of other items.) That's not a lot of room to play.

A small operation has to have a gunsmith/proprietor, miscellaneous items in the higher-markup arena, and various bulk-ammo stuff and suchlike that's popular. And a friendly atmosphere. Oh, and cheap rent.

 

[Flyboy]

If you buy a 80 dollar reel and keep it for 2 years and then have to have it overhauled it will cost you 30 dollars labor plus parts with most of the 6 or 7 ball bearings costing 10-15 dollars each ! So when is it a throwaway ?

I wouldn't know; I'm still using my grand-daddy's Mitchell 300.

 

[Matt-J2]

Certain stores are good for certain things. I enjoy perusing the Cabelas/Bass Pro and the like. Tons and tons of stuff I don't get to see at local places. The Bass Pro near San Antonio is the only place I've ever seen in person a $55,000 shotgun. It was in a seperate sort of room. They served brandy to potential customers(not us, they knew we were just looking). Only time Ive handled a S&W 36 no-lock with firing pin on the hammer? At the Cabela's here near Milwaukee. Not many other places I can buy wood arrows, either. Not to mention all the taxidermy displays and aquariums.
Course, I also have to wade through 3,761 people asking if I need help, all sorts of pamphlets, and at least 3 people trying to get me to sign up for their credit card.

On the other end, I like one of the local shops in Oshkosh. Neat place, nice folks, and a couple friendly dogs who hang out there. Selection isn't as good as most places. They'll order for ya, no problem, but sometimes you want to handle something, not order it and hope it turns out to actually be something you want. These tend to be my favorite type of stores, though. Usually a lot more relaxed.

I have to add this, though. The big chain stores can be annoying, but the worst experiences I've had in stores, sporting goods or otherwise, have pretty much all been in small, locally/privately owned shops. Certainly a minority, but it's the way it is. Doesn't keep me away from the little guys by any means. Just means those that treat me right get what little money I have.

 

[JohnBT]

Here's a little place I like, Frisco Rod & Gun on the Outer Banks of NC. I wish I had enough money to hire a bunch of their duck hunting guides.

www.friscorodgun.com/about.html

"The Tackle Shop, The Gun Shop and The Market with fuel pumps are all centrally located at the corner of Billy Michell road and Highway 12 serving Buxton, Frisco and all of Hatteras Island with full service and supplies for locals and visitors alike."

"Among Bryan's many other duties - as if running Frisco Rod and Gun isn't enough - he is also the Fire Chief for Buxton Volunteer Fire Department."

Aw, what the heck, check this out.
"David Carangi's great day of fishing at the Cape Hatteras (Frisco) Pier! He fought and caught a unseasonal [October 2006] 78 1/2lb Cobia and these two King Mackerel."

 

[H&Hhunter]

bAss Pro sucks. Mega corporate crap hole IMHO.

Can't carry concealed in the store.

All guns are trigger locked can't check trigger pull in the store for safety of course.

Bring a gun to the bAss Pro gun smith and it has to be "safety" checked at the front door by a door greeter who knows less about firearms than I know about astrophysics. Then it has to be trigger locked just in case.

Little story here. I bring in an old time British SXS shotgun to the gun smith due to bad ejector timing. Lady at the front stops me to "safety" check my gun. She pulls the very valuable old time Brit from it's case and drops the muzzles onto the concrete floor. She then levels said shotgun at my gut and tries to pull the triggers one at time "to check and see if they are empty". When they won't pull I ask her if she'd mind pointing the weapon somewhere besides at me or anybody else and explain to her how to open it to check and see that it is empty.

She opens it upon which one of the snap caps ejects and the other stays put. Remember this old girl has an ejection issue. She scolds me for having a loaded gun then pulls out the other snap cap and DRY FIRES my old time British shotgun.It got worse form there.


They sure do know their stuff a bAss Pro......

If you want to go to a quality gun store in the Denver area try the Firing line in Aurora.

 

[Gaucho Gringo]

I go to Sportsmans Warehouse. The guns are not locked, they let you handle the guns and a couple of times I have seen people open carry in the store. I have only bought one gun there (Pietta 1858 Remington clone). Most of the time I just buy supplies and buy my firearms at the smaller gun shops. I am also old enough to remember the good old days, a Costco store graces the wetland area I used to duck hunt in the late 60's-early 70's and where I picked strawberries to make spending money in the early 60's sits a Kmart store. I also remember the Mom & Pop stores that had many boxes of penny candy sitting behind the counter and picking and choosing what I wanted while they dropped each request in the brown paper bag that held those treasures of the taste buds. It was a great time to be a kid growing up.

 

[flynlr]

There is good news! it only took me a couple paragraphs this time to realize it was another great classic SM post.

I am Learning.

 

[Legionnaire]

Tagging. Haven't had time to read the entire thread yet ... but I will!

Thank you, sm, for the introductory post. It made me smile. I've just turned 50 and eldest youngster is engaged to be married, so grandkids are still down the road (Lord willing). But I sure look forward to 'em.

And deparatment stores? I hate the Dick's closest to us. The hunting section is but a tip of the hat to those of us still in the blood sports. 95% of the floorspace goes to bikes, skateboards, team sports, acres of clothing (most of which is for folks who want to LOOK sporty), and (shudder) golf!