Aug-Sept 2013 - Big Rock Sports

Transcription

Sportsman
AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2013 VOL.78 $6.95
AC C E S S M O R E W IT H B I G RO C K S P O RT S
COVERING YOUR
BLIND SIDE
WINCHESTER WATERFOWL
LOADS ADAPT FOR ANY
SITUATION, P. 24
THE MOST EFFECTIVE
MARKETING YOU’RE
PROBABLY IGNORING
6 WAYS TO GET THE
MOST OUT OF A BIG ROCK
DEALER SHOW
MUSEUM-QUALITY FISH
REPLICAS
PRST STD
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Prepare for Success
Dealer Show Dates
SOUTHEAST
September 4–5
Orlando, FL
BigRockSports.com/Southeast
MIDWEST
September 18–19
St. Cloud, MN
BigRockSports.com/Midwest
NORTHEAST
October 2–3
Atlantic City, NJ
BigRockSports.com/Northeast
EDITOR
Shannon Farlow
252.808.8274
sfarlow@bigrocksports.com
The Big Rock Sportsman is
the official publication of Big
Rock Sports exclusively for Big
Rock Sports Dealers. Free to
qualified customers.
Comments or questions may
be directed to:
Big Rock Sports Marketing
1141 Jay Lane
Graham, NC 27253
Or email: Mitch Mitchell
Director of Marketing
mmitchell@bigrocksports.com
© 2013 Big Rock Sports, LLC
All rights reserved.
BigRockSports.com
O
utdoor enthusiasts are typically a well-prepared lot. Sure there are
those guys who purchase their license the day before (or the morning of) opening day. The same guy who will stumble through his
home in pre-dawn darkness, wondering where he put his shotgun or fishing
rod last year and inevitably blame his wife for hiding it. You count on them
to rush into your store every year like clockwork. But most of your serious
customers plan for their seasons well in advance, scouting fishing holes and
planting food plots, fine-tuning their rifles and fishing gear. They leave
nothing to chance. Everything is in place and ready come opening day.
Every successful outdoor retailer that I’ve met over the years, whether
in their store or at a Big Rock Sports Dealer Show, applies that same
proactive approach to their business. And you should, too. In this issue of
the Sportsman, we’re bringing you several tips to help you prepare for the
upcoming shows and your local seasons.
In Going to the Show? (p. 21) Mitch Mitchell, Director of Marketing at
Big Rock Sports, details six essential steps you should take to get the most
out of your next Big Rock Sports Dealer Show. From studying your current
inventory to mapping out a showfloor route, Mitch shows you the best way
to plan for the 2013 show season.
Even though sweltering summer temperatures still persist, the holidays are
not far away. One of the newest members of the Big Rock team, copywriter
Tim Josephs, introduces a new line of taxidermy-quality fish replicas from
HQ Supply that will help prepare your store for increased holiday sales (p. 12).
Finally, we look at how you can develop a successful marketing
program for your store using a tried and true form of communication—
email. Retail Guide columnist Chris Gigley shares some tactics that will
get your customers excited and keep them engaged, while Corey Gammill
explains just how his store collects email addresses from customers and
what they do next with them.
Take a few minutes to check out this issue of the Sportsman
and make sure you leave nothing to chance this season.
Then look me up at the shows and let me know how
you prepare for success.

Editor Shannon
Farlow spent his
childhood hunting from Maine
to Mississippi
and fishing the
coastal waters of
North Carolina
with his father.
Now a father
himself, Shannon is enjoying
passing these
family traditions
on to his son and
daughter.
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WITH NEW HQ FISH REPLICAS,
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21
24
INDUSTRY NEWS: Big Rock Dealer
Wins Third Place in Marlin Tournament, Lead Bullet Lawsuit Dismissed
and More…
HOT PRODUCTS: The latest gear
for the savvy hunter and angler.
WHAT’S THE BEST WAY to
market your store? Hint: it’s
something simple you probably
use every day.
PLANNING ON ATTENDING
a Big Rock Sports Dealer Show?
Here are some tips to make your
experience the best yet.
COVER STORY: Winchester
Blind Side ammo is adaptable for
whatever situation waterfowlers
may find themselves in.
16
DEALER COREY GAMMILL
discusses his most effective
marketing strategies and how his
store engages his customers.
27
28
WE ASKED, YOU ANSWERED:
Three dealers talk about how
they prepare for a Big Rock
Sports Dealer Show.
BIG ROCK IN ACTION: Senior
Vice President Gary Zurn talks
about the NSSF Congressional
Fly-In, more goings on in DC that could
affect the industry and the Big Rock
Sports annual Vendor Summit.
34
THE BIG ROCK SPORTING
LIFE: Dealers share the joys of
hunting and fishing.
30
32
ADVOCACY
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Industry News
COMPILED BY ROB PHILLIPS
SALTWATER
SPORTFISHING’S
ECONOMIC IMPACT
AS IMPORTANT AS
COMMERCIAL FISHING
BIG ROCK SPORTS DEALER WINS THIRD
PLACE IN MARLIN TOURNAMENT
BIG ROCK SPORTS dealer Glenn
Wetherington was the primary reel
man on Let it Be, the third-place
finisher in the 55th annual Big Rock
Blue Marlin tournament.
“Being able to even place at such a
high level in such a prestigious tourna-
ment was just freaking awesome to me
and the crew and even all our hometown friends here in little Washington,
NC,” Wetherington said.
He and his wife own Nauti Life in
Washington, a store that sells nautical
gifts and apparel.
LAWSUIT BANNING LEAD BULLETS DISMISSED
A LAWSUIT FILED by the radical antihunting Center for Biological Diversity and
six other groups demanding the Environmental Protection Agency ban traditional
ammunition containing lead components
has been dismissed by the US District
Court for the District of Columbia.
Traditional ammunition represents 95
percent of the US market and is the staple
ammunition for target shooters, hunters and
law enforcement, with more than 10 billion
rounds sold annually. The National Shooting
Sports Foundation filed a motion to dismiss
the lawsuit last year and the court has agreed
that EPA does not have the authority to regulate traditional ammunition under the Toxic
Substances Control Act. The EPA had already
twice denied attempts by CBD to have the
agency ban traditional ammunition, and the
court had dismissed an earlier case brought by
CBD seeking the same relief.
Banning traditional ammunition
would cost tens of thousands of jobs in
America and destroy wildlife conservation
that is funded in part by an 11 percent
excise tax on the sale of ammunition.
35 STATES NOW OFFER FAMILIES AFIELD HUNTING
NORTH CAROLINA HAS become the
35th state to enact Families Afield legislation that allows people of all ages to try
hunting without a license if accompanied
by a licensed adult hunter or licenseexempt landowner.
While Families Afield was designed to encourage youth to try hunting, an unexpected
benefit of the program is that it has created
both an interest and a pathway for adults to
experience hunting before committing to the
comprehensive hunter education course.
Families Afield-style legislation has
led to more than one million apprentice
hunting licenses being purchased nationally
since the program’s inception in 2004.
6 BIGROCKSPORTS.COM AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2013
FROM AN ECONOMIC perspective,
recreational fishing in coastal water is
just as important as commercial fishing,
despite a much lower overall impact on
the resource. According to a report from
the American Sportfishing Association,
sport anglers landed just two percent
of the total saltwater fish caught in one
year, compared to 98 percent caught by
the commercial fishing industry, yet the
monies spent on sportfishing had as big
an impact on the economy as commercial
fishing did.
Sportfishing manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers continue to be huge
economic generators providing tens of
thousands of jobs and generating millions of dollars in tax revenues each year.
WATERED DOWN
FREEDOM TO FISH ACT
OF 2013 PASSES
THE UNITED STATES Senate has
passed a version of the Freedom To Fish
Act that has little resemblance to the
original legislation that supporters hoped
would pass.
The new Freedom To Fish Act is
not the same legislation that supporters
fought long and hard to structure and
pass over the past 10 years. In fact, as far
as saltwater angling goes, the new federal
Freedom To Fish Act is mostly farce.
The original act would have protected
millions of coastal anglers from being
subject to arbitrary and unscientifically
backed closure of coastal waters through
creation of marine reserves. The new version gives anglers access to fishing in the
tailwaters of 10 dams along the Cumberland River in Kentucky and Tennessee
for the next two years.
Available exclusively through
Big Rock Sports.
Log in to
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Retail Guide
CHRIS GIGL E Y
Email Marketing:
Thinking Inside the Box
FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM and Twitter
are the big fish in online marketing these
days, but good ol’ email is still plenty
effective. Unlike social media, email is a
direct line of communication you can use
to stay in touch with your customers and
reel them back to your store.
Like any successful fisherman, an email
marketer must have great technique.
Hooking customers takes the right balance of sales pitches and useful information. You also need to have the right touch
to avoid snapping that line forever.
Give Them What They Want
Step one is being clear about what customers will get from you. Of course your
emails are designed to get them into your
store, but you need bait to compel them
to hand over their email addresses in the
first place. In this case, the bait is helpful information that your customers will
enjoy receiving.
Will you offer hunting and fishing
tips? Reminders of important dates? Local
weather information? All of the above?
You could include links to interesting
outdoor articles, or you could highlight an
enlightening conversation you’ve recently
had with other customers.
In terms of the tone, be as personal
as you can, as if you’re talking directly to
each customer. What makes your store
special is the hands-on, personal service
you provide that the big-box retailers
cannot. This should shine through in your
emails, too.
Depending on your business, you
may want to consider creating several
40 PERCENT OF THOSE WHO
READ THEIR EMAIL ON THE
GO OPEN MESSAGES ONLY
IF THE SUBJECT LINE IS
INTERESTING TO THEM.
specialized email lists. One for fishing
enthusiasts, for example, and another for
your gun customers, with each containing information targeting that audience
specifically.
The bottom line is about giving your
customers the kind of information they
want. If you’re lucky, they’ll forward your
message to their friends and, suddenly,
you’ve just earned several more potential
customers.
Sharpen Your Hook
Size matters, too. Keep your emails nice
and short. Part of the reason for this is the
way emails are being read today. According to research by the digital agency Steel,
36 percent of consumers read marketing
emails on their mobile devices, and 40
percent of those who read their email on
the go open messages only if the subject
line is interesting to them.
So, obviously, pay close attention
to the subject line. Write them like a
newspaper reporter writes a headline,
with bold, active language that compels
the audience to read on. And in the
body of your email, break up copy into
brief paragraphs and create lists such as
a “Top Ten Tips” that are easy to browse
through quickly.
Get Organized
No one is thrilled with getting a flood
of emails from the same sender, so be
careful to cast your messages out infrequently. Sending emails more than once
a week, for instance, will scare off your
customers. They’ll either unsubscribe or
your messages will be subjected to the
spam filter. Either way, you’re not getting
any value. Send messages monthly or
only when you have a good reason to
send one.
The best way to avoid email marketing pitfalls is staying organized. Keep
a calendar to schedule your emails far
in advance. Establish a regular editing
process. Write the initial draft and have
two employees look it over for typos,
misspellings and inaccuracies. They may
also have a useful suggestion or two.
Then send it out.
Meanwhile, keep track of any feedback
you get from your emails. If you notice a
lot of unsubscribe notices, rethink what
you’re sending. And note any replies.
Many good ideas come from customers,
and email allows them to be more candid
than they’d be in person. If something is
bothering them, they’ll tell you.
Once you get the hang of it, email
marketing will likely be the most rewarding and effective means of reaching your
customers, even in the era of Facebook
and Twitter. All you need to do is bait
the hook. BR
EXPLORE
THE DIFFERENCE
SOUTHEAST DEALER SHOW
FISHING, CAMPING & SHOOTING SPORTS
SEPTEMBER 4–5
ORLANDO | FLORIDA ORLANDO WORLD CENTER MARRIOTT
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ZOVV[PUNWYVK\J[ZMVY[OL\WJVTPUNZLHZVUZ
MIDWEST DEALER SHOW
FISHING, CAMPING & SHOOTING SPORTS
SEPTEMBER 18–19
ST CLOUD | MINNESOTA RIVER’S EDGE CONVENTION CENTER
;OPZZOV^NP]LZ`V\[OLILZ[UL[^VYRPUNHUKI\`PUN
VWWVY[\UP[PLZPU[OL4PK^LZ[
NORTHEAST DEALER SHOW
FISHING, CAMPING & MARINE
OCTOBER 2–3
ATLANTIC CITY | NEW JERSEY BORGATA HOTEL & CASINO
@V\^VU»[ÄUKHIL[[LYHZZVY[TLU[VMÄZOPUN
JHTWPUNHUKTHYPULWYVK\J[ZPU[OL5VY[OLHZ[
-VYTVYLPUMVYTH[PVUNV[V)PN9VJR:WVY[ZJVTZOV^Z
Steelhead – Wall Scene
Muskie – Driftwood
BrookTrout – Driftwood
Striped Bass – Wall Scene
Walleye – Pedestal
Catch, Release and
Bring Your Fish Home
BY T IM JOSE PHS
I
t’s a familiar lament you’ve surely heard
many times from your customers.
They just caught the biggest/fiercest/
most beautiful fish of their life, but because they’re dedicated catch-and-release
anglers, they have nothing, aside from
perhaps a few photos, to show for their
hard work.
But now, thanks to HQ Taxidermy
Supply, that can all change. With HQ
Fish Replicas, anyone can get a copy of
their great catch as a permanent memento.
Unlike replicas of the past, these new
ones are made with a molding process
that makes them look extraordinarily like
the real deal. Even taxidermists often have
trouble telling the difference.
HQ Taxidermy Supply unveiled these
fish replicas at the 2013 Big Rock Sports
East Dealer Show this past January in
“WE ARE EXCITED TO MAKE
HIGH-END FISH TAXIDERMY
AVAILABLE TO THE CONSUMER
ON A RETAIL LEVEL.”
— JEREMY MORGAN
Raleigh, NC, and they were an instant hit
among sporting goods retailers.
The reason for the acclaim is the
authenticity of the replicas. The gills are
cast from real gills. The fins are thin and
transparent, giving them a realistic quality.
The teeth and tongues are molded from
the actual articles. Every detail is seen to,
down to the pores in the skin. Plus, the
replicas are all painted by artists trained by
one of the top fish champions in World
Competitions.
“We are excited to make high-end fish
taxidermy available to the consumer on a
retail level,” said Jeremy Morgan, VP of
HQ Taxidermy Supply. “This has been
a well thought-out project with quality
and realism being our primary focus.”
These replicas provide several benefits
over real fish. First, the durable plastic
they are made of will last a lifetime and always look great. Unlike real fish, the heads
SeaTrout – Driftwood
Largemouth Bass – Driftwood
Smallmouth Bass – Pedestal
won’t shrink and the skin won’t bubble.
Also, because the replicas are much less
fragile, cleaning them is a lot easier.
Retailers should think about promoting these fish replicas in their stores for
a number of reasons. For one thing,
they are a nice way to commemorate
a fishing trip. You can suggest to your
customers that even if they come back
empty-handed or with nothing worth
showcasing (or they just caught and released), they can still get a great looking
trophy to remember the day.
Also, you don’t have to be an angler
to appreciate the eye-catching appeal of
a majestic fish hanging on a wall. These
fish are truly works of art, and they
would look terrific in any sportsman’s
(or woman’s) office or living room.
Along that same vein, these fish
replicas make great gifts. What do you
get for the fisherman who has everything?
How about a replica of that huge Pike
they caught, or that tough Steelhead they
battled and then feasted on?
And why not feature a replica in your
own store? It might be a type of fish common in your area, or better yet, it could
be an exact replica of one that was caught
using your fishing gear and bait.
If you’re looking for a way to promote
your products, diversify your merchandise
or just add some flare to your store, think
about HQ Fish Replicas, which will be
in-stock soon. The fish may be fake, but
the sales are real. BR
HQ Taxidermy Supply will be
featuring their replicas at these
upcoming Big Rock Sports
Dealer Shows:
Southeast
Orlando, FL, September 4–5
Midwest
St. Cloud, MN, September 18–19
Northeast
Atlantic City, NJ, October 2–3
For additional information
about these shows, go to
BigRockSports.com/shows
Dealer INSIGHTS
The Honey Hole
of Marketing
COREY GAMMILL
BILL FISHER TACKLE, NANTUCKET, MASSACHUSETTS
IN THE FISHING BUSINESS,
PEOPLE WANT INFORMATION.
YOU’RE NOT SO MUCH A
RETAILER AS YOU ARE AN
INFORMATION CENTER.
Gammill uses what might be considered an old-fashioned method to
attract customers.
BY SHANNON FARLOW
FACEBOOK. TWITTER. InstaCraziness. Chances are if you ask any marketing guru, they’ll tell you that your store
should be knee deep in social media.
And they’re right. But to reach the most
customers possible, you need a broader
marketing approach. Capt. Corey Gammill, co-owner and operator of Bill Fisher
Tackle in Nantucket, Massachusetts, uses
social media to promote his store and
products, but it’s something else, something that a lot of people might consider a
bit outdated, that drives his sales.
BR: What are some things that every
outdoor retailer should know?
CG: You’ve got to know the customer.
And it’s not just knowing who they are,
and who they’re trying to serve, but
actually getting to know them. Because
when you know them, they come back.
We never try to sell people, we never have
them come in and throw 10 things in
their face. What we try to do is just ask
them about where they’ve been fishing
and what they’ve been doing, and in that
find out what their pain points are, what
they need more of, and that leads to more
sales.
I’ll never forget one guy that came in.
He was about to buy an $8 plier, and just
talking to him and his son for 20 minutes,
I realized that he can’t find a good plier.
I showed him a plier that I love, and
have used for the last six years, and 20
minutes later, he bought a rod, a reel and
spent over $1,000. It’s just because you
start talking to them and getting to know
them, rather than “what can I help you
with, sir?”
So, get to know your customers instead
of trying to sell your customer. In the
fishing business, people want information.
You’re not so much a retailer as you are an
information center. You have information
coming in and going out. You [need to]
manage that information appropriately.
BR: How do you manage that information flow?
CG: We’ve got a great email that we send
out weekly, and that goes out to well
over 1,200 people and we know they all
forward it to three or four. That’s probably
the biggest driver of our business, and
again, we’re giving them what they want.
TWITTER’S VERY EASY [TO USE]. WHAT
YOU REALIZE VERY QUICKLY IS WITH
PHONE CAPABILITIES TODAY, YOU CAN TAKE
A PICTURE AND TWEET IT IN SECONDS.
We’re not selling anything in there,
we’re not telling them to look for 10
products. We’re just giving them information, which is what people want.
BR: How many emails do you send
out a week?
CG: Just one. It goes out at noon on
Friday. We want customers to expect it,
we want them to get excited about it,
to look forward to it, and they do. We
don’t want to bore them. It’s four paragraphs of basically here’s what’s going
on, and here’s what we’re doing. Usually
we put an anecdote in there: here’s why
the fish are at this location, here’s what
you might want to try and why, then
a general information report on what’s
happening.
We want to give them enough information to get excited. We also want them
to come to the shop afterwards, but we
try to be very predictable about it.
BR: What kinds of social media do
you use?
CG: Twitter’s very easy [to use]. What
you realize very quickly is with phone
capabilities today, you can take a picture
and tweet it in seconds. You can post
[a picture] with you and a fish or a customer and a fish. “Look what Joe caught
today using this lure” or “Joe was fishing
at Great Point today and look what he
caught.”
BR: Do you have a lot of followers?
CG: We have hundreds. They’re all
customers. They’re all people who have
fished with me before or come into the
shop, and again, they’re just looking for
TODAY’S MOST
information. It took us about three years
to realize that’s our main business.
Some people [ask] how secretive we
are with our information. We’re not, we
give it all away. I might delay it a couple
days if I find a honey hole so people
aren’t going to my honey hole, but for
the most part, 99% of what I’m doing
I’m putting out there. If I’m excited,
others are excited, that’s when they buy.
No one buys if they’re not excited.
SF: Do you do anything on Facebook?
CG: We’ve got a Facebook site. What we
have on Twitter, we end up putting up
on Facebook. That’s just another way
that another generation can see us. It’s
just another media form. The nice thing
is it’s all free, except time.
SF: What’s the most effective thing
dealers can do to beef up their marketing efforts?
CG: Start with email. That’s probably
the simplest way, collecting email addresses. But it takes time to collect email
addresses. The reason why you collect
the email addresses is so that you can
give them the information, so you can
tell them where the fish are. People like
that and ultimately they will forward it
on to others.
I would start with email because you
can go online to a bunch of different
sites that will help you publish content
very easily. Once you get enough people
that you are sending emails to every
week, then it’s a mass distribution. BR
Visit the Dealer INSIGHTS archive at
BigRockSports.com/DealerINSIGHTS
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Manageable
Ideal for flipping,
pitching, or
casting
Shock Strength
Holds strong
under
hard hooksets
Super Strong
Incredible
strength for
confidence and
control
Versatile
Outstanding for
a wide variety
of baits
and techniques
Sensitive
Good feel for
structure
and strikes
GOING
TO THE
SHOW?
6 Ways to Maximize
Your Big Rock
Sports Dealer
Show Experience
BY MIT CH MI T CHELL
T
he 2013–14 show season is almost
here, and Big Rock Sports’ upcoming dealer shows are going to be
bigger and better than ever. Our shows
offer features you just won’t find anywhere
else, including exclusive show pricing and
deals, networking opportunities and tools
to help your business grow.
Whether you’re planning to attend
your first Big Rock Sports Dealer Show or
you’re a seasoned veteran, here are some
tips to help you get the most out of your
experience.
Prepare Ahead of Time
First and foremost, anyone preparing to
go to a show should register early and
make travel plans and lodging arrangements as soon as possible. Depending on
the time of year and location, hotels can
book up quickly.
Dean Headley, Big Rock Sports’ Director of Sales–Central Region, recommends
that dealers “view the Big Rock Sports
website for any new listings of added
products prior to the event.” He also advises them to take “their inventory sheets
to work the show [in order to make] better purchasing choices.”
Vice President of Sales Eric Hickey
agrees. He says that it is important to
“be prepared with your current on-hand
inventories so you’re ready to place
orders.”
Also, to ensure the safest experience
possible, Big Rock Sports has increased
security at every show. Make sure that you
and any guests bring a current photo ID.
Use Your Resources
Utilize Big Rock’s Showtime News to plan
your route to make certain that you get to
talk to (and place orders with) the vendors
you want and not waste time scrambling
around.
IT IS IMPORTANT TO
“BE PREPARED WITH
YOUR CURRENT ON-HAND
INVENTORIES SO YOU’RE
READY TO PLACE ORDERS.”
—ERIC HICKEY
In addition, Big Rock Sports always
has a team at every show, and they can
give you any assistance you might need.
“Everybody is so helpful at Big Rock,”
says Patty Fowler, owner of Whistling
Pines Gun Club in Colorado Springs,
CO. “Any questions, you just snag one
of the Big Rock people and say ‘can you
help me here?’ It’s like you’ve known
them for years.”
Headley also recommends using your
sales representative to “focus and guide”
you in your purchasing decisions.
Seize the Opportunity
Donny Lange, owner of The Tackle Center of Islamorada in Florida, appreciates
how the shows allow him to see products
in person.
“It’s one thing to look at it in the
catalog and go okay, well it says it’s an
eight-pound rod, but what’s it actually
like?” Lange says. “You know you can
come here and pick them up and see what
you’ve got.”
Lange also likes seeing what’s new.
“It’s a good opportunity to see all of the
things that might not necessarily be new,
but new to me or new to our location.
Before you buy them, it’s nice to walk in
and see them, and talk to the people that
are making the stuff. That’s extremely
helpful.”
One of the most popular features of
every Big Rock Sports Dealer Show is
Hot Profit night when dealers can often
get the lowest prices of the year on their
products.
“Hot Profit night has the best deals
we offer,” says Chris McBride, Big Rock
Sports’ Director of Sales—Western Region. “Get your Hot Profit list when you
register to make sure you prepare to buy
enough to promote those items in your
store.”
Additionally, Headley recommends,
“keeping track of any dealer co-op information, vendor rebate opportunities
as well as any factory promotions that
fit or tie in with [your] store advertising.”
BIG ROCK SPORTS OFFERS
A VARIETY OF MARKETING
TOOLS, INCLUDING A SERVICE
THAT HELPS DEALERS SET
UP A WEBSITE AND GET
STARTED CREATING A WEB
PRESENCE.
He also wants dealers to know that
these shows are an ideal occasion to learn
about merchandising tips as well as “a
great opportunity to pick up catalogs or
take photos of any products or displays
that could fit in your store and share
them with employees when you return
home.”
Be Social
In addition to getting great deals on products, the Big Rock Sports Dealer Shows
allow you to talk to manufacturing reps
and other retailers, build connections and
pick up useful information.
“It’s really nice to meet all the vendors
and [develop] a relationship with them,”
Lange says, “because it’s just a matter
of time before you need to pick up the
phone and say ‘Hey, we had this issue, or
can we get this or that? It’s nice to have a
face with the name and know who you’re
talking to and dealing with.”
Expand Your Horizons
Big Rock Sports offers a variety of marketing
tools, including a service that helps dealers
set up a website and get started creating a
web presence. At every show there are seminars as well as one-on-one demonstrations.
“Any independent dealer needs to develop an online presence and if somebody
can make that easy and cost-effective, why
not take advantage of it?” says Tom Reynolds, owner of Sunshine Ace Hardware in
Bonita Springs, FL.
Have Fun!
Above all, make sure to enjoy yourself.
Get your orders in, make your connections, but don’t forget to have fun. Eat
some good food, have a cocktail or two
and take advantage of specials like cash
drawings and dealer appreciation events.
After all, these shows are for you and we
want you to have a good time. BR
3607
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Cover Story
Winchester Blind Side :
Ready for Anything
®
®
Adapt for any waterfowl
shooting situation with
Winchester’s punishing
line of loads
BY BIL L MILLE R
M
uch of the allure surrounding
waterfowl hunting is the opportunity
to hunt dream destinations across
North America. Places like Stuttgart, Canada,
Chesapeake Bay, the Pas, the Platte River and
dozens more fill the bucket lists of devoted
duck and goose hunters.
Yet, when a hunter finally gets the chance to
hunt some of these great destinations, the hunts
may turn out quite differently than they imagined.
Take Stuttgart for example. Next to being known
as the home of the World Championship Duck
Calling Contest, hunters equate this Arkansas
prairie town with the world’s finest flooded
timber mallard shooting in North America.
Of course, this is the kind of hunting that put
Stuttgart on the map, but I have hunted the area
when there were more ducks working the rice
fields than the timber. To improve our chances
for success, we sometimes wound up shooting
mid-range birds from a pit blind instead of closerange greenheads from behind a pin oak. We’ve
even changed our game completely when we saw
how many geese were frequenting the area and
the ducks weren’t in yet!
Adapting with Blind Side
Winchester’s Blind Side ammunition is a versatile
load that is perfect for the changing conditions.
As is obvious from my experiences, the
action even at these legendary locations
can turn out to be much different than
expected, and waterfowlers must be adaptable in order to ensure a successful hunt
no matter what situation they encounter.
A key part of adapting is using ammunition that allows you to adjust quickly, often
without the chance to hike back to the truck
or run to the store for different shells. In
addition to being stacked, fast and deadly,
Winchester Blind Side is extremely adaptable. And as long as you can find a few choke
tubes in your blind bag, it can save you a
time-wasting trip back to your truck or the
store for those different shells.
More than any other specialty waterfowl
loads firing steel shot, Winchester Blind
Side responds to choke constrictions as you
would expect from traditional lead loads.
This is courtesy of the revolutionary Diamond
Cut wad system working in tandem with the
hexahedron, or cubed, shaped shot.
The Blind Side Advantage
Winchester Blind Side has proven to be
the waterfowl load that puts a square peg
in a round hole and with a lot more force.
Pellets in Blind Side shells are actually
cube-shaped with rounded-off corners.
The hexahedron pellets are called Hex
Shot for short.
A huge advantage of Hex Shot is more of
it can stack into the same amount of space
than spherical shot, much like it is easier
to stack boxes of the same size than it is to
stack a bunch of basketballs. Winchester
uses a proprietary loading system to actually
stack 1 3/8 ounces of steel hex shot into a
1¼-ounce sized shot cup. A No. 2 hex pellet
weighs the same as a No. 2 spherical steel
pellet, but, by volume, 16 more hex shot
pellets fit inside a 3-inch shell, meaning
a standard 3-inch steel load has 156 No. 2
spherical pellets, while a 3-inch Blind Side
contains 172 pellets, making for more than
a 10 percent pellet count increase. Depending on shot size, the stacking of Hex Shot
increases pellet count volume as much as 15
percent over other nonround shot loads on
the market.
Now, a heavier payload in a smaller space
could also be a recipe for increased recoil,
especially considering it’s driven to 1,400 fps
at the muzzle by an increased powder charge.
two types of killing power—improved tissue
damage to induce optimal hemorrhaging, as
well as massive hydrostatic shock transfer,
which is devastating to the nervous system.
The biggest knock on spherical steel, especially in loads pushed to extreme velocity, is
that it cuts through ducks without imparting
much of its potential knockdown energy.
That’s why you sometimes see them fly off
seemingly unaffected only to fold up hundreds of yards away. Round pellets can waste
that energy by cutting through too easily, but
Hex Shot’s flat surfaces impart more energy
to the bird.
What’s In a Wad?
MORE THAN ANY OTHER
SPECIALTY WATERFOWL LOADS
FIRING STEEL SHOT, WINCHESTER
BLIND SIDE RESPONDS TO
CHOKE CONSTRICTIONS
AS YOU WOULD EXPECT FROM
TRADITIONAL LEAD LOADS.
However, because the shot packs more tightly
together, there’s more leftover space inside
the shell than in a standard 1 3/8-ounce load.
As a result, Winchester developed the new
Drylok hinged powder cup based on the
renowned recoil-reducing design of their AA
target loads.
Improved Lethality
Hex Shot has distinct edges and flat surfaces. Upon striking feathers, flesh and bone,
these edges cut and tear more effectively
than smooth, spherical shot. Flat surfaces
also impart the full energy of each pellet to
the tissue. That means Hex Shot maximizes
In any shotshell system built around nonspherical pellets, it’s the wad that makes
or breaks pattern dispersion and consistency. For Blind Side, Winchester created the
Diamond Cut wad featuring three petals at
the back of the wad that open rearward as it
leaves the barrel. The shot cup portion of the
Diamond Cut wad has no slits. Therefore, it
stays closed, almost like a capsule, keeping
the Hex Shot together farther down range.
In testing, the dispersion of Blind Side’s pattern is similar to quality loads of traditional
spherical steel shot, which is known for tight
patterning.
The great adaptability of Winchester
Blind Side to any waterfowl situation comes
from its traditional response to choke
constrictions. Many standard steel shot loads
pattern consistently through a specific choke
constriction, but blow out or pattern irregularly through another choke size. Others
pattern tightly, but remain about the same,
through any similarly reasonable choke
constriction. The patterns change little
regardless of the constriction allowing little
ability to improve the shot’s performance by
switching out chokes.
Blind Side, on the other hand, responds
well to traditional choking. That means you
can count on a faster dispersing pattern from
an improved cylinder choke for ducks in the
timber, a middle-of-the-road dispersion from
a modified choke for field shooting and tighter
long-range patterns from a full-choke for pass
shooting situations. And all of this from the
same shells! BR
We Asked, You Answered
Q:
“How do you prepare for a Big
Rock Sports Dealer Show?”
Tom Kallas
Hooked onToys
Wenatchee, WA
First, I’ll review the show book
very carefully to identify key
vendors, sale items, special
terms and new and innovative products. Then I’ll review
sales statistics and print out
current inventories for all key
vendors. I’ll pull order forms
from the previous show and
Wes Strobel
Philomath Gun Shop
Philomath, OR
I get all of my reports ready so
I know exactly what I want to
order. I’ll go to the Big Rock
Sports web page and go to the
reports section because there
Rod Nolan
Ace Hardware
Pasco, WA
I start preparing a month or
so in advance. I download the
BRS Exclusive item report and
the Special Color Lure report.
My Big Rock rep will bring a
show catalog to me as early as
possible so I can review and
review items ordered, quantities, prices and shipping dates.
It’s important to understand
in depth your inventory needs
prior to the show.
I’ll write orders for key
vendors prior to the show in
the show book. This saves time
and allows you to spend more
time looking for new and innovative products.
I’ll make sure to prioritize
which key vendors to visit immediately and make appointments with them to ensure
that orders receive priority
placement. It’s important to
identify booth numbers and
locations of key vendors in
order to save time.
I’ll ask employees and
customers for input on what
products and categories they
would like me to focus on and
purchase at the show.
I’ll bring business cards,
show book, inventories, pens,
notepads and wear comfortable shoes and comfortable
business casual clothing.
I can print out everything I
need: customer purchases by
month, customer purchases
by vendor, and cover the last
couple of years to kind of get
a feel for what we’ve been
buying.
Big Rock is nice because
everything is categorized with
a search so you can print out
all of your reports so you know
what you’ve been buying. It’s a
really good idea to know that.
Every dealer kind of knows
what’s going on as far as
whether or not you’re going
to have a hot year for tactical
stuff or hunting, ammo or
whatever. You know what’s
happening at the time and you
take that into consideration.
estimate my needs.
I review the year’s sales
history and decide what items
should no longer be carried
and flag them as discontinued,
making room for new items.
I run the necessary reports
for the period I am ordering
for and sort them alphabetically by vendor so I can match
them up with my BREZ usage
report.
I also have a separate list
of my Hot Profit items and
sales results from last year, so it
can be used as a guide during
the current Hot Profit Night
ordering.
I will review my advertising schedule to locate where I
may need to fill in any items
and what month they will be
needed.
Without quality show
preparation, it would not be
profitable.
Big Rock in ACTION
G A RY ZUR N
Congressional Fly-ins
and Combat Warriors
A LOT GOING on the past few months,
so I will get right to it. The 6th Annual
Congressional Fly-In sponsored by The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF)
was a huge success. I attended the two-day
event with more than 50 shooting sports industry executives and members from many
industry affiliations. The timing coincided
with the US Senate’s attempt to pass the
Manchin-Toomey amendment, further restricting our use of firearms and accessories.
Splitting up into small working groups, we
visited many Senators and Representatives
over two days and voiced our opposition.
We watched on as the Senate and President
Obama failed in their attempt to pass this
amendment. Our time and efforts were well
spent. I’m looking forward to next year’s FlyIn with NSSF planned for April 2–4, 2014.
A few weeks later, Big Rock Sports was invited to help represent the recreational fishing
industry and participate in a three-day conference in Washington, DC on “Managing Our
Nation’s Fisheries.” Sponsored by NOAA,
it was focused on the reauthorization of the
Magnuson-Stevens Act, which is the primary
law governing marine fisheries management
in the US. This was the third conference on
this Act, with over 500 attendees, and many
more on the waiting list. Also in attendance
with me to represent the recreational fishing sector were Mike Nussman and Mike
Leonard of the American Sportfishing
Association, and leading industry advocates
Jim Martin from Pure Fishing and Bill Shedd
from AFTCO. I think it is fair to say we
were all impressed and encouraged with the
increased focus on the recreational sector and
its economic impact to this nation from the
previous two conferences. We believe the key
stakeholders in Washington got the message
loud and clear on the changes that need to be
made in the law, and the flexibility the regional councils need in the renewal of this law.
Magnuson has come a long way in reducing
WHAT WAS HEARTWARMING TO
SEE AT THE SUMMIT WAS THE
UNBELIEVABLE ENTHUSIASM
AND GENEROSITY THE INDUSTRY
VENDORS SHOWED AT THE
LIVE AND SILENT AUCTION ...
WHERE COLLECTIVELY BIG ROCK
AND ITS VENDOR PARTNERS
RAISED $100,000 FOR COMBAT
WARRIORS, INC.
overfishing, with estimates of the proportion
of stocks overfished declining from 38% in
2000 to 19% today, and proportion of stocks
subject to overfishing declining from 33%
in 1999 to 10% today. Under the proposed
reenactment, the recreational sector needs to
have a seat at the table as changes are made so
that the economic and social impact our sector has on this nation are taken into account.
I’m not sure how many of our readers
know that much of the funding for our state
Fishing and Wildlife Agencies (FWA) comes
from excise taxes from industry manufacturers and license sales to recreational shooting
sports and fishing participants. Big Rock was
invited to attend the fourth annual Industry/
Agency Summit with leading companies
from the fishing, shooting sports, boating
and archery industries, where we spent two
full days with the heads of each state’s Fish
and Wildlife Agencies. The agenda crossed
over all four industries, and the collaborative
effort between the private and public sectors
was very impressive. To read more about
this Summit and the agenda areas that were
discussed, go to the News section under
Advocacy at BigRockSports.com.
Mid-June marked the second Big Rock
Sports Vendor Summit, where all of our
shooting sports, fishing, camping and
marine industries’ top companies’ management spent two-and-a-half days learning
more about Big Rock Sports’ upcoming
2014 sales, marketing and merchandising
plans, as well as meet individually with
their respective shooting sports and fishing
divisions’ strategic planning partners at Big
Rock. There will be more to follow in the
Summit itself on a separate press release, so
I will not spend a lot of space on it here.
What was heartwarming to see at the
Summit was the unbelievable enthusiasm
and generosity the industry vendors showed
at the live and silent auction the second
night of the Summit, where collectively
Big Rock and its vendor partners raised
$100,000 for Combat Warriors, Inc. The
funds raised will be used for hunting and
fishing trips for returning veterans for the
remainder of 2013 and into 2014. This
makes a two-year total of $160,000 raised
for Combat Warriors Inc. at the Big Rock
Summits. For more information, see the
press release “Big Rock Sports Helps Raise
$100,000 for Combat Warriors Inc.” on our
Advocacy page at www.BigRockSports.com.
In the next issue of the magazine look
for more on the July/August “Picture Your
Family Fishing” Sweepstakes. Big Rock
Sports and our fishing dealers are the title
sponsor for this contest through KeepAmericaFishing. We’ll also bring you an
update on the ICAST Show, potential new
advocacy programs and plans from KeepAmericaFishing and the upcoming Outdoor
Industry Rendezvous and Summit planned
for early October. BR
Gary Zurn is Senior Vice President
at Big Rock Sports. You can contact
him at gzurn@BigRockSports.com
ACCESS ECOMMERCE
BRING YOUR STORE ONLINE.
ACCESS Ecommerce from Big Rock Sports takes the complexity out of
establishing your online storefront and allows you to get an ecommerce
website up and running quickly and easily. Whether you’re starting from
scratch on a new website or you want to get more from your existing site,
we can help. Our customizable options allow you to deliver the exact
products you choose to your customers.
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turnkey, ready-to-use. You just decide which level to opt in
at (STARTER, COMP or PRO), then choose a design from
our pre-built web designs and pick what type of content
you wish to have displayed on your website. It’s simple,
easy and fast to set up.
DOES YOUR STORE NEED A WEBSITE?
If your store is already successful without a
website, why worry about creating one? Times
are changing. More and more consumers go
online to research products or to ﬁnd a brick
and mortar store to visit. In addition to selling
products online, an ecommerce website will
allow you to reach these consumers and give
them a good ﬁrst impression.
Consider this:
đƫ A website greatly increases your
geographic reach.
đƫ Consumers can purchase from your
website day and night.
đƫ A well-designed website will improve the
credibility of your brick and mortar store.
đƫ An online presence can boost your brick
and mortar store traffic.
NO WEB EXPERIENCE NECESSARY.
ACCESS Ecommerce allows you to quickly and easily customize the appearance of your website and online store. You do not have to
hire a web designer or web design studio. You simply select the pre-built design, colors and fonts you want to use and add graphics
and content as you like. You will receive access to photos and articles from the Big Rock Sports Content Library, which is continually
growing. You choose which photos and content you wish to display on your website.
And if you have any questions, ACCESS Ecommerce provides comprehensive technical support 24/7.
Go to BigRockSports.com/ACCESSecommerce or email ACCESS@BigRockSports.com to learn how
you can set up your online storefront today.
Big Rock Sports® is not responsible for typographical, photographic or descriptive errors. © 2013 Big Rock Sports, LLC.
Big Rock Sports®, and the Big Rock Sports® logo are registered trademarks. All rights reserved.
Advocacy
The best way to deal with anti-hunters is in a courteous and knowledgeable manner.
How to Deal with Anti-Hunters
and Harassment
BY KALI PARMLEY,
COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST,
US SPORTSMEN’S ALLIANCE
AS AVID SPORTSMEN and women, we
may cross paths with our biggest foes: the
anti-hunting community. Whether in the
field, at a sporting event, a restaurant or
any other place, it is generally a rather unpleasant encounter. If this happens to you
in the field, the question is: How should I
handle this situation?
Remember, hunter harassment is illegal
in all 50 states. Over 25 years ago, the
US Sportsmen’s Alliance (USSA) wrote
the draft hunter-harassment language that
was used by the majority of states when
they passed laws protecting hunters and
hunting. This language has withstood all
court challenges during those decades.
If you happen to encounter an antihunter while in the field who attempts to
disrupt your hunting experience, follow
these USSA guidelines:
Report the incident to authorities as
soon as possible.
Have an accurate description of the
protesters, as well as a license plate number and vehicle information, if possible.
Be prepared to file harassment charges
against the perpetrators. If someone has
done something that disrupts your legal
hunting or fishing activity, you should
contact any local law enforcement official.
All are able to enforce the law against
sportsmen harassment while in the field.
Be sure to provide them with all information possible.
However, harassment doesn’t always
just occur in the field; you can come
across it during everyday activities such as
a social gathering or your child’s baseball
game. Oftentimes you will find yourself
on the defensive end against uneducated
individuals, and it’s best to be prepared to
help educate them.
Here are some tips:
Be courteous, not defensive. Many
times, individuals are not educated on
how hunters are actually helping conserve
wildlife and may just need to be told the
facts.
Know your sport. Provide details on
how hunters help fund conservation.
Sometimes individuals do not realize that
hunters pay for wildlife conservation.
Explain that sportsmen eat their
kill. The animal rights lobby constantly
spreads misinformation that hunters kill
just to kill.
You may not succeed in persuading anyone about the positive aspects of
hunting, but you will have at least left
them with a better understanding of our
outdoor heritage. BR
NRA SHOOTING ILLUSTRATED
HANDGUN OF THE YEAR
OUR DISTINCT ADVANTAGE HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED.
FNS™-9
FNS™-40
2013 Handgun of the Year - NRA Shooting Illustrated
www.fnhusa.com
August Weather
TEMPERATURE
NATIONAL AUGUST TEMPERATURE INDEX
PRECIPITATION
NATIONAL AUGUST PRECIPITATION INDEX
Warm But Wet Out West, Drier in the South
LAST AUGUST, temperatures were
warmer than normal for 27% of the US.
The scorching heat that had been cooking
the Central and Eastern US since midJune finally faded away with temperatures
turning cooler in the second week of August. Meanwhile, hot weather shifted to
the West where August was the warmest
in over 21 years. The tropics came to life
toward the end of the month, as Hurricane Isaac bore down on the Gulf Coast.
August 2013 will be very warm across
the Eastern third of the nation, with the
exception of the Northeast. The West
will also trend above normal, but it
will be cooler than last year’s sweltering
August. Rainfall will be heavier in the
Rockies and Plains this year. The tropics,
especially later in the month, are expected to be active with the highest risk for
a land-falling storm along the east Texas
coastline. Above-normal temperatures
in the Southeast will be favorable for red
drum and snook fishing. Dove hunters
should fare well in the Southeast and
Southwest where above-normal temperatures and drier weather will benefit the
hunt. Dove hunting will not be so favorable in parts of the Central and Rocky
Mountain states.
LEGEND
Monthly temperature and
precipitation trends
Much Colder < -5°
Colder -1° to -5°
Similar -1° to +1°
Warmer +1° to +5°
Much Warmer > +5°
Much Wetter >200%
Wetter 125% to 200%
Similar 75% to 125%
Drier 50% to 75%
Much Drier <50%
September Weather
TEMPERATURE
NATIONAL SEPTEMBER TEMPERATURE INDEX
PRECIPITATION
NATIONAL SEPTEMBER PRECIPITATION INDEX
Expect Drier Weather for most of the US
LAST SEPTEMBER started out very
warm, with the first two weeks of the month
trending the warmest in more than 21 years.
The drought-stricken areas of the Midwest
received some much needed relief, but
drought expanded in some of the North
Central states. Hurricane Isaac began the
month affecting the Florida Keys and then
Louisiana and up the Mississippi River Valley. The storm caused coastal flooding and
over 20 inches of rain in parts of Louisiana,
Mississippi and Arkansas. Luckily, the rest of
September was quiet in the tropics.
September 2013 will be cooler than last
year across much of the nation, but tempera-
tures should be above normal in the West and
near-to-below normal in much of the rest of
the nation. This will be the driest September
in six years, except in the North Central
US and Northwest where wetter trends will
prevail. There may be a lull in tropical activity
early in September, but the action should pick
up later in the month. Above-normal temperatures in the Rocky Mountain states will
benefit antelope hunting, as the animals are
more active in warmer weather. Goose and
early-season deer hunting conditions will be
best in the East. Drier weather in the East will
be unfavorable for trout fishing, but permitfishing tends to fare better in drier weather.
LEGEND
Monthly temperature and
precipitation trends
Much Colder < -5°
Colder -1° to -5°
Similar -1° to +1°
Warmer +1° to +5°
Much Warmer > +5°
Much Wetter >200%
Wetter 125% to 200%
Similar 75% to 125%
Drier 50% to 75%
Much Drier <50%
Weather Trends International
Jack Grum, vice president
610.807.0118, jgrum@wtrends.com, www.wxtrends.com
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