Maximizing Your Fall Hunting Sales

Shooting Industry, Oct, 2000 by Lisa Parsons-Wraith

With the popularity of programs like Becoming an Outdoorswoman, more and more women are being introduced to the shooting sports. They are discovering the thrill of the hunt and creating a new population of hunters who need a gun dealer's specialized assistance. Many of these women are starting from scratch and would like to do a little one-stop shopping at your store. In an effort to find out what women would like to see on your shelves, I conducted an informal Internet survey that I hope will guide you in making decisions about what to stock for your female clients.

Let's start with firearms. A popular choice for lady big-game hunters is the 280 Remington bolt action. The most often cited shotguns were from Browning and Remington. Specific models preferred were the over/under 12 and 20 gauge Browning Citori and the Remington 1187. Most of the women who responded said that they had their guns customized and did not purchase "ladies/youth" models.

If you don't have a custom shop on the premises, you might still be able to earn a small profit from customizing guns for women. Do a little research and determine which custom shop in your area has the best reputation for customer satisfaction. Then offer to operate as a referral service for the custom shop. By charging the custom shop a small fee (5 to 10 percent), you'll earn a little extra money and create satisfied customers who will return to your store.

Dress For The Hunt

Now let's talk about clothing. This is a difficult market for most dealers to grasp. A visit to your local mall will show you that fashion is a fickle beast and that women are used to having unlimited choices. Unfortunately, when it comes to hunting apparel, fashion and choice are fairly limited. The goal of the gun dealer is to stock high-quality basics in a wide variety of sizes.

Most hunters are savvy about layering clothing and the new high-tech, lightweight options make wearing different layers much easier. So start with the basics and stock some good quality long underwear made from one of the new, high-tech materials such as polypropylene, chlorofiber, Thermax, Thermastat, Polartec or Cool Max. Wyoming Wear, leaders in fleece-wear, carry an excellent pair of Polartec tights called Fall Creek Tights that work well for women hunters.

Wyoming Wear also specializes in another important area, socks. Their fleece socks range from lightweight, warm-weather styles to heavy-duty socks designed for really cold days in the field. Fleece is a very popular material with outdoorswomen, because it dries quickly, keeps their feet warm in cold weather and cool in hot weather. Thorlo is another company offering excellent socks in a variety of materials ranging from high-tech synthetics to traditional wool.

Outerwear has also gone high-tech. Gore-Tex now has a line of camouflage clothing called the Windstopper Supprescent that is a laminate impregnated with activated carbon. This material is designed to mask human scent, thus assisting hunters in avoiding being sniffed out by their quarry.

Quality clothing ranging from brush pants to insulated coveralls were all highly requested in our survey. The most often mentioned camouflage patterns were Mossy Oak, Advantage and Real-tree. Clothing from manufacturers such as Key Industries, Walls, 10x and Flint River should serve your customers well.

Companies like Rocky, Wolverine, Danner, Browning and LaCrosse are good choices for women's footwear, if you plan to stock women's hunting boots. These companies make several styles of high-quality boots with bob-type soles, which, in some terrain, are crucial to hunting success. Any hunting footwear you stock should have boot uppers made of rigid material to provide adequate ankle support and protection. Boots with steel shanks for optimum arch support are critical when carrying heavy loads such as a prize-winning buck. A Gore-Tex booty or liner is also an important feature for wetweather hunters.

The Right Accessories

Small convenience items also sell well to women hunters. For example, small chemical heat packs that can be tucked inside gloves or pockets can go a long way towards making a hunt more enjoyable. Heatmax Inc. has an extensive line of warming products such as HotHands Hand Warmers, HotHands Heated Belt and HotHands 3-in-1 Handmuff.

Browning has put together a small outdoor kit with an auto compass with magnifier, a Signature knife and 25mm MicroBallistic flashlight that is a must- have for any well-equipped hunter. Also, blaze orange vests and hats in sizes that fit women are essential to a completely outfitted hunter.

Shelf space and store size being limited, it's not practical to suggest that gun dealers stock every item and brand mentioned above. The wise dealer will choose a few good quality items of long underwear, outerwear, boots and accessories and stock them in as many sizes as practical. Once this is done, create a special display area that loudly proclaims "Women's Gear" and be sure to let all your customers, male and female, know that you have something new to offer lady shooters.