Scott Linden Outdoors

Attention hunters: our world is not in the tongue-dragging depression we think it is. Sure, we all have our problems, economic or political. But the state of the shooting/hunting industry is better than the rest of the world makes it out to be.

Blame it on the liberal press, Obamania, or simple-mindedness, but the fact is, as Mark Twain put it, reports of the shooting and hunting industry’s demise are woefully premature.

If there is one word to describe the tenor of the times at the just concluded Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show, it would be cautious optimistic (I guess that’s really two words). Barack Obama is the tactical gun companies’ best marketing tool. And even if you’re not fretting about angry hordes of displaced urbanites storming your personal ramparts, our friends at Remington, Mossberg, Benelli and Nosler stand ready to help you stock up for the potential bans on guns or ammo that may come from a filibuster-proof Democratic congress led by a Democratic president.

Most interesting, according to industry leaders I interviewed, is that most segments of the shooting and hunting industry are doing pretty darn good. One gun company CEO said his customers (retailers) had a very strong November and December. Another company saw their 2008 sales surpass 2007’s by 80 percent. Another has two months of backorders pending. 

Smiles and back-slapping were common among the 15 miles of aisles in Orlando. While everyone knows the bubble may be on the verge of bursting, they are much more optimistic than we might have thought … considering.

Next stop on the Awesome Road Trip: Reno, Safari Club International’s convention and show. See you there. For more information, visit www.scifirstforhunters.org.