Read this in an Idaho paper where Sportsmans is located. The Bass Pro guy said it would be a great combined service for sportsmen. The Sportsman Warehouse manager declined to comment!!!

Thinking like big tech, what competition?

Unreal

Support your local outfitter. When I got into trapping earlier this season I was disappointed with the lack of offerings at all the familiar big box stores. Then I discovered an old world trap shed not too far away run by an old timer who has been doing it since the 1970s. What a treasure.

Buying everything.I did not know they had bought out Fred Bears museum in Florida as well.

Its almost like their being funded to buy, consolidate and close our World

Terrible news for SW. They will ruin it just they did Cabelas. We already went through this thread a couple months ago, still sad to see it.

Exactly. Like mentioned above they ruined Cabelas. Let’s run another company in the ground so we can peddle more of our communist made garbage to sportsmen’s.

Yep. I'm sitting here wearing Cabela's clothing I bought twenty years ago. I've worn this shirt hundreds of times and thousands of hours. BP pretty much killed off the Cabela's clothing line. What's good for BP isn't so good for us.

20 years....Think its about time you washed it?.........

That sucks. Sportsman’s are great stores. Now they will suck like Cabelas

I was just here thinking about that. It gets washed once every couple of weeks or so whether it needs it or not...based on my perception...yours may differ. I was probably wearing the same shirt when we visited.

after 4 days wife throws it into the wash.

My wash cycle is based largely on how I'm greeted and received by other people. You have to know what to read into a scowl. Is it the Gusto or do they just not like me? I consider it a tossup.

The higher ups with BP have bought $16 million in ground around us in the last few months. Shame what they did to Cabelas

I hate Basspro. After they bought cabelas it went to crap and sportsman’s warehouse was my last hope

Maybe they can buy Dicks and stock guns and ammo again!

And blue pills

Scheels here is pretty good too.

I sure Wish we'd get a Scheels near here

Here in Idaho Falls, Sportsman Warehouse store is located within about a mile from Cabela’s. I wonder how that will work out.

Lefty, sorry to say but our local Dicks store no longer sells rifles, pistols, shotguns or ammunition. What really blows is i just got a gift card for that place!

I haven't set foot in a Cabelas or Sportsmen warehouse or a Bass Pro in I don't know how long.

I buy all my stuff at a small independently owned shop or order it on-line from a different one.

No need to go to these big corporate stores if you don't like their policies.

Bass Pro Shops donated $10,000 to the NTA in 2020. That earns them some business from me.

I'm not a fan of Bass Pro. After talking with several Cabelas employees at a store near me, they don't think much of the Bass Pro take over either. "Redhead" is code for less quality.

The closest Scheels to me is a little over an hour, the second closest is two hours away. I frequent both somewhat regularly.

I don't know exactly where you live but I suspect the closest to you would be either St. Cloud or Eden Prairie.

Cabelas went to pot with their clothes and shoes when they started selling stock on the exchange. They were a carcass when Bass Pro bought them. But yes Bass Pro ain't no improvement. Would love to buy at a Mom and Pop store local but that doesn't exist.

That's good to hear, ill remember that next time I get near one and give them some business!

I take much better care of my old school Cabelas clothes now knowing I can no longer replace them.

Bass Pro does pretty much suck.

This happened a few weeks ago and not much has changed yet at the Sportsman's Warehouse stores. I can't see Scheels selling out yet, it's a family business with a heavy foundation of faith and family values. Scheels is building and expanding pretty fast and they have a great reputation but I'll bet Johnny Morris is coming after them next.

I'm out of Pine City, 70 miles straight N up 35

Looks like the closest one to me is in Springfield, IL;. Only a 13 hour drive.

I used to purchase a lot of stuff from Cabelas. Since BP took over I rarely purchase anything from them, and that’s with a store 30 miles away.
Their quality definitely has went down hill and to much China junk.

On a brighter note, I picked up some .223 shells a t Scheels yesterday. After tax, they were right at $65/100. They had some 9mm and .380 also. The 9mm, was $72.99/200 round pack, plus tax.

That's a bright note? Guess we have changed our standards.

Really! Not standards but reality

Chump change for an organization like BPS. Another zero or two would make that respectable.

Seriously?

Yes it's true that $10,000 for them is like you and me taking a $5 out of our wallet but you can't look a gift horse in the mouth. I think they are paying KVD about a quarter million a year. Not many big retailers would take a chance on something so controversial. If we ever really get in a bind, establishing a relationship like that might mean we could go back for $100k when we really need it for something specific.

KVD?

I sort of like the local gun shop Lolo Sporting Goods where Jack O'Conner got his rifles and and ammo because he lived here. But they don't carry any trapping or fishing gear. The "Black Sheep" is now closed but the North 40 is open and they have some stuff. If it is major trapping stuff I buy here from other trappers or on line at a trappers supply like MB or I can drive a hundred miles to CDA to the Black Sheep or the White Elephant. I can also go to Wally World and pick up the "Cheap stuff . That has the new trail head logo on it "pack it in and throw it out."
Just so you know they can't get any Speer bullets or CCI or primers or .22 cartridges when the supplies are low everywhere. Odd since both those manufactures are less than 2 miles away. and we know they would treat there local friends right because they are the "Good Ol' Boys" I read it on a box once. I think I was even given a hat that said that on it. I may have to look for it.
Yup I remember when Vernon Speer first started here back in the 50's. My Mom worked there until they had a serious explosion and blew up the primer mixture building. I think that was in the early 60's. Since then they have had so many different company owners I can't even come close to remembering which Alphabet soup owns them now.
It does impresses me how many different major manufactures of bullets, .22 cartridges, loaded ammo and primers are made there. They just put them in a different box with a different label on it or this is the way to bullet is build this way but all are built on the same machines often using the same gun powders and primer mixtures.

Ok, Thanks!

You know the more I think about this $10k and the NTA the more surprising it is. Just getting a foot in the door at Bass Pro is a huge deal. I'd like to hear the story on it. Does someone in the NTA have a great personal connection with a Bass Pro executive? Did they file a grant request that happened to land o the desk of someone who trapped as a kid?

Just getting a request in front of an actual decision-maker is a big deal; there are so many gate-keepers who throw thousands of requests in the trash.

Scheels advertises itself as an employee owned company.

My plan this week is to hit the Scheels in Grand Forks, Fargo, Sioux Falls, Sioux City, Omaha. Maybe even Overland Park KS and Lincoln NE.

See how many more primers I can horde lol.

I don’t like shopping at any of the big box stores if I can help it. I like to spend my money at the local shops. Better customer service and I can se right where my money is going, back into the community. Might pay an extra five or ten percent for products sometimes, but it’s worth it to me to buy locally and support small businesses.

Plus, go to a local shop and order a specific gun in a specific caliber, the guy across the counter will scour the earth to find one for you. Try getting a basspro employee to do that.

There is a Scheels store in the Dallas area. I don't imagine that's a short drive for you lol.


The Academy's I've been to in KS didn't impress me much. If you are ever in the KC area doing work swing into the Overland Park KS Scheels, it's quite a store.

That sucks.