Join us as we dive into the exciting developments at the Mile High Hunt and Fish Expo. This episode features in-depth discussions with Phil Mendoza and Abe, the masterminds behind Colorado’s premier outdoor event. Discover why the expo is moving to a new venue and how this change will enhance both exhibitor and attendee experiences. Get ready to explore what’s new and exciting for this year’s expo, from gear and vendors to special events and features tailored for hunting and fishing aficionados.
SPEAKER 01 :
Welcome to Sportsman of Colorado, Colorado’s premier outdoor radio show heard every Saturday afternoon on KLZ 560 with insights on hunting, fishing, archery, guns, and ammo from Colorado’s top outfitters featuring the industry’s leading experts on how to enhance your experience in the great outdoors. Now, here’s your host, Scott Watley.
SPEAKER 12 :
Welcome to Sportsman of Colorado. Thank you so much for joining us today. Well, we’ve got a jam-packed show for you. You’ve been hearing about the third annual Mile High Hunting Fish Expo, March 20th through the 22nd, here over the last several months. And today, the two guys that started it all are with us in studio, Phil Mendoza. Most of you know him from No Limits Archery. Phil, good to see you.
SPEAKER 10 :
Thanks for having us, Scott.
SPEAKER 12 :
Hey, Barry. Good to see you. You too, buddy. Abe’s in a lot of different things. If you’ve got a cool-looking truck, you probably got it at Truck Kings with Abe. So, anyway, good to see you guys. And, wow, it’s been a – we were talking before we came on air. It’s been a fast year since the last one. And, really, when you look back when we all first started talking about this, wow, it’s just been crazy over the last few years, Phil.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, I tell you, it’s been a – a little different year than I had intended. If you had asked me a year ago, what I thought this year would look like, it would be completely different, but I’m, I’m very happy and excited with, with the changes that we’ve, we’ve made. Yeah.
SPEAKER 12 :
Go ahead.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah. So first things first, right. We were at the Gaylord Rockies the first couple of years of our event. And starting this year in 2026, we’re going to be at the new national Western center. Um, one of the, uh, big needs that we had was to increase our floor space because we had over 100 vendors on a waitlist last year I mean the the amount of exhibitors that want to come in and display at our show because of the plot the the you know foundation that we’ve started it just drew a lot of eyeballs and a lot of attention. So, and the Gaylord was just being a little difficult with wanting to give us more space and nothing against them. They had, you know, that’s their business model and we decided to go elsewhere. So the brand new facility at the National Western Center, the Livestock Center is, like I said, it’s brand new. It’s bigger. They’re more centrally located. And To be honest with you, starting the relationship with what we’ve started to build with them, I’m excited. They’re great to work with. So the new National Western Center March 20th through the 22nd is when our third show is going to be, and I’m excited.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, me too. It’s going to be cool. Abe, any comments?
SPEAKER 07 :
No, I mean, Phil hit the nail on the head. I mean, this is a big move for us. Like Phil said, we’ve gotten a lot of support from the National Western Center, and I think this was where we were meant to be. This is going to be really good, and we’re going to be able to offer more, and this is – I would say if you’ve attended in prior years, this is going to be the best year yet, obviously. And it’s just going to be a fun year. More things to see, you know, more vendors, more new gear, more opportunities. It’s going to be really good. Yeah. And it’ll be a good home for us.
SPEAKER 12 :
And this more came out of just feeling like there’s a need. I mean, you’ve been in Denver a long time, business owner. You’re supported. You know, we’re not. trying to hide anything. ISC, you’ve supported them for years. No question. They did a great job for a number of years. But sometimes there’s just needs that you see where you feel like, hey, there’s a need. And Jake Jabs, I worked with, Jake said, hey, find a need, fill that need, you’ll be successful. And sometimes there’s just a need for something a little different and something that’s going to look different. And that was really everything behind the thoughts here is just A true, true, true hunting and fishing expo.
SPEAKER 10 :
No question. And I tell you that, again, not to… I guess just let me say it this way. The reason that we decided to build this, again, if you’re new to who we are or what we’ve done, excuse me, is… the other sportsman show that’s in town, they, they are on a difficult dates from a manufacturer standpoint. And I had a lot of relationships with manufacturers as did Abe. They wanted to be here, but because of ATA or shot show or other big, bigger shows, there was limitations. So we moved dates. We found a venue. We’ve, welcomed people in we’ve given them the ability to display their products at a show that is protected from fluff you know i mean we the the the dog chamois and the cleaning companies and the windows salesman no disrespect to any of those products or brand but we just don’t feel like they’re where we want to we don’t want to have those in a hunting and fishing environment trade show right so with that being said we just protected um as much as we can. And in full disclosure, as we get bigger There might be a brand or two here and there that has a relationship or affiliation with another company, maybe similar owners that you might see. It’s like, yeah, that’s a little bit out there. But our intention is never to be a flea market. Our intention is to keep the level of exhibitor high, focused, and relevant. And there are so many new companies and relevant companies with their products. I mean, we’re very heavily manufacturer-based. But I got to tell you, we got some really good outfitters this year, too. So that’s kind of where it started from. And we’re just pushing from there, you know, adding in the conservation aspect, what we’ve done with our banquets, two banquets again this year, our Mile High 50. I mean, that’s something that Abe and I are… really adamant about highlighting for this year and moving forward, I mean, a $22 ticket to come in the door for just shy of 240 vendors, which we were about 175 last year. So to come see relevant companies of that quality, and just for walking in the door, we’re going to give you a ticket as soon as you walk in the door, put your name and phone number on there, put it in one of the bins of over $100,000 in prizes and hunts and gear. So just for showing up. I mean, nothing extra, just show up. uh put your name in a in a bin for for what you think um you might want to try to get lucky with and and that’s just scratching the surface that like I said I mean Abe can go into so much more on on the other um hunts and aspects of what we’re doing on the conservation side but again just to highlight just coming in the door 12 and kids 12 and under are free uh we’ve got other features like 4-H Friday this year if you’re in a 4-H club check with your 4-H you know admit uh facilitator, administrator, coach, what have you, tell them you guys need to be present. We’ve got a little fun giveaway going on with the 4-H clubs for Friday. And there’s so many different elements that we started to build into this that it’s a little hard to keep track of sometimes.
SPEAKER 12 :
No doubt. Again, Phil Mendoza is with us. Hey, Maren. They are. The founders and owners of the Mile High Hunt and Fish Expo, March 20th through the 22nd. Now, I’ve been saying this for weeks, but I’m going to say it again. Go to milehighhuntexpo.com for tickets. Put in SOCR for Sportsman of Colorado Radio, SOCR 2026. That will get you 10% off your general admission ticket. Now you may say, well, why that like two bucks or three bucks? A lot of people over the last couple of years have bought multi-day tickets. 10% will save you more, all right? So again, milehighhuntexpo.com, promo code SOCR2026, and 10% off, and I want to make this clear, your general admission ticket. The extra features that we have, those are different ticketed items, which, Abe, we’re going to get into now. But this is another aspect we bought. I mean, a lot of expos are open until 8 or 9 o’clock at night. You guys took it a little different. I shut down 6 or 7, but 6 o’clock, some other events start. So bring us up to date on Friday and Saturday night.
SPEAKER 07 :
One thing before we get into Friday and Saturday night, we’ve implemented something that needs to be known that’s very important. There will be a ladies cocktail hour, and we will be soon posting our run of show, our whole show schedule on the website. That being said, this is kind of a big deal. This is for the ladies in the hunting world. We’ll have a cocktail hour, and they’re going to be drawing and giving away. A pretty, you know, how do I say this? A very, very desirable Arizona hunt, mule deer hunt or coos deer in Arizona for 2026 or 2027. We’re putting that together. So ladies definitely don’t want to miss that. And that will be in our auditorium, in our flex space that you would access through the expo floor. Friday afternoon. Yes, Friday afternoon. So opening day. Ladies, mark your calendar. You don’t want to miss this. And when you see the hunt will be guided by a very well-known figure, a female figure in the hunting industry. And so… it will be something you definitely don’t want to miss. This is super cool, and it’s definitely something that I believe to be a first in Colorado at any of these expos. Now, to get to Friday night, so we did do things a little differently this year. You know, Friday night, our casino night, is essentially just our first night for conservation. Everything that’s raised is essentially split between Muley Fanatic Foundation, Ducks Unlimited, and Howl for Wildlife, as well as some other ones like CRWM and a few other organizations that we chip in towards as well that have Colorado and Western Hunters’ best interests in mind, and, of course, the wildlife. So Friday night’s casino night. It’s fun. I mean, it’s just one big party. There’s a buffet style dinner. We have tickets available on our website. We have tables available on our corporate tables available on our website. And, you know, we’ll have a, you’ll be able to play these casino style gambling games all night. And then at the end of the evening and enjoy a meal and hang out with your friends and We’ll draw prizes, quite a few prizes at the end of the evening. And as you’d come to expect from us, these are all pretty dang good prizes. You know, we’re not – these are things that you would – any hunter or angler or outdoors person would spend their own money to own, right? So we’re – providing really cool gear. And there’s actually some fully guided hunts on there as well that we’re running drawings on and higher end gear and bows and hunting trips and so on and so forth. So that’s for Friday night. Saturday night. We have about 35, our Saturday night for conservation, we have about 35 auction items. And, I mean, as promised, they would get better and better every year. We’ve got Wyoming governor’s tags, Colorado governors or statewide, you know, pronghorn tag, whatever you want to call it, you know, and commissioner’s tags and all sorts of elk hunts and mule deer hunts and bird hunts and, you know, just there’s – There’s international hunts. I mean, this is going to be awesome. We have drawings you can enter. This is a plated style, a little bit not entirely formal. It’s not formal, but I would say it’s cowboy formal or a little casual, but dress well kind of evening. And there are two different levels of corporate tables available for the Saturday night for conservation. And there’s a single ticket entry available as well. That’s also on the website. Um, you know, these are, these two nights are going to be a lot of fun. So there’s, there’s just a lot going on. I mean, just plan on being there, you know, and you don’t want to miss it. You know, the last two years we had, uh, I mean, we essentially, especially on the Saturday night banquet, I mean, we had, uh, Well, we sold it out. You know, last minute people coming in and just expecting there to be tickets available, and that just is not the case. You know, so get your tickets while you can.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, don’t wait. Again, milehighhuntexpo.com. Now, for general admission tickets, that’s where the promo code can help you a little bit. That’s 10% off SOCR2026. But go on there now, and hey, if you’re a corporation out there or business, say, hey, this is a great deal for your sales team, for your people. Take them to something different, and I promise you this will be different at the Mile High Hunt and Fish Expo. We’ve got a gold table, $5,000. Now, that will seat eight guests and a company recognition on the event flyer and main stage area. Either a Seekins PH3 rifle or a Beretta A400 shotgun for the table. Now, not everybody, but for the table, and then you pick who gets to take that. And then they’ve got their silver table. That’s also for eight guests, company recognition on the event floor and main stage area. and gifts for the table as well, and that’s a $3,000 corporate table. General admission tickets are $150, but don’t wait. I’m telling you, there was a lot of people last year, especially, that really wanted to get in that we could not get in, so get those now. And Phil, when you look back at, I mean, all the type vendors that are there, I mean, Pretty much, you guys have known them and had relationships with one. I’ve had a few people, but I mean, they’re kind of, when you talk about hand invited, I mean, that’s a very true statement.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, no question. I mean, our first year, especially, Every exhibitor on the floor was a referral, was invited by Abe, myself, Scott. You had a hand in a lot of those vendors as well. And we did it that way because we wanted to show that we were paying attention. We were not just another show that just wants to sell a space and plug somebody in and doesn’t really care. Abe and I have established relationships with a lot of these vendors and connected the dots for collaborations with them to work with other vendors and other activities. So it’s really a networking type of event for everyone involved, including ourselves. And I tell you, I mean, these types of events are typically kind of a party, a social hour, which this is definitely one you don’t want to miss as well. But the level of relationships and projects that continue throughout the year are, I mean, they’re huge. I mean, there’s so many companies that Abe and I talk to regularly after the event, you know, months after the event for projects that are not related to what, you know, what the show is. So, yeah, it’s a great group of people. And, It’s the who’s who. It really is the who’s who of the hunting industry. We’re excited to say we’ve worked our tails off to bring so many of these companies to the floor. Our goal for next year is to be able to grow slightly and fit in a handful more vendors that wanted to come in that couldn’t make it to this year’s show with some of the changes. We’re hoping we’re going to be over 250 next year and the future looks bright, you know, the future really does look, look good for Colorado. I mean, there’s a lot of people that are starting to get out, get motivated, obviously the meeting here coming up or this week that, you know, obviously there’s, there’s so much that people are starting to get motivated again to, to support, you know, what needs to be supported, to preserve what needs to be preserved and to, to push back a little bit, frankly, on, on the way things have been. Right.
SPEAKER 12 :
And I know it’s been a huge help for these conservation groups that we mentioned. I mean, and you know, you know, And this is something where I love being a part of because sometimes you wonder, hey, where does everything really go with this? This deal, folks, I’m telling you is a thousand percent legit. This money that we raise on those nights go to those organizations that Abe mentioned. And it’s a huge help.
SPEAKER 10 :
And just to highlight that a little bit more, Scott, the The conservation aspect of what we’ve built into our show is 100% payback on the proceeds. There’s expenses with room rentals and some other things here and there to put on these events that we’re doing and the food. Aside from that, there’s not a single person getting paid on, you know, up until… And I can say this for the end of this year’s show as well, that after this year’s done, three years of doing events, there will be no one that has gotten paid a dollar to push this. And for us to be able to raise the money and put the items in the room and the amount of work and time and effort that this goes into, anybody that’s volunteered at any kind of these types of events knows how much work goes into it. And for us to do that… I’m proud to say that we’ve done it that way. Now, again, future will tell how, because we have some big additions that we want to… unfold or bring to the table for 27 and beyond that will change things a little bit. And I don’t want to say too much because those are going to be announced at this year’s show. So you be present to kind of get some more info on what’s coming down for the future. But I can tell you, we’re excited. We’re not slowing down. On the contrary, I mean, our Pedals are going to be mashed to the floor with what we’re doing for moving forward. Right.
SPEAKER 12 :
And, hey, also, we’ve got some great calling contests.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah. So we have, being it’s year three, you know, Phil and I, we decided that when we were going to offer elk calling contests, waterfowl calling contests, we didn’t want to just be kind of like a ram shackle. You know, we wanted to be top dog. So we set our sights on becoming a destination for high payouts and, you know, fierce competition, but high, high payouts. And so this year we have, and we have the information on our website and on our social media. We’ve got the ship, they call it the ship. It’s our big elk calling competition in partnership with Western Hunt Fest. Um, there’s more, a few more divisions this year, you know, so that a lot of people can, you know, play on their skill level and youth and so on and so forth. And then, uh, we also have the waterfowl calling competition and we’ve added some more divisions to that this year. Lots of payouts, lots of, uh, sponsors joining in and it’s growing. I mean, the last, uh, even last year’s Both contests were bigger than the year prior, and we’re getting to the point where we’re filling up rooms. There’s a lot of people coming from far away. We’ve had people fly away from five, six, seven states away just to compete in these calling contests because the payouts are good. and and you see a lot of uh what you know whether you win or not you learn a lot and it’s a great place to be i mean who doesn’t want to be in a building surrounded by a bunch of hunters and anglers so i will say that that is uh the that we have continually grown that and on a side note something else i wanted to mention that we’ve also continued to grow is is uh you know, governor’s tag and statewide tag opportunities in the form of raffles on the expo floor. So we have for 2026, we will have, once again, we’ll have a Colorado governor’s tag for elk or statewide tag for elk in the Colorado Wildlife Federation booth there on the expo floor. We have our partners, the Muley Fanatic Foundation is bringing in a governor’s tag or statewide tag for mule deer. uh that you can and enter that uh raffle in their booth uh we have the bighorn sheep or desert sheep mountain goat mountain goat um from the bighorn sheep the Big Horn Cheap Society. Yep.
SPEAKER 10 :
Sorry.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yep. No worries. So we have, I mean, we’re not just bringing in governor’s tags for people to bid on an auction. We also have them. We have, you know, partners, partnerships with nonprofits and wildlife organizations that have brought in these raffle licenses at their booths. Don’t miss this opportunity, guys. This is huge. I mean, these are, these are not, these are beyond once in a lifetime hunts. I’ve won one in the past. I’ve experienced this myself in the past. I will never miss another opportunity or year because it’s, you know, I mean, the odds are so good. Yeah. The odds are insanely high and, and Hey, I may be hurting myself by telling everybody about this, but Hey, you know what? You can wait 30 years that you’re not even guaranteed to live to drive to draw a unit to tag. Right. Or you can come to the expo and you can put in for these these opportunities. And I think your odds are probably better in the raffle than they are in drawing these days. So and go ahead.
SPEAKER 12 :
If you’re just joining us, Phil Mendoza is with us. There you are. Mile High Hunt and Fish Expo. There’s the guys that started it all. Again, March 20th through the 22nd, milehighhuntexpo.com is where you can go for more information. Follow them on social media. Again, for the promo code for your general admission ticket is SOCR2026. That’ll save you 10% off that general admission ticket. Once again, the new The place we’re doing this is at the new National Western Center. Brand new building, just opened at the end of the year, and just a great, great place to have this, and we will be there every year. All right, let’s talk a little bit about, yeah, let’s talk a little bit about this.
SPEAKER 07 :
So let’s talk about, you know, Phil and I have been thinking of ways to do more for Colorado hunters and anglers with how many licensed hunters and anglers we have. And it involves CPW because we know that CPW has had some difficulties between, you know, hunters and anglers. and the things that cpw was uh you know forced to do or whatever you want to call it so you know we opened the door we’ve cultivated a relationship the the folks at cpw have been very very good to us and very willing to you know hard charging willing to get out there and help and and just talk to the people you know and connect with hunters and anglers so this year cpw has a very large presence and they’ve brought in a few different things um number one this will be the first year ever that we have a set place where anybody can walk in, go to, you know, who, you know, pays their entry fee, comes and checks out the show. Well, while you’re there, you can put in for your tags, CPW at their booth will have an area with tablets and computers ready to go. Any assistance for draw information, some advice, you know, there will be, Game wardens, officers available from all regions in the state, okay? So whether you want to know if you should burn your points in this unit or if you have good odds drawing this other unit, or you just want to know how the lakes and the streams are doing for fishing. You want to know how the grouse are doing down south. You want to know if there’s any pockets of pheasants out east or if they got enough moisture or how the hatch was last year. Whatever your questions are, how the waterfowl migration was, right? or how the moisture was in the northwest corner, and, you know, that’ll tell you, hey, do I want to put in for the draw up there because they’ll have good horn growth this year. You can ask all these things, and the officers will be present. So this will be a really, really good opportunity. They have a lot of – they’ve got quite a few speaking engagements in our – seminar area that Colorado parks and wildlife will be doing that you can see on our schedule here in the next couple of days on the website. So, um, there, there is a lot more opportunity in, in hunter outreach and, you know, you have access to, to see a very deep level of access to Colorado parks and wildlife right then and there at the expo. Right. You know,
SPEAKER 12 :
It’s going to be great. Don’t miss it. Make your plans now to come March 20th through the 22nd. MileHighHuntExpo.com for more information. Anything we forgot?
SPEAKER 10 :
You know, I just want to real quickly… highlight some of our partners. We’ve said it a couple of times, but the Ducks Unlimited, Muley Fanatic Foundation, the Colorado Wildlife Council, Howl for Wildlife, New This Year Hunting Fool, Kershaw Knives, Maven Optics, Eakins, Hayden Outdoors, One Shot Guns. Great companies supporting our projects, supporting conservation, supporting, you know, everything being outdoors and hunting and fishing in Colorado. So some of those brands that have been with us from day one and a few new ones, I just want to send them a special shout out. Thank you as well.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, we couldn’t do it without them.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 07 :
you know, they, they really do that. They make a big impact and it only makes the show better for everybody coming through the doors.
SPEAKER 10 :
I think I forgot to say Grizzly too. Oh yeah.
SPEAKER 07 :
Grizzly’s been with us from the beginning. Right. And they’re kind of a big deal. And, and I would say of, of the wildlife conservation side, um, the Colorado wildlife council, uh, came in the second year and started working with us. And there, I think, uh, I want to say that I really like the Colorado Wildlife Council because they’re a very sincere council that truly has the best interest of Colorado hunters and anglers.
SPEAKER 12 :
And we started a partnership with them in January.
SPEAKER 07 :
Oh, you did?
SPEAKER 12 :
So they’re on a couple of times a month with us now. So it has been great.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, they are just awesome. And I look forward to working with them for decades to come. And so, yeah, I mean, we’ve got a lot of great sponsors. And, you know, they bring quality gear, and then the other side of them, you know, that protects our futures. Sure. Absolutely.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, that’s it. Other than that, man, we’re excited. Come see us. Come say hi, you know. We’ll be there. Come get in on some of the drawings and throw your name in the hat for some of these prizes because I promise you, you do not want to miss. And the odds are, you know, at this point, hopefully we grow, you know, 10 times the size in the next five years. But guess what? We’re going to keep bringing more items so those draw odds still remain high. It’s so high on our list from a level of importance for Abe and I. We just want to make sure that people – know that we value the people that come through the doors and we want to make this the best we can for them.
SPEAKER 07 :
We do. I agree with Phil. And what Phil is really trying to drive home is we’ll never let this get so saturated that you don’t have a good chance of something. And everything in those drawings, there’s not a thing on there that no serious hunter or angler wouldn’t want. I mean, it’s all hand-picked stuff.
SPEAKER 12 :
And I tell you, it’s a great family event, too. I mean, I saw tons of families these last couple of years or so. Hey, bring the family. Come on out to the new National Western Center, March 20th through the 22nd, the Mile High Hunt and Fish Expo. Guys, great to see you. Same. We’ll see you soon. Thank you. You’re listening to Sports from Colorado. We’ve got to take a quick break and be back with more right after this.
SPEAKER 04 :
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SPEAKER 12 :
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SPEAKER 12 :
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SPEAKER 03 :
KLZ 560 AM, your home station.
SPEAKER 12 :
Welcome back to Sportsman Colorado. We are glad you have joined us. We stopped by our friends at Green Mountain Guns. Hey, they’ve got a new location. They have been in one place for a long time. over in the Lakewood area. And now, that was Lakewood, right?
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, it was Lakewood.
SPEAKER 12 :
I thought so. And now they have a brand new location over here in Sheridan, 3535 South Platte River Drive, Unit F. Jake Salthouse, the manager, owner, joins us again. How are you? Yeah.
SPEAKER 11 :
I’m doing all right, Scott. How are you? Thanks for having me on.
SPEAKER 12 :
You bet, man. Glad to stop by and see everything. It’s been neat to kind of walk in the first day and see the whole of a building and then to walk in now and see everything in place. It’s kind of like I hate moving anything, a house, anything. But moving a gun store is not easy.
SPEAKER 11 :
No, no. And we had been in that prior location over on Yarrow for 19 years, I think it was. And, man, it’s just like we got ourselves, you know, moved over here. And once we started moving everything, you realize all the stuff that you didn’t realize you had, you know. I did that with my house when I moved into my house. Like, I’m like, what do I have all this stuff for? Yeah. That happened big time with the move over here, and we did go a little bit smaller on the showroom, but it’s so much cleaner, nicer, and got just a really much better retail experience when the customer comes in, you know, whether they’re consigning or buying or selling, trading, whatever it is, right? Well, and, you know, sometimes stores you walk in,
SPEAKER 12 :
they duplicate a lot of things to look bigger. Right, right. So you know what? Just looking around the showroom when I came in here, you got everything you need.
SPEAKER 11 :
You know what I mean? And more of it than we have more than we need. Sure. The whole point is we wanted to have a better retail experience. Myself and my other manager, Cole, really, and Nate, my other manager, we all worked really hard on – designing that showroom to be efficient you know for the customer to come in and be able to look and get a 360 view on on all the merchandise without having to bother somebody right yeah that’s one thing you hate to do sure is like hey i want to look at this but you’re working with somebody so you know we wanted to make that a little bit easier better experience for right right What are your hours now over here? So we’re open 10 to 6 Monday through Friday and then 11 to 4 on Saturday. We are closed on Sunday. Okay, great.
SPEAKER 12 :
And other than that, I mean, hey, if you’ve been a previous customer of Green Mountain Guns, you know the service, you know the crew. Same thing, just a few miles down the road.
SPEAKER 11 :
Right, right. And honestly, a little bit easier to get to. You’re not going through two lights to get here, just one.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 11 :
We’re right off of 285 in Santa Fe. It’s in a very convenient area over here in River Point. We’re facing the movie theaters. You can see our sign from 285, so that’s another really big bonus. You know, we’re seeing a little bit more. Which is always good.
SPEAKER 12 :
Absolutely. All right. So let’s run through the things you do here for consignment. You do, and I’ll explain your program on that, but you do consignment. If people have, you know, collections, and again, that can be one or two guns. That can be a hundred people interested in moving some guns, want to sell some guns. You can work with them on that as well.
SPEAKER 11 :
Right.
SPEAKER 12 :
To sell them and do it the legal way. Right. Kind of walk us through your consignment, how that works.
SPEAKER 11 :
So let’s say you get a gun to sell, right? You, Scott, bring that gun in to me. We take a look at it. We’ll sit down, evaluate it and say, okay, this, this gun’s 90, 95% condition, right? Good shape. Let’s look that up in the blue book of gun values and cross-reference that with what they’re going for online. Because as you know, just like anything else, you know, blue book could say it’s worth 500 bucks. And then we see them selling for a thousand online. You know, we’re going to meet somewhere in the middle there, but we’ll, grade it, make sure we get a good Amilcol price between the two of us of what we should sell it for, or whether we should actually put it online, because we do that as well. We do auctions. You just come on in, sit down with us, and we figure out what fits that gun and you best, and we do it that way.
SPEAKER 12 :
And, you know, between buying and doing consignment, people have to figure out where they need to be, you know, if they’re in a hurry for some money. And if they’ve got the time to do it like that, other than that, if everybody’s fair-minded and they understand that, you know, you’re stroking a check and you don’t know how long you’ll have that gun, you know, it still can be a very fair value for them.
SPEAKER 11 :
Right, exactly. And I think in the gun industry, at least it’s been my experience before I owned the store, before I worked in the gun store, anytime I’d go to sell a gun, to sell it to the store outright, they wanted to rip your arm off for it, you know. They wanted to give you half or less than half of what it’s worth. And that’s just not fair. We’re in this business to make a living, not to make a killing. There is a big difference. We can sign at 80%. You get 80% of whatever it sells for. So if it sells for $100, you get $80. I get $20. And that’s just to consign it. If I buy it, typically… Depending on what it is and what the condition is, how quickly it moves, typically you’re going to be more in the 65%, 70% range. And that’s, to me, fair. We do a lot more buys than just about anybody else because we’re being honest about it. Here’s what we’ve got to be able to make in it, right, to tie our money up into it today. And you get that check that day or cash or whatever it ends up being.
SPEAKER 12 :
And if you’ve got several guns, and you can do this a couple of ways, if you’ve got, you know, i don’t know five six seven eight guns you’re comfortable with bringing them to the store i’d give a store call let them know you’re coming that kind of thing they can help you do that if it’s more convenient and you’re within a decent driving range of the area you can go to them right right and we do and i’ve driven all the way up to north dakota before now given that was a you know
SPEAKER 11 :
109-gun estate that we did up there. I’ve driven all the way up there, and we drove up, stayed the night, went and saw him the next day, came back, right? So there is no distance we won’t go. I do want to make that clear because, obviously, if you have one gun and you live in Lakewood, come on down to us. Save me that drive. But if you have 10, 15, or even more that you’re looking to get rid of,
SPEAKER 12 :
give us a call we’ll set up a time that i can come out and and do the evaluation there at your house give you the numbers of here’s what we can do right and cut you a check that day or whatever it ends up being right again if you’re joining us jake salthouse is with us he is the owner of green mountain guns 3535 south platte river drive unit f in sheridan and again great new location beautiful showroom um And these guys have great experience. They’ll be glad to help you out. Now, one good thing that has happened recently in the gun world, and we can’t say that a lot, good things that have happened, but with the big, beautiful bill. That wiped out the $200 tax stamp for suppressors.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yep, and SBRs. Yeah, so that’s a good deal. Right. No, that’s a good deal because now it’s a lot more affordable and efficient to get into a suppressor. You know, that was always the hardest part, I think. The hardest sell for anybody is not only do you have to go through this more extensive background check, you’ve got to pay a $200 tax stamp for every item. Right. And that’s just ridiculous. With that being said, as of January 1st, first 2026 they waived the the 200 tax stamp for suppressors sbrs and sbss machine guns you still have to pay the 200 tax stamp that one they didn’t do away with hopefully they will soon but you know they didn’t do away with that one for machine guns but uh if you’re looking now is the time now is the time to come in and if you’re looking to get into any nfa items whether it be a short-barreled rifle, short-barreled shotgun, or a suppressor, you’re going to want to try and get in here and get that done before August because a lot of that stuff you’re going to have to go through more state-level, we’ll just say, stuff to be able to purchase those things. And right now you don’t have to do that. Right now it’s just the standard NFA check to do it. And we can help you. We are a Powered by Silencer Shop dealer over here. and we’ll help you get your fingerprints, photo, e-form setup, all that. We’ll walk you start to finish through the whole process once you’ve picked out what you want to get.
SPEAKER 12 :
Are most people doing that as individuals, or are most people doing that under a trust?
SPEAKER 11 :
It just depends. It’s about 50-50, honestly, now. Soundster Shop has this great program that’s called a single-shot trust, and it allows you to make a trust around that single item. So if you’re buying one suppressor and you want your brother, sister, friend to be able to use it while you’re not around, I would encourage you to go with the single shot trust. It’s an affordable option versus the traditional trust, but essentially when you submit that off, you get approved. You’re the one person that does the tax stamp and then all it takes is a signature and a notary to add anyone to that one item.
SPEAKER 12 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 11 :
Traditional trust was, you know, you got eight items, right? Once you bought all eight and gotten approved for all eight, then you can start adding people to it, right? But that trust has to be closed in order for you to open it. So they do this single shot trust. And I see a lot of people doing that now. It just makes it a little bit easier for the average person that doesn’t have a lawyer to help them do all this stuff, right? Silencer shop will walk you through what all you got to do for that trust. Right.
SPEAKER 12 :
And they can come here to the store, handle everything they need.
SPEAKER 11 :
100%. You walk in same day, right? Come in, pick out what you want, decide which way to file, whether it’s individual traditional trust or single shot trust. Get your fingerprints done here at our kiosk. Get your photo done here and make both your silencer shot profile as well as your e-form profile. Then we’ll assign that item to you. You do your DocuSign, then I’ll call you. We’ll get on the phone together, certify that, form four together, and then it’s just a sit and wait. And right now, wait times are anywhere from 48 hours to a month. It just depends, right? I do see, though, those single-shot trusts are coming back a little quicker than the individuals.
SPEAKER 12 :
Really?
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, I don’t know what the correlation is there. I know, I’ve always wondered that myself. But they seem to be approving those a little bit quicker. So guys, if there is anything that you’ve been contemplating getting into, whether it be a suppressor, an SBR, or even an SBS, come on down to the shop. Let’s go through the options together, find out what fits you best, how it’s going to serve you best, and let’s get you started into this process.
SPEAKER 12 :
Right. Again, Jake Salthouse is with us. Green Mountain Guns, 3535 South Platte River Drive, Unit F, their new location here in Sheridan. You know, it’s crazy all the gun things we’ve gone through over the last few years, and they’re continuing to come. As you said, August 1st changes some things, and I would just tell people, man, now, you better get everything you want to get. I mean, I don’t care if it even is under this August 1st changes, which we’ll explain that in a minute, but… I would get everything you’re going to get because there’s just no telling which way the government’s going to go.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, we don’t know. We’re doing our best to fight it. There’s a lot of good organizations that you can be a part of to help join the fight and fight back against all this anti-2A lawmaking that’s going on here in the state. I mean, it’s unprecedented how much they’ve done. You know, they’ve got a whole other agenda they’re pushing this year that they’re saying, oh, let’s start making people register barrels, right? Well, it’s a barrel on its own. Nothing, right? It’s a walking stick. It’s nothing. um but anyways that that aside i could go into that all day how how crazy it is here right now and i i would say i would encourage people and i’m encouraging everybody if there is something in that august first law that qualifies under that that you have to have this new colorado permit to purchase uh we don’t know yet there’s a class curriculum that they haven’t come up with or announced and said anything about yet whether it’s parks and wildlife only doing those classes or if it’s other instructors.
SPEAKER 12 :
An instructor might have to be approved.
SPEAKER 11 :
Right. Yeah. Right. And, and we don’t know the curriculum is not out there yet. It’s not set. So.
SPEAKER 12 :
Cause they don’t know, dude.
SPEAKER 11 :
They have, no, they don’t know. They don’t know. They have no idea. Um, and on top of that, you got to go before you even take that class, go to your local sheriff and say, Hey, I want to be able to exercise my second amendment. Right. Let me have that piece of paper that says I’m allowed to do that. Now, That violates our Constitution both on the state level and the federal level, but I just don’t see how they’re getting away with this.
SPEAKER 12 :
Because, I mean, you look at the three-day wait. You don’t, depending on how, if the classes are anything like…
SPEAKER 11 :
people trying to get their hunter safety right now for some kids and stuff i mean people are having to go to the western slope because there’s nothing there’s nothing around here yeah i mean could it be a month or two before you get your hands on that gun absolutely uh i would i would even venture to say that it’s going to be more than a couple months uh depending on what county you’re in what sheriff you’re dealing with and then and then whether or not you can get into a class because let’s be honest we’ve seen this before with like hunter safety just like you said it’s almost impossible to get into a hunter safety course right now. Not impossible. It’s just, it’s hard.
SPEAKER 12 :
It’s hard to find them.
SPEAKER 11 :
And you got to be able to be willing to drive, you know, to do it. And who knows what it’s going to actually end up being. You know, we’re all sitting here waiting to see what happens. But I think the best thing you can do, come in, find it what it is that you’re wanting and get it get it now where you don’t have to jump through all this red tape to you know be able to purchase a gun right whether and and and here’s the thing that people don’t get they think okay well it’s just ars and aks right it’s just assault weapons right it’s just these these rifles and anyways we won’t go too far into that but It is almost every single semi-automatic mag fed, and I’m talking Glocks, all the Glocks, and then all of the Sig 320s, 365s, all those. Those are on that list. Your CZ-75s are on it. Um, so it’s, it’s gonna get extremely difficult, uh, to, to figure out what qualifies, what doesn’t, but also, you know, if you have any hesitation, uh, or thought that it might be on that list, go ahead and get it now. Right. That way you don’t have to worry about it. Sure. The sad thing about that is, you know, Glock and Smith & Wesson, for example, they drop a new gun probably every four months. And the next iteration is always better. So, you know, what about the guns that come after August that weren’t invented yet, right? I feel bad for those that… that we’re not going to be able to get you know i mean it’s absurd and uh yeah either way either way i know just come in now you’re coming now come in now i’ve been i’ve been saying it for a year since we knew this was going to go into effect but uh the truth is i think we’ll see a huge rush right before it all passes and i think people will wait till the last minute like they always do and who knows what we’ll have available at that point you know for purchase but yeah if there’s something you’ve been dreaming about thinking about wanting that qualifies as a semi-automatic bag fed come on down we’ll help you get it sure what about ammunition how are you doing on ammo what are some good things you got Oh, I’ve got it all. And if I don’t have it, I can order it and have it here in two days. Okay. So there are some rifle calibers that I don’t keep in stock always. Right, right. But the basic stuff, you know, your 9mm, .22 long rifle, .380, .45 ACP. .223, .556, .300 Blackout, .308. I mean, I could go down the list. I keep those in stock always for hunters, for people that are shooting at the range. And we do have some pretty good deals on 9mm right now and .556 if you buy a case, right? The bulk ammo is always a little bit cheaper. Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER 12 :
Once again, if you haven’t been by the new location for Green Mountain Guns, come see them. 3535 South Platte River Drive, Unit F in Sheridan. Kind of on the east side of the buildings here by the River Point Golf Course. As Jake said earlier, Unit F faces the movie theater. And there’s parking just right by the door. So come on over and see them. When you come in, let them know you heard them here on Sportsman of Colorado. Are you seeing any different things with people coming in now than what they were maybe six months ago or whatever as far as buying trends? I’m just being very transparent. It’s fairly slow right now with gun stuff, but I think we’re going to see that change drastically here before August 1st.
SPEAKER 11 :
I’ll be honest with you, Scott. Yeah, it was one of the big things that motivated us to move out of that old location. I feel like I had someone come in probably at least once a week that would say, I’ve lived here for 20 years, and I never knew you were here. And I said, oh, gosh, that’s painful to hear. So we moved over here, and ever since we’ve moved over here, our sales really have jumped up. We’ve seen a much, much higher quantity of guns being sold, and honestly, quality too you know we’re selling some more high-end guns uh over here and we’re having customers that are like oh man you’re so much closer to me now i’m gonna stop by on fridays after work closer for some further for others yeah yeah um but it’s uh we’re seeing a lot of handgun sales right now that’s what i’ve what i’m seeing a lot of and it’s these guys that are coming in and they’re worried about the the august 1st and what it’s going to be to be able to buy it again after that so they’re coming in now and buying those guns you know the the 2011s or the staccatos or or the sig gtos that new one that came out nine mil to 2011. we’re selling those uh we’re selling a lot of ars as well and and quite frankly i’ve sold more over under shotguns than i ever have really over here yeah there’s a lot of bird hunters coming through and a lot of sporting clay enthusiasts coming through and buying those browning Satori’s and the Beretta’s from us. So that’s, that’s always cool too. But yeah, I think it’s, people come into the shop here now and they see it’s a professional layout. It’s clean, it’s organized. The old shop, I don’t want to talk too bad on it, but it just wasn’t that.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, you couldn’t help the building. It was the curb appeal that wasn’t there.
SPEAKER 11 :
Or the location or the bar next door. But this is way better. Yeah, it really is. And this community over here, Sheridan. They have embraced us in a way I didn’t expect them to. The Sheridan Police Department has been super good for coming over and running patrols over here. They even do their meetings here out in the parking lot twice a day. They’ve been great. All of our neighbors around us here are just really happy to have us here and It’s been a wonderful experience for us moving over into the Sheridan location, the greater Englewood area. Right, right. Absolutely. Anything we forgot? I don’t think so. I think we covered most all of it. You know, I could sit here and talk all day about guns or laws or law changes.
SPEAKER 12 :
But congrats on the move, unless, you know, it isn’t easy. And, I mean, in the environment we’ve been in, boy, sometimes you feel like throwing up your hands, yeah, but you know what? That doesn’t help us all. But here’s one thing I want to end on. Folks, we’ve got to support our local gun shops, okay? You know, hey, look, I get saving money. We all want to save money. But when you’re talking, you know, I’m even going to save a couple hundred bucks or whatever. That’s a lot of money to me. That’s a lot of money to you. But you know what, especially when we get down in a lot of these just common guns that you can get here at Green Mountain Guns or wherever you may hear this show. I know we reach Wyoming and down to Raton, New Mexico. I’m just saying, support your local gun shops, all right, to come in and get something transferred in. and you walk in here and there’s $20 difference or $40 difference, and you could have helped the gun store here do that. And so I’ll let you comment on that.
SPEAKER 11 :
Absolutely. And, you know, we don’t typically price match, but if it’s something like $20, most of the time we’ll meet you in the middle or save the difference, right? I would say, you know, the biggest thing is in Colorado right now, all the small mom-and-pop gun shops like this, I will be surprised if they’re still here in five years. I will be because I’m going to give it everything I got. When I bought this store, I bought a legacy. This store has been around for 53 years, and I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure it stays in this state no matter how hostile the government gets. I want to be… here for our, our people. Right. Uh, and that’s important to me and I, I’m driving every, every bit of change that I have to, to make it happen. Uh, and yeah, guys support your local, it’s not just gun stores, support your local people, right? The mom and pops, uh, you know, granny Scott’s pie shop over there where we used to be, uh, Go stop by and get breakfast from them once in a while.
SPEAKER 01 :
Sure, sure.
SPEAKER 11 :
Check out the cake shop over there. They do a great job. It’s the little guys like that. The world’s become so online and so corporate. Don’t forget that a sense of community goes a long way. Yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, Jake, thank you very much. Yeah, thank you, Scott. Jake Salthouse, owner of Green Mountain Guns. Come see them, 3535 South Platte River Drive, Unit F in Sheridan. Quick reminder now, if you miss our live show on Saturdays 1 to 2, catch us twice on Sundays. That’s 8 to 9 a.m. and once again 7 to 8 p.m. on Sunday evening. And we thank you for being with us. Hope you have a great rest of your day and a great rest of your weekend.
SPEAKER 09 :
The views and opinions expressed on KLZ 560 are those of the speaker, commentators, hosts, their guests, and callers. They are not necessarily the views and opinions of Crawford Broadcasting or KLZ management, employees, associates, or advertisers. KLZ 560 is a Crawford Broadcasting God and country station.
