KLZ 560 AM DENVER'S CONSERVATIVE HOME STATION
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Dive into the heart of Colorado’s outdoor community with Sportsman of Colorado as Scott Watley presents live from the state’s premier hunting and fishing expo. Meet conservation advocates rallying around Prop 127’s success while navigating ongoing challenges in wildlife management. Get inspired by initiatives like Clays for Kids, dedicated to supporting Children’s Hospital, and learn about the innovative security solutions offered by Tuffy Security Products to safeguard your outdoor adventures.
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 15 :
Good afternoon and welcome to Sportsman of Colorado. As John Rush just mentioned, we are coming to you live from the 2025. expo here yeah mile high hunt and fish expo at the gaylord of the rockies mountain uh resort here in convention center and uh hey if you’ve been to the gaylord you already know what that’s like but i’m telling if you want to see a top quality expo for the outdoors hunting and fishing please please make your way here to the gaylord today we’ll be here till six o’clock And then tomorrow we’ll be 9-4. So I hope you’ll make it. Come by our booth, 719, and we’d love to meet you. and let you know and if you hey if you’re looking for a hookup hey you’re looking for a fishing trip you’re looking for an outfitter you’re looking for gear we’ll take you over personally introduce you to a lot of our friends and sponsors here and get you hooked up good to have kevin flesh with us kevin how are you sir great scott what a great event once again we were here yesterday but it’s yesterday was great we we had a lot of good crowd but today it’s off the charts a lot of people here from nine this morning and
SPEAKER 04 :
and just people keep coming in. So people got to get down here to see all this, the cool stuff that’s here. I mean, local stuff and also national brands. It’s super, super fun. If you’re into the hunting and fishing scene, especially the hunting scene.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, absolutely. All right. Hey, just to let you know a few things that are going on with this. Uh, we’ve got our film full draw film tour. That’s tonight from six to nine. We’ve got a gladiators unleash after party. We’ve got a night for conservation, big banquet, about 500 folks will be joining for that. And, uh, A lot of great auction items with hunts and guns and just all kinds of stuff. And going to a lot of our sponsors, one of those, Howl for Wildlife. And Mike Costello has been a friend of ours now for a few years and did a great job in helping us with Prop 127 and really helped us be victorious on that side. So, Mike, welcome to Sportsman of Colorado.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, thanks for having me, giving me the opportunity. This is a great event. Yeah. It’s the second year. Yeah. And they’re doing a top-notch job. I think this is going to be a destination event for all Western States hunters to come to Colorado springtime and see this event.
SPEAKER 04 :
It’s a nice time for all of us to get together, too, to talk about sort of the issues that you’re dealing with and to come together and really have a conversation about how we can make the state better.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, we’re excited to be, you know, Phil and Gabe chose Howell as one of the conservation partners for this event. So there’s a lot of fundraising that happens. It helps Howell for Wildlife, helps Community Fanatics, helps Ducks Unlimited. We’re just really lucky to have been selected. But as you mentioned, with Pop 127, we were here a lot last year. We were in Colorado quite a bit, virtually and boots on the ground. And I’m just impressed with the Colorado team. voter base you know the hunters the outdoorsmen and women the anglers you know and this the common citizens came together to reject ballot box biology and really align on the idea that that wildlife needs to be managed you know it’s not it shouldn’t be a political debate it’s it shouldn’t be a political debate let’s get politics out of it yeah um and uh and you know our vision is is kind of a generational shift on cultural appreciation for hunting as the mechanism that drives wildlife success yeah and the more that the average voter that just loves critters understands that hunting is actually a tool and toolbox for wildlife success then then the the the bigger this pool just gets and the better off ecosystems are going to be.
SPEAKER 04 :
And hunters bring a value to the animal that other folks don’t.
SPEAKER 12 :
Bingo.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah. I mean, and that’s what people have to understand. I mean, all of the folks that believe that they’re interested in really saving wildlife really don’t understand what they’re talking about until they talk to the folks that are out in the field, love the animals, but they also hunt the animals and have an appreciation for the environment that they live in.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah. Yeah, so we’re super happy to be here. Yeah. It’s exciting. There’s… There’s big issues afoot. Sure.
SPEAKER 03 :
You know?
SPEAKER 12 :
You know? I think just yesterday we learned that a second wolf that was brought in from Canada decided to try to go back home to Canada.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 01 :
And Wyoming stopped him.
SPEAKER 12 :
And Wyoming stopped him. He had a detour. Yeah. On the wolf introduction thing, I don’t even like to say wolf reintroduction because they were here before and they’ll be here after. Sure. You know, they disperse according to ecology and habitat. And, you know, so wolves are going to be in Colorado forever. Ideally, it’s on their own four feet, finding the best habitat that works for them.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 12 :
And so the importation thing is really, it’s kind of been a bad deal for wolves.
SPEAKER 04 :
It has been.
SPEAKER 12 :
I mean, I’m kind of like, this is cruel and unusual punishment for these wolves that are literally abducted, tranquilized, transported by, you know, night operations and then dropped off into some weird territory that nothing smells right.
SPEAKER 15 :
And, you know, if we were trying to do something like that with animals, tranquilize them, send them somewhere. You’d get arrested. Dude, all these groups would be after us for being right in here with what they’re doing.
SPEAKER 12 :
You’d be in jail.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, that’s exactly right.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, so it’s…
SPEAKER 04 :
There’s always another reason why they’re doing it.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, and I think voters in Colorado, they voted with their heart. They were told a story and a vision that, you know, Disney makes beautiful movies, right? It’s compelling stuff. You almost think it’s real. And so they were sold a vision that was a fictional concept that was really attractive and charismatic. And so they checked that box, but only by a margin of 1.5%. Right. So it’s not like it was a landslide. No. And now we’ve got the documentary unfolding. And it’s not the same as that fictional vision of four or five years ago. And so I think you can see the legislature is like, ah, it’s costing a lot of money. And there’s initiative to potentially put an end date on reintroduction to solve that issue. You know, it’s such a diverse and complicated issue. There’s the money. There’s the management once they’re here. There’s the importation issue.
SPEAKER 05 :
The babysitting.
SPEAKER 12 :
So there’s a lot of levers to pull. Yeah. And I think it’s just important for individual hunters, outdoorsmen, anglers to see what’s going on and then kind of, you know, get involved. Right. Boots on the ground style. Grassroots. Yep.
SPEAKER 15 :
What’s the mission right now? What do we need to get out today to our listeners?
SPEAKER 12 :
You know, it’s… there’s politics involved, but, um, We saw this, and I want to talk a little bit about the Initiative 35, which is the end for reintroduction. There’s a lot of debate about does it do anything big? Does it do something little? Is it more about kicking the box biology industry in the shins and putting them back on their heels? I think that’s important. I think an end date to importation is important. A ban of future importation that’s separate from Prop 114, I think that’s important. I just hope people look into what that initiative does, not just directly in terms of importing wolves to Colorado, but also in terms of a proactive salvo at the industry that is anti-hunting. And so I think there’s an opportunity to solve a problem really concisely while all of these other challenges of management, of compensation, of delisting like all of those things are going to be going on too and i think some of these things can happen in parallel so i hope people check that out again mike costello’s our guest it’s how for wildlife um so at your booth what are you hearing from just people coming by or through prop 127 a lot of people familiar with you or do you find yourself a lot of high fives a lot of high fives on on the fact that this community rallied sure together and you guys know i like to say we know how it works across state lines all species all methods of take um you know we support we got involved in the right to hunt and fish constitutional amendment in florida um sunday hunting in virginia prop 127 here you know we just uh So with Prop 127, there’s a lot of high fives. Because people, this time last year, there was a lot of folks. They were like, oh, man, we’re not going to win. Or how are we going to win? And our attitude, maybe it was a little delusional, but it was delusional and optimistic. Like, we can win and we will win. And winning starts with saying those two things.
SPEAKER 07 :
Right.
SPEAKER 12 :
Winning starts with saying we can and we will. And then you say, well, how? Okay, so let’s figure that out. Yeah. And so we’re getting a lot of that. Yeah. We just had a big win in Washington State. And the thing is, is social media. We hunt across state lines. We’re a non-resident hunter somewhere. I’m in California. I am a Colorado hunter someday. I’ve got my points. I dream about it. I e-scout. I’m here for it. And so we pay attention to what’s going on in other states. Our big mission is… that we want to talk about right now is that dialogue of proactive messaging and proactive work. Right. Not just being reactive.
SPEAKER 01 :
Not just being defensive.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah. But what are the proactive things that we can do in the next 18 months, the next five years, the next 10 years? And… That’s a little harder to sell. It’s a little more… It’s out there. It’s harder to touch. But I think we’re starting to see that we can do these things if we’re strategic and intentional. And it’s working. So people are jumping on that bandwagon of supporting that messaging into the non-hunting space. Last couple of minutes here, but…
SPEAKER 15 :
Is there membership? I mean, how can people help financially, as we know, man? Yeah. A bazillion dollars spent for Prop 127. It takes money. It does. So how do we help?
SPEAKER 12 :
I’d say of all the orgs, we’re probably the leanest, and we’re one of the most nimble. And so the dollars that we get are amplified in ways that are almost unmatched, I think. We have memberships. We have a $30 membership. We have a $100 membership. We have a partnership with Elk Bros for a $299 membership that we get half of, but then you get into the whole Elk Bros Academy, Learning Academy on elk hunting. So we’ve got a few different ways. If folks are coming down to the banquet tonight, I’ll tell you what, there’s some hunts in there that were donated to us by really generous outfitters that are going to be direct funding for Howl for Wildlife. There you go. You know, bid early to drive that price up. Even if you’re not going to buy it, bid early, get your card up. So we have a lot of mechanisms for support. But the most important thing, I think, if somebody could go to howforwildlife.org, test drive our action center. We’ve got issues across about a dozen states right now, even if it’s not in Colorado. You could go help the hunting community in California today, in Washington today, in other states today. You could get involved in those things. If you test drive the Action Center, you’re now in the club. You are officially a supporter for free. You’re part of the HALPAC, and then you’re going to know when there’s other issues coming up locally, regionally.
SPEAKER 15 :
And I think we had donations from all 50 states for Prop 127, didn’t we?
SPEAKER 12 :
That was one of the biggest things that we wanted to do. I took it personally that, you know, how for a while I took it very seriously that we’re going to nationalize that issue and get national eyes and voices on it. And by February of last year. All 50 states, individuals had written checks. And so that shows the power of broadening our message and broadening our horizons to where we can pull a lot of support in from our neighbors.
SPEAKER 15 :
Hey, if you come by, be sure and stop by the booth. Meet Mike and Charles Howell for Wildlife. Again, great partners with us on your show. And as you said, they’re helping states all across state lines here. And I promise you, I think… From now, the rest of our life, Kevin, we’re going to say we’re in a fight.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yep, we’re in a fight. Colorado’s in the center of it, literally, physically.
SPEAKER 15 :
We’re in the center. If we had lost Prop 127, dude, that would have went to every state around, wouldn’t it?
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah. Oh, absolutely. You’re at the epicenter for all the right and wrong reasons.
SPEAKER 04 :
The fishing side of the fence, same thing. They’re trying to get rid of minnows. Yeah, they’re trying to get rid of minnows now.
SPEAKER 15 :
Thank you, guys.
SPEAKER 04 :
Thanks, man. Appreciate it, Mike.
SPEAKER 15 :
Once again, if you’re just joining us, we’re coming to you live from the Gaylord Rockies Mountain Resort here at the Gaylord and Mile High Hunting Fish Expo, the second year, 2025 edition. I hope you’ll come out and see us. A lot of great vendors here, a lot of our sponsors and friends. It’s always great to meet new folks, and I met these folks here. Was that this morning or last night? I can’t remember. Last night, okay. Last night. All right. And I saw their brochure, and it said Claves for Kids, and I wanted to find out what was happening July 18th at our friends at Colorado Claves, and Jeremy Wilson joins us now. So, Jeremy, welcome to Sports from Colorado.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, thanks, Scott. I appreciate you letting me be in here. I’m pretty nervous about this. I’ve never been on a game before. Well, that’s all right. I’m nervous, too, bud. Don’t worry.
SPEAKER 07 :
It’s just the three of us.
SPEAKER 10 :
It’s just the three of us and 900,000 listeners. No, I’m kidding. No pressure.
SPEAKER 07 :
No pressure.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, tell us about this group. Well, this is our fourth annual. We just started this a while back. Every one of us have somebody that we’re related to or we know somebody that’s got a child that’s been affected, and Children’s Hospital has been there in some of the dire times. And one of my friends, J.R. Pierce at Colorado Plays, you know, he was talking to me about a shoot. He says, man, can you think of something that you’re really passionate about? And I said, man, it’s all about the children. They didn’t choose to be born with health issues. And a lot of families out there are struggling. They can’t afford the support. So we started the Clays for Kids. The first year was pretty slow. We raised $40,000, which is pretty good for the first time, I think.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 10 :
Second year, we did $60,000. And last year, thanks to some big-hearted folks, we raised $100,000 last year for Children’s Hospital at this one-day event. Yeah. And you’re trying to beat that this year? We’re absolutely trying to beat that this year.
SPEAKER 04 :
How can people help you with beating that huge number that you got last year and make it even bigger this year?
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, they can certainly come out and participate as a sponsor, a shooter, just whatever they want. Or they can just simply go to our website and hit the donate button and do that as well. Why participate?
SPEAKER 04 :
I think you have to move over a little bit. Yeah, we’ve got a little speaker here. There we go. We’re good. We’re good. Okay. We’re getting close. So talking about July 18th. folks that may want to give, but they also enjoyed the sporting place. Talk about the event itself and why people should come out, not only to give, but to have a good time.
SPEAKER 10 :
Right, right. So the event starts off, we’re going to have pancake breakfast. The shells are included. We give out a little gift to everybody, and then we have lunch. There is the 15 stations, but we do something a little different than most other events, and we do a 16th station, which is a team flurry. And that’s when we got Clay’s Flan Mayhem. It’s shoot as quick as you can load. And that score goes towards your final score for your team. And we have great trophies, handmade trophies from somebody that donates that. We’re going to have auction items this year. We’ve got a whitetail hunt. We got a two-person guided fly fishing trip down North Fork. We got Bluffs. Russell’s donated a hunt to the Bluffs. Oh, nice. Valhalla. And we’re trying to get more additional sponsors to donate that type of thing. We actually got a tar hunt in New Zealand. If you want to go to New Zealand and get a tar, maybe even get a stag while you’re there.
SPEAKER 15 :
That’s awesome. That’s very cool. All right. Hey, July 18th, it’s the fourth annual Clays, and that’s spelled with a K, Clays for Kids and Benefiting Children’s Hospital here in Colorado. For more information, there’s kind of a long website here. I’m going to give it to you, but, hey, if you’ll get in touch with me, just scott at sportsmancolorado.com is my email, or just call the station. We’ll get you hooked up. I tell you what, we’ll put this on our social media. We’ll put this on our Facebook page. I’ll keep this brochure. They’re going to be accepting donated items for the raffle, live auction. If you want to help your business out there, maybe you can donate some gear, gift cards. That would be great. Clay shoot competition, raffles, live auction, door prizes, all at Colorado Clays, July 18th. So, once again, the website is bird.com. EASE, E-A-S-E dot com slash G-E C-O-K L-A-Y-S, the number for kids. But like I say, just get in touch with us here. Shoot us an email or text on our Flesh Law Text Line 720-201-8585, and we’ll get you all the information.
SPEAKER 04 :
I’m guessing you do a Google search for Clay for Kids with K’s. You’ll probably find it.
SPEAKER 10 :
You guys are much better at sales than this and I am. All right, Jeremy. Thanks so much, man. Good luck.
SPEAKER 15 :
Hey, get in touch with me in a few weeks. We’ll get you back on the show and help you promote this up to the day of the event.
SPEAKER 10 :
That would be great. Thanks, Scott. All right.
SPEAKER 15 :
Thank you. All right, let’s go to Chris Kemp here now. He is with our good friends at Tuffy Security Products. And normally, Jason, you’ve heard on the last about three or four years with us here at different expos that we’ve been with. But Chris is here with us today. I just want to give a personal testimony right now. I’ll let you give me the proper terminology, but basically the underdeck system under my seat there, my Silverado 1500. I’ve got that console safe, which is absolutely awesome. Quick combo lock. You can be in there in no time. But you know what? I don’t have to worry about leaving my truck anywhere and somebody breaking in, Kevin, because, I mean, it is secure. And the cool part about it is, Super easy installation. You don’t have to be drilling a bunch of stuff to put it in and all that. And, I mean, man, it looks nice. Definitely secure. And when they say Tuffy Security Products, that’s what they mean. So, Chris, welcome to Sports From Colorado. Thank you, Scott and Kevin, for having me. Yeah, nice to be here. For those that don’t know about you. Give us your two-minute elevator speech for Tuffy.
SPEAKER 11 :
I don’t need to say anything, Scott. You just sold it for me. You did a great job. Honestly, security is in the name, so that’s what we do. Everybody sells storage. We sell security storage. That’s what we do for underseat lock boxes, console safes like you have, Scott. It’s great. With the new laws that just passed in Colorado requiring you to have everything locked up now, we’re getting closer and closer to like our friends on the west coast um and you’ve got to keep everything secure it’s safe it’s responsible you have kids go out you have your handgun with you you can’t go into the school you need a place to put it sure so that’s that’s important you got to be responsible with your firearms and that’s where it’s tough he comes into play and you all do a lot too with like jeeps and different because you know there are some vehicles that are tough to be secure you know what i mean
SPEAKER 15 :
But y’all do some great line for that as well.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yep, absolutely. That’s actually how our company was founded back in 1989. The original founder of our company was a jeeper from Golden, Colorado. And he went up hiking, mountain biking, came back, and somebody broke into his jeep and stole all of his stuff. So he got mad, went into his dad’s shop, and made a console out of wood with a lock on it. 20-something years later, 30-something years later, here’s Tuffy still piping away in Colorado. Wow. That’s what we do.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah. Hey, they’ve got a great booth here at the Mile High Hunt and Fish Expo. Go in. Tell them. Mention you. You’ve heard them here. I’ll get it out in a minute. It’s on Sportsman Colorado, and we’d appreciate that as well. And their website is truly awesome, too, because you can put in the make and model of your car.
SPEAKER 11 :
find exactly what you need that is made for your vehicle correct yes absolutely so it matches it right up with the product so you’re not buying something you don’t know if it’s going to fit or it’s not going to fit and like you said all of our stuff is simple installation very few of our products do you actually have to drill anything Most of the products we try to do no-drill installs. You have a 25 Silverado like you have. The last thing you want to do is break out a quarter-inch drill bit. Yeah.
SPEAKER 15 :
Trust me. I do more damage. I don’t really touch many power tools. You know what I mean? It seems like I’d be calling repair people from now on.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah. We try to keep it nice and simple. And you just saw how easy it was to put that thing out. I mean, the Ram truck box I have displayed on the truck came out of our Tuffy Ram that I have sitting in the parking lot. Took it out of that truck in one minute. Wow. That’s awesome.
SPEAKER 15 :
I want to mention one cool new product y’all just breaking out with. I did see it at the ISC this year, but a great new product. You have to really stop and look at it because if you walk by the booth, you’re going to think it’s a cooler. I’m just being honest, right?
SPEAKER 11 :
But tell us what it is. It does, actually. It’s made by a company that makes a lot of coolers. So, you know, it has that same shape to it. But what it is, it’s a Tuffy 75-quart dry box. And they designed it. Our product engineers spend a lot of time designing this thing. So you can stack them on top of each other, and they have lockable pins that secure them to each other. And there’s a base. So you can stack three or four of them high on your trailer, back of your sprinter van, whatever you’re wanting to do when you go out hunting. You go ahead and throw all that stuff in there. It’s watertight. It’s secure. It has a lock. That’s where Tuffy comes in again with security. A lot of these dry boxes that are out there are just storage. They’re basically uninsulated coolers. So this one has a lock on it. It’s got a four-digit combination lock. It’s made for a special for this product. It has a dust cover on it. So you’re going to be nice and secure with your stuff on your side-by-side. Silverton is a really popular place where we come from. They let you drive your side-by-sides on the road.
SPEAKER 03 :
Right.
SPEAKER 11 :
So you can lock your stuff up while you go in there and have lunch and then head back to the hills. That’s the goal behind it.
SPEAKER 15 :
I’m telling you, folks. They are the best security system I have ever seen for vehicles. Is it TuffySecurityProducts.com? Just TuffyProducts.com. TuffyProducts.com. All right. You can go there. But you know what? Come here. They’ve got a show special, which is? 20% off and free shipping.
SPEAKER 04 :
Wow. 20% off and free shipping. That’s a heck of a deal. You just come in, pay whatever you have to pay.
SPEAKER 11 :
Come on over, Kevin.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. All right. Go by and see them. Let them know you heard them here on the show. We’d appreciate that as well here at the Mile High Hunt and Fish Expo. Chris, thank you, sir. Thank you, guys.
SPEAKER 07 :
We appreciate it.
SPEAKER 15 :
All right. Let’s go to… Our good buddy from Scree here, Steve. Steve, how are you, bud? I’m doing well. How are you guys? I’m good. I’m good, man. So tell us, you know, when did you guys first hit the market?
SPEAKER 06 :
We hit the market about 10 years ago. So the inspiration we had in the company was the owners wanted a more responsible price point on high-quality gear. So Scree was born. A lot of our materials are Scree. To the highest standard. Like our merino wools, for example, our 300s are 95% merino wool with a 5% spandex, and our lightweight 150 is 87% with a 13% spandex binder in it. So you get a lot more of those qualities of that merino wool. So you pack lighter, spend a couple more days out in the wilderness, and not have to take as many with you. Oh, that’s awesome. Wow, that’s cool.
SPEAKER 15 :
Kevin, I’ve got to run and introduce Jason Mattson.
SPEAKER 04 :
Oh, yeah, that’s right.
SPEAKER 15 :
On the main stage. So I’m going to let you finish up with Steve, and I’ll be back.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay, sounds good. So, Steve, let’s talk about you’ve got a garment here.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, so this is our tour. This is our new – we just released this about two weeks ago. So that’s our new hot weather hunting shirt that we released. So it’s a – It’s a polyester, lightweight polyester, super quick drying, super lightweight, breathable. It comes in three different styles. So we have our, what you’re holding there, it’s got our hood and the face mask built in for concealment. And then we also have a long sleeve with that quarter zip on it. And then we also have a short sleeve version of that shirt too.
SPEAKER 03 :
When you look in the light, it actually, the light almost goes through the shirt. It’s that thin.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, it’s super. We’re super excited to have launched that. It’s a lot of fun. things that early season hunters such as myself right season bow season 100 degree weather yep just kind of really wish you didn’t have to wear anything at all but yeah this really takes that that place and puts it in the spotlight days like today early early spring hunt turkey hunt it probably would be pretty good oh yeah oh yeah so so folks that are coming down to the show where where are you out of this we’re in booth 104 okay come by and see us we got show specials all weekend long Yep. And if we don’t have it, we’ll ship it to you. Free shipping. Okay. And, you know, come by. And if you just want to talk hunting, we’re here. We’re here to talk, too.
SPEAKER 04 :
So folks that are not familiar with the brand. And they’re looking for clothes for all sorts of hunting. What is sort of your sweet spot that you guys are always trying to sell people on and why you’re different than the other competition?
SPEAKER 06 :
You know, we have a little bit of everything for everybody. Anything from west coast to east coast hunting. A lot of our jackets have tree stand harness supports in the back of them. So if you’re a tree stand hunter, you don’t have to worry about putting that harness on the outside. You can wear it where it’s comfortable and pipe it out the back of the jacket. We do a lot. a wide range so we do everything from early season lightweight clothing all the way to below zero weather so we have our Guardian bibs and jackets got it um thing that kind of separates us is a customer service for one uh we’re always there to talk to we’re always there to call or a lifetime warranty on our gear so that’s what I was gonna ask you if anything ever happens to the gear if you’re out hunting you have an accident you get a rip in your pants or jacket or anything just file a warranty claim send it in to us and we’ll send you new gear um you know and we’re just really friendly people yeah same thing with zippers and all those sorts of things yep on top of on top of any manufactured defects so zippers stitching anything like that got it we cover very nice all right well thanks for stopping by we appreciate it thanks for having us we appreciate it too oh last thing show specials yes so 20 off the whole booth and then we do have some uh another special in our ptarmigan jackets they’re 30 off nice right now at the booth Okay. And then free shipping for everything if you don’t have it in stock here.
SPEAKER 04 :
Correct. Free shipping. Stop by.
SPEAKER 06 :
You’ve got all the sizes to try, I’m guessing. Yep. We have a whole size run, all the color options. So come by, check us out, and we’d be happy to see you guys. That’s awesome.
SPEAKER 04 :
Thanks. And Steve, it’s Steve Green? Yes. Very nice. From Scree Gear. Appreciate you stopping by today. Appreciate it. Thanks for having me. You bet. How you doing, sir? Good, sir. How are you? Good. Gene Roberts. Yes, Gene Roberts, AA Outfitters.
SPEAKER 05 :
AA Outfitters. So what sort of outfitting do you guys do? So we’re all big game in Wyoming from deer, elk, antelope, mountain lion. Nice. Through Wyoming, and then we’re out of Saskatchewan.
SPEAKER 04 :
I was just going to ask you about the Saskatchewan, too.
SPEAKER 05 :
On Reindeer Lake.
SPEAKER 04 :
Reindeer Lake. Okay.
SPEAKER 05 :
We have moose hunts, bear hunts, and we fish there. Nice.
SPEAKER 04 :
Trout camp? Yes. All right. So I’ve fished a couple of different spots on Reindeer Lake. I’m not going to name them because they’re competitors of yours. Yeah, that’s fine. Spectacular resource. If people, I mean, lake trout are probably my favorite fish in North America. And you’re in the midst of probably one of the best lakes in the country to actually do that fishing, right? Yes, absolutely. It’s a wonderful spot.
SPEAKER 05 :
We have a lot of different fish you can fish for there. Right. And that. Big northerns. Big northerns. Big. Some areas we can go for walleye and, you know. So where are the walleyes in Reindeer Lake? Where do you normally find them? There’s a couple that are small lakes that are, you know, fingered off there that we can get to them and get to the walleye.
SPEAKER 04 :
Nice. Those lake trout, so I’m trying to put together a trip at some point to go up there and fly fish for the lake trout when they’re spawning in September, late September. Yes. But it’s always kind of tough because you’ve got to get, it’s very weather dependent, right?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yes, extremely weather dependent.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, but. Throughout the other time of the year, you’re normally either trolling or doing some sort of
SPEAKER 05 :
jig bite maybe for different times when they’re a little bit shallower yes um but big quality fish yeah there’s huge fish and there’s a lot of fish around there and you’re never really going to go on a day unless it’s extremely you know rainy yeah that you’re not going to catch several fish yeah and it’s beautiful country yes and we’re remote so everything is you know boat in fly in you won’t see anybody else no you run across nobody and i’ve got to tell you i think lake trout are pretty tasty too i mean i’ve eaten a lot of walleye but lake trout on a on a uh you know an over the fire campfire are pretty good yes and surprisingly northern pike up there are extremely really good yep and you know the guys do cook you a lunch on the shore you get a short lunch every day right it’s kind of an amazing thing to experience and so i’ve talked about what i want to talk about what did you want to talk about relating to you know We got two base camps, and so it’s fun here in Wyoming. We offer everything from turkey, antelope, elk, deer, mule deer, white-tailed deer, mountain lion. What’s part of Wyoming? Where are you at? So Moorcroft, Wyoming, northeast corner. Northeast corner. So from Denver, how far are you from Denver? From Denver, we’ll be six hours. Okay. and so just out of Gillette that area got it so everything we hunt up there is all on deeded property it’s all private so we’re not hunting any any public up there again so you’re not going to run into anybody else that you don’t know anybody and it’s a you know all one-on-one guided yeah and we’ve got a wonderful lodge there and and then our mountain lion hunts you know we do that you know around on public where we’re permitted okay and and that most time that’s you know got two different guys that run hounds myself i was just gonna say you’re cutting tracks yeah myself and alex platt and you know so most time it’s it’s two on one and yep we’ve been for four years 100 success rate on that and it’s quite the experience
SPEAKER 04 :
And I know most of the guys that want to do cat hunts, it’s because of the hunt itself. But they’re also tasty critters.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yes. There’s a lot of guys that have been eating them, and they are very tasty. That is an experience itself.
SPEAKER 15 :
You’re back. I’m back. I’m going to tell you, this is a good time to come in. Quentin Smith next to us here. I shot my first one and only one so far. And he says, hey, we can take it down here and get it processed. And I’m just being honest. Yeah. I go, for what? And he goes, the heat. I go, I’m not eating that thing. He goes, Scott, it’s the best meat. I said, if you’re lying to me, I’m going to beat you to death. Lying. That’s good. If you’re lying.
SPEAKER 05 :
Most guys don’t even realize you can eat them. It was unbelievable. Yeah, I had some of yours, I think, and that’s where I’ve had it. And it’s one of those things, too, when you offer people, it’s kind of a delicacy because they’ve never had it.
SPEAKER 04 :
Sure.
SPEAKER 05 :
It’s an experience and it’s fun, you know. Yeah. And the whole, I mean, everybody does some lion’s hunts here and there. But it’s an experience. It is. And it’s tough. And it can be extremely tough and grueling and makes you wish you took things back. And the dogs.
SPEAKER 04 :
I mean, the dogs have to be part of the process, too, right?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, they’re the main part of the process. You know, without our dogs, you know, we wouldn’t have anything. And we spend… you know alex and myself we spend the whole year prepping our dogs you know four or four months worth of honey and so and they love it oh they live for it yeah and our our days online hunting consists starting at one o’clock in the morning cutting tracks you know wait until daylight starting a track and seeing where it goes from there right it’s so cool to watch the dogs work and how they man they how they can track that in snow yeah we got out there was a print they let them out
SPEAKER 15 :
And I mean, if you whiff, son, they’re gone.
SPEAKER 05 :
It is amazing. They live for it. It’s truly their whole life, you know. Yeah, that’s very cool. And it’s fun. We breed and raise all of our own dogs. And so it’s pretty fulfilling for ourselves. I don’t know if you guys have mentioned this while I was gone, but any show special you’re doing? Yes, we do have a show special because just about last week we had some friends that had to cancel a bear hunt for four, which is in our primes. So it’s a five-day, six-night black bear hunt. 4,000 per person. There’s four spots available, and it’s June 8th through the 14th.
SPEAKER 15 :
Okay, so the dates are fixed because it was a cancellation.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, the dates are fixed because there was a cancellation, and that is the prime of it. That’s awesome. Like for the next two years, those dates are already booked. You’re right. And so this came up last week, so we’re having a show special on it.
SPEAKER 15 :
Okay, all right. Gene Roberts, once again, is our guest. If you’re just joining us, we’re coming to you live from the 2025 Mile High Hunting Fish Expo here at the Gaylord. We’ll be here until 6 o’clock tonight. Gene will as well. And also 9 to 4 tomorrow. Do you have a website we should mention? Yes, we do.
SPEAKER 05 :
Double A Outfitters and that.
SPEAKER 04 :
Trout Camp, too. We were talking about the Trout Camp.
SPEAKER 05 :
And then Double A here.
SPEAKER 04 :
And I can attest to the fact that the Trout Camp, I mean, the resource itself where you guys are at is incredible.
SPEAKER 05 :
It’s amazing. Like I tell people, you know, even if you don’t go up there and fish and hunt, just go up there and spend a couple days on vacation. It’s unreal. Gotcha. And just looking at the brochure of nice amenities, nice lodge. There’s a wonderful huge lodge there. Everybody’s got their small little cabins, and it’s wonderful. And you’re there all by yourselves. There’s nobody else where you’re at. No neighbors. No neighbors.
SPEAKER 15 :
Hey, if you’re driving around and you’re like, hey, I can’t write all this stuff down, but I’m interested, get in touch with us. Scott at sportsmancolorado.com. You can call the station. Charlie, take your information. He’ll get it to us. We’ve got our Fleshlaw text line, 720-201-8585. You can send us a text. We’ll get you hooked up with Gene. And, hey, that’s a great opportunity there if you can plan that this summer. And he will get you fixed up. So, Gene, pleasure to meet you, sir. And we may have to come visit. I know.
SPEAKER 04 :
I know. Thanks, Rob. Thanks, man. Thank you. Really appreciate it. Thank you. We appreciate it.
SPEAKER 15 :
All right. Now we’ll do a very abbreviated listen up. With our audiologist. That’s right. Dr. Melissa Fling. You’ll hear her on Haystack Help Radio, our Monday through Friday show, as well as here on Sportsman of Colorado. And Melissa has a booth here as well at the Mile High Hunt and Fish Expo. How are you?
SPEAKER 08 :
Hey, guys. I’m doing great. How are you?
SPEAKER 04 :
Good. Didn’t we just talk like several months ago at another show?
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, the International Sports…
SPEAKER 15 :
That other show. The other one.
SPEAKER 08 :
The no-name show.
SPEAKER 15 :
Exactly.
SPEAKER 04 :
How are you?
SPEAKER 08 :
I’m doing great. I’m over at booth 319 doing ear impressions on whoever is interested in getting custom ear molds. For hearing protection, for swimming, for radios, for Bluetooth earbuds, anything you need, I can do custom ear molds for those.
SPEAKER 04 :
So ear impressions. So you’re not trying to be an ear. Correct. Just an impressionist.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, but yeah, it’s been fun so far. It’s busier today.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, so how do you do that when they come to the show? Like how is it done?
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, so I have a couple of tables set up with all my ear mold impression materials. I take a look in the ears first to make sure there’s no wax blockage. Put a little foam plug in their ear canals. to protect their eardrums, and then I mix up a two-part putty-like material that I put in the ear with a syringe, and we let that sit for about five minutes to harden. Then I remove that from the ear, and I’ve got an impression of the ear.
SPEAKER 04 :
Wow, and so then you take that to make the actual device to protect the ear later.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yes, the ear mold. Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER 15 :
And so what’s she doing, Stephanie? If you want to go shoot at a range, you don’t want to talk to anybody, you just want the massive protection, she’ll make kind of what I call kind of a block mold, okay, where it’s just there to protect. Or at home, if I don’t want to talk to anybody.
SPEAKER 07 :
She has some wife protection.
SPEAKER 15 :
And then if you remember, we went hunting in Kansas. Yeah, yeah. I was using those to have the filter.
SPEAKER 01 :
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER 15 :
Right. Because you need to talk maybe to know where everybody is.
SPEAKER 01 :
Right.
SPEAKER 15 :
And then when the shot goes off, they shut down. Oh. And, man, those were really cool. Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, and those can work for fireworks too. Any loud impulse, quick impulse sound. Got it. It can be used for that. So not just shooting. Right. But they’re great for that.
SPEAKER 15 :
That’s awesome.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 15 :
Wow. And… As an officer at Greenwood Village, and hearing testing, hey, you know, hearing aids, you may need. Melissa can get you hooked up. She works with several other doctors that can get you in that area. Her main thing is protecting your hearing, and you know what? It’s never too late. I just wish I would have gone to her and listened to what I talk about with her now, Kevin, on a daily basis, because… man when you don’t let you get that ringing now the tinnitus and stuff you know there’s not much you can do but we she said scott is never too late and so that’s why she said start wearing this now every time there you go out you know and it’s going to be good but 125 for a hearing test and i’m telling you it’s a great test She’ll go through a lot of different things with you. She was just on Haystack the other day. I think we got three or four calls from that. So she’s got some patients lined up for that already. But if you want to come and really get some personal attention, this is not like your typical doctor you go to and you get five minutes, all right? She’ll spend the time with you, find out what’s going on, what your needs are, find out the best solution for you to help you protect your hearing. And once again, her booth here is 319. Go by. I mentioned you heard her here on the show. And we’d appreciate that as well. But Melissa, you’ll hear her again on both of our shows and is a great partner for us. And thank you. You’re probably saving some of my hearing. So we appreciate it so much. So I’ll let you get back to your booth. I know you probably got people coming by, but thanks so much.
SPEAKER 08 :
All right. Thanks, guys. Talk to you later.
SPEAKER 15 :
Alright, once again, we’ll reset here a minute. We are at the 2025 Mile High Hunt and Fish Expo at the Gaylord Rockies Mountain Resort here in Convention Center. We will be here till 6 o’clock tonight. We’ll be here 9 to 4 tomorrow. One thing I think you’ll find about this is just a lot different. This is a serious outdoor show. Hunting, fishing, gear. We’ve got manufacturers.
SPEAKER 04 :
Silencers.
SPEAKER 15 :
We’ve got outfitters, silencers, which we’re coming up now with our friends at Silencer Central. And just a great, great company there, Silencer Central. And, of course, the suppressors and all have become a lot easier to get. Yeah. I should say easier to get, but the timeline now has shrunk immensely. Summer stores are getting back approvals in 24, 48 hours where it used to take a year to 14 months. So it may it will be much shorter than the time that you’re used to waiting. And again, Silencer Central, they are actually, in my opinion, the leader in the silencer world here of Silencer Central.
SPEAKER 04 :
And so, you know, and I think the hog hunt that we did in December. Oh, yeah. You know, that .308 that I was using, I mean, it was so loud. I know. And then you were running something with a silencer.
SPEAKER 15 :
I was running mine with my silencer central suppressor. Yeah. And now I’ve got one on yours.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, yours.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 15 :
But, hey, we’re glad to have Andrews. I know, Andrew, we see each other all the time at different expos and shows and all, and so I had to try to pull him away. They always have a great crowd at their booths, so we’re always glad to be next to them because they always bring a great crowd. Silencer Central. So for those that aren’t familiar with the company, which would be hard to believe to our audience, but tell us about your company.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, we’re set up in all 42 states they’re legal in. What we specialize in is doing paperwork for people, kind of the part no one really wants to deal with, right? So we go to gun shows, hunting expos, farm shows all over the country, help people do their paperwork, kind of come up with best-in-class product, which works. Well, what we do is say, hey, what are you shooting? What do you want to cover? Let’s start there. Not everything is completely universal, but we can usually cover a ton of bases with one purchase. So, yeah, it’s one of those things. You don’t got to buy 10 of them. Usually guys will end up with like two, three, four of them, but it’s a fun process.
SPEAKER 04 :
And then you can do all the process at once, once the person comes to you.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yep, yep. Furthermore, down the road, once we get the fingerprints, photo, and everything, we can add stuff anytime down the road too, so pretty slick.
SPEAKER 04 :
Good point. So you keep that in your database so that you’re a customer for life, so to speak.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yep. You only got to do the fingerprints once, and we save that. Your fingerprints never change. Right. Oh, that’s cool. We also set up a family trust, or an NFA trust, really. What that’s for is close friends and family members. Yep. I hate to break it to people, but you’re not going to last forever. You make them out of titanium, and these do pretty well last forever. So it’s one of the coolest things you can pass on to your kids and your grandkids.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, completely. And the idea, especially in Colorado, is if you had one of those set up. Oh, yeah. You know, they’re picking away at different things every year trying to make sure that we can’t hold these guns for perpetuity.
SPEAKER 09 :
I’m 40 years old and single, and I don’t really have anybody I need to pass stuff down to, but life changes.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 09 :
And I got nieces and nephews and all kinds of stuff, so it’s important. Yeah. Succession and safety net. Absolutely. Absolutely.
SPEAKER 15 :
Now, I got an email on my phone, actually, because I bought from you guys in the past, where the $200 tax stamp, and I think clarification is that’s on rifle suppressors?
SPEAKER 09 :
Pretty much all your Banish Silencers 849 and up are full-size pistol suppressor, and basically all of our rifle suppressors have a free tax stamp.
SPEAKER 15 :
Okay, free tax stamp. So it’s $200, and… You put that in, you pay for the suppressor, and then let’s kind of walk us through the process because you guys have the best process, I think, around with this. So kind of walk us through the process of what you guys do.
SPEAKER 09 :
So, yeah, like I said, just kind of figure out what works best for you, how we can cover as many cartridges as possible. Fill out some general paperwork. Basically take your driver’s license, dunk that in a little card reader, and it starts to fill everything out for us. We do the fingerprints, the passport style photo, generate a trust for you, basically kind of finalize all your paperwork right there, and then next week we’ll submit you live in person on the phone. It’s a screen share deal. We’ll submit you over the phone. These days the wait periods are significantly less. I waited 11 to 14 months for all my suppressors for years. These guys walking up right now, how long is the wait? I mean, it’s anywhere from two hours to 90 days, but the average, I think, is like 27 or 31. It’s right in there.
SPEAKER 04 :
Wow.
SPEAKER 09 :
And honestly, we kind of inflate those numbers a little bit. We try to manage people’s expectations.
SPEAKER 04 :
Sure, that makes sense. You always want to be ahead of the game in that way. Yep, exactly.
SPEAKER 15 :
Now, there will be different thread. Let’s kind of educate people on threads on their rifle, how they figure out what they need.
SPEAKER 09 :
That is a great question because that is exactly where 90% of people fail is the mount interface. Everybody overthinks that part. There are instances where we like our quick detach suppressors and close quarters combat and stuff like that. So we have brake mount systems, quick detach, and we also have direct thread. Really, for most of the hunters in the world, the simplicity of direct thread is definitely where it’s at. You just take your existing flash hider, thread protector, whatever you’ve got on the end of the barrel off, and we’ve got an adapter. You can either go half by 28 or five-ace by 24 threads. We can cover Browning BOSS systems, Kimber Mountain rifles, Browning Hell’s Canyon speed models. They all have a few different thread pitches. About 99.5% of all rifles are the same two standards, half and five-ace. We’re the company that builds all of the outliers. If you can find it, we can build it type of thing. So we cover everybody. Right.
SPEAKER 15 :
Silencer Central, again, they’re on our aisle, 700 here at the Mile High Hunt and Fish Expo. Stop in and see Andrew. Hey, I mentioned you heard him here on Sportsman of Colorado. We’d appreciate that. And I’m telling you, if you’re looking for a great suppressor, How do you, when people say, you know, and there’s several suppressor companies here. All kinds of good stuff out there.
SPEAKER 09 :
There’s good stuff here, okay? All kinds of good stuff.
SPEAKER 15 :
But what are a few things you feel like sits Silencer Central apart?
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, that’s a process thing for sure. Yeah. And I think you just said it, and I’ll re-say it another way, too. I’m not going to stand up there and tell you that we’re the only guys building good suppressors. There’s Dead Airs here. They’ve got great stuff. Stop over and check out their lineup as well. They’ve got some cool 3D printed stuff. I think what you were going at is maybe metallurgy. We kind of specialize in titanium, but we offer some Inconel features with some of our suppressors for hard use. In the hunting world, again, try to stay lightweight in titanium. The only other way to do that is aluminum, but I don’t really like this thought of shooting through a pop can either. But, yes, we focus on high-quality stuff. We do offer service for all the other brands out there, the Silencer Co., the Dead Air, you name it. If it’s a good product and a company that they’ll stand behind it, if we can get it, we’ll sell it. We’ve got best-in-class stuff, too, but it’s not just the Banish lineup. We’d be happy to have a discussion about everything else out there. That’s cool. That’s really nice. I own stuff from every other company because I wanted to learn about it. Right. Sadly, that’s how you did it. You pretty much got to buy it.
SPEAKER 15 :
One of mine is a Banish 30, and I love it.
SPEAKER 09 :
That’s honestly my all-time favorite suppressor. It’s the one I started with, and it’s still my favorite. Yeah.
SPEAKER 15 :
All right, Andrew, thank you, man. I appreciate your time. I know you’ve got people over there. We appreciate it. The booth is full. The booth is full.
SPEAKER 09 :
We’ll mail them right to your front door once you’re approved, all right? All right. Thank you, sir. Cool.
SPEAKER 15 :
Thanks, Andrew. Andrew with Silencer Central. Once again, they’re right on our aisle 700 here, right across from us here on Sportsman of Colorado Radio. All right, hey, we’ve met these guys over the last few years as well, and they were here last year right across from us, Rain and Skies Waterfowl Club. Robert Ramirez joins us here on Sportsman Colorado. Good to see you, sir.
SPEAKER 14 :
Good to be back. Thanks for having me, guys. You guys have been busy this morning. You know what? It was a good turnout today. Yeah. It’s been fun. Yeah. Met a lot of new faces that weren’t here last year, so that’s a plus. That is. Especially in your business. In our business. But it shows that the organization here is really expanding.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 14 :
So a lot of people coming to check it out. So the venue is growing. Yeah. And we’re happy to be a part of it. Yeah. Cool.
SPEAKER 04 :
It’s fun stuff. I got ahead of ourselves. We need to talk about what exactly this booth is about.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, I know. Sometimes it is because it’s so exciting. They’ve got a TV across.
SPEAKER 04 :
I’m watching it.
SPEAKER 15 :
A while ago, there was a little dog that jumped up on the TV. He was watching.
SPEAKER 03 :
That tornado of the snow geese that you’ve got on the TV is pretty crazy.
SPEAKER 14 :
And that’s what everyone’s looking for, right? They don’t get those opportunities.
SPEAKER 03 :
You’re right.
SPEAKER 14 :
We expand our horizons from Nebraska to the front range here. We want to give all the members an opportunity to hunt those snow geese, get in those big tornadoes, have that great spin, shoot those Canada specks, blues, you know, and some good duck migration too. So we go pretty far to give that opportunity to our members.
SPEAKER 04 :
And not every time you have that sort of situation. It’s not every time.
SPEAKER 15 :
When it does, it’s magical.
SPEAKER 04 :
Oh, my gosh.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah. Let’s talk about properties, different things. We’ll get into memberships. But did I hear you say yesterday 40-something properties?
SPEAKER 14 :
We actually have about 100 blinds to hunt. In-ground pits, as they’re known, we’ve got about 72. It varies from about that 68 to 72 caliber. It depends on crop rotation. Water blinds on tributaries, whether it’s ponds, sloughs, rivers, we’ve got about 32 options. And that, like I said, comes from Brighton all the way into Ogallala, Nebraska. So it’s Big Springs, Ogallala, Brule. And then that just works your way through Ovid and back through Fort Morgan, Marino, Atwood, all those big name areas that you’re used to.
SPEAKER 04 :
Right.
SPEAKER 14 :
Yeah. And then down right here on the front range, South Platte.
SPEAKER 04 :
I was just going to say, is that mostly on the Platte then?
SPEAKER 14 :
We’ve got the South Platte, Milliken, LaSalle. We’ve got some ponds in the Hudson, Brighton area. Yeah. They’re just little pocketed spots. Snyder’s got some small stuff. Fort Morgan, about a mile of river. It goes over to Atwood, Marino. Yeah. Again, all those big name locations that you want to shoot ducks and geese, we’ve got some spots.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, that’s very cool. I’m amazed at how quickly the sort of Brighton area is being built up and all of the… It is. That’s got to be tough for you guys to find spots.
SPEAKER 14 :
It’s tough for us and everybody, to be honest. You have Windsor growing. Right. That’s pushing everybody. Severance, that’s pushing everybody out. Big developments. Yeah. All that Thornton, Locke, Bowie area, same thing. It’s pushing a lot of guys out.
SPEAKER 04 :
But you’ve got the opportunities out further and quality properties.
SPEAKER 14 :
Truthfully, that’s where we kind of started because that is not a really sought-after area, to be honest. It’s further out. But great opportunities if you’re willing to drive an extra 30 minutes. So that’s kind of where we’ve built, and we’ve built our way back. yeah yeah that’s awesome so online reservation system for your members kind of walk us through how that works so you get on the website you’ve got an online reservation system at seven days a week properties naturally rest themselves automatic integrated into the system so there’s no real brain surgery in that you make a reservation that property is automatically arrested the day before so that gives you an opportunity to go hunt it on your own oh fantastic without pressure the day before. Typically properties don’t get hunted more than three days a week. There are those times when heavy migration or weather’s coming in and we want to open it up for an extra day, increase that success rate for our members.
SPEAKER 04 :
So you’re watching all that stuff yourself? We are.
SPEAKER 14 :
Full-time jobs and watching that full-time.
SPEAKER 04 :
Oh, my gosh. Yeah.
SPEAKER 14 :
And we have a lot of members, like you see a couple here at the booth helping us today. Those guys are out there on the ground giving us some information, helping us with that migratory stuff and managing that reservation system. So we want to optimize the opportunity. So we will open some stuff up case-by-case basis or shut it down, you know, accordingly. Depending upon. Sure. You get a rainstorm, wet storm, you’ve got to shut it down. It’s going to be muddy. So there’s a lot that goes into it behind the scenes that I don’t think a lot of people understand. Sure. Short of just the hunting aspect.
SPEAKER 04 :
Right. No, completely. And I think that’s the way that you get good member experience. Sure. That’s how you keep members is by having to do that.
SPEAKER 14 :
Exactly. You’ve got to keep that good quality hunt and make sure you protect that ground. We’re leasing property from these farmers and landowners. Right. You’ve got to do your due diligence and really be on top of that stuff. That’s awesome.
SPEAKER 15 :
It’s rainandskieswaterfowl.com. That’s R-A-I-N-I-N.com. rainandskieswaterfowl.com. Hey, they’re right across the aisle from us. Come in. If you’re looking for a great hunt club, I’m telling you. What was it, 20? How much?
SPEAKER 14 :
It’s $21.50 this season.
SPEAKER 1 :
$21.50.
SPEAKER 14 :
And that’s your family membership. Family membership. That’s you and your spouse, live-in partner, and your children. Yep. Within the home. Happy to take care of you, get some extra guest passes and things of that nature. If you want to learn some more, look us up online. Give me a holler. Kevin, we’re going to get out. He invited us this year. We’re going to get out. I’m getting you out. Just make sure you’re available. That’s our problem. We’ll get you out so you can actually live the experience. We’re happy to do that. We appreciate it. I appreciate you guys. You bet. Thanks.
SPEAKER 15 :
That’s Robert Ramirez, Rain and Skies, Waterfowl, booth 718, just right across the aisle from us here at Sportsman of Colorado. Well, we saved the best for last.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah. Actually, we ran out of guests. No, I’m kidding. I’m kidding. I’m kidding.
SPEAKER 15 :
Quentin Smith back with us. You heard him yesterday on our special edition. We kind of hijacked our haystack help show and made a special edition yesterday. But Quentin Smith is back with us from Nordic Lodge. Dos Plumas hog hunting, but Nordic Lodge. Got some great bear hunting and fishing we’ll talk about.
SPEAKER 13 :
Oh, yeah, coming up. Quentin, how’s it been yesterday and so far today? Man, it’s been a good show. Today’s got a great cow going at it. We’ve had great interest and people signing up, and it’s good to see. You know what?
SPEAKER 04 :
We’re right next to you, obviously, and it’s always fun to see people sort of kind of. wander towards your booth and then they sit there and they’re there for like 20 minutes you know like you’re showing them i mean it’s really interesting the conversations that you guys have it is it’s pretty fun yeah we’ve literally seen people walk up and book a bear hunt with us come right over to the next booth and book a hog hunt at the same time really it’s kind of fun to see that’s very cool yeah neat so many different opportunities that you offer people throughout the
SPEAKER 13 :
throughout the year yeah and that’s a fun part you know we’ve kind of you guys have been with us from the days of qrs and and you know from doing elk and deer and muzzleloader to rifle and all kinds of things i was just sitting here reminiscing a little bit looking at your backdrop how much we’ve got to hunt together and do things most of my backdrop is with you you know yeah i mean it really really is that’s fun
SPEAKER 15 :
So let’s talk about your bear hunts in the spring. Man, super good value. Kind of walk us through what that looks like price-wise and how they get there and all that.
SPEAKER 13 :
Absolutely. So our Drive 2 Lodge and Nordic Lodge, northern Saskatchewan on Reindeer Lake, 180-mile lake, 2,600 miles. shoreline up there. We do it all boat-based operation. You can drive right to the doors of our camp or fly in either way. They’ve got several different options that way we can help you with. Over-the-counter tags, we have the tags. We help you with all of that, the rifle permits, all the information you need that way. Tags serve as your CITES permit to bring your bear back with you, so it makes it really, really simple. We try to turnkey it across to make it a really easy, smooth trip for you. Denver, 24 hours right toward the doors of our lodge.
SPEAKER 04 :
Wow. And that’s the cool thing about your location is it’s drive-to. It is. So you’re not dependent on weather for a fly-in or boat-in, anything else. You can drive there. You can get there in two days if you needed to to kill a bear.
SPEAKER 13 :
Exactly right. Yeah, and they’re a huge bear. I mean, Saskatchewan and Manitoba are known for monster bear up there. Cool thing about this spot, this is our fourth year in 124 years that this place has ever been hunted.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah. For bears.
SPEAKER 13 :
So you think about that. 120 years of hunting that has never taken place on this portion of the lake or this area. So the bears are an untapped resource. And we’re seeing bear every day that are new bear we didn’t even know existed.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah. Talk a little bit about how you’re keeping that resource fresh when you’re hunting that.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah. So, of course, we trail cam everything across the board. We do an orientation with everyone to teach them, hey, here’s what to look for in a big bear where, you know, the The Roman nose, the big crease in the forehead, the ears laying on the side of them, the legs are a major telltale sign. You’re using barrels to be able to show the size of it, but not only a barrel, because when you hunt in areas that have lots of bear, you may get a younger bear that comes in and knocks a barrel down. Well, it’s laying on the ground, and now a great big one comes in, and you’re questioning, is it good or not? Then we mark the trees with cake icing and different things like that, so you have another way to be able to model it. No, here’s some different things to be able to choose that bear. Yeah, no, the bear up there are a world-class bear, and we want to keep it that way. We get 60 tags a year to be able to hunt them. We take 30. That’s how we’re taking them. That’s good. That’s a big focus for us.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yep. That’s cool. Nordic Lodge, those plumas, hog hunting, we’re out of time here.
SPEAKER 13 :
We’re out of time.
SPEAKER 15 :
But I’m telling you, get in touch with us. Again, you’ve heard Quentin on the show for years, and we 100% endorse it. stamp of approval, whatever you want to say, you will have a great experience with him. If you come to the show, come to our booth. We’ll take you over, personally introduce you to him, and he’ll get you hooked up for sure with a lot of fun. Bear hunting, hog hunting, all of it’s awesome.
SPEAKER 04 :
All right, Quentin, thanks again. Thank you.
SPEAKER 15 :
Appreciate it. All right, Kevin, our time is up. Wish we had a three-hour show. This is a lot of fun, man. But, hey, come see us. We’re at the 2025 Mile High Hunting Fish Expo here at the Gaylord Rockies Mountain Resort. We’ll be here until 6 o’clock tonight, 9 to 4 tomorrow. Our booth is 719. Come by. We’d love to see you. Thanks for being with us today for Sportsman of Colorado. Hope you have a great rest of your day here at the Mile High Hunting Fish Expo. So come see us.
SPEAKER 02 :
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.
