Hooking customers

2/29/2008, By MIKE CORN, Hays Daily News

STOCKTON -- In his 19 years as owner of Baxter's in downtown Stockton, Blaine Baxter has seen many changes.

He's watched as Webster and Kirwin reservoirs have gone from water-rich fishing and hunting jewels on the prairie to mere mud puddles, barely stopping-off points for outdoorsmen anxious to go afield.

And he's watched as his clientele has shifted from a predominantly local population to outfitters who cater to non-resident hunters anxious to harvest the states's pheasant and turkey populations, as well as trophy deer that dot the countryside. He's also watched as outdoor stores in the area have opened and closed.

What's unusual now is as state officials push hard to draw people into the outdoors -- either hunting or fishing -- outdoor shops in northwest Kansas are proliferating. In addition to Stockton, outdoor shops operate in Russell, WaKeeney, Norton and Smith Center. Ironically, no outdoor shop exists in Hays, although sporting goods can be found at Wal-Mart SuperCenter and Vanderbilt's, and guns are sold at Hays City Gold and Silver.

The face of people hunting and fishing in Kansas changed dramatically between 1996 and 2006, the last time a survey of outdoor-related activities was taken. In 2006, 683,000 people either hunted or fished in Kansas. In 1996, 492,000 people did so. But, now 22 percent of the people now taking to the field are non-residents. In 1996, only 18 percent lived outside the state.

That's what Bob Mathews, information chief for the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks has seen. "The number of non-resident hunters has increased over the last 15 years and continues to go up," he said. It's a subtle change perhaps, but dramatic based on the amount of money spent by hunters and anglers going afield. "The hunters are spending more than what they were 15 or 20 years ago," Mathews said. "Which makes sense, because we're all spending more."

That's true on an individual basis, but not overall.

Hunters, anglers and wildlife watchers, birdwatchers for the most part, are estimated to have spent $643 million in 2006. That's slightly less than almost $720 million spent 10 years earlier. Either way, the great outdoors is a treasure trove for merchants in northwest Kansas.

Economic development directors join with chamber leaders in welcoming the annual rite of pheasant season each November in Kansas, knowing hunters -- flush with cash -- will be taking up short-term residency in motels, eating at area restaurants, filling gas-guzzling trucks and sport utility vehicles with fuel and purchasing sporting goods at area shops.

Business has been good at the Prairie Wind Casa Gun Shop in WaKeeney, according to Grant Arnold, whose father, George, owns the shop. It's only been open about 14 months. "We did better than I thought we would," Arnold said. About four times better, in fact. "That's pretty good for WaKeneey, he noted. WaKeeney is something of a gateway to Cedar Bluff Reservoir, long a hotspot for bass fishing as well as deer hunting. The shop also draws in people from Quinter and Ness City, for example, in addition to WaKeeney.

Baxter has witnessed the opening of outdoor shops in northwest Kansas, just as he's seen them close. "They're springing up," he said, "but there's a lot that come and go. You look at them, how many of them are there in 10 years." Baxter thinks some of the resurgence of outdoor shops might be a result of the loss of local hardware stores, all of which would carry some fishing or hunting supplies. "Our Coast to Coast used to carry some, and now they're gone," he said.

He recognizes there have been plenty of changes. Even Wal-Mart, he said, has changed its stocking pattern. The smaller shops, Baxter said, have to cater to what works in their local community, such as what's working at Kirwin or Webster -- lakes relatively close to Stockton. "Go up to Kirwin," Baxter said. "There's been more bait shops up there than you can shake a stick at. But they're only there one or two years."

Baxter's has changed through the years and now caters to a slightly different customer base. Today, Baxter said, outfitters are key to his business. "We have eight outfitters operating out of here," he said, two of which have controlled shoots. One even does a booming business in dove hunts -- something Baxter said Kansas residents generally take for granted. "Here, nobody cares if you go out and shoot a dove," he said.

That's not the case with pheasants, turkeys or deer, and outfitters have leased land for clients to hunt on. "It's the outfitters," Baxter said of who supports the outdoor shop the strongest. But with a community of only 1,500, he's not surprised. "We just don't have the numbers," he said. Hunting demands the largest share of his shop, perhaps as much as 75 percent. "On the fishing, probably a high percent is within a 50-mile radius," he said. He notes he does good business out of Hays, people en route to Kirwin Reservoir.

But it all goes in cycles, he said.

"Right now, a lot of them are spending less," he said. "We don't have the tournament fishing. And at a lot of the places where they got so low, they sold their boats." Baxter said he would love to see the area lakes rise back up to their heyday. "We've been here long enough, we know what stuff works in these lakes and what don't," he said. "But you've got to have water." It's an easy business to get into, Baxter notes. "Staying in is the other thing," he said. "How many are going to be here 10 years down the road?"

Either way, Baxter has enjoyed his tenure in the business. "I love the business," he said. "I love the people." Along the way, he's provided jobs in the store for his five children. "If I can't be out fishing, I'd just as soon be here," Baxter said. "I'd rather be sitting on the bank. But if I can't, I'd rather be here. You get some ding-dongs come in, but the majority are fun to be around."

Special-projects coordinator Mike Corn can be reached at (785) 628-1081, Ext. 129, or by e-mail at mcorn@dailynews.net.