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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 12, 2019

- COMPETITION -
SIG SAUER, Inc. congratulates Team SIG Captain, Max Michel for a world-record-setting performance at the 2019 SIG SAUER World Speed Shooting Championship. Michel completed the Roundabout stage in 7.17 seconds, and the Smoke and Hope Stage in 7.29 seconds to claim two new world records at CMP Talladega Marksmanship Park in Talladega, Alabama.
Leupold Core team member Nick Gadarzi placed first in the Open Division at the National Rifle League’s Dog Valley Precision Challenge, held June 10-11 in Nephi, Utah.
- CONSERVATION -
For the fourth consecutive year, WildLife Partners, LLC and Houston Safari Club Foundation (HSCF) are partnering to preserve the sport of hunting through education, conservation and the promotion of our hunting heritage.

- ENFORCEMENT -
After several months of investigation from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ Law Enforcement Bureau and State Parks Bureau, in conjunction with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Ki Pil Park and Jaemyung Yoo of Chicago, IL, pleaded guilty to several ginseng related charges.
- EVENTS -
Buck Knives, leader in sports cutlery, will be exhibiting new products at Outdoor Retailer Summer Market 2019. Buck Knives will be hosting special events and promotions throughout the show.
- FISHERIES -
The 2019 recreational bay scallop season for Dixie County and a portion of Taylor County opens June 15 and will remain open through Sept. 10.
These natural fish kills are a common occurrence at a number of lakes each spring during spawning season, according to Iowa DNR.

The water level of Meadow Lake near Greenfield in Adair County will be lowered 3 feet starting June 14, to help improve the size of bluegills in the lake.
- GEAR -
TAC SHIELD belts address three basic belt needs: holding one's trousers up, bearing the pistol/spare magazines and carrying all your gear.

- HUNTING -
Licenses for Pennsylvania's 2019-20 hunting and furtaking seasons go on sale Monday, June 17.
- INDUSTRY -
The National Shooting Sports Foundation is pleased to announce that retailers, ranges and organizations can now submit their August events and promotions at ShootingSportsMonth.org

 

Hornady received numerous accolades at the 25th Annual Communicator Awards, a leading international competition celebrating creative excellence in communications.
United Sporting Companies announced it will be filing for voluntary relief under chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code today June 10th, 2019 in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.
- LITIGATION -
As expected, shortly after NY Governor Cuomo signed A5944 into law repealing NY's gravity knife bans, New York City and DA Vance submitted a letter to the U.S. Supreme Court claiming that the new law mooted the case. Since then, NY Mayor de Blasio's New York Police Department has clearly indicated that they intend to continue to enforce a ban on gravity knives in the subways relying on an old Metropolitan Transportation Authority code.
- MEDIA -
Pursuit Media, owner of the Pursuit Channel, has announced a strategic marketing and advertising sales alliance with the Outdoor Specialty Publications Group (OSPG), according to Rusty Faulk, Founder and CEO of Pursuit Media.

- NEW PRODUCTS -
CZ-USA is excited to introduce the next generation of the Bren, the Bren 2 Ms Pistol, offered in multiple barrel lengths and two chamberings.
- NEWS -
Mesa Tactical announces the completion and availability of its four and six-shot receiver-mounted SureShell shotshell carriers for Remington’s Model V3 tactical shotgun.
- ONLINE -
More full episodes of "The High Road with Keith Warren” were promised to their YouTube Channel and here they come. Watch as Keith and Matti Warren head back up to Legends Ranch for the "Legacy Hunt” to hunt in the snow. It’s late season and Matti is after a big framed typical buck. She has a big surprise for her dad.
- ONLINE&NBSP -
New episodes of Gun Talk’s First Person Defender are back for a seventh season. A new episode of the popular self-defense series premieres each week for four weeks, beginning this Saturday, June 15th, on Gun Talk’s YouTube, Facebook, Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV channels.

- OPTICS -
Nikon introduces two new reticle eyepieces for its flagship MONARCH Fieldscope series. The new MONARCH MEP-30 reticle eyepiece is offered with a choice of MRAD or MOA reticle—each allowing a spotter to locate and focus on the same target as their counterpart to communicate reference points and follow-up impact corrections.
- ORGANIZATIONS -
Whitetails Unlimited provided a grant for $8,500 to the Wisconsin DNR for the expansion of the Hay Creek-Hoffman Lake Wildlife Area public shooting range. This contribution adds to the $600,000 granted under WTU’s shooting sports program Staying on Target.
On Friday, May 31, 2019 Ben Berka, Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation President and Executive Director announced that SSSF has entered into an agreement with the Cardinal Shooting Center to host their July Scholastic Clay Target Program and Scholastic Action Shooting Program National Championships through the year 2029.
- PUBLISHING -
MidwayUSA is excited to announce the release of "First Whitetails for Nathaniel and Oliver," a short story by Larry Potterfield, Founder and CEO of MidwayUSA.

- SPONSORSHIPS -
The National Shooting Sports Foundation announced that Reeves & Dola, LLP, has renewed its Gold-level sponsorship for this summer’s Import/Export Conference. Based in Washington, D.C., Reeves & Dola is a law firm specializing in the highly regulated and complex world of manufacturing, sales and international trade of defense and commercial products.
Rocky Mountain Hunting Calls has recently agreed to sponsor Elk Camp TV on The Sportsman’s Channel.
- STATE PARKS -
Highland Recreation Area, located in Oakland County, will undergo a nearly $1.6 million road renovation project this summer. Temporary parking lot and road closures are expected throughout the renovations.
- TELEVISION -
Shooting USA covers the 2018 USPSA Limited Nationals – “limited” means no pistol optics and no compensators. Scoring is on speed and accuracy and you’ll see the best contending the title as John Scoutten and guest analyst Maggie Reese report the action.

A fresh style of fishing show featuring stunning locales and amazing angling action are the highlights of The Kayak Fishing Show airing on World Fishing Network (Sundays at 6:30 p.m. ET).
This week on Deer and Wildlife Stories with Keith Warren, we discover a research program on the deadly deer disease EHD being conducted at the University of Florida. This research will help whitetail deer enthusiasts around the country.
- TRAPPING -
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks wants to remind trappers that the requirement for all traps to have a center swivel and an additional chain swivel becomes effective this coming trapping season, Nov. 1, 2019.
- WILDLIFE -
Fifteen eastern indigo snakes, listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, have just been released in northern Florida as part of a continuing collaborative plan to return the important, native, non-venomous apex predator to the region.

- YOUTH PROGRAMS -
Sixty-four of the top BB gun teams in the nation will converge on Rogers, Ark., July 3-6 for the 2019 Daisy National BB Gun Championship Match. Seven-person teams, ages 8 to 15, will be competing for the National Championship in this 5-meter, four position match.
 

When we read financial documents addressing business failures, we tend to read the backup filling information the same way we read the rankings of virtually anything- according to size. We look at the potential “big” losers and generally ignore the smaller companies.

When you’re talking a bankruptcy of the magnitude SportCo - you’re talking a lot of impact. It’s easy to think Ellett Brothers (because it’s been the longest-rumored problem) and forget the filing includes: Bonitz Brothers, Ellett Brothers, Evans Sports, Inc., Jerry’s Sports, Outdoor Sports Headquarters, Inc., Quality Boxes, Inc., Simmons Gun Specialties, and United Sporting Companies.

That’s quite a list of long established businesses that are currently in Chapter 11, but given virtually no chance of emerging. According to industry executives with direct knowledge of the situation, the advancement from Chapter 11 reorganization to Chapter 7 liquidation is nothing more than a matter of time. After all, they’ve pointed out, even the officers and directors of the company have admitted the value of the company - according to their sworn documents - is essentially, zero. It’s hard to believe the land the businesses are on is worthless, but it may well be the land is a separate situation.

The same ranking tendency happens when we’re talking about the companies suffering the biggest “hits” in a filing of this magnitude.

But that might not be the most realistic way to look at it. Large companies, like Ruger or Vista as examples, have more safeguards in place to protect themselves from bad debt than small businesses.

So the question in my mind isn’t “wow, what about the hits that Ruger, Vista (which also includes Bushnell and Savage) took in this filing” -the question most concerning is the one I face as a small business: “could my business survive a $100,000 hit?” A $3.2 million dollar loss isn’t a concern-it’s simply too-big to be a factor. But $100,000 dollars could be enough to put smaller companies over the edge.

The SportCo bankruptcy only lists the top 30 unsecured creditors. The smallest loss of that group is $267,360- and the filing says there are as many as 200 unsecured creditors. That’s a lot of trickle down impact.

While many of the companies are well-known, have good reputations and are pretty solid performers, the fact of the matter is simple: a $280,000 “hit” -even for a solid small company -is significant.

Often we lose sight of that. It was a lesson I saw first-hand when U-K owned Reed Expositions took the “no AR-style rifles” position regarding their Great American Outdoor Show in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

In the furor over the ill-considered decision, companies and individuals boycotted the show- to the point Reed eventually killed it. In reporting the story, my focus was on the big picture. Until I got an email from one of the smaller vendors at that show. In that communication, he said that he was “pretty certain” that the show not happening would put his one-man Virginia knife making shop out of business because it was more than three-quarters of his annual revenue. “But,” he told me, “I’m willing to let that happen because I know we can’t let Reed start saying one type of gun is bad or we all suffer.”

That brought the entire picture into focus. It’s not just the “biggies” involved in a story that will undoubtedly spend most of its time focused on the nearly 190-million bucks that somehow evaporated, along with the jobs and hopes of all the people who counted on these now-failing companies for their futures.

Fortunately in the Great American Outdoor Show situation, one of the “biggies” in the industry read my story on the knifemaker who was more than willing to let his business fail for the good of everyone else and intervened. If you’re one of the media or industry people who wondered why a company with their own branded line of knives gave away a bunch of knives made by someone else several years ago, as Paul Harvey would have said “well, now you know the rest of the story.” A whale jumped in to save a minnow.

In this instance, there doesn’t seem to be much -at least at this writing- that anyone can do to help everyone negatively impacted by this colossal failure.

We’re nowhere close to knowing the true impact, but I promise we’ll keep you posted.

--Jim Shepherd

OUTDOOR WIRE
Event Calendar

JULY 30 - AUGUST 1
Import/Export Conference

Washington, DC (Website)

AUGUST 1-3
Boone and Crockett Club's 30th Big Game Awards

Wonders of Wildlife National Museum & Aquarium, Springfield, Missouri, https://www.biggameawards.com/

 
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