Store owners and buyers must make smart decisions about which products to stock. Ordering the wrong items means you’ll have inventory that isn’t moving. It’s certainly a bit of a guessing game each year, but one constant — thankfully — is you can bet that deer hunters will enter your store looking for products that help them find success in the field. By stocking items in demand by deer hunters, you can move inventory quickly and boost your bottom line.

As the article title above states, I think your store is missing sales by not stocking these six deer hunting tools.

Pruner

Every deer hunter should own a pruner — or three — so it only makes sense for you to stock them in your store. Sure, a pruner can be purchased at the local hardware store or big box store, but like most of the products I’ll cover here, you’re doing your customer a favor by saving them a trip elsewhere (Amazon included).

Deer hunters use pruners to clear shooting lanes regardless of whether they hunt from the ground or treestands. You don’t need to stock a wide selection of pruners. Find one that works well and is durable and then display it near the cash register. Just seeing it sitting in your store might attract a customer’s attention (a good thing!), and it’ll give your sales staff a reason to talk about why your store is stocking that particular model.

Model suggestion: Hooyman Bypass Pruner

This pruner features super-sharp SK5 HC (high carbon) steel blades as well as steel handles for durability. It has a positive locking hatch so it’ll stay closed in your pocket or pack. MSRP: $13.99.

Note: Hooyman also offers a Ratchet Pruner ($20.99), which can handle slightly larger branches with minimal effort. Stock both models.

 

Extendable Pole Saw

Every deer hunter who hangs treestands on private land either owns an extendable pole saw for clearing shooting lanes or wishes they did. I own three pole saws and leave one at the place I stay in each of my three primary destinations for whitetails in Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Owning three pole saws means I’ll never forget one someplace else. I can’t imagine clearing shooting lanes for treestands without aid of a pole trimmer. Stock them and explain their effectiveness to your customers.

Model suggestion: Fiskars Power-Lever Extendable Pole Saw and Pruner (7-14 feet)

Hunters can trim branches up to 1 1/8 inches in diameter with the pruner feature on this tool, and its 15-inch saw makes quick work of larger branches. Because it extends to 14 feet, the pole saw/pruner can reach any arrow-deflecting branch or twig between a treestand and the deer trail. MSRP: $76.99

 

Hedge Shears

Are you noticing a pattern here? Again, a hedge shears is a tool readily available at hardware stores and big box stores, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t offer them to your customers. Any deer hunter who hunts — especially on the ground — in areas near cattail swamps, CRP fields or other similar areas with tall vegetation knows how difficult and time consuming it is to cut shooting lanes in this cover. A pruner (discussed previously) helps a bit with thicker stems, but cutting the grasses can only be done effectively with a hedge shears.

Model suggestion: Fiskars Forged Hedge Shears with Replaceable Blade (23 inch total length)

Featuring 9-inch-long precision-ground steel blades and forged steel handles, this hedge shears is tough enough tackle everything from switchgrass to cattails. MSRP: $49.99

 

Bow Hauling Rope (Bulk!)

Deer hunters with access to private lands typically hang multiple portable treestands and leave them in place throughout the season, and leaving a bow hauling rope installed at each stand makes sense. If a hunter carries a bow hauling rope in his daypack, he has to set his bow on the ground and then pull it up after reaching his treestand. Doing so can result in the bow (and sights and arrow rest) crashing into the tree trunk while being raised. Not good.

You can sell the rope by the foot, in 20-foot sections, whatever works best for you.

Tip: Show your customer the advantage of tying a loop in the end of the hauling rope that will be suspended about three feet off the ground after it’s tied to the treestand. Feed the rope through the top cam of the bow and then place the loop over the stabilizer bar. (Click here for demonstration pic.)

Model suggestion: HardCore Braided Decoy Cord (bulk)

Marine-grade rope is so expensive that your customers will probably balk at the price, so it makes sense to offer a more affordable alternative. Braided-nylon decoy cord (built with waterfowlers in mind) is an ideal solution. MSRP: $14.99/500-foot bulk spool

 

Pelvic Bone Saw

I’m amazed at how many deer hunters haven’t discovered how much easier it is to field dress a whitetail or any big game animal with aid of a pelvic bone saw. I NEVER head into the field without one of these saws in my fanny pack or daypack. In fact, it’s been at least 20 years since I’ve field dressed a whitetail without using a pelvic bone saw.

Model suggestion: SagenSaw

The original SagenSaw makes quick work of a whitetail’s pelvic bone. It’s safer than using a hunting knife, and it’s less likely to rupture a deer’s internal organs. This model is 5 inches long and weighs only 4 ounces so it’s easy to carry, even a coat pocket. It’ made in the USA! MSRP: $20.95

Note: Sagen Inc. makes a slightly larger version, too, which works great for elk and other massive animals. It retails for $27.50.

 

Disposable Over-the-Elbow Field Dressing Gloves

You likely stock disposable field dressing gloves in your store, but do you stock the ones that extend over the elbow? If you don’t, you should.

Deer hunters spend a lot of money on their clothing, and saturating the arms of jackets or layering garments with blood (or worse) while field dressing a deer is a pain. Sure, the blood or other matter might wash out of the sleeves, but what if you’re not near a washing machine? Disposable over-the-elbow field dressing gloves are inexpensive and tremendously effective. Stock them!

Model suggestion: Hunters Specialties Field Dressing Gloves Combo Pack

This combo pack includes six pairs of short latex gloves and six pairs of shoulder-length poly gloves (all disposable). You pull on the baggy, long gloves first, then the tight-fitting short gloves second. This item will fly out of your store. Stock them in large quantities by the cash register. Ask every customer if they need over-the-elbow field dressing gloves. MSRP: $5.99