As somebody who watched my dad's hardware/sporting goods store get boarded up in the 80's I can tell you, there is plenty of blame to go around regarding this issue, and I am not talking about the big chain stores. I cannot tell you how many times my dad and I would spend hours, sometimes days, going over different products, special order things, listen to what type of hunting they do, educate them as to what would work best for them, only to have them go buy the gun we suggested at Walmart because they saved $40. My brother in law and his family had several high end gun stores that had customers do the exact same thing. They lasted a little longer, but customers (sportsmen) had no problem wasting his employees valuable time, only to enjoy the free education and then end up buying things through a catalog company or on-line. I always try to buy from local merchants, or brick and mortar stores any chance I get. I expect to pay more, but I don't care. If you do not support the stores around you, you can't complain when they get boarded up. I'm not saying that anybody here is responsible for their local stores going away, but I can assure you that there are plenty of hunters and fishermen who claim to be ethical, and are.....until they find out they can save 10% on-line.
