Wisconsin deer season: Ammo shortage impacts gun hunt
MILWAUKEE - Wisconsin's gun deer season is a week away, opening Nov. 20 – and ammunition may be harder to find this year.
Many hunters are walking away empty-handed as an ammo shortage makes getting ready for the season a lot harder.
"All the empty spots you see typically is where all the hunting ammo would be," said Bryan Munoz, a sales associate at Brew City Shooters Supply. "Most of the time most of the day we’re just answering phone calls: ‘Do you guys have this caliber?’"
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At Brew City Shooters Supply, sales associates like Munoz are on the hunt, too. What hunting ammo they can find is a moving target; once it's on the shelves, it doesn't stay long.
"The boss and us have been looking daily," Munoz said. "We're playing it by ear. We can't really find any reliably…we're even running out of the stuff we haven't sold in a year or two."
Bryan Munoz at Brew City Shooters Supply
Munoz points to an ongoing ammo shortage brought, in part, by the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The manufacturing shutting down for things not deemed essential, the effects of that are still being felt nowadays," said Munoz.
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"There isn’t much out there. Everything, I think, is getting hoarded up by everybody," hunter Brian Richlen said. "If you’re going to hunt (there's) a lot you’ve got to practice, it goes fast. You want to just be able to buy a box of ammo here and there, and that’s not the case now."
Staff at Brew City Shooters Supply said it’s a good idea to call ahead to make sure the ammo you want is in stock, or you might have a better shot looking online.
Those who do find the ammo they're looking for may also find that prices are higher than usual.
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