Great People in the Hunting and Shooting Industry

Somewhere Over California

As I sit on the plane headed back to the Northwest, I’m already starting to miss SHOT Show 2011. You know, racing from booth to booth, navigating the show floor, etc, all to get a peak at the latest gear and sit down with exhibitors. But more than that, I’m going to miss the new and old friends I’ve met over the years, either at the show, or through social media tools such as Twitter and Facebook.

This year I met up with some great people in the hunting and shooting industry, and just wanted to give a shout out to the following:

	GirlsGuideToGuns.com – Natalie and Katie are two women with their own take on shooting and firearms. I highly recommend their blog for woman who like guns, fashion, and entertainment, or those just getting into shooting sports. (@girlsguide2guns)
	ThePackingRat.net – Derek runs a personal blog where he writes about his experience as a California gun owner and his attempt to normalize the “gun culture.”
	GunUp.com – Dan Hall started GunUp.com in October 2010, which has been well-received by gun enthusiasts and the firearms industry. GunUp.com enables you to research firearms, browse a large collection of gun-related blogs, and meet other gun enthusiasts. (@gunup)
	Dan Hernandez – Dan is host of Sportfishing with Dan Hernandez, offering charter fishing out of San Diego. Trips are filmed and featured on his TV show and blog. Dan also runs the Dan Hernandez Youth Foundation, which hosts free fishing events to benefit inner-city youth.
	Bulls and Beavers – Chris Burget has a great passion for wildlife conservation efforts, hunting, and social media. He runs Bulls and Beavers from his cabin in Idaho. (@bullsandbeavers)
	Mike Gnatkowski – Mike has been an outdoor writer and photographer for more than 30 years. His work has been featured in publications such as North American Fishermen, In-Fishermen, Ducks Unlimited, Wildfowl, and Game & Fish Publications.
	Mike O’Reilly/Trans Eye Media – I met Mike at an after-party hosted by Outside Hub at SHOT Show 2011. Mike develops hunting and fishing apps for mobile devices.
	AR15.com – The guys at AR15.com operate one of the largest online communities for black rifle enthusiasts. I also met these guys at the Outside Hub after-party.
	Matt Elliott/Lone Wolf Knives – Matt is Brand Manager for Lone Wolf Knives in Oregon City, Oregon. Lone Wolf makes a great line of hunting knives.
	Donna Leonard/Southwick Associates, Inc – Southwick Associates specializes in economic and business statistics related to fish & wildlife. They operate anglersurvey.com and huntersurvey.com.
	Outside Hub – I can’t forget the great team at Outside Hub. Being one of their first publishers, I’ve watched their phenominal grow over the years, and they now are the largest and fastest growing vertical advertising platform reaching the outdoor enthusiast online. If you are looking to monetize your outdoor-related Web site, get in touch with them.

This is only a small sample of the great people that I met this year.