As employees stock the shelves and get ready for another day of business, the phone has already rung twice at Flashpoint Firearms. The store won't open for another 20 minutes.
Management says the phones have been going like this for days and days, and it's almost always the same thing: deer hunters looking for rifle ammo.
The store is feeling the squeeze on a nationwide ammunition shortage.
"Unfortunately because of COVID a lot of manufacturers have not been able to produce the volume they have in years past," Says assistant manager Jacob Hower. "They're prioritizing certain calibers over other... prioritizing .556 and 9mm."
Hower says those two are more often found in weapons designed for self-defense rather than hunting. When it comes to .308, 350 or 450 Legend, 30-30, 30.06, and other hunting caliber rounds, they can't stock their shelves.
"I don’t think it’s going to rebound until next year," He says. "I don’t see a magical honeypot of ammo appearing."
Hower believes the lack of ammunition will create a ripple effect: less ammo means less deer being shot. "That reduces the hunters' ability to control the dear population," He said.
He says this could lead to deer acting bolder in general, eating plants in people's gardens, or even causing more accidents.
We reached out to the Michigan DNR for an interview, but they didn't want to go on camera because they "don’t have a clear understanding of how ammunition shortages might affect hunter participation."
Ed Golder, A DNR spokesperson, went on to say hunting license sales are down this year compared to 2020 but they are breaking a trend of a decades-long decline in license sales.
"There were ammunition shortages in 2020 and license sales and hunter participation were both up that year, part of the overall increase in outdoor recreation," Golder said in an email. "It’s very hard to draw any direct cause-and-effect conclusions."
We compared MSP data showing the number of Deer involved road accidents with the number of deer hunters for the past ten years, and there was no correlation between the two.
RELATED VIDEO:
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.