Did Cabela’s stop selling African hunting merchandise?

[UNT2007]

I went to cabela’s Saturday in Ft. Worth and couldn’t find any .375 h&h magnum ammo on the shelves or any other of the big game hunting cartridges they use to carry. I went on their site online and noticed they don’t sell the CZ 550 magnum rifles anymore. I was afraid things wouldn’t be the same after bass pro bought them.

 

[Red Leg]

They are destroying the brand - don't shop there any more.

 

[RogerHeintzman]

The store in Mitchell South Dakota is going through a change to Bass Pro merchandise.

 

[One Day...]

MidwayUSA
Give your money to people who actually respect and share your passion

 

[cbvanb]

Wow, that’s disappointing. I outfitted a whole safari season at Cabelas once.

 

[UNT2007]

MidwayUSA
Give your money to people who actually respect and share your passion

I will check out Midway USA, thanks!

 

[sierraone]

For about 6 years now, I have been buying nearly all (I would guess about 90 percent) of big bore rifle ammo from on-line with a large part from Midway. When the Bass Pro / Cablela's deal was first announced, I believe in Sep/Oct of 2016, I predicted to myself that Cabela's would never again be the store it once was. At the time the closest Cabela's to me was 200 miles, so it had little or no effect on me. I had Bass Pro stores 50 miles on either side of me. I now have a BP 5 miles away and the nearest Cabela's is about 225 miles. I have read many posts in recent years from you that have a Cabela's close by, that it continues to go down hill related to hunting equipment. I guess I continue to be lucky, since I don't have one close by, I don't miss the old Cabela's. My limited visits to the old Cabela's did enable me to have an opinion of the stores though.......Cabela's and Bass Pro
were totally different in the merchandise they sold. I guess they now are pretty much one and the same!

 

[Red Leg]

For about 6 years now, I have been buying nearly all (I would guess about 90 percent) of big bore rifle ammo from on-line with a large part from Midway. When the Bass Pro / Cablela's deal was first announced, I believe in Sep/Oct of 2016, I predicted to myself that Cabela's would never again be the store it once was. At the time the closest Cabela's to me was 200 miles, so it had little or no effect on me. I had Bass Pro stores 50 miles on either side of me. I now have a BP 5 miles away and the nearest Cabela's is about 225 miles. I have read many posts in recent years from you that have a Cabela's close by, that it continues to go down hill related to hunting equipment. I guess I continue to be lucky, since I don't have one close by, I don't miss the old Cabela's. My limited visits to the old Cabela's did enable me to have an opinion of the stores though.......Cabela's and Bass Pro
were totally different in the merchandise they sold. I guess they now are pretty much one and the same!

And the lowest common denominator.

 

[ack]

Bass Pro specializes in trophy gold fish equipment now...Cabela's TV shows have gone bass mostly...They never carried the quality hunting equipment that Cabela's did.

 

[Jeffrey]

Bloody hell!! The Cabelas closest to me still has 375 ammo and reloading components, but far more importantly, they’ve discontinued the 7” inseam seven pocket hiker shorts. Now tell me how one is supposed to hunt in Africa without those??

EDIT: you can still get them on ebay apparently. Get em while you can...

 

[Ryan]

Bloody hell!! The Cabelas closest to me still has 375 ammo and reloading components, but far more importantly, they’ve discontinued the 7” inseam seven pocket hiker shorts. Now tell me how one is supposed to hunt in Africa without those??

EDIT: you can still get them on ebay apparently. Get em while you can...

Duluth Trading Fire Hose shorts. You can't kill them. My only complaint is they have velcro instead of snaps on cargo pockets now.

 

[CAustin]

For about 6 years now, I have been buying nearly all (I would guess about 90 percent) of big bore rifle ammo from on-line with a large part from Midway. When the Bass Pro / Cablela's deal was first announced, I believe in Sep/Oct of 2016, I predicted to myself that Cabela's would never again be the store it once was. At the time the closest Cabela's to me was 200 miles, so it had little or no effect on me. I had Bass Pro stores 50 miles on either side of me. I now have a BP 5 miles away and the nearest Cabela's is about 225 miles. I have read many posts in recent years from you that have a Cabela's close by, that it continues to go down hill related to hunting equipment. I guess I continue to be lucky, since I don't have one close by, I don't miss the old Cabela's. My limited visits to the old Cabela's did enable me to have an opinion of the stores though.......Cabela's and Bass Pro
were totally different in the merchandise they sold. I guess they now are pretty much one and the same!

I think you have stated the case very well. I have a Cabelas in Kansas City that is sandwiched between two bass Pro Shops.....one south which is closest to my home and one to the east headed out towards St Louis. The Cabelas began carrying less and less merchandise and now is infiltrated with Red Head or Bass Pro stuff. Quality is not the same. The OP is correct that the Big Bore ammo seems to have disappeared along with Big Bore rifles.
Who knows what either of the brands will look like in a year as Johnny Morris does things on a whim. He may turn both stores into fishing boat show rooms just to have a place to put all the inventory scattered at various factories in Missouri.

 

[Hogpatrol]

They have one brand in stock online but the trend is moving away from hunting and more in to clothing and fishing.
I'm fifteen minutes away from the one in Delaware and their shooting department is less than half of what it was before the merger.

https://www.cabelas.com/product/Hor...ous-Game-Rifle-Ammunition/751846.uts?slotId=5

 

[johnnyblues]

Cabelas and Dicks one in the same. Time to move on...

 

[sierraone]

I think you have stated the case very well. I have a Cabelas in Kansas City that is sandwiched between two bass Pro Shops.....one south which is closest to my home and one to the east headed out towards St Louis. The Cabelas began carrying less and less merchandise and now is infiltrated with Red Head or Bass Pro stuff. Quality is not the same. The OP is correct that the Big Bore ammo seems to have disappeared along with Big Bore rifles.
Who knows what either of the brands will look like in a year as Johnny Morris does things on a whim. He may turn both stores into fishing boat show rooms just to have a place to put all the inventory scattered at various factories in Missouri.

Charlie, I tend to agree with you. In the time since BP has taken over, based on all of the posts that our members have written I can't recall any that have a positive take on the direction of Cabela's. The BP here on the edge of Little Rock has a lot of guns for sale and every time I am in the store I walk down the line and take a look. There is never anything that I am interested in. They do have an enormous selection of hand guns, if I am ever interested in purchasing one. As I have stated in other threads, I buy guns in gun shops, or in some cases on Gunbroker which I consider a gun shop also. Excluding Dallas and Houston, my local shop which I have used for over two years now has more big bore "African" rifles than anywhere around, including a few double rifles and European double shotguns. All of these are used, but are "as new" in many cases. You will not find any London Best there. These are held in the gun room, which is separate from the shop with their many ARs, 870s, Italian duck guns, etc. The closest big bore dealer excluding Texas "to my knowledge" is Gulf Breeze Firearms and Westley Richards USA in Gulf Breeze, Florida. We are lucky in central Arkansas to have such a dealer, although there is not much local clientele for a CZ or RSM .416 Rigby!!!
Bottom line is that we are forced to use BP and Cabela's if you have one, for what it is. I don't think Johnny Morris is interested what you and I have to say!!!

 

[BigSteve57]

I outfitted my Elk hunt from Sportsman's Guide after I couldn't find anything I liked at the Cabela's (Hamburg ,PA) or the Bass Pro (Hanover, MD). I got excellent customer service from SG when I called on a Saturday and Sunday with detailed questions about cold weather clothing.

 

[Mr. 16 gauge]

Used to wait for the Cabela's and Gander Mountain catalogs with great anticipation........like a kid going through the montgomery wards Christmas catalog! Then when Cabela's opened their retail store in Mitchell, SD, we just had to make a pilgrimage there....................
Fast forward several years........G.M. sold it's catalog business and opened retail stores; at first they were great....whatever you needed, they had it. Then they started to trim what they carried, and you had to "settle" for what they had. I quit going to GM years ago; customer service sucked!!! Used to hear the line "If we don't have it, we can order it for you".......yeah, well; I can order it myself, too. I looked at the retail stores as being 'more convenient', but that didn't turn out to be true.
I have never had a good experience with Bass Pro, so I avoid them like the plague!!! Now that they have Cabelas, I guess I won't bother shopping there. I prefer to patronize small business and will do so, and as far as getting what I want, the internet has dozens of options: Able ammo, MidwayUSA, Natchez , Ballistic products, Precision reloading, etc. I've found some of my best gadgets and gizmos by perusing the small shops and websites.
I've often wondered if a catalog/online company that specialized in safari gear would be profitable (like Macks' prairie wings is with waterfowl gear)..............

 

[Hogpatrol]

In addition to those online retailers mentioned, for items not carried at the LGS or Cabela's, I check out Midsouth, Third Generation Shooting Supply, Widener's, SG Ammo and Graf's.

 

[mdwest]

The Allen, TX Cabelas is just a few miles from my house.. Definitely seeing it convert rapidly to just another Bass Pro with a different name on the sign outside..

There was still some big bore ammo on the shelf the last time I checked a month or so ago.. but it was limited.. I think 375H&H, 458 Win Mag, and 460 Weatherby was all I saw..but to be honest I dont recall them ever carrying a lot of big bore stuff..

What I see distinctly is the moving in of a lot of redhead branded merchandise, the fishing and boating sections getting bigger, and the hunting and firearms selections getting smaller.. not dramatically mind you.. but it is noticeable..

In the past I would typically be in Cabelas once every couple of weeks.. I didnt typically buy stuff there as a first option.. I always found them to be a good bit more expensive than Academy or online options like SW, etc.. but I would go in and peruse the bargain cave (and bought a ton of stuff there), see what they had on sale in the store, and every now and then would pick up some other stuff...

Since being bought by BP I literally am in there at most once every 2 months now.. and typically because Im just in the area and needing to burn a half hour for some reason.. I dont go there as a first option anymore very often..

Im not "protesting" or even upset with them... Im just finding there is less and less in the store that I am interested in at a price that I am willing to pay..

The last time I went in it was to pick up some jerky seasoning that they USED to carry that I like.. Cant find it on the shelf now.. so.. I just ordered something different online..

 

[wesheltonj]

I have a Bass Pro very close to my house and the Cabalas is in Kyle about 50 miles away. The Bass Pro is still the same, there is a few Cabalas branded product being carried. I the been to the Cabalas in Kyle, the Cabalas branded product is being replaced with Bass Pro branded product and more clothing items (of course higher margins in clothing, why Dicks does not care about low margin guns). The floor space for hunting and gun is still the same. The Gun Room however, is not the same, half empty and to fill space -- AR's. I have not looked for 375 and up Ammo, but I will next time.