National ammo shortage makes hunters scramble ahead of gun deer season

FOX VALLEY, Wis. (WBAY) - As the gun deer season approaches, hunting ammunition is hard to find due to supply chain disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic and surging demand for guns and ammunition.

Gun dealers say they’ve struggled to stock shelves with ammo as firearms sales have climbed due to unease from the pandemic, riots, and recent presidential election. According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, 8.4 million people became first-time gun owners last year.

With deer season starting November 13, demand for rifle ammo has increased as well. Owner of Virlee GunWorks, Scott Virlee said the last month, their phones have been ringing off the hook from people looking for ammunition.

“There’s nothing that we can do. We try to get as much in as we can obviously to sell it, but it’s the distributors that have a short supply and manufacturers do too,” Virlee said.

Jon’s Sport Shop has people from all over the country stop at his location to get what they want no matter what the price. Winchester Ammunition along with others, announced earlier this year that it was raising prices for hunting rifle ammunition 5 to 15 percent due to increased costs for manufacturing.

“People are paying $100 for a box of shots. They love the sport. They want to be able to do what they’ve done, and they’re willing to pay the price right now to do that,” Jon Gafner, the store owner said.

To keep their shelves from staying empty, both stores have started rationing their supplies so that one person doesn’t buy their whole inventory.

“You give somebody a little bit so everybody’s got a little bit. Otherwise, everybody would buy whatever you got. It’d be like the toilet paper crunch,” Gafner said.

Today, Virlee says all people can do is stay patient, and continue to check in with local stores as the season approaches.