Way up in some mountain range this past hunting season, a big ram or a bull elk was carefully glassed by a hunter. The camo-clad hunter steadied his rifle on a bipod, gently squeezed the gun’s trigger, and the bullet spiraled toward the magnificent animal before it hit the vitals — right where the shooter intended. Whoops and high-fives from the hunting party echoed over the mountains, and then the process of field-dressing the animal and packing it out began.

There is a better-than-decent chance that way up in those mountains where a trophy animal was tagged the hunters were using a piece of equipment that originated from a small, specialized shop located in central Arizona. That shop, Outdoorsmans, has made a name for itself in recent years, providing big game hunters with high-quality optics, bipods, tripods and backpacks. Outdoorsmans doesn’t sell guns or bullets, apparel or radios or assorted camp necessities — Outdoorsmans is unique. It’s a hyper-specialized hunting store that’s gained a world-wide following among those hunters who need specific, specialized, high-end equipment.

“We are the nichiest, niche shop in the entire hunting industry,” said Outdoorsmans Manager Jake Rush.

Customer Brian Taylor from Chandler, Arizona, sums up Outdoorsmans this way, “More than anything, they are an optics store. However they do carry a lot more than just optics. They carry lots of high-end stuff that a lot of places don’t.”

Like a lot of companies in the outdoor industry, Outdoorsmans was the brainchild of an active participant who was looking for better gear options. Outdoorsmans opened its doors in 1982 after founder and owner, Floyd Green, went on a sheep hunt and was less than satisfied with the tripods being used. Green was young when he started the business (he’s 58 now), and he was motivated to design better tripods and pack frames that could stand up to the demands of a big-country, big game hunt. His first shop was a 1,000 square-foot location in Phoenix, but Outdoorsmans eventually moved to Fountain Hills, about 30 miles northeast of Phoenix.

Rush said the shop really defined its direction about 5 years ago, when the staff realized that being “uber-specialized” would allow Outdoorsmans to set itself apart from other hunting stores that cater specifically to big game hunters. The shift has worked: While the hunting industry has seen flat or declining sales in the last half decade, Outdoorsmans has seen sales on an upward trajectory.

The current store is 1,700 square feet, with retail space in the front, and customer service, offices and a meeting room in the back. The Outdoorsmans staff (eight full-timers) is the brainchild and inspiration behind a number of the products the store sells. The tripods are designed and machined by a shop that also produces aftermarket accessories for a gun manufacturer. The backpacks are sewn by a small company in Oregon, and the external pack frames are designed and built in Wisconsin. The inventory is warehoused and shipped from a facility 9 miles down the road.

“Tripods are about 25 percent of our overall business,” said Rush. “Optics are 40 to 50 percent and then backpacks make up pretty much the rest of our sales.”

Outdoorsmans carries some of the most distinguished optics brands in the business including Swarovski, Vortex, Leica, Kowa and Zeiss.

“I’ve bought a lot of things from them,” said long-time customer, Taylor. “I can be hard on my equipment, and I have had to bring things in to have them repaired. They always fix them up brand new — no questions asked.”

It’s not just such a well-defined product line that sets Outdoorsmans apart. It’s service, too. Hunters who can afford a big game hunt in some of the most rugged and remote parts of the world aren’t the type who complete their gear selection by shopping online or at some big box retailer where price determines most of the inventory.

“I’d say about 10 percent of our business is actual walk-in customers,” said Rush. “Maybe 40 percent is online from our website, and the remaining half is over the phone.”

It’s the phone sales component that sets Outdoorsmans apart. Rush said the staff is accustomed to adjusting because of the differences in time zones, talking with customers from all over the globe at 6 a.m. or at 7 p.m. Arizona time. Outdoorsmans recently found a group of customers in Australia, which requires some staff members to adjust their schedules to be available for phone calls from Down Under.

“Tripod stuff isn’t always intuitive,” Rush said. “We have designed our products to work with other products very precisely, and we spend a lot of time on the phone making sure our customers can get their scopes or binos to perform the way they were designed to under demanding hunting conditions.”

Outdoorsmans customers, said Rush, also tends to represent a specific demographic — one that’s not used to making high-end purchases from some soul-less website.

“Our internet sales tend to be dominated by bowhunters,” Rush said. “That’s a little bit of a younger demographic who grew up buying things online. But when you have a clientele that’s going on a Marco Polo sheep hunt or a snow leopard hunt, they want to be able to discuss all of the details of the product they’re buying and will be using. They want to talk to somebody about it.”

Rush realizes there’s value in reaching the future generation of well-heeled hunters as well, and he’s made Outdoorsmans social media presence more robust. Rush said social media is a double-edge sword. While it is the fastest, cheapest and easiest way to get information to customers, it’s easy to get lost in the minutia and forget to stay attuned to the things that makes the business work.

“Social media is a marketing tool, and we use it. You have to.” Rush said. “But we also realize that our best marketing is really providing the best products and service we can.”

Sidebar: Social Media Can and Cannot

Jake Rush, manager of Outdoorsmans in Fountain Springs, Arizona, came to the specialized hunting store from a social media background. He runs the store’s social media accounts — Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, mostly. The Twitter account doesn’t see much action. He calls social media a “double-edged-sword” and admits it’s easy to go down the online rabbit hole and forget about real-world activities.

Social media has other challenges, too. Retailers in hunting and shooting shops can find social media a bit tricky to navigate, particularly as an advertising tool. Since 2014, Facebook has forbidden ads for guns or ammunition. Earlier this year, Facebook added additional restrictions. Now, accessories including holsters, hunting apparel and gun cases can be advertised on Facebook legally, but only if marketed to audiences over the age of 18.

Instagram, owned by Facebook, also restricts the advertising of firearms sales. Many outdoor shops have taken advantage of Instagram as the perfect platform for both customers and retailers to share hunting photos or well-composed photos of new gear. On Instagram there tends to be a bit more leeway with non-sponsored posts. Some shops run contests through Instagram and include a link to their store’s website in the profile.

Twitter, as an advertising medium, has significant challenges, and few shops bother to spend advertising money there to promote their business. Twitter is a good place to catch up on the news, but it’s not really designed as a medium to promote local businesses.

YouTube is a great avenue for in-depth product reviews, but also prohibits certain firearms content.

For more information on Outdoorsmans, visit www.outdoorsmans.com or call  1-800-291-8065.