Your Resource for Active Hunting & Fishing Enthusiasts
I used to be in a business that catered to
hunters during the big game seasons. In June, I was able to go to the
Division of Wildlife and
buy the records of individuals who were "successful and
unsuccessful" in the limited
license draw for the upcoming season in the fall. The records
contained valuable information, including names, addresses, cities,
states, ZIP codes, hunted species, weapons, unit numbers, and
the date that each individual was to be in a particular area.
I knew who and when a hunter would be
visiting our state, and I knew which game unit he would be hunting in. I purchased these lists, physically input
the information into a PC, and then provided these
targeted
mailing lists to any businesses that catered to these individuals.
These included: motels,
newspapers, magazines, chambers of commerce, processing plants,
hunting guides and outfitters, taxidermists, sporting goods stores, map producers, and any business
that had goods or services for these hunting and fishing enthusiasts.
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We spent many years of manually inputting data, but now most states are
outputting
the information via magnetic tape, CD, diskette, or e-mail. Since 1994, many
privacy
laws have been passed both at the federal and state level. Some states that
we used to
buy from are no longer available, while others have started an opt-in
program that
says the license holders want their names to be released. Other states
provide the
information, but for limited usage (of which we don't qualify). Every year
has some
changes as to what and how much information is available. At present, we are
receiving information from 21 states and approximately 12 million records.
Many things have changed over the last few years, but one thing remains
constant:
we're still excited to talk to people about their business and what we may
have to
offer. Think about it—direct mail is a winner for business. If it weren't,
you wouldn't
need such a large mailbox. If you would like to increase you business using
direct mail
towards hunting and fishing enthusiasts, Sportsmen Information Service has
your list.
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