APPLETON, Wis. — There’s plenty of work to keep Andrew Puckett busy in the archery department at The Reel Shot in Appleton.
He recently restrung, re-cabled and tuned a crossbow dropped off by a customer.
“Every two years, you’re supposed to get strings and cables replaced on a crossbow because it can become very dangerous. We see that every season,” Puckett said. “A lot of times guys bring it in at the end of season. Like now, every time I finish three crossbows, four more come in.”
Four years after the pandemic, he and other staff at The Reel Shot still see new faces getting into outdoor sports like hunting or fishing. They also see a fair amount of returning customers.
“The archery side is on a steady uptick. There are a lot more new bow hunters, compound specifically,” he said. “But a lot of people are getting into crossbows and buying their children crossbows to get them started. That way they’re not 11 years old trying to use a compound.”
A recent report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum said while some of the huge participation increases from 2020 to 2021 have waned, things like state park usage and sales of hunting and fishing licenses remain ahead of where they were in 2019.
Golf was one of the sports that saw a resurgence during the pandemic.
Hilly Haven Golf Course co-owner Nicole Frank said it’s a trend that’s hanging on four years later.
“We see lots of new customers here at Hilly Haven,” she said. “From juniors to adults, couples and groups of friends coming out to enjoy the game. We see a lot more golfers now.”
While rounds shot up during the pandemic, it was hard on the course’s restaurant business. That’s now recovering.
Frank said, for now, the course near De Pere continues to offer 10-minute gaps between tee-times, something it started during the pandemic.
“It spaces people out more and gives every group a little more time and space on the golf course and a little less pressure,” she said. “So, we stuck with that.”
Puckett said he expects to see further increases in areas like fishing and archery. Some of that is driven by new products.
“It also comes down to the manufacturers,” he said. “We’ve had guys who have come in this year saying, ‘I haven’t bow hunted in a while, but these new bows or these new products came out and it really piqued my interest and I’ve been thinking about it a while.’ It’s also the market at play.”