You can buy anything from camoflauged gloves to pink guns at the Southeastern Trading Post in Waterford.
"We have four daughters, so we sell some pink shotguns and rifles that are designed to help get girls interested in hunting," explained trading post owner Ted Offenberger who opened the store three years ago.
"Business is up this year, and we've been busy since before bow season began in September," he said. "We expanded our inventory and sold a lot more bows this year than last. But we're also expanding our gun inventory a little."
Offenberger's trading post is among many Ohio businesses that share in more than $859 million spent annually by hunters throughout the Buckeye State, according to information from the latest U.S. Fish and Wildlife economic impact survey.
The state's deer gun season opens Monday, and Sherry Sampson, manager of the Lakeside Motel along Ohio 60 near Beverly, expects the 38-room facility will be booked to capacity by hunters looking to bag a trophy-sized whitetail from the Southeast Ohio herd.
"We see lots of hunters from the Dayton and Cleveland areas, but many come from Pennsylvania, too," she said. "I've been here for 23 years, and this happens every year. A lot of hunters have a standing reservation during hunting season."
Charlotte Keim, executive director of the Marietta Area Chamber of Commerce, said the area's other motels and hotels also benefit from the numbers of hunters who travel to Southeast Ohio during deer season.
"They spend money in our motels and eat in the local restaurants," she said. "But a lot of local hunters' wives also use this time to do holiday shopping while their husbands are out in the field."
Carlton Schramm, employee at the Workingman's Store on Putnam St. in Marietta, said that shop also receives a fair amount of hunting season-related business.
"We sell a lot of insulated boots, blaze-orange vests, and camoflauge clothing," he said. "There's usually a pickup in business during this time."
Susie Vance with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources said the state is rated sixth among the top 10 or 12 states that receive the most economic impact from hunters and fishermen.
"Our state is really appealing to hunters from all over," she said. "We have a very healthy deer herd with no CWD (chronic wasting disease), and we have a four-month archery season, and have added an extra weekend to our deer gun season."
Vance added that although the state's hunting license sales had been declining over the last 10 to 20 years, those sales have increased by 5 percent this year.
Alan Babb, 46, of Rinard Mills was purchasing his hunting license and a deer tag at the Marietta Kmart on Pike Street Monday afternoon.
"I was laid off from my job as a contractor in June," Babb said. "So this license will help put food on our table this winter."
Kmart sales associate James Everson said he's heard the same story from many customers purchasing hunting licences this year.
"We're seeing more business this year," he said. "A lot of them just like to hunt, but some are hunting to feed their own families or to provide meat for others."
In addition to sales of knives, binoculars, camoflauge clothing and blinds, ammunition and archery supplies, Everson said he sells many licenses to hunters from out of state.
"One fellow brought a camera crew here from North Carolina to film a deer hunt," he said.
Everson said the influx of hunters from out of state is interesting, especially since an out-of-state deer hunting license costs $125, while in-state hunters pay only $19 for a license. Tags, attached to each kill, are an additional $24 for both in- and out-of-state hunters.
Wendy Wharff, executive director of the Marietta Washington County Convention and Visitors Bureau, says there's no question that hunting has an economic impact on the Marietta area and all of Southeastern Ohio.
"I used to help run a deer-checking station, and I've been to hunting expositions and trade shows throughout the nation and state of Ohio," she said. "Our county and surrounding counties are highly sought after for our large deer, and the hunters come from all over.
"I know one man from Canada who has family here and comes back every year," Wharff added. "And just last week during a meeting at The Galley downtown, I saw several guys dressed in camo gear who stopped in to buy dinner. These are hunters who spend money in our local economy."
