Sam Burgeson

I wouldn't say so. I mean, no, but hunting is challenging.

And every hunter wants to get any edge they can get.

But there are two halves of our business. One is scent. And one is scent elimination.

The scent, of course, is attracting deer or other animals.

And scent elimination is getting rid of your smell so they don’t smell you.

Scent elimination is a huge thing for hunters. You know going into the woods that deer have a nose that’s 1,000 times more powerful than a human nose.

They can smell stuff we can’t imagine. I’ve read that if there’s a McDonalds down the road they can smell it -and can differentiate all the different smells: the cheese, the hamburger, the all those different things coming from there.

So, scent elimination is a pretty high level science as far as trying to figure that out.

And…it's impossible to be 100% scent free. But anything you can do to reduce human and other odors is really important.

Another way to think about it is like, like a fire alarm. You know, if you're in your house and you burn something on the stove and get a little smoke in the air. It might not be at a high enough that it sets off the fire alarm. But if it gets to a certain point, all of a sudden…it sets off that fire alarm. Boom! You know you got a problem on your hands.

Deer are kind of the same way.

Another example would be if you smell the faint smell of a skunk. You know there’s a skunk in the area. But it’s far enough away you’re not really concerned about it. But if all of a sudden it gets really strong, you’re gonna be on alert, because you might walk around the corner and get sprayed.

So you want to be kind of careful there. Scent isn't some magic thing that's going to make the deer just line up in front of you. It takes a lot of steps to create that situation to entice that deer. A lot of times when the deer react, they'll come into the area they smell around. They don't see what they smell and they just kind of continue on.

They don't always walk right up to the scent. But it catches their interest and piques their curiosity. Sometimes you'll get the deal where they come in.

If they're under a lot of pressure and whatnot, they might not see what they smell. And they might get a little uptight and a little bit spooked.

But it did still attract them to the area and give you an opportunity. And then sometimes you get that perfect set setup where you just really sell it and they walk right up and they put their nose right up to the scent whack or they go right to the mock scrape. And that's just an incredibly rewarding deal; almost as rewarding as hunting or getting the shot because you just made that perfect setup. We just have a real passion for that.

Sam Burgeson

I enjoy being on the field. I mean, sometimes you have days. We hunti n pretty wild woods and whatnot, we don't have always real manicured situations where we have lots of deer around.

Sometimes you go a couple of days without seeing a deer.

And it's always a lot funner when you're seeing something even if it's not the big one. It's always fun to see stuff. But just being out there being in the woods.

I mean, life is so hectic and so crazy all the time. But being able to just sit out there and take it in, I value that time. Some of my favorite times of the whole year are when it doesn’t go quite the way I’d planned. some of my favorite time of the whole year even even when it doesn't quite go the way you planned. So

Sam Burgeson

It's been a hectic few years with COVID and supply chain issues. For as long as I've been president of that company, or even before that, you know, I was always saying next year is going to be easier…next year is going to be easier…and there's always something going on.

That's a challenge, but that's part of what makes it fun and interesting. But, you know, sometimes you'd like it a little less interesting. But it keeps you engaged, because you're always trying to figure out how to solve problems, to do different things.

We’ve seen a lot of challenges the last few years, but we have an incredible team that works with both internally and externally. We try to stay ahead of it, to work hard, to do what's right for our customers, the retailers that carry our products, and the customers that use our products. You know, get the stuff out there and take care of people.

We’ve alwaysoperated by the golden rule, you know, to treat other people the way you'd want to be treated. And that's always been kind of a fundamental for us -and for our business.

There are economic challenges out there, there's inflation going on, costs are going up. A lot of people are speculating that we're going to have a recession coming up here and whatnot.

And I think those are very valid concerns.

In the hunting industry, it seems hunting holds up pretty well through recessionary stuff, if people have more time on their hands. But people who are passionate about hunting still prioritize hunting. If you have a priority in a certain category, it might get a little tougher. If you only have $20 in your wallet instead of $50, or $100, instead of $300, you have to make choices. Gas is more expensive, different things. That’s another place where you have to adapt and have products and things. People might not be able to afford the high ticket items this year, but they’re still going to want to buy a bottle of special golden estrus and a bottle of Scent Killer Gold, they help enhance their hunting and make it more successful

Sam Burgeson

All of the above. It’s largely intermingled. You know, we buy everything from caps to bottles to labels and the supply chain has made for a tumultuous couple of years.

It hasn’t been real consistent. There’ve been certain things that -for a long time- were really hard to get. Now, they’re getting better, and come a lot quicker. But there’s other things where the lead time might be three weeks..the next time if might be two-and-a-half months. It’s really hard to plan for, because it’s not consistent.

We're, thankfully, still family owned and operated. Our business is healthy. So we’ve been able to invest in inventory and try to stay ahead of that and keep the quality of our product up and have the right things there. But with a lot of those lead time issues, it’s just a component, like the resin that goes into a plastic cap or something. So we deal with supply chain issues direct and indirectly.

But, you know, we have a really good team and we haven't had too many personnel issues. We haven't really had issues with employees ourselves. A lot of people have been there for a long time. But that’s not the case for a lot of our vendors and a lot of places where we get stuff.

Sam Burgeson

We have about 20 people that are direct employees. But we have sales reps that we work with our media partners and ad agency and, you know, we have a lot of other people and we have a lot of vendors that do contract work for us and whatnot. So, you know, it isn't just the direct, it expands out to a lot of people that we are business touches.

Sam Burgeson

In 2016. And I was with the company - officially - in 2006. My dad and uncle started the company, so I've been around it all my life. And when I was a kid, I was running around packing boxes helping with stuff. So it's kind of been a part of me all my life.

So 2023 is our 40th anniversary. The company started in 1983. My dad and uncle started off pretty small, it was a pretty good story. They had spent a lot of years trying to work on a scent product that was better -and different- than anything else out there.

And our first product was Trail’s End 307 - it was roughly the 307th iteration before that they figured they’d really hit the mark. Anyways, my dad purchased about $10,000 in print ads in magazines. Based on the circulation of those magazines, he figured out, you know, one out of 100 people bought a bottle of scents that, you know, money would just be rolling into the mailbox. It would be packed full every day. If one out of 1,000 people ordered a bottle, it’s be really good.

The first year, we only sold 100 bottles. So it didn’t quite work out like he thought it would. But he and my uncle were persistent. They just kept working at it. It was a long, hard road. I mean, we went a lot of years before they really made any money. And even when they started to make some money, they had to keep investing it all back into the business. It’s a lot harder than people think it is to start off.

Sam Burgeson

Having been through that, all my life, seeing where it all started, and where it got to, gave me an appreciation for what it took to get here.

Things are a little bit, you know, in some respects, easier these days. But the bigger you are, the more challenges you have -and the more headaches you can have. So in other ways, things were a lot simpler back then. But it was a lot harder, too.

You know, that's one thing I kind of worry about for my kids now. Growing up, you know, feels like to me and I suppose parents, all parents always say this, but it feels like kids nowadays got things pretty easy and whatnot. I hope that I'm doing a good enough job teaching them those lessons through my experiences, and that contributes to their well-being and their future success as well.

Sam Burgeson

That's okay. I don't push them to do that. My dad never pushed me to be involved in Wildlife Research Center. That was something that was going to be up to me. I kind of wanted to do my own thing for a while and get my own experiences.

And I think getting some of those outside experiences was good. To come back and help bring some different things to the company. When I expressed interest, I had a long talk with him and my uncle, and you know, and they just explained to me, you know, because your family, it's going to be harder: we want to make sure that we get along well, and that things go okay here and you're gonna have to work a lot harder than anybody else.

Sam Burgeson

It was kind of funny. We were all sitting there at a park having a discussion one of the mornings. My dad had a lot of concern, because he didn't want to be in a situation where, you know, we got into fights a lot, because we disagreed on things. Not to have that damage our relationship. It wasn't worth it to him to have that happen.

We're all easy going guys. Then my dad and uncle just started laughing. We all laughed . But it’s gone well, and you know if my kids someday- if they’re interested- I would be happy to have a lot of those same conversations. At the end of the day, I just want them to be successful and be happy. And if that’s getting involved with Wildlife Research Center, that’s great. If it’s not, that's okay, too.

Everyone's got to kind of chart their own path and do what's best for them.

Sam Burgeson

Oh, I don't know. I'm just just thankful that our business continues to grow and that we're doing well. My dad passed away a few years ago, that was kind of a big thing. We've been able to maintain his legacy and, you know, what, he worked so hard to create. To keep things going. I feel like he’d be pretty proud of how we're doing today. And especially with these last few years, being so crazy and getting through this. That’s probably one of the biggest things. But day to day, we just work really hard and try to do the best job we can.

Sam Burgeson

I feel like because I was family I had to be held to a higher standard. I had to prove -not only to my dad and my uncle- that I deserved to do what I do. I had to earn the respect of all the people who work for our company and prove to them I could be their leader. I work hard, and I take care of our people, and they do a good job. You know, I don't feel like I've ever been asked that question.

Sam Burgeson

That's why I don't have any idea where my kids are gonna land when they grow up. But I tell them stories all the time. That’s something my dad talked with me about- the business. Since I was a little kid. I didn’t always understand or appreciate everything, but that stuff sinks in over time. I try to do that with my kids. I tell them stories about things that their grandpa did, you know, things that I experienced when I was a kid. Tell those stories over and over. And sometimes they're like, oh, yeah, dad talks a lot. But, you know, that stuff does sink in.

That’s anything you're trying to teach your kids. That's kind of how it works. You know, when they get to be teenagers and their parents get that disease where all sudden they don't know anything? Yeah, it's amazing. When they get to be about 25, and all of a sudden you start to get smarter start, to get better.

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