Celebrity Primos finds new calling, gets message out

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By Brandon Butler

Will Primos sold the famous hunting products company bearing his name back in 2006. That hasn’t slowed him down.

In fact, stepping away from the day-to-day operations of running Primos has allowed Primos to focus on what matters most to him, and that’s advocating for hunting.

“You know, George Strait is the greatest country music artist of all time, at least in regards to number one records,” Primos said. “But George Strait has never written his own songs. Where he excels is at delivering the message.

“It’s the same thing in our industry. Once we figure out the message, we have to find the people who can deliver the message. Figuring out the message is what we are doing. We have to get the message out.”

Hunting is diverse. And Primos ran a diverse hunting company. His first love was waterfowl. He also developed and sold turkey, predator, elk and other calls. But Primos knows what buttered his bread.

“Whitetails are number one by far,” he said. “Look, there are more deer hunters than all other hunters combined, so the opportunity to come up with products that aid and benefit the deer hunter is greater. For instance, right now, trail cameras are the number one market category for deer hunters. They’re a relatively new technology.

“Coming up with deer hunting products is the most economically important aspect of Primos’ business, and the business of most hunting industry companies.”

Primos believes the future of whitetail deer hunting is bright, but change is going to happen and must happen for deer hunting to continue to grow and thrive.

“The future of whitetail deer hunting has great potential,” he said, “but it’s different in different parts of the country. We need to come together to have a holistic program for the entire U.S. That’s where the Quality Deer Management Association is so powerful. We need to decide what we want whitetail deer hunting to look like in the future. We need to act on disease issues and private pen issues. We need to protect our traditions, but expand our thinking to accept what has to happen to ensure the future.”

Deer hunting is constantly changing. Seasons, rules, regulations, populations; all of these change regularly. How we deal with change determines the future of whitetails, their habitat and hunting them. Whatever the message ends up being, whatever the industry collectively comes up with, Primos is committed to using his skills as a “delivery man” to make sure it reaches the public.

“Hunting is a sport,” he said, “and I say sport because you don’t have to go out and kill your own food in this time we live in. But there is a huge population of hunters who understand the power in putting your own food on the table. They understand how to utilize what God has given us to feed our families. It helps balance the herds, too.

“And hunting brings families together. The bonds created in hunting camps, the time with mom and dad in blind, and learning about nature, it’s pretty cool.”

See you down the trail …

Brandon Butler writes a weekly outdoors column for the Daily Reporter’s sister publication, the Daily Journal. Send comments to [email protected].