A Shopper's Guide to Sporting Goods Stores in Kalispell

During the winter, one of Kalispell’s main draws for out-of-town visitors is shopping and with good reason.  We have a wide variety of stores and specialty shops with better prices and wider varieties than some Canadian stores and smaller towns in Northwest Montana.  While I am not a shopaholic, when it comes to sporting goods and outdoors stores in Kalispell, I am experienced. 

The great thing about outdoors stores in Kalispell, is that they are almost always staffed by people who love the outdoors.  This is huge benefit to you, the shopper, because people who like the outdoors are more likely to use and know their products, enjoy educating customers about their products and be more friendly and helpful in general.  With that said, some stores are better at different aspects of customer service and as we all know prices and variety are also important when shopping for outdoor equipment and clothing.  What follows are the strengths of different Kalispell sporting goods stores as I have experienced them.

Sportsman’s Ski Haus

·         Best variety of winter gear (clothing, skis, etc.)

·         Best variety of camping and hiking equipment and clothing

·         Best archery center apart from the two specialty shops (Flaming Arrow and Spirit Quest)

·         Consistently have good sales, decent regular prices

Cabela’s

·         Biggest variety on hunting related items especially when you factor in local pickup option from cabelas.com

·         Cabela’s experience- no denying it, Cabela’s stores have the coolest mounts and a Cabela’s feel that other stores only try to replicate

Snappy’s Sports Center

·         Best fishing selection (ice, fly and spin) in the valley

·         Most knowledgeable fishing department staff (they even have a fishing report hotline you can call to find out about local fishing spots - 406-756-2248 – updated weekly)

·         Reasonable regular prices

Rocky Mountain Outfitters

·         Best climbing, hiking and camping knowledge available- these guys live and breathe the outdoors and love to share what they know

·         Highest quality camping, hiking, climbing and skiing equipment

Replay Sports

·         Great used equipment section ( I still have a great set of $40 snow shoes I bought from them used)

·         Most knowledgeable paddle sports staff

·         Good regular prices on paddle sports and camping gear

Army Navy

·         Best survival gear

I did not cover any specialty shops (guns, archery or fly fishing), but Kalispell has all of these too!  Hope this helps you on your next shopping trip!

5 Things You Should Know About Animals on the Road in Montana

What You Should Know About Animals While Driving in Montana

A brand-new BMW, truly a thing of beauty!  Charlie (the name has been changed for the purposes of this story) gripped the wheel with ease as he roared along the Swan Highway (US Highway 83).  He had just bought this ultimate driving machine in Missoula and wanted to take it along a highway where he could test its handling capability.  Unfortunately for him he chose one of the most heavily populated wildlife areas in Montana.

What follows is from the viewpoint of the driver of the car behind Charlie.  Going at a speed upwards of 90 miles per hour, Charlie was just beginning to test the full speed of his new toy on a straight-away, when I deer stepped out of the trees. A quarter mile behind Charlie, the driver saw the deer step out, saw Charlie’s break lights and then saw a poof of hair and a deer flipping through the air and landing well behind Charlie’s car.  Totaled.  Done.  Game over.

Montana ranks third nationally for wildlife-vehicle collisions.  Montanans have a 1 in 75 chance of hitting an animal.  We also have numerous areas that allow free range livestock grazing, so your chances of hitting a cow or horse are also high.  I personally had numerous close calls with wildlife before nailing a cow in an open range area.  Whether you are a resident or just visiting, you should be prepared to deal with the reality of animals on the road.  Here are 5 things you should know about hitting animals:

1.       Don’t swerve- Unless you have a lot of time, can slow down significantly and can see the other lane of traffic well, you are better off just nailing whatever animal is in the road.  Far more serious injuries are caused by people swerving around animals than by actually hitting them.

2.       Only comprehensive insurance covers animal collisions- Montana law requires liability insurance and if your car is financed you probably have to have collision insurance, but collision insurance does not cover wildlife collisions.  Strange, but true.  So if you live in a high-wildlife-density area, you might consider adding comprehensive to your policy and/or a grill guard if you have a bigger vehicle.

3.       Hitting livestock will usually cost you, sometimes even for property damages.  Ranchers are only liable for your vehicle damages if their animal is in an area where it’s not supposed to be and the rancher can be shown as negligent.  This is hard to prove.  Once again, only comprehensive coverage covers your vehicle’s damage.  If the animal is in an open range area, you might even be liable for property damages for the animal you hit.

4.       Your regular insurance coverage usually applies when you rent a car.  Check your policy to be sure, but typically your car insurance coverage will transfer straight across, in the event of an accident in a rental car.  Ex: if you have liability insurance, you will have liability coverage if you hit someone in a rental car.  But again, for animal collisions to be covered, you have to have comprehensive.  You can get more coverage specifically for a rental car by buying it through the rental car company or through your credit card company.

5.       You can eat what you hit and other people’s roadkill.  It may sound strange to you, but you can pick up road kill, take it home and as long as you get a free permit for it within 24 hours, you can salvage what meat isn't bad and eat it.  Last year was the first year Montana had this law and 865 permits were issued and 135 of them were issued in Flathead County (Kalispell area).