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Amateur Photojournalism at Cabela's



So here's the storefront for my local Cabela's. I had to walk way back to get this shot, and even then it doesn't cover the full facade. According to Google Maps it's on the order of 100K square feet, so there's a lot of stuff they sell. It's not as ridiculous as Walmart or an Amazon warehouse, but those are really high bars to clear.



Here's a closer view of the storefront. Something to note here is that these two trucks aren't from customers parking for pickup; Cabela's itself owns them essentially as display accessories.



On the right is the wall of kayaks. The smaller ones seem more sensible (I've used one on vacation), but the larger ones are probably intended for waterfowl hunting rather than casual travel.




Yep, you can buy any one of several barbecue grills right out front. Not just any propane stoves, but specifically those meant for barbecuing. When corn in the bible said he felt like he was in a documentary about masculinity, he wasn't exaggerating.



An inflatable raft would be cool to fool around with on a slow river or in a pool, but this thing seems a bit pricey for that niche and it doesn't have all the safety features you'd want for whitewater rafting.



It says something when the propane exchange is unquestionably the sanest thing in the store. I mean, you can easily find one of these at a local supermarket, and even there it doesn't look weird. But only at Cabela's does it have no competition for "least crazy thing around".



Cabela's even has its own pretentious flag to fly, next to the US flag and that of the state of Delaware. Which reminds me that I live in the lowest state in the Union, and thus that inaction on climate change policies will disproportionately affect my region. Thanks, Republicans.



Holy shit is that a price tag.



Cabela's loves its wildlife tableaus.



Of course they've got a fake fireplace at the building's entrance. The fire itself is real, but for several reasons Cabela's has stuck to igniting gas jets rather than wood. Plus, if they had real wood then my hippy father would get all snobbish over them using the wrong kind.



Probably not a bad selection of shoes here. It's not quite REI or EMS, though.



There are even more stoves inside the store. For your outdoors adventures.



Oh wow that's a lot of accessories for water bottles. But that's less on Cabela's and more on the manufacturers themselves. At the least, Nalgene bottles are durable as hell and water filters are an unquestioned requirement for backpacking.



Here's a shot of the "Camping" section. With those same propane grills prominently out front.



These are still part of the Camping section. Even one is an expensive novelty that requires a power source and a sink for all the oil you need to dump - where are you going to put it on your outdoors expedition without jettisoning your self-awareness?



There are easily a thousand different fishing rods here. Let that sink in to get a sense of the scale at play.



These are a collection of pricey gadgets for tasks like range-finding or waterway navigation. I mean, if you own a boat then you will definitely want one. But the problem there is that you have the boat in the first place, aka "that hole in the water you throw lots of money into".



Just one segment of the fishing lines and lures.



The first thing I thought here was that these were lobster traps. (I blame the family vacations in Maine.) Close - they're actually crab traps but if you live in New England it shouldn't be hard to repurpose them.



I don't remember seeing any Victorinox products (Swiss Army knives) here. Cabela's might not even sell them, wanting to favor its own branded stuff instead.



That's one name you can put on your discount collection.



A proper Cabela's customer knows that "I'll bring my Yamaha" refers not to a synthesizer but to a generator.



I didn't see any ATVs being sold directly. But if Cabela's could do so they would.



Safety first!



Lest we forget their breadth of services.



Take a good look at the size of these two sections. Cabela's isn't marketing to these groups, but they still have to put up a pity display to look more inclusive.



And here we have a much larger wilderness tableau. I know someone who has "see a moose" on her bucket list and she was joking about fulfilling that by going to Cabela's.



These are for fulfilling your Robin Hood fantasies archery. Not much else to say here.



Sorry about the unfocused shot of the aquarium here. There was a separate one just down the hall (behind and under the large wilderness tableau) but it had smaller and less visible fish.



Compare this to the combined size of the Women's Clothing and Kid's Clothing sections.



Here's a more prominent shot of the Archery section. All the accessories you could ask for.



As with the Casual Clothing section, the size of the Camo Clothing section here makes it quite clear that Cabela's is really just targeting men.



These aren't just any dog accessories. They're hunting dog accessories.



And finally we get to the gun area. The first thing I found was the collection of gun accessories, for storing ammunition or standing up your piece.



Who else would sell these? Where else would someone buy these rather than looking online?



Yes, this is an actual piece of ad copy for ammunition. You can't make this shit up.



Of course, if you want to make your own cartridges then you can find powder here. I'm honestly surprised that it's so easy to buy a fungible explosive like this, even though it's not a high explosive like C4 or RDX.



Here we have a blurry shot of uncased bullets. Apparently it's cheaper per-bullet to make your own stuff, but you do have to suffer the up-front costs of a bullet-making machine.



There were enough employees by the gun counter that I felt wary about getting a closer shot. (Conversely I felt the need to pixelate some nearby faces.) That said, imagine that whole wall corner and cabinet in front of it being filled with rifles/shotguns/pistols.



The Gun Library has all the really expensive stuff. I didn't go in today because there were more employees inside who would probably have asked me to buzz off, but I've checked it out before and yes there's a lot of variety here. Anything from an AK-47 to an AR-15 to a Mosin-Nagant. IIRC they even had an anti-tank rifle. Also it's hard to see them here but that entrance is flanked by 5'-long elephant tusks. (Hopefully fake?)



Finally we have the casings you need to make your own bullets.



Or you could be a boring square and buy it complete from the shelf. Given that blank space in the middle, a lot of the firearms customers are boring squares.



The restaurant here is honestly smaller than I expected. They still sell things like elk burgers, though.



I love that they have to hang a prominent sign for Firearms checkout (right next to the expensive gun safes).



And if you want to get your children into this whole lifestyle, Cabela's has just the tools for you.