NEVADA—A local business is “shooting” for a large turnout when it celebrates its five-year anniversary next month.

The Sportsmen’s Stop, a hunter’s haven located at 2733 County Highway 330, will mark the occasion April 1-2 with new products as well as the opportunity for sports enthusiasts to meet several gun and archery dealers, owner Levi Abbott said.

“We basically carry anything for hunting and shooting needs, anything a hunter or shooter would need,” said Abbott, an avid hunter himself and a 2015 Wynford High School graduate.
“It’s what we do for a living, sharing our passion for the outdoors.”

Abbott and his father, Rob, opened the Sportsmen’s Stop in 2017 after purchasing a gun store by the same name in Elmore, Ohio. It’s also the site of an auction house run by the elder Abbott and his late father, George, for more than 25 years.

The 10,000-square-foot warehouse – situated just off the old Route 30 – carries guns and ammunition, bows and arrows, boots, clothing, and safety supplies, Abbott said. They also sell targets, tools, safes, and even an array of camping and outdoor gear.

The Sportsmen’s Stop also has an archery range and one of the only indoor shooting ranges in North Central Ohio, Abbott said. The three 75-foot-long bays are perfect for target practice, he said, while providing shooters the comfort of a controlled environment.

Abbott is a natural fit for the family business. He grew up hunting with his father and nabbed his first deer when he was only six years old.
“We’ve been doing it our whole lives, guns, and shooting, and it transferred into auctions and then the gun store.”

For the anniversary, Abbott said, the Sportsmen’s Stop will have “Big Dealers Day” with dealers from Winchester and Browning firearms on hand, along with top archery manufacturers such as PSE, Bear, and Elite Archery, and other smaller dealers.

Abbott said the operation regularly draws customers from Wyandot and surrounding counties and as far away as Findlay. “Business has been great. We keep growing every year. We’re running out of room already,” he said.

“We have hopes to expand into the future. Our goal is to always keep growing and expanding, but at the same time try not to get too big, not lose that mom-and-pop feeling, that hometown feeling.”