On the Horizon

Jimmy Mauric, brewmaster of Shiner Beers at Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner, Texas, joins Derrick Ratliff, founder of Horizon Firearms. Horizon Firearms is a subsidiary of Kaspar Companies (125 years old), which is located right across the street from the Spoetzl Brewery (114 years old). Jimmy and Derrick talk about how these historical companies affect the small town of Shiner, Texas, and it’s national prominence. Jimmy shares how he grew up in Shiner and started working at the brewery when he was 17 years old, beginning his now 45 year tenure brewing craft beer that’s distributed in all 50 states. He shared about the German/Czech history of the brewery, what unique ingredient elements make Shiner Beers special, and the current developments in Shiner of the distillery and tour/hospitality experience. Jimmy was a charming guest full of interesting facts about a niche industry that most enjoy. 

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On The Horizon episodes brought to you by:
Horizon Firearms
Texas Ammunition
iota Outdoors
Stiller
22 Creedmoor

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Video version available on our YouTube and Rumble Channel.

On The Horizon podcast: Founder of Horizon Firearms Derrick Ratliff gathers guests to share and discuss outdoor industry expertise and memorable hunting adventures. Favorite topics include long-range shooting, custom rifles, 22 Creedmoor, outdoor experiences, and from time to time some family talk and life lessons.

Clint Salisbury, regional director for Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation in Michigan, joins Derrick to talk all things elk hunting. Clint and Derrick swap hilarious first time elk hunting stories and discuss the role that Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation plays in preserving the opportunities for future generations to enjoy and experience elk hunting. Mission and legacy are important words to both Derrick and Clint. They discuss the weighted lottery system for drawing tags in Michigan, the wolf controversy across the nation, and the commitment RMEF has to maintaining public land and even converting unique private lands to public lands for future generations. Their stories include a friend fainting from adrenaline on an elk hunt, icing down a bathtub to contain elk quarters and ripping off the quarter panel of a truck in order to get an elk out of the wilderness. Clint also introduced Outdoor Class, an outdoors-focused streaming platform, built for hunters of all levels to learn and refine their skills.

. . . . .
On The Horizon episodes brought to you by:
Horizon Firearms
Texas Ammunition
iota Outdoors
Stiller
22 Creedmoor

Join us on Instagram
Join us on Facebook

Video version available on our YouTube and Rumble Channel.

On The Horizon podcast: Founder of Horizon Firearms Derrick Ratliff gathers guests to share and discuss outdoor industry expertise and memorable hunting adventures. Favorite topics include long-range shooting, custom rifles, 22 Creedmoor, outdoor experiences, and from time to time some family talk and life lessons.

Katherine Rice, founder and owner of Wildcat Marketing from Eugene, Oregon, joins Derrick Ratliff as a long time friend, former co-worker, former remote employee, current marketing contractor, and ongoing expert in the field of outdoor industry marketing and media. They discuss how real relationships shine through in small town local business marketing, how the explosion of social media has transformed marketing reach and trends to hunters and outdoorsmen, and how Kat is probably the first person to harvest a blacktail deer with a 22 Creedmoor. And there may have been a random conversation about dancing goats …

. . . . .
On The Horizon episodes brought to you by:
Horizon Firearms
Texas Ammunition
iota Outdoors
Stiller
22 Creedmoor

Join us on Instagram
Join us on Facebook

Video version available on our YouTube and Rumble Channel.

On The Horizon podcast: Founder of Horizon Firearms Derrick Ratliff gathers guests to share and discuss outdoor industry expertise and memorable hunting adventures. Favorite topics include long-range shooting, custom rifles, 22 Creedmoor, outdoor experiences, and from time to time some family talk and life lessons.

Director of Engineering for Kaspar Outdoors (and Derrick’s youngest brother), Austin Ratliff, reminisce about the entrepreneurial old school days of Horizon Firearms. Austin was Derrick’s first “college kid helper” in Derrick’s home garage during the founding days. Derrick and Austin discuss the growth of the company and the facility moves from the garage to the first 3,600 square foot building to the now nearly 30,000 square foot building that headquarters Kaspar Outdoors’ manufacturing facilities and offices. Austin was also very involved in Kaspar Outdoors’ acquisition and current rebuilding of Stiller, advantages of a composite stock from iota, an engineer’s role in the outdoor industry, and the current projects that are affecting 2023’s product development trajectory.

. . . . .
On The Horizon episodes brought to you by:
Horizon Firearms
Texas Ammunition
iota Outdoors
Stiller
22 Creedmoor

Join us on Instagram
Join us on Facebook

Video version available on our YouTube and Rumble Channel.

On The Horizon podcast: Founder of Horizon Firearms Derrick Ratliff gathers guests to share and discuss outdoor industry expertise and memorable hunting adventures. Favorite topics include long-range shooting, custom rifles, 22 Creedmoor, outdoor experiences, and from time to time some family talk and life lessons.

James Hard, founder of Hard Retrievers, shares his training expertise in the gun dog world as he operates training programs from basic obedience to competition retriever. Hard Retrievers has had Derrick’s German Shorthaired Pointer pup, Duke, for the last two months starting him on gun dog basics. James discussed his entrepreneurial venture turning his hobby into his profession and serving as a dog psychologist versus a trainer and what that means for different personalities and breeds of dogs. He explained the advantages of teaching a dog to work, force fetching, and proper e-collar training techniques. James spends half his year in Texas and half his year in Illinois, depending on the seasons, training dogs full time and shared a bit about his soon to release online dog training venture, solvethedog.com. When he’s not training clients’ dogs, he’s earning prestigious titles himself with his handsome chocolate Labrador retriever, Bow.

Find out more about James' programs at Hard Retrievers Website
Follow his fun and work on Instagram and Facebook

. . . . .
On The Horizon episodes brought to you by:
Horizon Firearms
Texas Ammunition
iota Outdoors
Stiller
22 Creedmoor

Join us on Instagram
Join us on Facebook

Video version available on our YouTube and Rumble Channel.

On The Horizon podcast: Founder of Horizon Firearms Derrick Ratliff gathers guests to share and discuss outdoor industry expertise and memorable hunting adventures. Favorite topics include long-range shooting, custom rifles, 22 Creedmoor, outdoor experiences, and from time to time some family talk and life lessons.

David Stroud is officially Horizon Firearms’ first customer dating back to 2012, and he has been a helpful and loyal friend and customer ever since. We sure are grateful as we don’t know any human who has shot more rounds or killed more coyotes in his life so he has all kinds of valuable feedback. David has personal reloading data book records dating back to 1956. He’s a self-proclaimed “cutting edge” junky and loves to try out new hunting technology and can speak in a reloading language unknown by most. Derrick and David nerd out on caliber talk on this episode jumping around from the origins of the 22 Creedmoor to fun 22 long rifle tournament talk to his new 6GT  for PRC matches. The origin of Horizon Firearms’ Venatic rifle series name was also discussed — something to do with crossword puzzle conversations and the Latin root for venison. If you’re not sure what the word caliber means, this episode may be a bit overwhelming! 

. . . . .
On The Horizon episodes brought to you by:
Horizon Firearms
Texas Ammunition
iota Outdoors
Stiller
22 Creedmoor

Join us on Instagram
Join us on Facebook

Video version available on our YouTube and Rumble Channel.

On The Horizon podcast: Founder of Horizon Firearms Derrick Ratliff gathers guests to share and discuss outdoor industry expertise and memorable hunting adventures. Favorite topics include long-range shooting, custom rifles, 22 Creedmoor, outdoor experiences, and from time to time some family talk and life lessons.

The sales process within the hunting industry may be more complex than you thought. The items on Cabela’s shelves and Academy’s floor don't just appear from the manufacturer. A lot of business and several companies are involved before they get there. Aaron is a well known player in the product rep industry and is currently a principal owner at Schooler and Associates. He represents the outside sales force that works on behalf of manufacturers to get their products into the doors of dealers and box stores. Derrick and Aaron talk about the trends in the hunting industry, how COVID-19 and the following challenges have affected inventory levels, and how rep groups help companies in the outdoor industry gain traction and grow. Aaron has been a valuable ally for Horizon Firearms and brings a lot of industry knowledge to the table. 

. . . . .
On The Horizon episodes brought to you by:
Horizon Firearms
Texas Ammunition
iota Outdoors
Stiller
22 Creedmoor

Join us on Instagram
Join us on Facebook

Video version available on our YouTube and Rumble Channel.

On The Horizon podcast: Founder of Horizon Firearms Derrick Ratliff gathers guests to share and discuss outdoor industry expertise and memorable hunting adventures. Favorite topics include long-range shooting, custom rifles, 22 Creedmoor, outdoor experiences, and from time to time some family talk and life lessons.

Derrick reconnects with PH Stix Hoole with John X Safaris as they discuss hunting across the pond in South Africa as well as various rifle calibers for hunting on an African safari. 

. . . . .
On The Horizon episodes brought to you by:
Horizon Firearms
Texas Ammunition
iota Outdoors
Stiller
22 Creedmoor

Join us on Instagram
Join us on Facebook

Video version available on our YouTube and Rumble Channel.

On The Horizon podcast: Founder of Horizon Firearms Derrick Ratliff gathers guests to share and discuss outdoor industry expertise and memorable hunting adventures. Favorite topics include long-range shooting, custom rifles, 22 Creedmoor, outdoor experiences, and from time to time some family talk and life lessons.

Derrick spends time with Bergara's Brand Manager, Dakota Russell. They  discuss elk hunting in Montana, the new 7 PRC,  the 22 Creedmoor, match grade vs. hunting bullets, and Spanish Ibex management.

. . . . .
On The Horizon episodes brought to you by:
Horizon Firearms
Texas Ammunition
iota Outdoors
Stiller
22 Creedmoor

Join us on Instagram
Join us on Facebook

Video version available on our YouTube and Rumble Channel.

On The Horizon podcast: Founder of Horizon Firearms Derrick Ratliff gathers guests to share and discuss outdoor industry expertise and memorable hunting adventures. Favorite topics include long-range shooting, custom rifles, 22 Creedmoor, outdoor experiences, and from time to time some family talk and life lessons.

Derrick talks with former NFR bull rider Chandler Bownds on this week's episode. They talk all things rodeo, hunting, family, and especially the 22 Creedmoor Venatic that Chandler has been shooting this year. 

. . . . .
On The Horizon episodes brought to you by:
Horizon Firearms
Texas Ammunition
iota Outdoors
Stiller
22 Creedmoor

Join us on Instagram
Join us on Facebook

Video version available on our YouTube and Rumble Channel.

On The Horizon podcast: Founder of Horizon Firearms Derrick Ratliff gathers guests to share and discuss outdoor industry expertise and memorable hunting adventures. Favorite topics include long-range shooting, custom rifles, 22 Creedmoor, outdoor experiences, and from time to time some family talk and life lessons.