Hunters beset by ongoing ammo shortage, price hikes

Minnesota hunters are scrounging for rifle ammunition and shotgun shells as harvest seasons approach in the second year of an unrelenting ammo shortage.

The scarcity of rounds is changing sporting behaviors, impinging on the youth movement in competitive target shooting and greatly inflating the price of going afield.

"We've never seen it like it is now," said Jim Rauscher, a third-generation family owner of Joe's Sporting Goods in Little Canada."It's hard to plan a hunting trip when you don't know if you are going to have ammo."

Dealers are as frustrated as customers, Rauscher said. His store placed orders for rifle and shotgun ammunition in 2019 that remain unfulfilled.As partial deliveries trickle in, manufacturers aren't accepting new orders until the old ones are satisfied, he said.