The Story of Whittaker Guns

The shop got its start in the late '80s when Darrel and Becky Whittaker began trading guns in their garage. The Whittakers soon gained a reputation for good prices and fair deals, and their business rapidly outgrew their garage space. After a few expansions, Darrel and Becky decided it was time to build a retail location. They picked a lot at 6976 West Louisville Road outside of Owensboro to construct what seemed, at the time, to be a massive 7,500-square-foot retail space.

Soon, the new store was thriving. Hunters and shooters from around the state were flocking in to peruse the selection of new and used guns. What originally seemed like a lot of room was quickly filled to the brim. That’s the store I grew up with, and for a hunting-crazed kid it was nothing short of paradise. We’d go in and I’d lose myself among the many rows of firearms, searching out oddball trade-ins and one-of-a-kind customs that you’d never find in a chain store, just so I could pick them up and picture myself using them on faraway hunts. The semi-auto shotguns were way out of a farm kid’s budget, but I probably handled every one of them in the place anyway, snap-shouldering them so that I could follow imaginary rabbits and flushing quail.

Around 2016, as Darrel’s health began to fail, the couple looked to longtime customer and good friend Darrik Caraway to help manage the store. Like many of us, Caraway had been hanging out at Whittaker Guns since he was in high school. Over the years, he had grown close to both Darrel and Becky. After Darrel’s passing, Darrik became a full partner with Becky in the business.

Whittaker Guns soon became an industry leader in the firearm world, and one of the national top-tier independent retailers for many of the gun manufacturers. It worked closely with those manufacturers to stock full lines of firearms, including some that were rare and hard-to-find. Caraway and his team also began to design and offer several Whittaker-only custom releases based on customer requests.

“With the advent of TSS turkey loads, we saw how many of our customers were switching to sub-gauge turkey guns. Since the manufacturers hadn’t really picked up on the trend, we designed a lightweight turkey gun on the Remington 870 compact platform and had them custom finished in the latest Realtree camo patterns,” Caraway says. This year’s version featured a 20-gauge 870 Compact hydrodipped by EC Hydrographics in Realtree Timber camo. It came equipped with a picatinny rail, a Weaver red-dot optic, and a Carlson’s TSS turkey choke. I used one all last season, and loaned it to several family members and hunting buddies. It’s a lightweight, easy-to-shoot turkey killer that took birds this spring at ranges from 10 all the way out to 45 yards.

While pleased with the gun sales, Caraway could see the store was losing some of its core customers to other retail establishments that offered a wider selection of hunting gear like clothing, footwear, stands and other hunting supplies. He knew that to stay competitive over the long haul, it needed to be more than just a gun store.

There was only one problem. Every square inch of retail space was already full. There was no room to display a more complete line of outdoor gear. Knowing they would need more space if they wanted to expand their product lines, Caraway and Becky Whittaker made the decision in 2016 to expand again. They built a new retail space next door to the old store. The new store opened in 2017 and, at 24,000 square feet, allowed Whittaker’s to carry the complete line of gear they wanted.

“It was about the time that we were moving into the new store that Realtree’s David Langston and other members of the team came down to meet with us about becoming a Realtree Independent Retailer. The meeting went well, and I could see several benefits in signing on,” Caraway says.

“I’ve been extremely pleased with the results. Besides access to the latest patterns and products, our partnership with Realtree has provided a conduit directly to the manufacturers, like Under Armour and Drake. We can share ideas from our customers with them and have a direct impact on the products being made, something that is sometimes tough to do as an independent retailer,” Caraway says. “I communicate almost daily with someone at Realtree now. They are more than just a camo company; they have become an essential part of our business." That cooperation is apparent even before you enter the store. Perched proudly on a hill above the parking lot stands a bright red barn adorned with a large white Realtree antler logo. It’s one of the first things you notice as you pull up.

Even more than that, the folks at Realtree have become family. “We hunt together, hang out together; I value their friendship as much as I do their business partnership now,” Caraway says.

While Whittaker Guns has a storied history, Caraway and his team aren’t content with the status quo and are constantly working to stay modern and fresh. Even though the store has had a thriving mail order business over the past several years, Caraway knew they could do more. “Like a lot of firearms affiliated retailers, we knew that social media and Google algorithms were throttling back our space on the internet due to the fact that we had the word 'guns' in our name.

“Since we are now so much more than a gun store, we wanted an online presence that more accurately represented who we were. That’s why we are pleased to announce that we will soon be launching a massive new online mail-order company under the name Whittaker Country,” Caraway says.

The new online division will offer everything a hunter or shooter needs; a complete one-stop shop housed in a simple, easy-to-use website. Under the new banner, the shop will work with manufacturers to provide access to entire lines of clothing, soft goods and gear for the whole family. Caraway hopes to have the new business up and running in the next few weeks.

But the online initiative doesn’t mean they are moving away from their brick and mortar retail location. “We are still going to be here under the name Whittaker Guns,” Caraway says. “Our team of dedicated employees will still be here to answer questions and help our customers choose the perfect gun for their needs. We are working every day to increase inventory in our retail space. Like the new Under Armour Concept Store and other initiatives we have planned, we are constantly striving to become the complete outdoors shop, offering everything the avid hunter or shooter could need. We have tons of new clothing and gear inventory ordered for the upcoming fall that should start arriving just about any day now.”

Just like in the old store, row after row of used and new firearms of every type and caliber stand like an army lined up for a parade to greet you as soon as you walk in. And just like I used to when I was a kid, Potroast took off immediately to handle as many of them as possible. 

But there’s more to notice now, too. Hunting clothes for every season and every game pursuit. Treestands, boots, a vast ammo selection, grills, shooting supplies, reloading equipment, smokers and other gear fill all available space.

At the back of the store stands a full-service archery shop under the banner Cedarstix. “We are the largest archery shop in the state now, carrying Matthews, Hoyt, Elite, Bear, Mission and Bowtech lines. We are also expanding our crossbow selections to meet the growing demand in that sport,” Caraway says.

Our trip to Whittaker Guns that day was successful. Like so many other customers from numerous states over the past 30 plus years, Potroast spent time with Darrik looking at several options for his new turkey gun. He ended up sticking with the new Remington V3 Turkey Pro he had been leaning toward from the beginning.

After picking out his new turkey gun, Potroast headed back to Cedarstix to set up his new Hoyt bow. He talked to the guys behind the counter about rest options, sights, quivers and everything else he needed to get ready for the upcoming deer season. Once everything was mounted, they headed over to the range and helped him dial in his sights so that he could start practicing right away.

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