Behind the Scenes

Eberlestock Commercial for TV

ikeeastman — Thu, 20 May 2010 00:50:50 +0000

Click on this link: Eberlestock_Commercial

This was a great challenge but I think Nate and Tyler did a great job. Let me know what you think.

Live Events

ikeeastman — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 23:58:13 +0000

Live Event Season: Hotel rooms, fast food, convenience store snacks and almost 100,000 miles each year of the worst roads possible.

We here at Eastmans’ have some of the best western highway drivers. We have, knock on wood, traveled almost 40,000 miles so far this year and almost two million miles in the past ten years during the winter and have yet to total anything. I hope I didn’t just jinx our season!

Roger and Aaron (Mills) traveled to Sacramento, California on some of the worst roads we have ever seen. They had to chain the trailer and truck up three times to get over Donner Pass between Sacramento and Reno.

I personally returned to the airport in Billings, Montana to find my truck practically snowed in. Billings is where we fly in and out; it is a mere 95-mile drive for us on those roads.

Mike, Nate and I returned to the Billings airport late one night to find my truck like this.

The season so far has been a good one. It is always great to get out and talk with everyone at the shows. I love hearing how your hunting adventures turned out this past fall. I have heard some real crazy stories and had the chance to see and hear some stories and photos of great trophies being taken. Thanks to all of you who have stopped by the booth and renewed, subscribed and/or picked up one of our books or DVDs.

We still have about 15 more stops to attend this season, so I hope to see you at one. Check out our schedule on the Live Events page and maybe we will be coming to an area near you.

Please drive safe!

Ike Eastman

“Behind the Scenes”

Meetteese Run

ikeeastman — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:51:37 +0000

Well, I have officially ran my first trail run this past weekend. One of my buddies, Dave, and I decided to take the challenge at the Absoroka, Meettese Mountain Run. They have set it up with three choices, a 5k, a 10k or the long one is a 15k. The 15k is the one that we chose to do, what where we thinking? The first 5k was not to bad. The second 5K just about killed me. It was up a trail that climbed about 2,500 feet in about 2 miles. Then we ran along a ridge until we poped out into the bottom of a bowl, that looked like it could be great deer and sheep habitat. Then the last mile was straight down the face of a mountain. It was defiantly one of the steps faces I have ever came off of, on purpose. I defiantly didn’t train properly. Next year I will not save as much for the end, now that I know what the trail is like. I had a great time and Dave was a huge help. We had some great fun.

Eastmans’ Visit Savage Arms

ikeeastman — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 22:43:15 +0000

We had an exciting and rare opportunity to visit Savage Arms in Massachusetts recently. Guy, myself and our Account Executive Matt Suuck found ourselves on an early flight to Hartford, Connecticut. Let me tell you, there is no easy way to get there from here. After three flights and literally all day flying, we arrived in Westfield Massachusetts, home of Savage Arms. After a restful night, we headed down to the plant to see how Savage manufactures their rifles. After going through all the security and being greeted by Bill Dermody, the Marketing Manager, we were informed that we would actually be able to build our own guns. I was a bit nervous knowing that I would be hunting with this rifle this fall. This is not something my wife wants a novice (myself) doing for me! I was very happy that the professionals were there to ensure that we were checking the head space properly and making certain all of the assembly and manufacturing was performed properly. As you can see by the photos, we had a ton of fun and learned a vast amount about their process and products. It was amazing to me the amount of personal touch that goes into each piece. The employees love their jobs, love the company, love Mr. Coburn (the owner), and most importantly love their customers. Almost every employee we worked with took an extra step that was not mandatory for that job. They have built their own tools to make their jobs faster, safer, or make the product better. They take extra steps to make sure the rifle is safe, accurate, and perfect in every way. It was a true blessing to spend the day with the fine folks at Savage. We here at Eastmans’ are better informed to ensure more accurate answers to your questions because of it. Check the following photos and captions out. It was a great time!

Guy trying to grind the receiver for his rifle. Don't quit your day job!

Guy is pulling the rifling through his barrel. A very messy job as you can tell by the get up.

This is how they make perfectly sure the barrels are straight. Guy is giving it his best once over.

I am looking down the barrel as they are guiding me through the process. They said, “See the two rings and the lines?” I said, “Uh, I guess I do”, not wanting to tell them that I have no idea what they are talking about. I am sure they looked down the barrel after we left and said, “Man, does he want to shoot around corners?”

Matt actually played it off as if he knew what they were doing. He is pulling levers and turning the barrel and discussing the belly with the operator. It was as if he knew what they were talking about. I am not convinced, but hey, it looked good.

Guy learning how the AccuTrigger® is assembled. You have to be very ambidextrous to do this job. Guy looks like he is concentrating very hard.

Guy trying to assemble the firing pin. This takes talent. They have to be within a certain tolerance. It took him a couple of tries but he got it done.

This is the step that makes the gun start to look like a gun. He is assembling the receiver, bolt, and barrel together.

I always say never force anything; always get a bigger hammer! Anyone want to shoot my gun? Ha ha!

I see they made you sign it so that if it blows up it is your hind end! Those guys got your number. They should have made me do that!

Guy is helping make sure everything is still straight after he put it all together. Do you need my hammer?

Hey, Bill. Am I supposed to have extra parts? I know they always give you extras in case you break or lose some, right? No? Okay, I’ll put those in my pocket. Moving on!

Guy checks to see if he can hit the paper. All kidding aside, Savage really knows how to make guns. All of our rifles shot one-inch groups within five shells. Not bad considering we built them.

An honest and heartfelt thanks to everyone at the plant that helped us. You were all very patient and understanding. We thank you for your accuracy, diligence, and willingness to go that extra mile so that our rifles are the most accurate on the market. I can’t wait to get my rifle out there and field test it in just a few short weeks.

Good luck this fall!

Ike Eastman

“Behind the Scenes”

ikeeastman — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 18:51:58 +0000

Distinguished Guests Visit Eastmans’ Offices

Guy and I were much honored to have Wyoming Senator Mike Enzi (R) visit us at our headquarters recently. He was in our little town of Powell on other business and wanted to stop by and see how we were doing.

As some of you may know, Senator Enzi is the only current U.S. Senator who has an accounting degree. As you can imagine, this is very useful right now with the current economic state of our great land. The Senator shared some thoughts and ideas about the state of our economy as well as some of the other issues he has been dealing with at the Capitol. He also enjoys coming by the office to see how our fall hunts turned out. He is an Eastmans’ subscriber, as well as a great ally to the entire hunting community.

Greeting the Senator

Sharing a Few Laughs

I would personally like to thank Senator Enzi for stopping by and spending some time with us. As you can see from the photos, we always share a few laughs and always talk about hunting way more than we do politics. Thanks to Karen (his field rep here in the Big Horn Basin), as well as the Johnsons, (the Senator’s cousins who also accompanied the Senator on his visit.) We loved having all of you here! Please stop by again.

Ike Eastman

“Behind the Scenes”

Portland, Thank You

ikeeastman — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:25:51 +0000

Well Uncle Perry and I made it home safe and sound. In fact we didn’t even encounter any weather, first time in five years. We drove all night Sunday and made it home on Monday. I just wanted to thank all of you that stopped by the booth to subscribe, renew or just shoot the breeze. It is always enjoyable to come to Portland. You folks are always great and have given us tons of sustenance over the years. For those of you that were not able to make the show here are some photos from the booth.

We really did have a great time meeting and talking with you all.

Have a great year and we will see you next year!

Ike Eastman
“Behind the Scenes”