The Gunwerks Customer Experience: Spending a Day with Tyler Wayment
I’ve always said the best part of running Gunwerks isn’t the rifles, the optics, or the ballistics tech we build. It’s the people who use them and the stories they create. Our systems are made to close that last 400–500 yards after someone’s traveled halfway around the world for a hunt. They give hunters the confidence to make the shot when the moment finally arrives. But nothing brings that to life like seeing it firsthand with the customers who’ve put our gear to work.
A couple weeks back I flew to Twin Falls, Idaho, to spend the day with Tyler Wayment, one of our longtime friends and customers. What used to be a full day of driving from Cody now takes about an hour in the airplane we added to the fleet. This new travel option has changed how we do business. More time on the ground with people, more content we can actually produce, more meetings without losing whole days spent traveling.
We filmed an Asia Ibex hunt with Tyler last year, so this trip is the final step in asset collection to catch up, hear the new stories, and capture how our rifles have played a role in his hunts.
Walking into Tyler’s place is impressive. His trophy room is packed. For a hunter, we like to see big trophies, but the respect comes from the intimate familiarity of the pain and suffering each mount represents. Asian species look like they are taking over! Ibex after ibex and sheep from ranges that cap the world.
There’s a full North American sheep slam and at least one 200-inch mule deer is tucked away in the corner like it’s no big deal. Every mount has a story, and the room feels alive with them.
Tyler met me at the door and we headed straight upstairs. “Thanks for letting into the inner sactum!” I told him. He just grinned and said it was good to see me. We started walking the walls together. I’ve been here before, but the new pieces stop you cold. Trophy rooms tell you exactly where a hunter’s passion lives. For Tyler, it’s always been mule deer. Still is.
“Big, old, smart 200-inch mule deer,” he said, pointing to the velvet buck that took Tyler three years on public land. “Nothing harder to kill.” That deer grew an extra beam the year he finally got him. Tyler found him in the first hour of the season, then no sightings for forty-five days. When Tyler finally got glass on the deer, the shot came at a thousand yards. One chance, public land, no second look. He saw the buck exactly once the whole season across archery, muzzleloader, and rifle. “If I couldn’t shoot that far,” he said, “I never would have killed him.”
That’s why we build what we build. Not so guys go looking for thousand-yard shots, but so they’re ready when the only opportunity shows up in ten seconds or less. Tyler’s put in thousands of trigger pulls, and he practices because he knows most of these animals won’t stand around waiting. When the window opens you’ll often find the difficulties of a steep angle, awkward position, or wind. You either execute or you go home empty. Our systems help make sure it’s the first one as long as you put the time in with the rifle.
We kept moving through the room. One giant mule deer story was shared by Tyler, from before we knew each other. Tyler received a single headlight photo from guides on Christmas Eve. Lots of explaining occurred while at home with wife, little kids, holidays; but he made it work with a last second trip. A long shot on a buck pushing 29-inch beams and massive spread sealed the experience. Another wide Mexico buck hunt story explained, 45 inches across, and this buck survived for years by slipping through cholla in a place that’s managed right and growing big deer because of it.
His focus has shifted some over the years. From those giant mule deer to bigger, wilder adventures around the globe. Ibex hunts stand out. Brutal country, terrible positions. He told me about a Turkish ibex at 700 yards, fifty degrees straight up. The mistake most guys make in this situation is sliding down the slope, dragging the rifle, reverse-loading the bipod, and watching the shot miss high. Experience in the field fixes that, and the right rifle setup keeps it from happening.
One of Tyler’s points mentioned in the stories stuck with me. “Hunting is a team sport,” he said. “Guides, spotters, the guy ranging, the friend calling wind. You don’t kill animals like these alone.” The cost isn’t just the tag, the travel, or the dirt-road misery. It’s the whole investment of time and effort. The last thing you want is to blow the opportunity in these shared experiences because you didn’t know your rifle cold.
He’s always been private about what he’s taken, so I was genuinely surprised, and grateful, he let us film and share this time. “Special occasions,” he said with a shrug. For me, that’s the heart of Gunwerks. We’ve built some cool hardware, sure, but the real pride comes from customers like Tyler and the things they’ve accomplished with it. He never pictured hunting turning into this life of travel and chasing every unique animal. These pursuits started as his hobby, and he was always going to pursue hunting no matter what career he chose.
Flying back to Cody for a late dinner, I kept thinking about how much has changed. The airplane saves hours so we can actually spend them with people like Tyler. Our rifles give hunters the edge to turn rare chances into memories on the wall. And guys like Tyler remind me why we started this in the first place.
Thanks for opening your door and your stories, Tyler. It means a lot. Looking forward to the next one.