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SEDRO-WOOLLEY — For years, TruckVault has set the pace in manufacturing and installing secure storage systems for a myriad of vehicles.

The Sedro-Woolley-based company has supplied TruckVaults to law enforcement and rescue agencies, commercial companies and enthusiasts of the outdoors.

TruckVault is now taking its efforts one step farther.

TruckVault’s Xtreme Hunts debuts on the Versus cable network at 12:30 p.m. Friday. It will be replayed at 4 p.m. Friday, 8:30 a.m. on Saturday and 12:30 p.m. on Aug. 8.

“Our primary slots are Fridays at 12:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 8:30 a.m.,” said Don Fenton, sales & marketing director for TruckVault. “Those are the prime, money spots. They will get the most play and that will drive the numbers.”

For a complete viewing schedule, go to http://www.truckvault.com.

“This is a huge step for us here at TruckVault,” Fenton added. “And it is brand across a lot of different markets. It’s not just the sports market. I am looking at this like a million-men-by-noon type of situation. I want to get TruckVault in front of as many people as possible and make as many impressions as possible. I really think this is going to pay off — big.”

It’s a big step for a company that doesn’t necessarily see itself as a big player.

“It’s just another phase of doing more business,” said TruckVault CEO and founder Al Chandler. “It’s all part of the plan.”

It’s part of a plan Chandler initiated about 13 years ago, when he moved the company from Seattle to Sedro-Woolley.

“I think you always have that idea that you are going to make it big,” he said. “You certainly don’t start a business thinking it’s going to remain small. I gave up a big business to start this business. It’s been a fun ride with plenty of ups and downs. We’ve been broke. It’s the usual things that go along with running a business.”

Going big-time now includes the company’s own hunting show.

“This for us, more than anything, is a branding or identity piece,” said Fenton. “We do OK in print, but we do much better in television.

“I am a believer in the product. I own the product and have had it in different vehicles over the years. I am a hunter and a fisherman and this is one of the most useful products out there for transporting firearms and valuables in your vehicles, and it’s a product that nobody knows much about. I think that’s about to change. The way to deliver that is by television. We estimate reaching somewhere between 4 and 4.5 million households in our two-quarter or 22-week run on Versus.”

TruckVault’s Xtreme Hunts is exactly what it says it is. It can mean extreme weather conditions, such as lying for hours in snow waiting for geese to settle into decoys, or sweating it out while pursuing pronghorn in a prickly pear-infested prairie. It can mean extreme terrain, such as trekking through dense forest or upon high-mountain peaks. It can also be extreme tactics or extreme game.

The bottom line is that those responsible for the show want the game to remain attainable for the average hunter, and for the viewer to come away with a greater appreciation of the sport.

Don’t think TruckVault’s Xtreme Hunts is going to be some infomercial.

“We don’t in-your-face the product on the show,” Fenton said. “In fact, it’s really downplayed. This is not an infomercial type thing at all. The product is usually shown in opening and closing scenes and then somewhere in the middle.

“We don’t suck in too tight on shots. We don’t have the TruckVault logo in the corner, or the nameplate or anything like that. But people will definitely know this is what is going on.”

TruckVault has a commercial to run during the program. Some big names jumped in with sponsorships of their own — companies such as Yamaha, Nikon, ARB, Winchester Ammunition, Thompson Center and Smith & Wesson.

“We landed some great sponsors,” Fenton said. “And they have given us great support for the show. That is due to the business relationships we have with them.”

Each episode follows the hunting exploits of host Mark Kayser as he tracks game across North America. Chandler approached Kayser and pitched his idea for the show.

“A lot of television shows are an outlet for company owners to go and do high-dollar hunts without having to pay for them,” Chandler said with a grin. “We aren’t going to do that. We (TruckVault employees) don’t do our own shows. We want Mark Kayser to be the face of TruckVault.

“We aren’t using it as a personal avenue to get in front of a camera. A lot of these types of shows are a, ‘Hey, look at me and what I can do,’ and the common guy can’t afford to do those types of $20,000 New Mexico elk hunts. It’s hard for me to relate to that type of thing and I am sure it’s hard for the average hunter to relate to that sort of thing.”

“We wanted to bring to life a show that depicted mostly a one-on-one hunt relationship with the viewer,” added Fenton.

Kayser was so intrigued with the approach that he left a job on a top-rated hunting program to take on TruckVault’s Xtreme Hunts.

“It was our idea,” Chandler said of the show’s approach. “I went to Mark, who I’d watched on a number of television shows. I knew him, but only slightly. So I approached him and said, ‘Mark, we want to do a show and we want you to host it. We want you because you are Mr. Everybody.’ I thought people would relate to him very well.”

Fenton was unaware that Chandler had approached Kayser and that the two had talked about a concept for the show. Once Fenton found out, it was time to get down to business.

To say Fenton was pleased with the choice of host is an understatement. An avid outdoorsman, Fenton knew all about Kayser.

“Mark Kayser is kind of a blue-collar, everybody’s guy,” said Fenton. “That kind of fit the idea we had for our product. Our product was really born from the blue collar side of things, and while it does have very good appeal to the white collar upscale clientele, we wanted the message to get out that we are really just this type of a company.

“Mark depicts and brings to life just who and what we are. He brings a lot to the table. He is very well respected in the outdoor industry. He is the perfect spokesperson for our product.”

The Versus network welcomed the program after viewing its pilot, a hunt for white tail deer in South Dakota.

“Through the relationships that Mark had with them and the relationship with our production company,” Fenton explained, “it was really rather simple. We developed the show’s pilot and it turned out very well. From there, the network said they liked it.”

As is stated on TruckVault’s Web site: “Besides the entertainment value of Kayser eating dirt, he shares his wealth of hunting knowledge and tips he gleans from his hunting partners. Throughout the series you’ll discover ways to get more from your hunt including, but not limited to: Physical conditioning, overcoming altitude sickness, late-night driving tips, sleeping in your truck, hunting tips for kids, game calling tips, rugged gear for rugged terrain and others.”

Program destinations come from a variety of sources, though Kayser is responsible for many. The idea is to keep hunts affordable. For simplicity’s sake, Kayser drives to all his locations.

“Generally, he (Kayser) has quite an extensive list of areas, game and services he has contacted throughout his years of work,” said Fenton. “He has done a number of things that have put him in touch with a number of really great outfitters, and we tapped that. We let him decide where to go and pretty much set his own schedule, and then we work within that.”

Three segments of the show are called Hero Hunts. They are opportunities to tie in law enforcement, a major player in TruckVault’s success. All expenses-paid hunts, either upland hunts or waterfowl hunts, are given to heroes of law enforcement.

The first Hero Hunt will feature Francine Giono Janik of Whitehall, Mont.

In 1992, during a routine traffic stop, the Montana Highway Patrol officer was shot. She returned fire, killing her assailant. Later, it was found that the assailant had killed two people in Douglas County, Nev.

“So these were the types of people we sought out,” Fenton explained. “They were invited to the Tumbleweed Lodge and were able to hunt for prairie chickens, pheasants and grouse with Mark. It’s a way, a small way, to let our law enforcement know that we want to give something back.”

In the future, the series may shoot an episode in the Pacific Northwest. In fact, producers had on their docket a goose hunt using a bow. Unfortunately, the geese were late in arriving and the hunt was scrubbed.

“We’d certainly like to do something local, something close,” Fenton admitted. “I think that would lend incredibly to focusing on things in our own backyard.”

In the meantime, the folks at TruckVault and millions of others will sit back and watch the hunt unfold on Friday.

“We are nervous,” Fenton admitted, “but at the same time we are very excited about the opportunity.”

Vince Richardson can be reached at 360-416-2181 or by e-mail at