Behind a gun counter in Georgetown stands a man with a well-groomed beard and a mild sunburn, each serving as credentials whenever he faces his outdoor-dwelling clientele.
Stone walls blend seamlessly with taxidermy and Texas heritage, while handcrafted fixtures house high-grade shotguns and premium apparel. Personal touches paint a picture of authenticity while subtly telling Cody Hirt’s story for him.
River and Ranch Provisions isn’t just the manifestation of a dream, but a receipt of every envisioned detail down to the Blanton’s horse that sits atop each free-standing clothing rack.
“The moment we walked through this door right here, it was just four bare walls,” Hirt said, pointing to the original drawings his children helped color in with crayons. “But as soon as I saw it, I knew exactly what it was going to be.”
However, only locals would know the hunting and fishing store (opened April 2022) is the third establishment Hirt has opened on that same downtown square since 2016.
After working in corporate aircraft sales for 17 years, the West Texas native pivoted in a direction that allowed him to intertwine his career and his passions. He started with Mesquite Creek Outfitters, a retail store that featured a craft beer bar and a wine bar in the front, and later opened The Golden Rule, a restaurant and bourbon bar.
“We’d been wanting to do a gun store for four or five years down here,” he said. “We were just waiting for the right opportunity.”
Carefully scattered across the store are mementos of Hirt’s journey, such as the mantle that came from a mature tree that fell during the ice storm that plagued central Texas in 2022, or the world-record white bison mount casually looming in the southeast corner.
Top-shelf firearm brands like Fausti, Beretta, Franchi and Browning grace the gun rack, accompanying one another like gentlemen — an atmosphere Hirt was determined to capture.
“We wanted those heirloom pieces that you want to pass down from generation to generation,” he said. “While Academy and Bass Pro Shops are great for getting the things you need, we wanted to be the next step up. We wanted this to become a destination.”
Each of Hirt’s Georgetown staples feel connected to one another via rugged, American themes: beer, bourbon and freedom. But if you asked Hirt himself, he’ll tell you the connection is the community he chose to call home for the last 20 years.
“We’ve been here since ’03 and have just fallen in love with Georgetown,” he said. “It’s a community made of people that are very similar to where I was raised — people that support you, want to help you, care about you. I’ve lived all over Texas and I’ve never seen that type of community anywhere except in the farming community I was raised in and, of course, Georgetown.”
