As hunting seasons wind down in Louisiana, hunters might want to start saving up for ammunition for 2024-25.

Louisiana hunters, well, any hunter, might hold out his or her outstretched arms, palms up, and ask, “Whaaaaaa …?!?!?!?!?!?” Yeah. The price increase began Jan. 1, according to Vista Outdoor, a Minnesota-based firm that reports “an anticipated global shortage of gunpowder has created a need for increased ammunition prices” across the board.

Vista Outdoor sent a letter last month to customers citing new price hikes would begin on the first day of 2024, according to www.wealthofgeeks.com.

“Due to world events, our suppliers have notified us of unprecedented demand for and an anticipated global shortage of gunpowder, and this has increased our prices substantially. We must therefore raise our pricing to offset those increases,” Vista Outdoor President of Sales and Sporting Products Brett Nelson wrote in the letter.

Nelson shared a breakdown of companies that will hike prices this year, citing Speer, SEVI-Shot, Federal, CCI, Alliant Powder and Remington. Those price increases will be 1- to 7-percent on the following: shotshell, rifle, Hornady Magnum Rimfire and Winchester Magnum Rimfire bullets.

Vista Outdoor’s corporate overview boasts “41 renowned brands that design, manufacture and market sporting and outdoor products.”

And that isn’t all as far as price hikes. Handguns, .22-caliber long rifles and .22-caliber short cartridges will go up between 1 and 5 percent, with primers going up 5 percent, according to Vista Outdoor. The most significant price hike fell on Alliant Powder, which has a markup of 10-percent over last year.

The bad news for hunters doesn’t stop there. All “existing and future orders” will be affected by the new prices, according to the letter in December.

Why?

While Nelson didn’t talk about any conflicts in particular, the Ukrainian and Israel-Palestine conflicts have combined to push demand for ammunition higher than ever. Also, the necessity for gunpowder follows a steady rise in global prices over the decades, including a huge spike in demand making prices higher after the ‘rona virus supply disruption of 2021.

Vista Outdoor pledged a 1 million round donation to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in 2022, according to Wealth of Geeks.

“The war in Ukraine has displaced millions of citizens and exposed average people to the horrors of war. Supporting the relief effort is a crucial element of the global response and we are proud to do our part,” wrote Jason Vanderbrink, president of Remington, CCI, Speer and Federal Ammunition.

And there you have it. A war on another continent, one that has caused so much internal debate in this country, is dictating domestic prices.

Wealth of Geeks, which also delves into travel, auto, lifestyle and sports, reported Federal, Speer and Remington have had a longstanding relationship with Ukraine’s military forces. The companies used their resources to donate the ammo as well as implement a T-shirt drive to raise money for Ukrainian refugees.

Will the price increase for ammunition be short-lived? That’s up in the air, particularly considering there’s a crisis brewing in the Middle East.

That could be bad news in the future for amateur weapons owners and retailers.

DON SHOOPMAN is outdoors editor of The Daily Iberian.