Revenue at Cabela's has risen by more than 78 percent, from $1.2 billion in 2002 to $2.18 billion on June 30, according to Capitaliq.com. Profit rose by nearly 85 percent, from nearly $47 million to about $87 million in the same period.

"They're doing very well," Leckow said. "Cabela's had a strong catalog operation for a long time. Their objective now is to build destination-entertainment locations."

Based in Sidney, Neb., Cabela's is tentatively planning a second New England store next year in Scarborough, Maine.

Scarborough is 25 miles from Freeport, the home of L.L. Bean, but a major competitor of Cabela's is Bass Pro Shops, which is opening a store in Foxborough, Mass., in November.

Like Cabela's, more than half of Bass Pro's customers come from more than 100 miles, Bass Pro spokesman Larry L. Whiteley said.

"The average stay is four hours. Many will stay all day long," he said. "Our stores are like natural history museums."

As much as 37 percent of a Bass Pro store is dedicated to nonretail attractions, such as aquariums, waterfalls, dioramas and murals, Whiteley said.

Shoppers at Cabela's can find clothing and other items purchased at department stores, but they're never far from hunting equipment and ancillary merchandise. For sale are camouflage clothes, meat processing machines for hunters, shotguns, ammunition, fishing rods, laser range finders and animal practice targets showing vital organs where hunters can aim.

And Cabela's also sports a "gun library" with antique guns that can sell for as much as $25,999.

"Our demographic is the person who enjoys the outdoors," Boldrick said.

Coppola and Guimond, ready to fetch their Winnebago and bring it to Cabela's, said they enjoy fishing and camping more than hunting. But at the Cabela's in Hamburg, Pa., their favorite activity was shopping.

"It was definitely an all-day event," Coppola said.