When Do Barbers Get a Break? In Wyoming, It’s During Hunting Season

On a warm October afternoon, Trujillo’s Barbershop in Cheyenne is alive with the sound of electric razors humming. 

A TV in the corner recaps the latest NFL news as clients wait along the wall for their turn to be seated for a cut. Rich Trujillo and his barbers will be busy for the next few hours, and that’s just the way they like it.

Trujillo has been in the business 25 years, as has his colleague Marcus Galizzi, who stands to his right working a pair of scissors. Throughout the year, Trujillo says, the shop normally gets steady business, partly because of its proximity to the Wyoming Capitol Building , which is visible from a shop window.

The start of the legislative session, says Trujillo, brings everyone from staffers to even former governors into his shop looking to freshen up their style.

Giving a haircut to the state’s top executive doesn’t intimidate Trujillo, he says.

“Their $30 pays the same as everyone else’s $30,” he says of Wyoming's governors.

Another barber, Glen Chavez, who is standing to Trujillo's left and using a comb to put the finishing touches on a client’s haircut, says he thinks he could cut Gov. Mark Gordon’s hair better than his current barber. 

Chavez says he has had dinner with both Gordon and his wife before.

“I give him stuff about [his haircut], I know where he goes,” Chavez says. “It looks like he just got out of bed.”

His client, an older gentleman, gave a hearty chuckle at the joke.

Trujillo’s shop stays busy like this through most of the year, except for when his male clients suddenly disappear. 

“It definitely slows down for hunting season,” Trujillo says while running a razor through a client’s hair. “From pretty much September all the way up until February.”

Several years ago, this was a major concern for his shop, but now Chavez says times have changed.

“Being a native of Wyoming, that’s very true,” Chavez says. “During hunting season, everything kind of comes to a halt.”

“Not everybody’s a hunter anymore,” he says. “We have seen downturns, but not like we have in the years past. This used to be a ghost town.”

Sometimes, the slow season offers a well-deserved break. Chavez says he sometimes takes his wife on trips to Denver, or flies to Philadelphia to catch a baseball game. Other times, they’ll take an early lunch or run errands. 

At the end of the hunting season, Trujillo says he sees his clients return with full beards and long hair. These cuts are often “not as fun.” 

“You get a little of that all the time,” Galizzi says. “For every easy one, there’s always a hard one. Not everyone’s a no. 2 (razor guard) all the way around.”

Some hunters say they need to be well-groomed or they can’t return home to their wives.

“We get bombarded,” Chavez says. “Literally, they look like mountain men. I had a guy today actually, he’s been gone a month, he says ‘in order for me to go home I have to be presentable to my wife.’”

When the hunters return, Chavez says, their business gives the barbershop a nice boost in profits.

“We have the holidays getting ready to come up and that comes in handy too,” he says.

Down The Street

Gilbert Lucas owns Lucas Cuts And Creations, a new barbershop just down the street from Trujillo’s.

The two shops’ proximity, he says, invites more friendship than it does competition. While he doesn’t see the season lull created by hunting season, Lucas says he notices a surge in demand for his services when the hunters return.

These cuts are what he considers “fun ones” because of the complete transformation his clients undergo while in the barber chair.

“When you shake them up and clean them up, like he does it every six months, and then you get that complete switch around… I love doing transformative situations because I like to say, I’m in the people industry,” he says.

Lusk

Jamie Traw of J’s Salon in Lusk says the only difference between her shop and a barbershop is that she doesn’t use a straight razor. That, however, doesn’t stop the male residents of Lusk from seeking her services all seven days of the week, she says.

Traw’s salon sits inside a motel, which she also runs, meaning she sees a wide range of different clients. While she doesn’t feel a lull during hunting season, she says she sees an increase in traffic when hunters return.

After relocating to Lusk from Fort Collins, Traw has learned how to spot a hunter who is long overdue for a haircut.

“I have hunters show up and you can tell they need haircuts,” she says. “I know hunters and they don’t cut their hair until after hunting season.”

These cuts, however, don’t bother her at all. She is glad to help anyone at any time, so long as they don’t mind her completing motel duties on the side.

“They just walk in and say, ‘Hey I want a haircut,’ and I could be cleaning at the moment, and I give them a haircut and off they go,” she says.

Gillette

Maranda Kline of Gillette-based shop Men’s Cuts By Maranda says many of her regular clients are hunters who disappear during hunting season. She has also been in the business for 25 years.

“It’s been that way since the beginning for me that during hunting season, and kind of leading up to hunting season a little bit because they’re doing the whole mountain man thing and they want to stay warm up there,” she says with a laugh.

She says she also takes advantage of these opportunities to travel to Denver or other locations throughout the west.

“It’s a good time for people to recoup a little bit,” she says. “I’ve always worked in high production shops so it’s kind of nice because you can gas up a little bit before the holidays because that’s always super busy.”

Once her hunting regulars return, Kline says she enjoys getting the chance to catch up and hear stories of their triumphs, or more often, defeats. One story which stands out in her memory involves a hunter who struck out year after year, only for his wife to take a kill on opening day.

“I like when they take their kids out and their kids get something,” she adds. “It’s a super positive experience and you can see the pride. That’s a big milestone in a young boy’s life.”

Jackson Walker can be reached at walker@cowboystatedaily.com.