With only three weeks left until Christmas, the toughest folks to buy gifts for are sportsmen and sportswomen.
Aside from outerwear and underwear, here are some practical gift suggestions that are priced under $100.
* PGC Wildlife Calendar: This $8.95 full color calendar offers dramatic wildlife photography and includes hunting dates, agency information and room to jot reminder notes by each date. They can be purchased online (www.pgc.state.pa.us) or at any PGC regional office or Harrisburg headquarters.
* Multi-Year Fishing License: New for 2013 is a three or five-year Pennsylvania fishing license. With either comes a free online subscription to PA Angler/Boater magazine, discount coupons for sporting goods stores and some savings from having to pay the yearly agent processing fees. Check www.pawildlifelicense.com) for more information.
* 2013 Gun Digest: The inch-and-a-quarter thick, 558 page, 67th edition soft cover book features an extensively illustrated, detailed firearms catalog with new product reports, feature articles and color photos of practically every modern long and short gun made, plus ammo ballistics. It’s been billed as he World’s Greatest Gun Book, and it is the most comprehensive on the market. To order call 800-258-0929 or online at www.gundigeststore.com.
* American Gunsmithing Institute: Offers DVD instructions on dismantling and repairing almost every gun made. It’s one thing to read a do-it-yourself manual, but actually seeing how it’s done via a video DVD is 100 times better. I have an old Remington 1100 shotgun that I haven’t used in years and to be honest, I forgot how to break it down to clean it as I lost the instructions. A DVD like this would be invaluable. Check www.americangunsmith.com for ordering information.
* Ameristep Tent Blind: This compact, versatile and highly portable tent blind can be used for a variety of hunting pursuits including wildlife photography. What’s neat about it, is that it incorporates its own folding chair. This eliminates having to carry a blind, a seat plus a weapon. And it offers quick set up. Merely unfold the chair, sit in it then pull both sides of the attached blind around you where it’s clasped shut. By taking baby steps, the blind can be moved while in it. There are five zipped viewing windows with a two-size front window that can be opened to its largest opening or zipped where there’s a smaller zipped gun port (camera port) window within it. The One-Man (there’s also a Two Man) Tent Blind weighs a mere 10.5 pounds and when open measures a compact 54 inches high, 34 wide and 45 deep. It packs down to 15x36 inches in a backpack style nylon bag. For more info check www.ameristep.com, or see it at Cabela’s in Hamburg.
* Fishing gear: BERKLEY has added some enticing new lures to their vast arsenal for bass and walleye fishing. Their new Flicker Shad crankbait is designed, says Berkley, to excite walleye and bass with its unique, tank tested action. Their new 9mm Flicker Shad imitates fleeing baitfish and can dive to 16-feet. Plus it can be trolled without the use of downriggers. A handy card is included to help the angler choose the correct dive curve by simply changing lines. It retails for $5.99.
Berkley’s new 3-inch Twitchtail minnow is also bass and walleye rated and its new tail design reportedly moves with little to no current. Twitchtail is impregnated with PowerBait formula for fish attracting, holding ability.
Two new lines have also debuted from Berkley. Their Trilene XT (Extra Tough) mono is designed to be fished through the slop, along rock piles and down jetties without fear of abrasion and with better knot strength. Their new XL Smooth Casting is a universal line for any fishing technique with 10 percent improvement in strength, 20 percent better flexibility and 20 percent better knot strength. Introduced in 1972, Trilene XL is probably the most popular fishing mono on the market.
RAPALA needs no introduction as their crankbaits have been the benchmark for plugs for years. New for 2013 are their 2-inch extreme action countdown X-Rap that has a swim depth of from 2-4 feet; their 2.75-inch DT-Flat dives to seven feet and their 2.5-inch DT Thug has a swim depth of from 4-8 feet.
Rapala also makes plastic worms that are marketed under the Trigger brand. Their new Hodad, 3-inch worm has four tentacles that Rapala says, “trigger the bite.” Then there’s their 5.5-inch floating Probeworm that is embedded with pheromones. The worm tapers from four-eights to one-eight of an inch in width for snake-like action.
WAVESPIN Reels: What angler can’t use another reel. But not just any reel. WaveSpin reels are tangle-free and are being offered at half-off as a holiday special. If you recall a previous column on WaveSpin, their reels have been dubbed by Outdoor Life, Field & Stream and FLW Outdoors magazines as the first significant improvement in salt and freshwater spinning reel design in 50 years. It’s virtually impossible for the line to bird nest during a cast. They are warranted for two years and will refund the purchase price if not satisfied. Their holiday price for a DH3000 is $37.47 while the DH4000 is priced at $41.63. They too can be seen at Cabela’s in Hamburg. For more info check www.WaveSpinReel.com.
All of these fishing products would make inexpensive stocking stuffers that would be greatly appreciated by any sportsman or sportsgal.
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