Kentucky Afield Outdoors: Last Minute Gift Ideas For The Outdoors Enthusiast
Frankfort, Kentucky – -(AmmoLand.com)- If you are like a lot of us, you haven’t bought a single Christmas gift yet. Don’t despair. Many last minute gifts exist for the procrastinator who needs a present for an outdoors enthusiast.
A rangefinder is one of those gifts that you hate to spend the money on for yourself, but would consider it one of the best gifts ever. Deer and elk hunters will find a rangefinder a useful tool for sighting in their rifles or determining shot distance. Reloading enthusiasts testing a new bullet and powder grain combination find a rangefinder handy.
Basic rangefinders start around $150, and rise in price to nearly $1,000. Some models combine high-end binoculars with a rangefinder and cost a couple of thousand dollars.
Waterfowl hunters walking to a blind, pit or pond bank in the pre-dawn darkness or night anglers needing to retie their lure will find a hat clip light indispensable. Hat clip lights are about the size of a silver dollar and attach to the bill of your cap or other hat. The best ones have both a red light and a white light. A red light does not impact a human’s night vision, but a white light will make the eyes recalibrate and lose night vision for another 30 to 45 minutes. Using a red light to tie a knot, consult a map or walk to a deer stand or waterfowl blind in the darkness doesn’t impact night vision. A good one costs just $10 or so.
A GPS unit is invaluable for hunters and anglers. You can mark tree stand sites, waterfowl blinds or pits, deer bedding areas or underwater brush piles with a GPS unit and return to the exact spot later. They also keep a hunter walking out of the woods after dark or an angler returning to the ramp in the middle of the night from getting lost. The price of GPS units has fallen dramatically in the last couple of years.
A great stocking stuffer is located in the middle fold of Kentucky Afield magazine. It is a subscription envelope. One year costs $10 and two years is $18. With a one-year subscription, you get four issues of the nationally award-winning magazine and the popular Kentucky Afield calendar. The calendar alone sells for $10.
A Sportsman’s License, available to Kentucky residents only, is a gift that any angler or hunter will appreciate, but is especially beneficial for the serious outdoors person who hunts and fishes. With the Sportsman’s License, the gift receiver gets a combination annual hunting and fishing license, trout permit, spring and fall turkey permits, statewide deer permit and a Kentucky waterfowl permit, which also includes doves and other migratory bird hunting. That is a savings of $50 over buying them separately.
An annual resident hunting and fishing combination license is also a good gift. They cost $30, a savings of $10 over buying each separately. There aren’t many hunters or anglers who would object to receiving one as a gift. It is a useful, appreciated gift, unlike a tie or a new robe.
Also, log on to fw.ky.gov on the Internet and click on the “Kentucky Afield Store” box. Many nice stockings stuffers are available for under $20 such as “Kentucky Afield” television’s deer processing video, which makes the transition from field to freezer for your venison much easier. Also, several Kentucky Afield logo hats are available as well as the award-winning 2009 Kentucky Afield Calendar.
These gifts should warm the heart of any hunter or angler on your Christmas list. The Sportsman’s License and other licenses are available by calling 1-877-598-2401 or on the Internet at fw.ky.gov.
Author Lee McClellan is an award-winning associate editor for Kentucky Afield magazine, the official publication of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. He is a life-long hunter and angler, with a passion for smallmouth bass fishing.
About:
The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources manages, regulates, enforces and promotes responsible use of all fish and wildlife species, their habitats, public wildlife areas and waterways for the benefit of those resources and for public enjoyment. Kentucky Fish and Wildlife, an agency of the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet, has an economic impact to the state of $4.5 billion annually. For more information on the department, visit our web site at fw.ky.gov.
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