Is there an angler or hunter on your holiday shopping list? New gear is always an appreciated gift.
Here’s some items they would like to find under the tree on Christmas morning:
* For the bass angler who likes to fish with spinnerbaits, buzzbaits and chatterbaits, a Plano (model # 461300) Guide Series Blade Bag. Keeps up to 64 blade baits organized in this tan/brown, compact storage binder, that measures 13 inches high, by 10 3/4 inches wide and 2-1/2 inches deep, with a sturdy, sewn in handle.
Includes eight worm-proof, zip-seal, clear PVC pages (two pockets per page) with non-corrosive vinyl grommets. The inner walls have six pockets to hold extra blades, skirts, hooks, trailers and terminal tackle.
Cost is $ 24.99 at Bass Pro Shops.
* For the wild turkey hunter, and early season bow hunter for deer, the Arcane ground blind in the Realtree Xtra camouflage pattern. New for 2016, and made by Ameristep, it’s been called “one big ghillie suit you can sit in.”
That’s because the three front walls are constructed of see-through HD mesh covered with Ameristep’s Edge-ReLeaf three-dimensional camouflage. The leafy exterior enables the blind to blend into any fencerow or woods edge, with very little, if any, brushing in with branches.
The mesh walls offer excellent concealment, better visibility of approaching game, and breathability, which hunters will appreciate on a warm spring, or early fall day.
The solid fabric roof keeps hunters dry when it’s raining, and is also covered with the Edge-ReLeaf.
The back wall, with zippered entry, is solid camouflage fabric with a black Shadow Guard inner liner that blocks the hunter’s silhouette.
When hunting in the mornings, I like to set up the blind so that the back wall is facing to the east. That way it blocks the bright light from the rising sun, and I am sitting in the shadows, inside the blind.
The leafy camouflage is incredibly effective. I had adult gobblers within five yards of the blind this fall, without spooking them.
The Ameristep Arcane ground blind is easy to set up, too. It weighs just 17 pounds, and comes with a carrying case, stakes and tie-down rope.
The three “front” walls have inverted D-shaped windows, that open with hooks, not noisy zippers or velcro. Vertical windows on the corners open with Ameristep’s Silent Slide Window Track System.
There’s plenty of room to draw a bow, or for two hunters to sit side-by-side. The blind is 75 inches wide and 67 inches high.
There’s a lot to like about this hub-style blind, that has a MSRP of $199. Visit their website here.
* For the novice fly caster, the gift that keeps on giving — a Scientific Anglers Deluxe Fly Tying Kit, with all the tools to get started, plus an instructional DVD.
There is no greater feeling than catching a fish on a fly you tied yourself.
This fly tying kit has an MSRP of $65.00, and includes everything needed to create effective dry flies, wet flies, nymphs and streamers. Here’s the link.
You get a fly-tying vise, bobbin and threader, bodkin, hackle pliers and scissors, hooks, thread, tinsel, wire, dubbing, hackle feathers and marabou, in a hard plastic, foam-lined travel case.
Fly tying is fun, and like many outdoor pursuits, can be as expensive as you want it to be.
Fly tying materials are available everywhere, for little or nothing, if you are a hunter, or know a hunter — deer and squirrel tails, waterfowl and migratory bird feathers, chicken feathers and marabou from the neighbor’s flock of hens, dog fur, even dryer lint, can be used to handcraft flies that will catch trout, and warm water panfish like bluegill, crappie and bass.
* For the deer hunter, an Ol’Man Multivision climbing treestand, a safe, solidly built, comfortable treestand that can be easily configured for both archery and firearms hunting, with its reversible gun rest/foot rest.
The steel version of this treestand weighs 29 pounds and has an MSRP of $179.99. The Alumalite CTS, an all-aluminum version, weighs 21 pounds and has an MSRP of $279.99. Here’s a link to their website.
Both treestands have a 21 inch wide net seat, and 18 inch by 32 inch standing platform. The hunter weight limit is 300 pounds.
It does not take great strength or agility to ascend or descend a tree. Anyone who can stand up and sit down, can use this climber.
One of the quietest treestands on the market, the Ol’Man Multivision has been one of the best-selling climbing treestands for decades.
Art Lander Jr. is outdoors editor for KyForward. He is a native Kentuckian, a graduate of Western Kentucky University and a life-long hunter, angler, gardener and nature enthusiast. He has worked as a newspaper columnist, magazine journalist and author and is a former staff writer for Kentucky Afield Magazine, editor of the annual Kentucky Hunting & Trapping Guide and Kentucky Spring Hunting Guide, and co-writer of the Kentucky Afield Outdoors newspaper column.
