Art Lander’s Outdoors: Last minute gift ideas for the anglers, hunters and target shooters on your list
• For the angler, a pair of boat shoes, ideal for fishing and casual wear.
Head to the nearest Bass Pro Shop/Cabela’s and pick up a pair of World Wide Sportsman Men’s Blue Water Boat Shoes.
MSRP is $79.99.
These comfortable, sturdy, lace-up boat shoes were created with the input and insight of some of the world’s most accomplished anglers.
They are specifically designed to enhance performance, such as exclusive nonslip, rubber outsoles with flex grooves for sure-footing. Made of nubuck leather and mesh, the uppers of these shoes are foam-padded, have sturdy lacing for a secure fit, and the footbeds have removable odor-fighting inserts.
Available in men’s sizes: 7 to 13 medium width, and 9 to 14 wide width, with half sizes to 12, in dark brown and tan.
• Another option for the angler is a tackle bag, handy for organizing, storing and transporting fishing lures, line, pliers, hooks, sinkers and other terminal tackle.
The Cabela’s Fisherman Series Tackle Bag is on sale now for $44.97.
This versatile tackle bag, which can be carried using an adjustable shoulder strap or padded wrap-around handle, includes six model # 3700 utility boxes
There are seven external zippered pockets for gear and two tool holders.
Made of polyester fabric, the bag is 14 1/2 inches high, 17 inches wide and 12 inches deep.
• For the waterfowl hunter, birdwatcher, photographer or wildlife enthusiast buy them a federal “duck” stamp, as a way to show support for wildlife and wetland conservation in the U.S.
The Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, first printed and sold in 1934, is one of the most successful conservation tools ever created to protect habitat for birds and other wildlife.
Produced annually by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and sold at sporting goods stores and most U.S. Post Offices for $25, the revenue generated goes directly to help protect wetlands and associated habitats through land acquisition, lease and conservation easements.
The habitat acquired with duck stamp dollars becomes part of the National Wildlife Refuge System, a network of lands and waters set aside specifically for wildlife conservation, such as the newly-established Green River NWR, near Henderson.
For more information visit www.fws.gov
• For the target shooter, plinker and handgun enthusiast, the new Glock 44, chambered for the .22 Long Rifle cartridge.
You’ll have to order this handgun now from your local firearms dealer, and take delivery after January 20, the release date of this new handgun. The MSRP is $430.
The Glock 44 is chambered for the world’s most popular cartridge, the .22 Long Rifle, a low recoil, rimfire cartridge developed more than 130 years ago.
This compact, semi-automatic handgun will be fun to shoot and ideal for paper target shooting and casual plinking, shooting aluminum cans and plastic bottles filled with water.
It will also be a good training tool, to teach youth and new shooters about gun safety and how to shoot handguns accurately, so that they can someday move up to centerfire handguns.
The Glock 44 has a 4.02-inch barrel, an overall length of 7.28 inches and weighs 16.40 ounces with a loaded 10-round magazine.
For more information visit plink44.com
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.
