Xmas Column

[Pete Heley]

LAST MINUTE OR BELATED OUTDOORSY XMAS GIFTS
FISHING, HUNTING or SHELLFISH LICENSES - These are great gifts and if they are bought prior to January 1st, they are at their most valuable since they will cover all of 2012. The prices are the same as last year and they can be purchased without the the intended recipient being present as long as you know the exact name they are in the system under and their correct birthdate. One can also sneak down to the license -issuing retailer with a copy of their old license to scan. Of course, if the intended recipient tries to purchase their license and find out that their only option is to purchase a duplicate, the element of surprise is gone. If it is an either/or situation, most fishing licenses are used earlier in the year than are hunting licenses.

SUBSCRIPTION to an OUTDOOR MAGAZINE - Although such a gift might not have the initial impact of the usual Xmas gift, it will provide pleasure for the entire length of the subsciption. There are lots of good magazines, but my favorite is “The In-Fisherman” which is loaded with very exact fishing information and techniques. However there are numerous other good choices, one of which may more closely match the intended recipients outdoor interests. Also, a magazine subscription is a wonderful gift for your local library. Many branch libraries have to jump through a few “hoops” regarding donated magazine subscriptions or books and one should make sure that the intended subscription is of interest to a large number of people.

GIFTS FOR YOUNG CHILDREN - A child-sized fishing outfit is a wonderful gift for a young child - unless they already have one. Combining the gift with an early season, yet comfortable, fishing trip makes the gift even more wonderful. Please don’t forget the short attention span of young children when showing them how to use you present. This gift is actually easier to pull off as a birthday present for young children with non-winter birthdays as a panfish trip would be the perfect way to cap off the present-giving.

FISHING or HUNTING ELECTRONICS - Improvements in outdoor-related electronics make them a rather safe, although possibly quite expensive, Xmas gift. Even if the intended gift recipient already has some fishing or hunting electronics, the pace of improvements in outdoor-related electronics almost guarantees that your gift will supercede anthing they already own. The variety of such electronics is considerable and should require some serious research on the part of the “gift buyer”.