Tag Archives: Hunting Gear

It’s Back! 2017 AHT Holiday Gift Guide

It’s back! After a couple few year hiatus, the ever-popular AHuntersTales Holiday Gift Guide has returned.

The focus of the 2017 edition will be on value purchases! Whereas, the products selected to be in the gift guide have practical value that exceeds the asking price.

Without further ado, let’s get to it.

Ridge Hunter Windproof Vest
It’s missing the big brand name associated with hunting clothes, but this vest was a mainstay for me on a recent elk hunt in Colorado. )It’s currently on sale at Bass Pro Shops for $24.97, which is a steal for something that I would put against the Ridge Runnerbig-name hunting vests on the market. I’m not joking. I found the vest did it’s advertised job of cutting wind perfectly. Ridge Hunter also makes pants and hoodies out of the same material.

 

 

The All-in-One Processing Kit
I’ve had my Outdoor Edge Game Processor Kit (12 pc.) for many years. In fact, it was a gift my late father bought for me more than a decade ago. He had purchased one for each of us and I can assure you mine has gone to remarkable use. The difference, though, is the price 10 years later is more than 25% off the original price he paid!Outdoor Edge

You can find this kit for right at $50 from several outdoor retailers. I think my favorite part of the kit is having every piece together. When it’s time to butcher a deer, or clean ducks, it’s as simple as grabbing my green kit and getting after it! Mine still has a sentimental piece of green masking tape where my dad wrote my name on it – a fun memento for see each time I use it!

A Hunter Never Has Too Many Pairs of Boots
If you’ve never stepped foot in a Muck rubber boot, then you’re missing out on cMucksomfort. I have several pair. The Fieldblazer model, which is a great summer / early season boot for an outdoorsman, is available from a number of retailers for under $80. In fact, Cabela’s currently has it for $79.99. That’s a great price for a well-made, comfortable rubber boot.

Shoot, Reload, Repeat
RCBS had a similar rebate available all year, but if you’re looking to spend a bit more on your shooting enthusiast this holiday, the time-tested and ever-popular Rock Chucker Supreme reloading kit currently comes with a holiday rebate on top of the sale price of $269.99 (Cabela’s).

RCBSOnce complete of all rebates and sales, you can end up getting an all-in-one kit for under $250. That’s a solid value in a time when you can make that back very quickly with the prices of ammunition. Does your shooter already have a reloader? Ask if there are any die sets he or she is missing that would be a fine addition. Those oftentimes meet a lighter price range for shoppers (around $50).

What? I can’t hear you!
I’ve become a major proponent of hearing safety – then again, several ear surgeries (including a full mastoidectomy) will help instill the importance of hearing to you very quickly.

WalkerI have ear plugs everywhere! I carry the cheap foam ear plugs in my work bag and my shooting bag has two pair of fitted ear molds. I also recently picked up a pair of electronic earmuffs and think they’re worth every bit of their price. Walker’s Razor Slim ear muffs are on sale this holiday season for roughly $45. That’s a value price for a quality pair of earmuffs.

The Ol’ “Any Chance You Can Help Me Drag ‘Em” Call!
I’m getting older. Those deer drags are not as kind as they used to be. It’s time to consider a deer cart! It might be time for one for your hunting enthusiast too.

After spending four hours quartering an elk and getting the sacred quarters just to where we could get a four-wheeler, I have a new appreciation for getting game out of the woods.Deer Cart

The Sportsman’s Guide has several at very reasonable pricing (under $70 with a 500 lb. capacity. That should be plenty for helping get any midwestern whitetail out of the woods.

The boys over at The Hunting Public have joked that their cart will need new tires after this season. That’s not a bad problem to have!

Past Gift Guides HERE!!!!

Feel free to check out Gift Guides of the past by clicking here! Who knows, maybe it will spur other gift ideas.


Realtree takes AP beyond its patterns and onto the Internet

The Internet makes life a lot easier for outdoorsmen to keep up with their favorite pastime – especially during the off season! I recently stumbled upon Realtree’s new website and was impressed with something so many sites are missing these days. Realtree had simplified the navigation of www.realtree.com!

Realtree is a camo company with a backbone in the fact it licenses its patterns to manufacturers for use on their products.

Realtree's new site is AP

Along with Mossy Oak, the company is at the top of the food chain in the camo industry. And their business model is one that continues to fascinate me. It’s very similar in principle to the model that made Coca-Cola one of the largest and most recognizable companies globally.

Click here for the rest


Evolution of a late adapter

To understand my father’s hesitant introduction to technology, imagine no further than that maddened feeling that haunts so many Americans each April 14 as they’re dropping an envelope in the mail with “Internal Revenue Service” written in Sharpie on the front.

Ultimately, those folks know they have to bite the bullet. But that doesn’t mean they’re going to do it minus a little kicking and screaming.

I imagine most baby boomers feel the same about all of the technology that inflicts change on things they’ve been doing all their lives. My father has a computer and even has it connected to the World Wide Web. He’s been known to grudgingly flip a few e-mails to my brothers and I scattered around the South. But technology might have finally found a fan in my father.

We now have digital trail cameras dispersed all around our property, each doing their part to set the landscape for what animals are roaming our ground. Over the course of the past six years (starting with 35mm film and graduating to digital), we have had almost as much fun getting amazing shots of deer, bear, coyote, turkeys and fox as we have actually hunting.

Coyote

A Coyote makes its way past a trail cam near my house

Someone asked me recently what the greatest piece of gear invented for hunting was. Without thinking too long, I answered the trail camera – especially since the technology has become affordable to the weekend warrior hunters (like I consider myself).

I’d love to tell you that my father has evolved into a Geek Squad-worthy adopter of technology. We’re not quite there yet! He recently let me know that he didn’t like messing with having to take all the photos off the SD cards, so he thinks it’s easier to just buy a new SD card and replace them!

Baby steps, after all. Baby steps.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? What has been the greatest gear invention for common hunters to date? Add your thoughts to the comments.