Sportsmen love their toys. Of course, they prefer to consider these toys as indispensable tools for the outdoors. Sometimes the best gift one can give an outdoorsman is a tool or device that he might not either think to buy for himself or feel comfortable buying.

For example, my mother-in-law always had an uncanny knack for finding useful and unusual tool-like gifts. One Christmas long ago, she gave me a camping knife set. A nifty deal, this is a set of different blades that attach to a common handle. It all wraps up into a compact package and in it are a bread knife, a filleting knife, a carving knife and so forth. To this day, I treasure it, and whenever it’s used while camping, I can’t help but be reminded of her thoughtfulness and flair for creative gift giving.

For that favorite sportsman or sportswoman on your Christmas list, here are some gift ideas that may come in handy as the clock ticks down to Dec. 25.

Lifetime hunting/fishing license

A lifetime license to hunt and fish is a gift that lasts forever, even if you move. A lifetime license is more expensive than a regular license, but the return on that investment is much greater.

One-year combination hunting/fishing license.

These are available Online (www.mefishwildlife.com) at all town offices, Rite Aid stores and most outdoor shops. If you are purchasing a combination or hunting license for someone, make sure you bring that person’s old license or proof of completion of a hunter safety course to where you purchase your license. License agents need that documentation to issue a new license.

Outdoor books

Maine Outdoor Publications offers a diverse line of outdoor books that are informative, interesting, useful and reasonably priced – wonderful Christmas gifts for any sportsman! Included among these are: “Maine Deer Hunter’s Logbook,” $14.95; “Fly Fishing Maine Rivers, Brooks and Streams,” $19.95; “Huntin’ and Fishin’ With the Ole Man,” $19.95; “Hunting Top End Bucks,” $39.95; and, hot off the press, “Coyote Wars – A Deer Hunter’s Guide to Hunting Coyotes,” $19.95. To order any of these books, send a check for the above amount, which covers postage and handling, to: Maine Outdoor Publications, 300 Sawyer Road, Hampden, Maine 04444. For more detailed information about these books, Maine Outdoor Publications has a website: www.maineoutdoorpublications.net

Other gift ideas

Quality boot grease

Quality outdoor thermos (available in camo)

Hudson Bay axe (look for the Snow & Neally label)

Hunting Hot Seat (fabric type best – no plastic)

Quality Long Underwear (old ones lose their insulating value with use)

Good rain suit

Box of trout flies (Top six are Adams, Hornberg, Blue Dunn, Elk Hair Caddis, Grasshopper, Royal Coachman)

DeLorme’s New Book of Maine Fishing Depth Maps ($19.95)

If you’re really feeling flush, here are some big-ticket items:

Black powder rifle (muzzle-loader)

Power Ice Auger

GPS

Game camera

Portable ice shack

Hunter’s Popup Tent Blind

Finally, some stocking stuffers: super-compact Tony’s Knife Sharpener (available in Maine from Maine Outdoor Publications for $17.95, telephone 862-2160) gift certificates, hand-warmers, fishing lures, tippet material, fly dope, ammunition, WD-40, Leatherman, compass, a year’s subscription to the Northwoods Sporting Journal (732-4880 or www.sportingjournal.com), duct tape, wool socks, or foot warmers. If you’re gift buying for a trapper or an ice fisherman, drop a can or two of Dick Pinney’s Hard Core Hand Care. This stuff works miracles with dry and chapped hands and skin. More information is available by emailing Dick himself at: [email protected]. 

Merry Christmas and may all your outdoor dreams come true.

The author is editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal. He is also a Maine Guide, co-host of a weekly radio program “Maine Outdoors” heard Sundays at 7 p.m. on The Voice of Maine News-Talk Network (WVOM-FM 103.9, WQVM-FM 101.3) and former information officer for the Maine Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. His e-mail address is [email protected] and his new book is “A Maine Deer Hunter’s Logbook.”