How to Choose Gifts for Hunters

This Pro Tips gift guide is a great way to get gift ideas for hunters that can be extremely useful in the woods or marsh.

Small apparel items like a camouflage beanie, facemask, neck gaiter and hunting gloves make for a solid starting point. Throw in a pair of hunting socks and other baselayer apparel to keep your sportsman warm in the field.

PRO TIP: When purchasing anything camouflaged, be sure you are aware of your sportsman’s favorite hunting season. A waterfowl pattern is great for duck hunters, but will not fare well for turkey hunters or deer hunting. Try your best to match the pattern to the season with this guide.

When constructing this hunt-themed gift collage, the smaller, often forgotten extras should be at the top of your list. Look for a game drag, hand and foot warmers and camouflage face paint and trail markers. Rubber gloves for field dressing is a great gift to consider and won’t go unappreciated. Optics gear can also fit well into a stocking. Squeeze in a pair of binoculars (or a monocular) as well as a scope cover or cleaning cloth.

Other gear necessities that can make your sportsman’s festivities include a hunting knife and sharpening kit, pruning shears or a saw, and game-specific scents, lures and game calls (with added scent control spray). A gutting hook and “Butt Out” tool can be great luxury items to gift this season, as they’re useful tools but aren’t always carried by every outdoorsman.

If your hunter regularly uses a treestand in their pursuit of game, that opens you up to even more accessories to choose from. Utility straps, a safety harness or belt, screw-in steps and a treestand lock are very useful in the field and make for the perfect small-item gift, too.

While knives, gloves and hunting socks are tried-and-true hunting accessories, it can also be fun to add some tech to your sportsman’s gear bag. Items like a handheld GPS, two-way radios, rangefinders, and trail camera SD card holders/viewers might be your ticket to a successful gift exchange.

Of course, not all of a sportsman’s time will be spent on the trail, in the blind or on the stand. Shooting accessories make premier gifts for hunters because they will need to practice with their firearm at the range if they want to be successful in their game pursuit. Ear protection, shooting glasses, paper targets, bouncing targets and hand throwers can all be quality additions to your shopping list. Don’t forget to consider their firearm care and safety by adding a gun cleaning kit, cleaning swabs, gun plug and trigger locks as well.

As a final touch, you can always zest up your gift list with a jerky gun, seasoning injector (with the matching seasonings), camouflage thermos or tumbler, truck decals and other items.

While these accessories are great potential gifts for most hunters, if your sportsman has a specific interest, you can always tailor your list to match that game. Archers, for example, can be given items such as new broadheads, arrow nocks, a fletching kit, a new arrow rest or whisker biscuit, a new stabilizer, limb dampeners, plus a number of other archery-specific extras.

With so many pieces that can be added to a hunter’s equipment arsenal, the right gift for the sportsman on your list should be nothing short of an easy target. So, take aim with these Pro Tips gift ideas and hit the mark with your favorite hunter. 

Looking for more? Shop the full selection of gifts for hunters at DICK’S Sporting Goods.