2016 Holiday Gift Guide Part One

Sportsman’s Warehouse Gift Certificate
Known nationwide as the outdoor recreation retailer for all your apparel, footwear, equipment and accessory needs, Sportsman’s Warehouse offers a conveniently located Anchorage store, perfect for a quick holiday shopping stop-in. Regardless of your passion—fishing, hunting, camping, eco-trekking; all the above—you can bet they have what you need here, but if you’re not sure what to choose for that outdoor-loving friend or family member, pick up a gift certificate and be certain you’ve given the hit gift of the year.

Nightforce SHV 3-10X42 Riflescope
The SHV series of scopes from Nightforce is putting high-end performance in hunters’ hands, and for Alaska hunters wanted value and performance in a smaller package, we recommend the 3-10×42. The 3-10x magnification range and 42mm objective provide for a practical solution to a wide range of applications from target shooting to big-game and varmint hunting, and the SHV is offered with a choice of either the IHR (International Hunting Reticle) or the intelligent MOAR reticle.

Kenetrek Hard Scrabble Hiker
We sent a pair of these into the field with one of our hardworking product testers, and he still doesn’t want to take them off! Of the many highlights, he said they provide great support, are comfortable to wear and are well-suited for rugged terrain. The 7-inch tall boot features a thick 2.8 mm full-grain leather upper with a heavily-padded collar to provide solid support with exceptional comfort. The outsoles provide incredible traction, while the stiff midsoles help with stability and reduce the chance of slipping in difficult conditions. The boots integrate a Windtex membrane, as well, which assures that your feet will stay dry.

Caddis Durabreathable Hybrid Wader
Built for harsh weather in tough conditions, these waders are just what the Alaska waterfowler has been looking for. The bottoms are constructed from 5mm DuraStretch neoprene with reinforced knees and feature two large cargo pockets on the hips, while the tops are a super-duty polyester material with CaddisDry breathable technology, ideal for hiking and moving about while hunting. These hybrid waders are super tough but still soft and comfortable. They come with an easy-access ammo pocket with shell loops, a lined hand-warmer front pocket and soft shoulder suspenders. Max-4 camo and built-in 1,200-gram Thinsulate boots make them the perfect all-around wader for float hunting and more.

Frontier Safety Field Training Classes
At Frontier Safety and Supply they know first-hand the importance of safety in the bush, as these Alaskans are outdoor enthusiasts themselves. Beyond offering just safety supplies and kits, they also offer top-notch, certified Wilderness First Aid Training. They can cater the class to meet your needs, including an emphasis on topics that are most relevant to you. Don’t be caught without the right information and training just when you need it most – sign yourself, your loved one, or better yet, both, up for a class today.

HEVI-Shot HEVI-Steel
If you hunt birds in Alaska, your ethics demand you aim for more straight kills and fewer crippled birds, and to help in that endeavor, here is the first all-steel shotshell from HEVI-Shot. HEVI-Steel brings more speed for increased knockdown power, as well as clean-burning powder, precision manufactured premium steel shot and loads to Environ-Metal Inc.’s exacting loading standards. HEVI-Shot has expanded their offerings with a 10-gauge addition to the line as well.

Full Curl Bow Mathews Halon Bow
Located in Anchorage, Full Curl Archery is Alaska’s Premier Archery Pro Shop, and the locally-owned family business specializes in one thing… archery! Full Curl Archery offers a quality product, competitive pricing and excellent customer service, and their huge selection of compound bows includes the Mathews Halon bow. Hunt Alaska Contributing Editor Lon Lauber is currently using the Mathews Halon bow. It’s super fast, really quiet, has almost no hand shock and is really solid at full draw. It has both speed and accuracy, which don’t always go hand-in-hand. It’s everything a serious bowhunter wants in a compound bow.

Kryptek Koldo Rain Set-Highlander
Rugged, waterproof, windproof and lightweight, the Koldo rain system is the perfect combination of technology and durability, promising season after season of constant use and abuse without failure. We were thoroughly impressed when using this rain gear on fishing and hunting trips throughout Alaska, appreciating the many features built into the system, as well as the full-length thigh zippers that make it easy to put the pants on and off while wearing boots. The Highlander camo pattern is radical and blends in extremely well with varied terrain, including the Arctic tundra.

Some people are notoriously hard to buy gifts for, and a lot of them are intrepid adventurers often disappearing into the Alaska wilderness to hunt, fish, camp, float and trek for days and weeks at a time. These people know the quality necessary when considering gear for the Great Land, and they refuse tocompromise.

Just like us.

So take the questions out of gift-buying for your outdoors-loving friend or family member this year.Below you’ll find a list of those necessary and downright handy items that grace our staff’s various wish-lists this year. Someone on our staff either owns or has used and approved every single item here, and we stand behind the quality presented. Pick one or all; then sit back and prepare to be celebrated for choosing the perfect gift.

Alaska Hearing & Tinnitus Center
Westone Hearing Protection
Sounds that are louder than 85 decibels can cause permanent hearing loss, and a firearm discharging can produce a sound as loud as 140 dB or more. While we all love to hunt and shoot our favorite rifles, it’s not worth the risk of permanent hearing loss. Enter Dr. Emily McMahan, currently the only Alaska Audiology Specialist whose clinic provides full-service Tinnitus diagnoses and management. Stop by their Anchorage location today and get fitted for Westone high-performance in-ear hearing protection, molded custom to fit your ears specifically, and then go shoot with the confidence that you’re protected.

Spyderco Bill Moran Collection
Bill Moran is recognized as the grandfather of American custom knifemaking, having started pounding steel to make knives more than 50 years ago. Now for the first time there is a production fixed-blade knife available in Moran’s ageless tradition. The Spyderco Bill Moran collections includes two distinct blade shapes: A drop-point and an upswept Bowie-style blade. Both blades are balanced and tapered, starting thick where the blade joins the handle and thinning down the spine to a fine, uniformly ground tip, and both carry Bill’s signature. This is a gift that will light up the face of anyone lucky enough to findone under the tree.

Nomar Waterproof Gun Scabbard
Whether you’re on a multi-day wilderness float trip or flying-out to a remote drop camp, hunting in Alaska puts you into some serious weather. Don’t fear for your firearm, however, as this weatherproof scabbard will protect it. And pilots appreciate how lightweight and practical this gun-carrying case is. The scabbard is 15 inches by 57 inches with a watertight roll-down top made from 18-ounce Seatarp, and it is 47 inches when rolled down. It will hold most scoped rifles and has inherent floatation. It is Alaskan-made in Homer.

Work Sharp Guided Sharpening System
Everyone loves a Work Sharp system, and they make perfect gifts for the holidays. This Guided Sharpening System is Work Sharp’s complete bench-top sharpening and honing system, offering a complete manual sharpening solution for every knife you own. Expect excellent results.

Pristine Ventures The Kork
We’re always looking for ways to lighten our loadwhen heading deep into the bush, and the experts at Pristine Ventures have provided an excellent option with The Kork, an 11-foot packable raft that weighs under 40 pounds, though it remains capable of carrying more than 1,000 pounds of man, gear and animal. This is one versatile yet rugged boat—an ideal big gift for the serious hunter in your family.

Leupold RX 1200-i TBR Range Finder
This rangefinder is amazingly accurate, dependable and comfortable to use—and really, what more could you want? It features a bright display with multiple intensity settings, a fold-down rubber eyecup to accommodate users with or without glasses, an easy-to-use menu and Leupold’s DNA technology, which allows hunters to quickly and accurately range objects to 1/10 of a yard.

Black Hills Ammo .308 Win Match, 168-grain Boat-Tail Hollow Point Factory New
Alaskans need quality ammunition in the field—precise but also extremely reliable. We have always favored Black Hills Ammo, and this particular round offers a muzzle velocity of 2,650 fps and an energy of 2,619 foot-pounds, making it well-suited to caribou, deer, goat and sheep in Alaska. The Hollow Point round provides exceptional expansion and helps to take down tough game faster.

SPOT Gen3
SPOT products help to keep you safe, and that’s our primary focus here at Hunt Alaska, so it’s with great pleasure that we recommend the Gen3. Simply explained, the Gen3 is the newest generation of satellite personal tracker devices and allows friends and family to track your location and know you are okay during off-the-grid adventures. Take one of these along on your next hunt and let those at home rest easy while you’re away.

Savage Axis II XP Package
Featuring a 22-inch barrel length, this package comes with a 3-9×40 Weaver Kaspa scope, which is mounted and bore-sighted, and the rifle is available in a hardwood, stainless or synthetic stock. At 6.5 pounds it isn’t a bad choice for hiking, and we especially like this gun in the popular .30-06 caliber for the power without the recoil.