Black friday 2009: it’s the biggest day for holiday shopping, and it’s just a few days away. Ready to rush out and grab gifts? Shopping for that special outdoorsman or woman in your life?
We can help.
KSAX polled area outdoor stores, mom and pop fishing shops, and we found the newest outdoor gifts and gadgets. Whether you're looking for cell phones, L.E.D. fishing poles, or top-rated snowmobiles, we found something interesting for you.
Take the new Verizon Droid, for example. This 3G cell phone offers voice dialing, internet access, GPS, and can access dozens of hunting and fishing applications on the "Android Web." Among those applications: turkey, coyote, and duck calls, and a program that estimates a fish's weight from it's length.
After researching the outdoor capabilities of the little, touch-screen phone, Verizon Technology Consultant Adam Wellan says "It'll do just about everything but get you out of a ticket from a game warden."
How about something a little faster than 3G?
Alexandria's Earl Anderson owns Ollie's Service. A recognized snowmobile and ATV safety instructor, he sells turbo-speed outdoor gear.
The top item Anderson's pushing this season: the new SkiDoo XP line of snowmobiles. With 130 H.P., top end speeds greater than 100 M.P.H., and weighing only 400 pounds, these cutting-edge sleds are modeled after stealth fighters and boast bold looks.
"You can ride on trails anywhere in Minnesota, take it out to mountains, ride in West Yellowstone at a 10,000 foot altitude, and it will perform great in all those conditions," Anderson says."
But what about the outdoor loving lady in your life? What to get her?
Dick Gustafson of Christopherson's Bait in Alexandria thinks he knows.
An expert ice fisherman, Gustafson says he's seen the evolution of the ice auger, including hand-turning models, gas powered hogs, and lately, elegant (by his standards) electric models.
"I had a 70 year-old woman come in last week and look at one of these," he says, pointing to a new-model electric auger by Tecumseh. "Her husband couldn't ice fish and she wanted an auger she could handle."
"It's just the great gift for any woman who ice fishes," Gustafson added.