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Upland hunting—when compared to deer hunting or duck hunting—seemingly requires a minimal amount of gear. Do not fret. There are still plenty of gifts to make the upland hunter in your life happy. Obviously, the best gift for any bird hunter is a gun dog puppy, but we’re not going there with this list (cough, GSP, cough). Instead, we’ll focus on inanimate gifts that do not chew the furniture. There are plenty of categories to choose among, from books to boots. These are the best gifts for upland hunters, according to our personal experience and testing in the field.
KUIU Upland Field Vest
This strap vest has a backpack stay system that takes weight off your shoulders and puts it around your waist—and it has made me a strap-vest convert this season. The game bag has stays of its own that let you expand or collapse it as needed. The KUIU Upland Field vest pockets have storage for shells, transmitters, phones and odds and ends of tools, and there’s back storage, too. Between its two squeeze water bottles, it lets you take half a gallon of water into the field for thirsty dogs.
Yeti Boomer Dog Bowl
Dent-resistant with a non-slip rubberized bottom, the Yeti Boomer dog bowl comes in 4- and 8-cup sizes. You can order one with your dog’s name on it, too. Does anyone need a dog bowl this nice? Of course not, but that’s what makes it a great gift. And your dog will appreciate it, too, so long as you fill it with kibble or water.
Duck Camp Lightweight Hunting Shirt
Give the upland hunter on your list the gift of my favorite shirt. The Duck Camp Lightweight Hunting Shirt looks good, it wears well, and now it comes in a women’s cut, too. The shirt is made of nylon, with a mesh vented yoke and vent holes under the arms. It’s a great shirt for warm weather, and I wear mine all season, layered over and under other garments as needed. It comes in all the appropriate earth tones and in Duck Camp’s proprietary camos, too.
Rig 'Em Right Shell Shocker XL Blind Bag
Upland hunters have lots of little pieces of gear, just like duck hunters do, and a blind bag makes a great organizer. Never mind its camo appearance—the Shell Shocker XL holds all your upland gear. It has hard pocket for glasses on the outside, a pocket for a slim thermos, places for ammo, and more. Inside it has clear pockets for organizing little things, and adjustable dividers, too. A bungee on the top holds a vest or jacket.
Boss Stinger Shotshells
The light-kicking, hard-hitting bismuth shells come in 12 and 20 gauge, in shot sizes ranging from 3 to 8 in 12-gauge and 5, 6, and 7 in 20. Boss copper-plates pellets to help them stay round and undeformed. They are totally safe in old guns. They have two very important features: They are non-toxic and thus legal everywhere, and they break when you bite them at the dinner table.
Montana Knife Company Sharptailed Bird Knife
Hunters love knives. They always make a welcome gift, especially if they are well-made for a specific task—in this case, bird cleaning. Splurge on this durable, practical knife for your favorite bird hunter. It has a long, thin blade well-suited to filleting bird breasts and cutting off legs and thighs. The handle is made of G10, a fiberglass and epoxy resin laminate that lasts forever.
CZ-USA Bobwhite Shotgun
A gun-shaped box under the tree elevates any Christmas morning onto the all-time list. Your upland hunter may already own lots of guns, but there’s room in any battery for an affordable, well-made classic side-by-side. The Bobwhite has two triggers, extractors, and choke tubes, and it comes in 12-, 20- and the currently trendy (hint) 28-gauge.
Orvis Battenkill Shotgun Case
My mother-in-law gave me one of these classy gun cases for Christmas long before I had any classy guns, and I loved it. Soft, synthetic fleece inside pampers your gun. Leather-trimmed green canvas on the outside looks sharp. It comes with a shoulder strap, accessory pocket and brass hardware in 48- and 52-inch lengths to fit most break-actions and repeaters.
Sitka Jetstream Jacket
Sitka’s best-selling jacket now comes in a coyote-tan and blaze style that makes a great layer for cold, windy days. A Windstopper membrane shields you from icy blasts. The coat is lightly insulated and has pit zippers to vent body heat as you get going. The soft shell is easy to move and shoot in, and it has a hood. The Jetstream makes a great bird hunting jacket.
Garmin Alpha LTE Dog Tracker
This pint-sized tracker uses cell towers, not satellites, to track your dog. It displays the location on via its phone app. It has unlimited range so long as you have cell service. It’s a great tracker on its own, and a perfect backup if you’re having technological problems, as I learned earlier this season. Give this, and the required subscription, as a gift to the gun dog lover on your list.
Gun Dogs & Bird Guns
Dealing with gun dogs is a topic that usually encourages sentimentality and drippy prose. Charley Waterman chose under-writing and dry wit instead. Gun Dogs & Bird Guns remains a delight. For instance, Waterman writes of the electric collar he bought for Danny, an uncontrollable, big-running setter: “You carry a little gadget with a collapsible aerial in a holster on your belt. When you push the red button it stings a dog out to almost half a mile. Since Danny did a half mile rather quickly, I practiced a fast draw.” If you can relate to that, you’ll love the whole book.
Rite in the Rain Weatherproof Spiral Notebook Kit
The best advice I never took was to keep a hunting journal. Years pile up, memories fade. The good news is, just a few lines scribbled in a journal are enough to bring the whole days back. The Rite in the Rain notebook kit comes a side-spiral notebook, a cover and an all-weather pen.
You really can use the pen or a pencil to write on this tough paper when it’s wet. At 64 pages, one notebook should see most hunters through an entire season, with a few pages left over for notes to yourself or to leave under someone’s wiper blade.
Acme Thunderer
The Acme Thunderer fits in a stocking, suits any budget, and it makes a sound that fills the great outdoors. If you need a whistle with reach, the Thunderer hits the notes. The brass whistle has been made in England since the 1890s and continuously improved. It can reach 114 dB, which is as loud as a chainsaw, but with a high pitch that carries farther.
L.L.Bean Stretch Briar Jeans
In all but the warmest weather, these Bean stretch briar jeans are what I wear in the field. They are comfortable and they stretch, giving me full range of motion. The briar facings on these pants are tough enough to resist the bad stuff, too. They have regular jean pockets and pocket on the right leg. Mine have worn beautifully. After three seasons, mine look almost new.
Real Avid Gun Tool Core
Made with shotgunners in mind, this handy tool features an all-gauge choke wrench in case you need to loosen or tighten a tube. It has two different pin punches for disassembling semi-autos and pumps in the field. Best of all, the knife blade has a shell-extractor tip to solve the vexing in-field problem of a hull stuck in a chamber or wedged in an ejection port.
Yeti Rambler Half Gallon Jug
Sometimes it seems like my primary function as an upland hunter is to carry water for dogs. I bring water into the field and keep more in the truck. The Rambler jug comes in whole and half-gallon sizes insulated to keep water cool all day. They are tough, washable, have comfortably padded handles and magnets in the lid to hold the cap so you don’t lose it.
Minus33 Midweight Boot Socks
Socks matter to bird hunters. Minus33 is a New Hampshire company that makes great Merino wool layers of all kinds, including socks, which are base layers for your feet, if you think about it. The socks come in a variety of weights (I like the midweights) and combine Merino wool with just enough nylon to give them shape and strength.
Orvis Wingshooting School Gift Card
If your hunter already has everything, send them to school. Give them tuition to the Orvis Shooting School, which has taught thousands of hunters a practical, effective method of upland shooting. Orvis has schools up and down the eastern seaboard and one in Nebraska, and the experienced instructors can help anyone hit better.
Smartwool Classic Merino Base Layer Bottoms
Light, warm base layers are the best way to stay warm in the uplands. The hunter on your list will think fondly of you every time this layer of thin Merino wool stands between them and a cold north wind. Thin enough to move in easily, these bottoms add just the right amount of warmth to keep an active hunter comfortable.
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For more than 125 years, Field & Stream has been providing readers with honest and authentic coverage of outdoor gear. Our writers and editors eat, sleep, and breathe the outdoors, and that passion comes through in our product reviews. You can count on F&S to keep you up to date on the best new gear. And when we write about a product—whether it’s a bass lure or a backpack—we cover the good and the bad, so you know exactly what to expect before you decide to make a purchase.
