# Looking for Christmas present ideas



## NewfieMom (Sep 8, 2013)

Something homemade. If you don't have the time, you can buy it on Etsy. My next door neighbor in Virginia makes her friends and neighbors a little cellophane bag of nuts she baked in the oven with spices every year. It isn't as time consuming as cookies, but is delicious. (I have made spiced nuts myself.) Or you could make him cookies. Or find someone on Etsy to knit a scarf to your specifications for him based on what you have observed of his tastes. Something that he cannot get anywhere else. :smooch:

NewfieMom


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

A gift certificate for Entry Express ?
A nice hunting jacket?


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Thanks for the ideas. Keep them coming!! He has everything, which makes him hard to buy for.


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## lhowemt (Jun 28, 2013)

I often turn to consumable gifts when faced with this. Or music, or books. Do you have any local food people that smoke bacon or make meat products such as fancy sausages?


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## Eowyn (Aug 29, 2013)

Coffee. Really good coffee. For all the early mornings he spends training…

It could be expensive depending on how and with who you did it, but a paid for pro photographer photo shoot of some of his dogs hunting. Or a painted portrait of one of his dogs. Or him and his dog.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Last year I did a basket of expensive coffees, hot chocolates, and brass mugs. He seemed to really like it. 
Gourmet food is a good idea, too. He has a family, they would probably all enjoy it.
Lots of good ideas here. Sharon, I'm also going to pursue an embroidered jacket. Scarves are also a great idea, he works regardless of weather.
Keep the ideas coming!


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## hollyk (Feb 21, 2009)

A basket of Smolich Brothers smoke sausages. 
Can you tell where I grew Barb?


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## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

these baskets are super nice and I send them to some of friends and family and they love them.
Gift Baskets & Towers | Gourmet Food Gifts |Harry & David


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

and I'm anxiously awaiting your visit to your old stomping grounds 



hollyk said:


> A basket of Smolich Brothers smoke sausages.
> Can you tell where I grew Barb?


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## boomers_dawn (Sep 20, 2009)

You got lots of good suggestions. It's hard when ppl have everything already.

My only additional / different idea is make a donation to something or someone in his name - e.g. golden retriever rescue, NRA, something that would make the recipient happy or represent the spirit of the gift.


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

One year I knitted warm wool hats for all my carpenters. What about crocheting or knitting a blanket for those cold winter mornings? I like to cross stitch small items for people. You could do one of the breed of dog he has. 

Since Dan is probably downstate a bit I'm guessing? What about Lou Malnati's Pizza since it's probably a bit hard to get away from home when you own a hunting club? They sell the pizzas frozen in nice foam containers. You can have them delivered directly to his house. He can pop them in the oven whenever he wants them. I order them in sets of 4 a couple times a year when I miss real pizza from home. On the Lou's website there are lots of other restaurants that ship food with Lou's. www.tastesofchicago.com 

Holly, I did know you were originally from IL too? I left back in 1990. Is there nothing like Chicago food? DH and I eat our way through Chicago when we visit.


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## GoldenCamper (Dec 21, 2009)

A winter hat or fingerless gloves made of buffalo fiber? I got both after taking care of a Golden for a few months one year when the owners were laid up. Very pricey at 80 bucks for the hat and 65 for the gloves. I was shocked when I saw what she paid looking it up on the net, I never expected anything. Boy are they nice, warm, durable, and quite unique too. 

Buffalo Gold Premium Fibers

If he doesn't butcher his own deer into steaks, pay off the butcher for him in advance?

If he is single you could put all those dollars bills in a roll and say have fun at the strip club, LOL.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

you guys all have such great ideas, thanks! Donations, always a terrific idea.
Stacey, I didn't know you were from the Chicago area. Come back and visit!
Steve, I'll bet you don't leave THOSE lying around to be chewed on.
No strip club for him, he's already got a wife and 3 kids!


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## AlanK (Jun 28, 2008)

Well not knowing what your budget is....as an outdoor kinda guy I can never have enough game camera's.


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## hollyk (Feb 21, 2009)

Alaska7133 said:


> Holly, I did know you were originally from IL too? I left back in 1990. Is there nothing like Chicago food? DH and I eat our way through Chicago when we visit.


I lived in Joliet until I was 13 then we moved to the other side of the state. My parents had a cottage on the Kankakee River between Willington and Morse, Il. from the time I was born until a couple years ago. The cottage is located very close to Barb. 

Barb, can you still get Dan's Taffy Apples and G-Shaft candy? Oh how I do miss White Castle's hamburgers (Sliders)

I moved to Seattle in 1984.


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Holly I moved from Chicago to Seattle in 1990, then up here in 1997. My family is from Kankakee and Iroquois Counties. They all were farmers. My parents left the farm and moved to Chicago. I was born and raised in the NW suburbs of Chicago and went to college in Normal. 

Seattle is a very nice town too. I lived in Ballard and Sumner. I had a sailboat and enjoyed everything I could in WA.


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## Kirsten (Jun 18, 2013)

Thanks for starting these threads, hotel4dogs! I don't have these exact people to shop for but I am getting great gifts ideas for other people I know  

Thanks everyone!


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## UplandHntr (Feb 24, 2011)

XXXXXX of the month club.
Theres one for everything


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## Sir Copper (Dec 27, 2013)

As a bowhunter myself, I think a nice knife would be great.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

what about binoculars with a digital camera on them? anyone familiar with them?


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## Eowyn (Aug 29, 2013)

hotel4dogs said:


> what about binoculars with a digital camera on them? anyone familiar with them?


One question, can I be your trainer? lol. :


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## AlanK (Jun 28, 2008)

hotel4dogs said:


> what about binoculars with a digital camera on them? anyone familiar with them?


I do not know anything about them but sounds very intriguing.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Bushnell - Imageview


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## AlanK (Jun 28, 2008)

hotel4dogs said:


> Bushnell - Imageview


That looks cool. I have a few Bushnell scopes and have been pleased with the quality. Thanks for sharing that !


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## Golden Gibby (Jan 8, 2011)

FYI I have a set of binocs (not bushnell but similar) with a digital camera and they don't work quite the way most people think. When you zoom in with the binoculars it doesn't zoom in the camera as it has a fixed lens. It works ok but on mine the image I see through the binocs is not the same as the picture.

Also FWIW I am a bow hunter and 2 things I never seem to have enough of are a nice folding hunting knife and small high intensity flashlights.


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

How about great headlamp? A new telescoping ice scraper. A fun bumper sticker for his dog truck. A nice portable halogen light set up that plugs into his car outlet.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

very good to know!!



Golden Gibby said:


> FYI I have a set of binocs (not bushnell but similar) with a digital camera and they don't work quite the way most people think. When you zoom in with the binoculars it doesn't zoom in the camera as it has a fixed lens. It works ok but on mine the image I see through the binocs is not the same as the picture.
> 
> Also FWIW I am a bow hunter and 2 things I never seem to have enough of are a nice folding hunting knife and small high intensity flashlights.


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## PalouseDogs (Aug 14, 2013)

If this trainer is more of a business-type friend than a friend-friend, you are way over-thinking the issue. Give a small consumable (food, etc.) and a Christmas bonus/tip in cash.

If it's a friend-friend, enough of a friend to know anything about his/her non-dog life, give something unrelated to training. If training is the profession, then I wouldn't guess what he wants/needs.

IMO, food or other consumables are the best gifts.


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## lhowemt (Jun 28, 2013)

My hubby always prefers a non folding knife for hunting. A nice knife is a great gift.


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