Hot holiday gifts for hunters: winter clothing, guns, Crocs

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- If people are walking around wearing wool socks inside camouflaged Crocs and carrying Benelli shotguns it can mean just one thing -- Christmas is nigh.

Those items are among the hottest selling Christmas gifts at Southern Illinois sporting goods stores.

"Probably one of the newest exciting things is camouflaged Crocs," said Mickey Stewart, owner of The Great Outdoors Company in Carbondale. "They came out in August and they're huge. I think people wear them around the house.

"I wear mine because I hunt so much in waders. I wear them out in the morning with wool socks on. They're lightweight. They're easy. I definitely wear them hunting all the time because they're like my truck shoes."

And those wool socks are an annual stocking stuffer favorite.

Shawnee Trails Wilderness Outfitters owner Rick Reeve, left, and employee Kyle Teague modeled Patagonia jackets Dec. 13 in the Carbondale, Ill., store. The jackets are popular gifts. (Amanda Whitlock ~ The Southern Illinoisan)

"The No. 1 every year stocking stuffer, pardon the pun, is socks," said Rick Reeve, owner of Shawnee Trails Wilderness Outfitters in Carbondale. "It's usually something good for someone who doesn't know what to get anybody."

The Benelli shotguns are popular Christmas gift items at both Mann and Son Sporting Goods in Pinckneyville, Ill., and Dunn's Sporting Goods in Marion, Ill.

"We sell a ton of guns for Christmas," said Dennis Dunn. "We sell a lot of youth guns for kids who are just getting started, or graduating from a youth gun to their first full-size gun.

"We sell a lot more Remingtons and Mossbergs in the youth guns. That's the inexpensive way to get into it. Other than that, our best sellers are the Benelli Super Black Eagle and the Winchester SuperX3."

"We've been selling a lot of Benellis," echoed Kim Mann. "It's hard to keep them on the shelves. H&R Sluggers, they've also been going real well."

At the Great Outdoors Company, Stewart said all camouflage items have been selling well this season, from baby clothes to casual wear to actual hunting clothes.

"I think in areas like Southern Illinois, camo has moved into the mainstream of fashion," he said. "I don't think you'll see that in cities, but in areas like Southern Illinois people are using it to decorate. It's kind of turned into a fashion decorating accessory."

Other top sellers at the Great Outdoors Company are Ducks Unlimited sweat shirts, Under Armor clothing and Mammoth footwear.

Climbing gear, kayaks, Tilley hats and backpacks are among holiday favorites at Shawnee Trails. Other items such as pocket knives and flashlights sell well every year.

Popular items at Dunn's include Drake waterfowl gear, Loomis fishing rods as well as Garcia and Shimano reels. Crossbows have also been popular.

Mann also noted that muzzleloader sales have been brisk this season.