Black Friday/Cyber Monday Deals for Hunters, Anglers and Santa's Helpers

The stats show that Black Friday and Cyber Monday remain huge for Christmas shoppers, even those looking for hunting and fishing gifts.

November 26, 2024 By Lynn Burkhead

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It’s a big week for Americans with Thanksgiving Day coming up on Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024, followed by lots of turkey and dressing leftovers, more than a few NFL and NCAA football games on TV, and getting the Christmas decorations out of the attic for another December run.

If that’s not enough, there’s also the unofficial start to the annual Christmas shopping season rush thanks to this year’s Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday madness coming up over the next several days.

While some are tempted to think that Black Friday may not be as big a deal as it once was and has been supplanted a good bit by Cyber Monday activity online, the numbers tell a little bit of a different story.

In both categories, the numbers are huge with Capital One Shopping Research indicating that American consumers will spend almost $10 billion shopping online for Black Friday deals. But lest you think that the online figure represents the bulk of the annual Christmas shopping season spending, think again, because when both brick-and-mortar store shopping and online sales are tallied together, U.S. Black Friday retail revenue exceeds $20 billion.

The research noted above also indicates that as many as half of the people who buy Christmas holiday presents make some type of purchase on Black Friday. And even with the crush of online offerings in recent years—many stores and companies now offer pre-Black Friday discounts several days before Thanksgiving Day—there were still 76.2 million consumers who shopped in-store for last year's Black Friday sales in 2023, a figure that was up 4.5 percent from the year-to-year figure.

Even with inflation and a difficult economy making headlines this year, a record number of shoppers are expected to open their wallets this weekend. According to the National Retail Federation, 183.4 million people are planning to do either in-store shopping, online shopping or both from Turkey Day on through Cyber Monday. And those shoppers are expected to spend plenty of money over the next several days, with consumer spending over the holiday season expected to reach a record figure of $902 per person.

Because Santa will be delivering plenty of firearms, ammunition, bows and arrows, rods and reels, lures, camouflage, and a whole lot more under the Christmas tree for the morning of Dec. 25, here’s a look at a few Black Friday/Cyber Monday shopping possibilities for jolly old St. Nick and his gift-giving helpers.

Shotguns

We’re pretty serious about new shotguns here at Game & Fish magazine because we love to chase ducks, geese and upland birds like ruffed grouse, woodcock and pheasants too. And don’t forget turkeys in the spring!

Over the years, the Remington 870 has been nothing short of America's workhorse shotgun for hunters, clay pigeon enthusiasts and even law enforcement officers. All told, there have been some 13 million plus 870 models built by Remington down through the years, an iconic American gunmaker that fell on hard financial times and bankruptcy a few years back on July 28, 2020.

But thanks to Vista Outdoor purchase of Remington Ammunition and the Roundhill Group, LLC's purchase of the Remington firearms business, the Remington 870 lives once again thanks to Remington Firearms, which was founded in 2021 and is today headquartered in LaGrange, Ga.

That means that good old St. Nick can leave an 870 under the tree as he has done countless times before over the years, from the Remington 870 Wingmaster to the Remington Model 870 Fieldmaster Synthetic. The latter features the famous 870 receiver milled from a solid billet of steel along with its smooth twin action slide bars that give silky cycling of shotshells. The Fieldmaster Synthetic is a tough, rugged, reliable, smooth, and consistent scattergun, especially where it counts out in the field.

If you’re looking for a good deal on the Fieldmaster Synthetic version of the 870—including a 3-inch shotshell capability, a black synthetic stock and forend, and a 26-inch barrel—look no further than the sale currently going on for the 870 Fieldmaster Synthetic shotgun at guns.com. Checking in at $50 off, that’s enough to buy the shotgun plus a couple of boxes of shotshells for the waterfowler or upland bird hunter on your list!

There's also the KLYM's sibling, the Savage 110 Trail Hunter, an OD green stocked rifle with a 22-inch long Cerakote ceramic coated barrel that also comes in the 6.5 Creedmoor cartridge and is available right now at Palmetto State Armory for $190 off the regular price when you combine the Black Friday sale and a rebate offering.

Compound Bow

I fell in love with bowhunting whitetails when I was in college and I’ve never outgrown my affection for the modern day stick-and-string. And for those who love bowhunting, one of the best models on the market right now is the new Bowtech Carbon One X compound. To say it's one of the best bows out there is a big claim, but this new Bowtech bow delivers thanks to its 33-inch axle-to-axle length, an adjustable draw length of 25.5 to 30.5 inches, and adjustable draw weights of 50, 60, and 70 pounds, a brace height of 6.125 inches, a weight of only 4.5 pounds and a top arrow speed of 339 fps. This results in a lightweight but powerful bow that brings home the bacon—er, venison—in terms of unrivaled stability, precise control, arrow flinging accuracy and ease of use.

And thanks to the Carbon One X's DeadLock Cam System, a Bowtech system that offers the quickest and simplest way to achieve perfect arrow flight, both on the 3-D target range, in the backyard slinging arrows at a bag target, and most importantly, when a bowhunter is settling the pin on a big buck's boiler room in late October. It's got a silky-smooth draw cycle, a vibration-free shot release, a carbon riser and Orbit Dampeners, and plenty more.

A premium bow offering at local shops around the country that sell Bowtech compound bows, you just might find it on sale this week at your local bow shop. And you can also get it at Scheel's right now for $100 less than the MSRP suggested by Bowtech.

Either way, whether it's through the big outdoor retailer or by way of a local bow shop like my home shop, Big O’s Archery in Sherman, Texas, this brand new Bowtech bow is a can't miss Christmas gift idea to put under the tree for someone who likes to climb up into trees during deer season.

Fishing Gear

Undoubtedly, old St. Nick has done more Christmas shopping for bass anglers at the house that Johnny Morris built, the legendary Bass Pro Shops retail locations scattered around the country—along with BPS' sister company, Cabela's—and of course, online at both BassPro.com and Cabelas.com.

There's no shortage of on-sale angling gear at Bass Pro Shops and Cabela's this week, including a lot of selections found in the famous Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s Black Friday sales circular that hit mailboxes a week or two ago. In those, you’ll find hundreds of deals, some coming as in person “Hot Buys” available on Black Friday in a first-come, first-served and limited quantities basis at the actual retail store locations themselves. And of course, there are plenty of other deals available online too.

Need a Garmin ECHOMAP ULTRA 2 Livescope bundle for the boat owning bass angler on your list? It’s available for a Black Friday savings of $1,150 at Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s locations, where you’ll also find plenty of fishing line, lures, tackle boxes, tackle bags and packs, and even kayaks, canoes and standup paddleboards. There are plenty of those along with a host of rods, reels, and filet knives too.

And online there’s also the new Bass Pro Shops Prodigy Baitcast rod-and-reel combo checking in at $30 off and under a $100 dollars. Ditto for the new Bass Pro Shops Prodigy Spinning rod-and-reel combo, also checking in at under $100 and with a $25 savings.

And since Bass Pro Shops and Cabela's are fully stocked both online and in the store locations nationwide with brand fishing names like Lew's, Daiwa, Shimano, Abu Garcia, PENN, Pflueger, Strike King, 6th Sense, Berkley, Bill Lewis, Zoom, LIVETARGET, BOOYAH, Big Bite Baits, Lake Fork Trophy Lures, Rapala, Seaguar, PowerPro, P-Line, Humminbird, Lowrance, Stren, and many, many more, you'll never run out of great fishing gift ideas for the angler on your list.

Besides, where else can Santa go to buy an angler a new rod, reel, spool of line, tackle box full of lures, and a brand new Nitro or Tracker bass boat under the same roof?!?

Fly Fishing Gear

Got a fly angler on your gift list? Look no further than Orvis, the iconic American fly fishing brand headquartered in Vermont. Whether you travel to the flagship store—hint, if you make it to the Orvis flagship store in Manchester, be sure to visit The American Museum of Fly Fishing just down the road—or shop online, the company is offering Black Friday early bird shoppers up to 40% off during pre-Black Friday sales this week!

With that in mind, dear old Santa, if you're by some chance reading this, I'd love one of Orvis' Perfect Flannel Shirts, a new Orvis Helios D 5-weight fly rod, or an Orvis Carry-It-All Fly Fishing Rod/Reel bag under the tree. And as long as you don't ask my wife about any of this, I'd say that I've been a particularly good fellow this year.

But I digress. If you're looking for a great fly rod and fly reel combo that won't break the bank to put under the tree on Dec. 25, it's tough to beat the items currently listed in the company's 2024 Gift Guide. As this was written, that includes the Orvis Clearwater Fly Rod Outfit, a pair of Clearwater Waders, and a backing-and-fly line loaded Clearwater fly reel available in a variety of combinations that will suit trout seeking fly anglers, warmwater bass on the fly junkies, and saltwater fly fishing addicts.

Of course, there’s always the fly fishing gear found at a local fly shop like Living Waters Fly Fishing in Round Rock, Texas. The shop, opened in 2008 by Chris Johnson, sits in downtown Round Rock, a northern suburb of Austin, and has the urban stream Brushy Creek flowing not too far out the front door with Guadalupe bass, largemouth bass, and big bluegills eager to take a fly. And not too many miles to the south of the shop is the Guadalupe River, the southernmost trout tailwater in the U.S.

In local fly shops like Living Waters, expect to find some in-house Black Friday deals like the Round Rock shop’s 30% off sale on Tenkara USA telescopic rods (through Dec. 2) or the 20 percent off sale through Dec. 25 for Temple Fork Outfitters’ TFO NXT Black Label fly rod series.

While your local fly shop may not feature famed Round Rock Donuts a block away from Living Waters, odds are, they will have some really great Black Friday/Small Business Saturday/Cyber Monday deals to be found just by walking through the front door!

Outdoor Media

You probably already know this, but Outdoor Sportsman Group also provides ample opportunity for Santa to help provide Christmas gifts that keep on giving to the anglers, hunters and outdoors enthusiasts on your shopping list. And, from our perspective, a great place to start your shopping this holiday season is with an annual subscription to Game & Fish Magazine!

As the largest media company devoted to bringing the best-in-class outdoors content and entertainment to America's 80 million-plus outdoors enthusiasts, OSG is the nation's powerhouse brand for all things related to hunting, fishing, and shooting.

Of course, OSG has three television networks with the Outdoor Channel, Sportsman Channel and World Fishing Network. If that’s not enough outdoor programming, how about a subscription to the world’s best outdoor content streaming platform, My Outdoor TV?

For those who enjoy reading about the outdoors world, OSG offers 14 print magazines along with corresponding websites, the professional bass angling dedicated BassFan.com website, and a number of specialty hunting, fishing and shooting periodicals that appear throughout the year on local newsstands.

In short, if the person on your outdoors gift list likes hunting, fishing, or shooting, OSG has plenty to keep them interested during the next year. To get your shopping started off properly this weekend, visit the OSG subscription portal.

As Thanksgiving Day fades away into the 2024 Christmas season, enjoy the last slice of pumpkin pie and happy shopping this weekend!