It's usually easy to shop for sportsmen

Terry Ellis stood chatting with his wife Wednesday as he waited for his newest toy to be fine-tuned.

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The Evans resident was in American Sportsman on Washington Road, and said he rarely shopped anywhere else. His early Christmas gift was the Mathews Z7, a compound bow capable of delivering an arrow the length of a football field in less than a second.

"I hope it's going to do me good when I go to Alabama," said Ellis, who has a January hunting trip planned.

The Z7, a 2010 model by one of the top bow manufacturers, is among the more coveted items on outdoorsmen's wish lists this holiday season, said American Sportsman general manager Casey Crawley. Crawley spent more than an hour adjusting Ellis's nearly $900 bow and testing its performance at the target range in the store's basement.

Crawley said bow manufacturers produce better models each year. "You got to innovate, innovate, innovate," he said. "They get quieter and faster every year. And that's what you need when you're hunting."

The store's employees said other hot sellers as Christmas approached were camouflaged clothing, hats and game calls that shoppers snatch up as stocking-stuffers.

Fifteen-year-old Tyler Crawley, an Evans High student and Casey's nephew, flipped through a catalog on the counter while pointing out T-shirts and other items to his mother as possible gifts. He later emerged from the back of the store sporting a pair of camouflage waders. He said Christmas allowed him to stock up on items he needed, and that most hunters make their big purchases before hunting season.

"You just need to update your camouflage every once in a while," Tyler said.

Martinez resident Mike Murphey said friends tended toward gift certificates to places like American Sportsman and Pintucky Gun Club in Augusta.

Murphey bought his first bow, a Hoyt recurve, online last Christmas. He recently upgraded to a compound bow to get longer-range shots.

Watching Crawley work on the bow last week, Murphey said that would be all he purchased for himself this holiday season.

"I got two (children) in day care," he said. "I don't know what shopping is."

Ellis, who lives in the River Island community, expects a trolling motor for his john boat under his tree.

"He doesn't want clothes," said his wife, Deanna Ellis. "He wants bullets or bows -- anything to do with hunting or fishing, he likes."