Out of ideas for the hunter or angler on your gift list? Wondering what to buy for the nature enthusiast who has everything? The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) has solutions for these and other holiday shopping quandaries.

The most versatile gift item from MDC’s Nature Shop is the 2013 Natural Events Calendar ($7). Nearly everyone enjoys nature in one way or another, and this calendar, with dozens of awe-inspiring nature photographs, is sure to please almost anyone. Daily entries offer insights into the blooming periods of wildflowers, the lives of wild animals from snow fleas to bobcats, and celestial events, such as meteor showers and eclipses.

MDC’s newest book, Cooking Wild in Missouri ($15), was the subject of a year-long blog, “Woods to Food”, The project was similar to the one documented in the 2009 film Julie & Julia.  Bloggers Ann and Fred Koenig “ate their way through Cooking Wild,” using food they collected, hunted, or received from friends until they had prepared every recipe in the book. If you buy Cooking Wild, you can consult the Koenig’s blog, sharing their fun and benefitting from insights they gained during their culinary odyssey.

The Nature Shop has field guides for everything from wildflowers to trees and butterflies to crayfishes. These are made to order for practical-minded outdoors people. There are coffee-table books, children’s picture-storybooks, and a guide to hiking trails on conservation areas. The Nature Shop even has nature-themed notecards and blank nature journals for recording personal outdoor experiences.

Check out a selection of musical, historical, and educational DVDs ranging from children’s music and waterfowl identification, plus a few, like “Just Kiddin’ Around,” purely for fun.

For more information, CLICK HERE