Zeiss Expands Web-Based Ballistic Calculator

NORTH CHESTERFIELD, VA – Carl Zeiss Sports Optics, the world’s leading manufacturer in high performance sports optics, is pleased to announce the latest addition to their online ballistic calculator, the ASV+ bullet drop compensation system. This completely new module was developed for the various ballistic target turret solutions, such as ASV+ for VICTORY HT, as well as the lockable target knob turrets for the CONQUEST HD 5 series riflescopes. It is fully compatible with the latest Windows or Mac versions and the most popular web-browsers.

The new update virtually eliminates all guesswork for hunters and sport shooting enthusiasts alike. The user-friendly, intuitive ZEISS Ballistic Calculator developed by a team of the most experienced ballistics engineers, promises to help hunters and sport shooters of all levels to master the long-range shot. The update features a new design layout, country and language selection (English, German, Russian), and metric or standard (imperial) input and output. The program also features enhanced calculations for RAPID-Z, RZ-6 and RZ-8 ballistic reticles.

“With this newest update to our web based ballistic calculator, users will be able to access a fast and reliable method to calculate bullet trajectory and adjustment needed from an extensive library of manufacturer and handload bullet data. It enhances the cutting edge technology of our ballistic reticles and turret systems,” stated Mike Jensen, President of Carl Zeiss Sports Optics. “We are constantly striving to provide truly innovative technology that will compliment every skill set for our passionate customers”.

About ASV+
The idea behind the bullet drop compensation ASV+ for the VICTORY HT riflescope series is to achieve accurate aiming at all times. The system allows the user to adjust the elevation by simply turning the selected turret ring to the desired distance as marked on the elevation ring. The ASV+ system comes with ten high quality metal rings (one linear scale and nine distance scales), to accommodate the different bullet drop curves. Using the free web based ballistic calculator you can select the ring that comes closest to the trajectory of your chosen bullet type. These rings can be installed or exchanged quickly if another load is needed for a different hunting or shooting situation. The fine markings between each ballistic ring allow even more exact adjustments to be made to the different trajectories. This makes the ASV+ very precise The user only has to know the distance to the target then set the distance on the ASV+ turret and take careful aim.
The same system can be used for calculating the ballistic drop and adjustment required for the CONQUEST HD5, CONQUEST DL and older CONQUEST MC riflescopes with target turrets.

About the Web Based Ballistic Calculator
The ZEISS Ballistic Calculator allows users to first select from Rapid-Z/RZ ballistic reticle optimal power setting calculations or VICTORY ASV+ or CONQUEST target turret calculations and their ZEISS Riflescope from a drop-down menu. They then have the ability to select factory or hand load data as well as environmental variables, and then the system will calculate and display the optimum setting. The system allows the user to adjust standard settings for altitude, temperature, and incline angle as well as advanced settings for muzzle velocity, sight height above bore and sight-in distance. A convenient print/save or email option is also available to help users organize and process the information (pdf format) for field reference.

“The entire ballistic reticle marketplace is generally complex and confusing to most shooters.” stated Mike Jensen. “We have spent hundreds of man hours simplifying our system, making it more user friendly and self-explanatory. It’s the most accurate and simplistic system in the industry, designed by hunters for hunters and we are proud that it works exclusively with our RAPID-Z, RZ6, RZ8 reticles and now our ASV+ system.”
Check out the ZEISS Ballistic Calculator at http://ballistic-calculator.zeiss.com.

An updated app for iOS and Android devices with the enhanced features mentioned above will be available in Spring 2015. Read more

Tree Stand Buddy Allows Hunters to Be Versatile

Is there anything more frustrating than watching the buck of a lifetime stroll past your fixed stand just out of bow range? Or maybe the buck you’ve been hunting switched from food plots to acorns.

Good hunters change with the deer. Tree Stand Buddy® allows every hunter to become a versatile hunter, thanks to an innovative bracket and receiver system that allows you to hunt where the deer are – quickly, safely and easily.

Simply attach the bracket to your favorite portable tree stand and strap the receiver to any tree with the provided straps. Then, lift your stand up the tree with a rope, and slide it into the receiver. It’s that easy! Read more

Organized coyote and wolf hunt planned in Montana

Another predator hunting contest with a unique twist:  Organizer John Harris said, “The way I understand it, you can’t pay for a wolf or coyote to be brought in,” Harris said. “All the prizes will be from random drawings, whether you’re hunting or trapping, and whether you get one or not. It’s a way to get people out in the woods for a fun weekend.”

It’s also a way to get the anti-hunters riled up, but when did they ever need a good reason anyway to hate hunters.  Go get ’em boys and girls!

Details here…

Court rules against environmentalists seeking EPA regs for lead bullets

“Given that bullets and shot can become spent only if they are first contained in a cartridge or shell and then fired from a weapon,” the environmental groups “have identified no way in which EPA could regulate spent bullets and shot without also regulating cartridges and shells,” precisely what the law prohibits, said the decision by appeals judge David Tatel, a nominee of President Bill Clinton. The other two judges on the case were Patricia Millett and Cornelia Pillard, both nominees of President Barack Obama. 

The details of the ruling is here…

Pacelle Misquotes Pope, Then Solicits Donors

UntitledThis from www.Humanewatch.org…

The deceptively named Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) recently jumped all over media reports of Pope Francis hinting that animals might go to heaven. The news delighted many animal lovers, who already hoped that their four-legged friends would join them in the afterlife.

But HSUS was elated for a different reason. As you might expect, HSUS seized the opportunity to push its extremist agenda—like PETA, HSUS has a department aimed at inserting animal rights ideology into theology. There’s just one problem: The pontiff never made the alleged statement.

Initially, news outlets incorrectly attributed quotes from former Popes—including a statement by the late Pope Paul VI that “we will see our animals again in the eternity of Christ”—to the present-day Pontiff. In reality, the Pope simply stated: “The Holy Scripture teaches us that the fulfillment of this wonderful design also affects everything around us.” That’s a far cry from the papal endorsement of animal heaven publicized by HSUS and its radical bedfellow, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).

Wayne “I don’t love animals” Pacelle celebrated the misreported statement in a blog post decisively headlined: “Pope Francis Says All Animals Can Go to Heaven.” Yet when the misconstrued events were clarified, most members of the media exercised journalistic integrity by quickly issuing corrections to their stories. With one notable exception: Pacelle has yet to acknowledge his mistake.

No surprise there. HSUS and Pacelle don’t exactly have a record of honesty and integrity. They have an agenda to push, and they don’t need facts to get in the way.

Our report shows that ninety—yes, 90—percent of HSUS’s donors were unaware that it gives just one percent of its budget to local pet shelters. It makes sense, then, that Wayne Pacelle is in no hurry to correct his inaccurate representation of the Pope. After all, HSUS is funded by donors who agree that the group “misleads people” by misrepresenting its motives and goals.

Even in the middle of his ostensibly “spiritual” blog post about animals going to heaven, Pacelle manages to sneak in a link to one of his donation pages. When will it end?

SCI Files an Appeal in the Wyoming Wolf Delisting Lawsuit

wolfinwoodsfirstforhunters012914In October, a federal court in D.C. returned Wyoming’s wolves to the endangered species list. The court rejected the delisting of Wyoming’s wolves based on the fact that Wyoming’s commitment to manage wolves above minimum population levels was not part of a legally binding regulation or statute. Considering Wyoming’s plans to be merely “voluntary,” and therefore not sufficient to meet Endangered Species Act delisting requirements, the court sent the delisting decision back to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).

Wyoming attempted to prevent the return of its wolves to endangered status by promptly addressing the court’s concerns and immediately adopting the population commitment as a state regulation. The FWS, Wyoming, and SCI, together with the NRA and Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF), all filed motions with the court, asking that the ruling be amended to recognize Wyoming’s efforts. The court denied all motions, insisting that the FWS initiate a new delisting process. Read more

Court Vacates Western Great Lakes Wolf Delisting Rule — Puts WGL Wolves Back on the Endangered Species List

wolvesfirstforhunters012014A D.C. federal district court judge has returned the wolves of the Western Great Lakes (WGL) to the endangered species list.  This was the fourth time that a delisting of the WGL wolves has been overturned in court.  In a 111 page opinion, the judge ruled that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) violated the Endangered Species Act by illegally creating the Western Great Lakes Distinct Population Segment of wolves.  The court decided that the FWS lacks authority to delist anything less than what they originally listed.  Since the FWS had originally listed gray wolves throughout the lower 48 states, the court held that the FWS lacked the authority to delist any population segment smaller than the species as a whole.  The court rejected the argument that the wolves of Minnesota, which the FWS had designated as “threatened” in 1978, qualified as a DPS that the FWS could later delist.

The court also had problems with many other aspects of the delisting rule.  The court found the FWS’s explanation of certain issues lacking, such as the significance of the wolves’ absence from areas of their historic range, the absence of regulatory protections of wolves in many of the states – those other than Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota — that had been included in the DPS, and the existence of risks to the wolves from multiple sources of mortality.

The court rejected arguments submitted by the FWS, the states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota as well as SCI’s intervenor group (also including the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation, the National Rifle Association, the Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association, the Michigan United Conservation Clubs, the Wisconsin Bowhunters Association, the Upper Peninsula Bear Houndsmen Association, the Michigan Hunting Dog Federation, and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation) that recommended that the judge not invalidate the delisting rule and instead simply remand the rule to the FWS for further correction and explanation.  The judge was unconvinced that the relisting would cause disruption in the management of the species.  The judge chose instead to vacate the delisting rule and restored the wolves to federal protection.

SCI’s Litigation Team is studying this ruling and in the next few days will be analyzing its impact, not only on the future of WGL wolves, but also on other species potentially poised to be delisted.  SCI will also be consulting with attorneys for the FWS, states and other defendant-intervenors to discuss a potential appeal of this ruling.

Federal court order returns wolves to endangered species list

Ruling suspends Michigan’s lethal control laws and permits

A federal court judge has ordered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to immediately return wolves in the Great Lakes region to the federal endangered species list, making it illegal for Michigan citizens to kill wolves attacking livestock or dogs.

Under endangered species status, wolves may be killed only in the immediate defense of human life.

Two state laws allowing livestock or dog owners to kill wolves in the act of depredation are suspended by the ruling.

Additionally, lethal control permits previously issued by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to livestock farmers to address ongoing conflicts with wolves are no longer valid; permit holders have been contacted regarding this change.

The return to federal endangered species status also means DNR wildlife and law enforcement officials no longer have the authority to use lethal control methods to manage wolf conflict.

However, non-lethal methods – such as flagging, fencing, flashing lights and guard animals – may still be used and are encouraged. Compensation for livestock lost to wolves continues to be available through the DNR and Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Citizens in need of assistance with problem wolves should contact their local DNR wildlife biologist or DNR wolf program coordinator Kevin Swanson at 906-228-6561.

Friday’s federal court order came in response to a lawsuit filed by the Humane Society of the United States challenging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision to remove wolves in the Great Lakes Distinct Population Segment from the federal endangered species list in January 2012. The ruling affects wolves in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

“The federal court decision is surprising and disappointing,” said Russ Mason, DNR Wildlife Division Chief. “Wolves in Michigan have exceeded recovery goals for 15 years and have no business being on the endangered species list, which is designed to help fragile populations recover – not to halt the use of effective wildlife management techniques.”

The DNR will work closely with the Michigan Attorney General’s office and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to determine the full impact of this ruling on the state’s wolf management program and identify next steps.

“In the meantime, the Wildlife Division will continue updating the state’s wolf management plan, which includes the use of hunting and other forms of lethal control to minimize conflict with wolves,” Mason said. “Although the federal court’s ruling prevents the use of these management tools for the time-being, the Department will be prepared for any future changes that would return wolves to state management authority.”

For more information about Michigan’s wolf population and management plan, visit www.michigan.gov/wolves.

Joe’s Muzzleloading Doe

During the final hour of Michigan’s muzzleloading season, Joe took this mature doe with his CVA Accura loaded with a 250-grain tipped Barnes bullet over two magnum Triple 7 pellets.

Tracking dog, Reese, was called in to help in the recovery effort, and he did the job in about one minute.

Joe's muzzleloader doe
Joe’s muzzleloader doe
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