Hunting High TV

Picture: Heidi Jones, Kamloops, B.C., Canada!

After our last post about women in the outdoors, Cory and I were amazed by the response we recieved from so many women out there. I find lately that I’m really more aware of articles, pictures, websites and TV shows about women in the outdoors and have my wife watching  Vicki Cianciarulo from Archer’s Choice and Tiffany Lakoski from The Crush and Getting Close on a regular basis on WildTV.

Today I ran across an article written by Marty Roney for USA Today, this article had some more interesting facts about women in the outdoors that I’ve included below. Also in the article was a fantastic quote from Sylvia Payne, Director of the Alabama BOW Program (Becoming an Outdoors Woman)

“If you teach a man to hunt, he goes hunting. If you teach a woman to hunt, the entire family goes hunting.”

 Here is an exerpt from the same article in USA Today…

“According to a recent National Survey of Hunting, Fishing and Wildlife Associated Recreation done by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, there has been an 11% decline in the number of hunters nationwide from 1991 to 2006.

As a partial response to that decline, many states are trying to attract more women to the sport, and the effort is showing signs of success.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife survey published in 2007 shows that the number of female hunters, about 10% of the nation’s 12.5 million hunters, has grown slightly since 1991, but it showed significant growth among the youngest female hunters.

According to the survey, 304,000 girls ages 6 to 15 hunted from 2001 through 2006 — a 50% increase in the number of young girls hunting from 1991 through 1996.”

I’ve also been searching a bunch of different sites and thought I’d share a few of them with all of you.

www.txdiva.com

www.womenhunters.com

www.thewomanhunter.com

www.womenintheoutdoors.org

www.womenhunters.org

www.womensoutdoorwire.com

Popularity: 12% [?]

Recently I purchased a new scope for my .300 WSM. This isn’t my first scope by any means, I’ve had a lot of different scopes on different rifles over the years and while I don’t consider myself a sniper or a gunsmith by any stretch of the imagination, I like to think I’m pretty savvy with the workings of a firearm and whatever optics adorn it. But while mounting this new scope it struck me that I had no idea of what 1/4″ MOA meant. I always though it just meant that for every one quarter of an inch to the right/left/up or down I wanted the rifle to fire, it was one click in that direction.

So I started to look into the actual meaning of MOA and was surprised to find out how complicated MOA or minutes of angle actually was. I found one article at rifle accuracy reports.com that I thought I would share with you. I didn’t find an author of this article to give credit to, but I found this to be a good explanation…

Minute of Angle (MOA) is the term used as the standard for measuring the accuracy of a hunting rifle. You can also use minute of angle as a means of measuring the size of an animal’s target zone. In the simplest terms, there are 360 degrees in a circle, each degree has 60 minutes. The calculated distance extended to a target at 100 yards is 1.047 inches or “one-minute.” This number is just a crosshair over “one inch” and to make calculating easier, most all hunters and shooters use “one inch,” this is called “shooter’s minute of angle.” In terms of accuracy, if a hunter and his/her rifle can shoot three or five rounds and have them group inside one inch at 100 yards, then you have a minute of angle group, or a minute of angle rifle.

The rifle scopes and the scope clicks have a MOA value also. Most hunters use 1/8 inch and the 1/4 inch MOA click value. Using the 1/4 inch scope, this means that each click equals 1/4 inch of movement at 100 yards. So in order to make the bullet impact move one inch or one MOA at 100 yards, you must turn the elevation or the windage knob four clicks. The click value moves up by a 1/4 inch for each 100-yard increase in distance, so 200 yards will be ½ inch movement per click, 300 yards will be 3/4 in. per click, 400 yards = 1 in., 500 yards = 1 1/4 in., 600 yards = 1 ½ in., 700 yards = 1 3/4 in., 800 yards = 2 in., 900 yards = 2 1/4 in. and 1000 yards = 2 ½ inches of movement per click of elevation or windage knob on your rifle scope.

Speaking of accuracy at distance, this angle stays consistent all the way out to how ever far you want to shoot. One inch at 100 yards, two inches at 200 yards, three inches at 300 yards, four inches at 400 yards and so on. So if a hunter can shoot an eight inch-group at 800 yards, or a ten-inch group at 1000 yards, that is minute of angle grouping. And you are an accurate shot. It is possible to be accurate with a 2-inch group at 100 yards, on deer sized game, but your accuracy will only go so far. At 200 yards your group will open up to 4 inches, this is good; at 300 yards your group opens up 7 to 8 inches, a hit will still be made, but is getting marginal for correct shot placement. At 400 yards your group opens up to 12 to 16 inches and getting marginal for a hit. At 500 yards and beyond, your groups only open up more and more a miss is highly likely, depending on wind, conditions and setup.

It is possible to shoot better than minute of angle. “Sub” minute of angle. If your rifle shoots ½ inch groups at 100 yards, you could say half minute of angle or sub-MOA in describing your groups or your rifle. 2.99 inches or better at 300yards, 6.99 inches or better at 700 yards, or a 10-inch group at 1100 yards can all be described as sub-minute of angle.

While hunting, out in the field, you can also describe how you will “hold” your aim, or cross-hairs of the scope on a game animal. You can know how big the game animal you target is, beforehand. A Mule Deer has a body height of approximately 15 inches from top of the back to brisket, give or take an inch. So at 400 yards, one MOA is four inches. You could say that a Mule Deer standing at 400 yards is 4 MOA tall or 16 inches.

Say, for example, you know the trajectory of your rifle-scope-and bullet combination,(AND ITS A “MUST” THAT YOU KNOW!!) and you have a 300 Yard “Zero”, and know that at 400 yards that your bullet drops 8 inches, (or 2 MOA) and that Mule Deer standing there has a “vital zone” of 15 inches by 15 inches square; you could aim and place the cross-hairs of your scope right at the top of the deer’s back, squeeze off a shot, and expect a hit, because you have “confirmed” many times over at the shooting range, and on steel targets, that your bullet drops 8 inches/
2 MOA from 300 to 400 yards.

To be Proficient at Extended Distances, You Must Know, by Confirming Exactly what Your Bullet is Doing from 400 to 500, 500 to 600, 600 to 700 yards, etc., All the Way Out to however Far you want to Shoot!!

Listed in the table below, are kill-zone measurements (top of back-to-chest, front-chest to back-of-ribs) of various game animals. These are approximate field measurements (in inches), as every animal is different. Your shots and point-of-aim should be centered in the middle of this imaginary square, on the shoulder of game animals.

Coues Deer, Blackbuck, Pronghorn, Javelina Boar, Coyote, 12-14 in.

Axis Deer, Whitetail Deer, Wolf 14-16 in.

Mountain Lion, Dall Sheep, Mule Deer 13-17 in.

Big Horn Sheep, Stone Sheep, Mtn. Goat, Caribou 18-20 in.

Rocky Mountain, Roosevelt Elk, Black Bear, 20-24 in.

Brown, Grizzly and Polar Bear 30-38 in.

Moose, Eland, Cape Buffalo 30-36 in.

Bison Buffalo 40 in.

Tule Elk . 18-22 in.

By understanding and communicating in minute of angle, you will know how your rifle will perform and how big your target area is on a game animal, at any given distance. The practice and use of this information, will make your shots more precise at the shooting range, and in the field.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Here is  bit of information that was news to me and I think we all should know. It was sent to me by a friend in the insurance business and I found it very interesting.

If you have any customers who state they are members of a “Fish & Games Club” or the “BC Wildlife Federation” and they “already have liability for their ATV’s” included in their membership to their local clubs……

Your response should be:

1.) They are ONLY covered on Private Lands
-This does NOT included forest service roads, logging roads, back-country service areas, etc.
2.) They are only insured while in the act of hunting, fishing, etc.
-This does not include recreational/pleasure use of the ATV
-It must be shown that their intention is for hunting and/or fishing for their BCWF liability policy to cover them,   once again remember…….they are not coverage on forestry roads.

It has come to our attention that when selling the ATV Physical Damage insurance not everyone is selling the ATV Liability coverage along with it.
Just to be clear, here are a few key points to help you in your client interactions!!
1.) Why Your Customer Needs Liability on Their All Terrain Vehicle:

a.) It is now mandatory for Everyone to carry TPL on ATV’s while operating on back-country forest service roads, logging roads, etc
b.) It will be up to a $600.00 FINE for no insurance
c.) It is not up to you to determine what is deemed a “forestry road”, your clients will have to check with forest services
d.) This policy will cover Bodily Injury and Property Damage to a third party if the insured is found legal liable for damages.
2.) Requirements, Eligibility and/or Qualifications to Purchase our ATV Liability Policy:

a.) Applicant has had their drivers license for a minimum of 5 years  OR
b.) Applicant has owned an ATV for a minimum of 3 years and is over the age of 19   OR
c.) They must have attended a CSC Safe Operators Course and provide the Certificate  OR
d.) They are a member of ATV BC (Quad Riders Association), refer to www.ATVBC.ca to purchase a membership
OK!  Now once your client meets ONLY ONE of these requirements, you need to advise WHO IS AN INSURED?
3.) Insured Persons Under This Policy Are:

a.) The vehicle owner   AND
b.) Insured’s spouse  AND
c.) ***with permission and who meet the requirements:
i.  any resident family member 15 years and older
ii. dependant children 15 years and older who are away at school

Like I said, this is information passed onto us by someone in the insurance business, we haven’t had a chance to look any further into this, if anyone out there can confirm  this information to be accurate, or can add more info,please let us know.

Popularity: 10% [?]