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Alpen Optics Honors Injured Female Veterans During 2nd Celebration Hunt

Kate Calahan, Cheri Arnold, Vickie Gardner, Leslie Smith and Issac

Alpenoptics.com

Rancho Cucamonga, CA --(Ammoland.com)- Alpen Optics, along with Mississippi Outdoors, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Prois, Fisheries and Parks and PVA-ORHF (Outdoor Recreation Heritage Fund) recently hosted a turkey hunt/fishing event for injured female veterans to “celebrate” these women and the sacrifices they’ve made for our country.

Vickie Gardner, co-owner of Alpen Optics, says, “I know how much being in the outdoors hunting and fishing means to me, and I knew that our returning female veterans would benefit from these activities as well. After spending time with the three special women during their first turkey hunting experience, I can say without a doubt that the hunt was healing and uplifting for not only them but everyone involved.”

Gardner says she wants to make the media aware of this Celebration Hunt and solicits the media’s help in raising awareness for female veterans, especially injured female vets and how hunting can provide a level of healing for them.

Veterans Leslie Smith, Kate Calahan and Cheri Arnold all suffer from debilitating injuries, but say that hunting and spending time in the outdoors provides them with a sense of empowerment and self-assurance that strengthens their spirits.

The participants enjoyed two days of hunting and fishing on the beautiful 8000-acre property owned by Mississippi Commissioner Billy DeViney; and two of the ladies ended up taking a bird.

After harvesting her first ever turkey, Smith, an amputee who’s partially blind, said, “Hunting and taking this bird made me feel confident and powerful. I feel if I can do this, I can do anything.”

Calahan, who’s partially paralyzed, insisted on going after her gobbler on foot. She even climbed what she claimed were “two of the biggest hills in Mississippi” to get the job done.

“I began hunting a couple of years ago with the Paralyzed Veterans of America Organization,” Calahan says. “I realized through hunting that I don’t have to be stuck inside. I can do things. It’s a great feeling.”

Arnold, an incomplete quadriplegic, says hunting has opened up another world for her. Although she didn’t get a bird, Arnold says, “I was thrilled to witness Leslie and Kate’s excitement at getting a bird.”

Arnold was the only lady to catch a fish during their afternoon fishing trips for bream and bass.

Gardner says, “The 2nd Celebration Hunt was a life changing experience for all of us. I look forward to future hunts and to meeting more remarkable women who’ve given so much of themselves to protect the freedom that we often take for granted.”

Filed under: Hunting News by Ammoland 1 Comment »

Alpen Apex 493 Binocular – as seen through the eyes of our Gear Dude
Gear Court: Sponsored By the Women’s Outdoor News

Alpen Apex 493 Binocular

Women’s Outdoor News

Rolla, MO --(Ammoland.com)- I’m not the kind of person you’d expect to be writing about optics.

Optics are about vision of course, and my very poor eyesight requires me to wear eyeglasses at all times. Because of this, I’ve never tried a binocular I really liked, until now. (Well, with one exception. Long ago in Switzerland I looked through a Zeiss binocular that was pretty sweet—but also cost about as much as a decent car.)

This is not to say that the many binoculars I’ve tried (most belonging to friends) were of poor quality. But unfortunately many binoculars are not designed to be particularly “eyeglasses-friendly.” Because of this, I’d pretty much given up on personal optics years ago.

[Editor’s Note: A “binocular” (meaning two eyes) is a portable viewing instrument with two eyepieces allowing the user to see a magnified view with both eyes simultaneously. This instrument is commonly, but incorrectly, called a “pair of binoculars”; but strictly speaking, “binoculars” (plural) is correct only when discussing more than one such instrument.]

Recently I had an opportunity to discuss my binocular problem with Vickie Gardner, VP of Stuff at Alpen Optics. Alpen makes binoculars, spotting scopes, riflescopes and monoculars for outdoorspeople of all persuasions: hunters, hikers, boaters, anglers, campers, birdwatchers and sports fans.

For eyeglasses wearers, Vickie recommends a binocular with long eye relief. A long-eye-relief binocular allows folks who wear eyeglasses to see the entire available field of view, brightly lit, without our glasses getting in the way. The binocular is designed to compensate for the extra distance from an eyeglasses wearer’s eyes to the eyepieces. People who don’t wear glasses can put binocular eyepieces right up to their eyes—eyeglasses wearers can’t.

This sounded like exactly the problem I’d always had. Vickie sent me an Alpen Apex Model 493 8×42 binocular, which provides 20mm of eye relief for us eyeglass wearers. It also offers a field of view of 341 feet (at 1,000 yards) yet will focus clearly on an object only 5 feet away.

So came the moment of truth when I put the binocular to my eyes (well, to my eyeglasses) and was able to see what I’d been missing for years—an eye-opening experience. And now I understand why so many friends love their optics.

Alpen Apex Mod 493 8 x 42 binocular

The Alpen Model 493 has excellent light-gathering properties. Even when I’m in bright sunlight looking into shady woods, I can make out objects among the thick trees surprisingly well. Recently I sat on a sunny house roof and watched for several minutes as a pileated woodpecker in deep woods hammered its way into a standing dead tree in search of insects. Equally nice is that I can look at faraway objects in bright sunlight while wearing my prescription sunglasses.

Can’t wait to try out this binocular on boats at sea when the warm weather arrives!

Do you wear eyeglasses, but have a friend who doesn’t? No problem. The binocular has twist-up and lock eye cups. Eyeglasses wearers keep the eyecups in the “down” position to enjoy the benefits of long eye relief. Your less vision-impaired friends can twist the eye cups up, “disabling” the long-eye-relief feature.

The Alpen 493 is obviously very well made. The entire instrument is rubber coated for durability and weatherproofing. Lenses and prisms are sealed with O-rings, and all interior spaces filled with nitrogen to prevent condensation and fogging. Weight is about 24 ounces. Alpen Apex binoculars come with a carrying case, wide neck strap, a lens cleaning cloth and a lifetime warranty.

MSRP is $425.

For more gear reviews, visit the Gear Court at Women’s Outdoor News.: www.womensoutdoornews.com/category/reviews/gear-court/

About:
The Women’s Outdoor News, aka The WON, delivers news, reviews and stories about women in the outdoors. Born out of a desire to serve the burgeoning outdoor market for women and to inspire as many women to go outside as possible, The WON pops into email in-boxes, RSS feeds and Twitter Feeds with updates during the work week. Visit: www.Womensoutdoornews.com

Filed under: Gun Gear by WON Comments Off