In a recent conversation with Ryan Holm, Director of Marketing at Leica Sports Optics, we explored how the company's century-long expertise in optical technology is revolutionizing the way hunters and shooters interact with their equipment.
What sets Leica apart in today's competitive optics market is their philosophy of integration rather than isolation. While many manufacturers are developing closed, proprietary systems that lock users into their specific ecosystem, Leica has designed their products to work seamlessly with industry-leading software and hardware from other manufacturers, creating a more versatile and user-friendly experience for sportsmen and women.
The GeoVid Pro AB+ rangefinding binoculars exemplify this approach, featuring onboard Applied Ballistics technology—the only binoculars in the industry with this capability. This integration eliminates the need to reference separate tools in the field, streamlining the shooting process and improving accuracy. As Holm explains, "Leica is taking more of an approach of an open ecosystem where we integrate with the best technology in the industry." This includes partnerships with Applied Ballistics, OnX, and other industry leaders to create a comprehensive solution for hunters and precision shooters.
Leica's thermal imaging technology represents another area where the company's heritage of excellence in optical sensors provides a meaningful advantage. Having manufactured cameras and sensors for over a century, Leica has transferred this expertise to thermal imaging. Their Calonox Sight SE clip-on thermal device attaches to existing rifle scopes using the Rusan adapter system, allowing users to transform their current optic into a thermal scope without purchasing an entirely new system. This modular approach lets shooters move the thermal unit between different rifles by simply purchasing additional adapters, maximizing versatility and value.
The evolution of the modern hunter and shooter has significantly influenced Leica's product development. As Holm notes, the industry has shifted from the traditional hunter who "pulls their rifle out once a year, a week before the season" to a more prepared, technically-savvy sportsperson who participates in competitions like NRL Hunter or PRS matches. Leica has responded with products featuring thoughtfully designed reticles and illumination systems that reduce cognitive load in stressful shooting situations.
Leica's Amplus 6 rifle scope demonstrates this approach with its clean, uncluttered reticle featuring an illuminated center dot that produces a clear aiming point without overwhelming the shooter with excessive markings—a perfect balance of simplicity and functionality for hunting applications.
Looking toward the future, Leica Sports Optics is poised to continue its innovation with several new product launches scheduled for later this year, including the Calonox 2 thermal device and enhanced rangefinder offerings. The company is also increasing its presence in competitive shooting, sponsoring both the PRS and NRL series while supporting community events like the Total Archery Challenge.
With their combination of optical excellence, cutting-edge technology, and open integration approach, Leica Sports Optics is positioned to lead the next generation of hunting and shooting optics—creating tools that enhance the experience for sportspeople at all levels of expertise.
Learn more:
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Hey, ryan, how you doing today?
Man, good, how are you doing?
Fantastic.
Hey, I'm really excited to chatwith you.
We got a lot to cover.
Today we're going to be talkingabout Leica Sports Optics, your
position there, and I reallylike to start a lot of my
podcasts giving a little bit oflot to cover.
Today we're going to be talkingabout Leica Sports Optics, your
position there, and you know Ireally like to start a lot of my
podcasts giving a little bit ofbackground to my listeners, for
my guests, and I really wantedto maybe kind of dive back.
Why don't you talk to me alittle bit about where you grew
(00:35):
up, how'd you get involved withworking in the outdoor lifestyle
and your love of that?
And you know we'll just kind ofthrow the needle from there
cool.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Yeah, I mean, um, I grew up a midwest kid, um, so a
lot of a lot of walleye fishingwith my dad, um, but never,
never, actually was into.
We never got into huntingbecause my dad was, um, he had
that kind of a bad experience.
When you know, his firstexperience with hunting went out
with a few friends and thatended up having different
activities is what they thoughtas far as what hunting was, um,
(01:04):
and so, um, yeah, just grew upin the midwest, um, doing a lot
of wildlife fishing, outdoorcamping.
We travel all across the us and, you know, camping in the back
of our vehicle and stuff.
So, yeah, that's how it kind of, uh, initially was kind of
introduced to the outdoors andin that, in that lifestyle.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
So yeah, nice and then you ended up.
You've been in the industry, inthe outdoor industry, for quite
a while.
Why don't you tell me about howyou kind of got your your first
steps in there and then we'llkind of, you know, maybe talk
about how you got involved withlike and what you got going on
now?
Speaker 2 (01:35):
yeah, it's, it's a.
It's a.
It's a big question becauseI've been in the industry for
probably like 25 plus years,right, so it's a hard.
It's hard to know where to evenstart from, but maybe ones that
are more recognizable, or, youknow, I worked for Mystery Ranch
for about 13 years, kind ofdeveloped that entire brand from
scratch.
You know we were a one personmarketing team when I first
(01:55):
started there and at the end ofit we ended up selling that to
Yeti and so, yeah, I got, I cutmy teeth in the in the hunting
realm there.
Before that I was justprimarily into climbing and
backcountry skiing and stufflike that and so yeah, so now
now being in the with MysteryRanch, got exposed to hunting,
(02:18):
backcountry hunting, bow hunting, rifle hunting, precision style
shooting, you know all of thosethings that kind of come with
the territory of working in thatrole, yeah, and so that's kind
of what really kind ofcatapulted my career into
getting way more involved intothe outdoor hunting space.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Well, you just talked a lot about, you know, as far
as some of the things, as far asprecision shooting, hunting,
bow hunting, all the things thatyou know, all the, all the
different products that areavailable through Leica Sports
Optics really kind of fall intoa lot of those different
categories and I was just kindof curious how is it that you
ended up finding yourself inthat role and what does that
look like for you on aday-to-day right now?
(02:57):
Is, you know, I've been awareof Leica for a long time.
Obviously, photography, I meanlenses there's some amazing
camera work and then, uh, havehad a little bit of exposure, uh
, with some of the other stuffas far as, like their range
finding binoculars.
I've been using those now forabout four years.
Um, second to none out there,and you know I have some here
we'll kind of go through thosein a little bit that I've been
working with, uh lately and just, you know, phenomenal, some of
(03:19):
the best glass I've ever used inmy entire life, and so I I'd
love to, you know, kind of divein a little bit on that.
But I was just kind of curious,how did you get involved in?
And you know what's thatday-to-day looking like for you
right now as far as kind ofbringing this into the U?
S and taking it to that nextlevel.
Maybe a little bit of historyof the brand as well, if you
don't mind.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Yeah, you know, I I've known like a through
mystery ranch for probably sincelike 2010, when we were doing
some content creation and wewere collaborating with like a.
Back then that was kind of thatwas before like media hunting,
media was even really a thing.
I feel like that was kind ofthe the precipice of like, just
you know, when hunting kind ofexploded into this whole realm,
of going out and shooting videocontent, photography about
backcountry hunting and like thewhole lifestyle process and
(04:05):
everything like that, and soLeica was a partner of ours, uh,
during that and uh, so I thinkI was.
I've been spoiled since thebeginning as far as like optics
go.
Um, since I have, you know, Ibought a lot of my, you know,
bought a spying scope, I boughtbinoculars, um, I've, you know,
owned a Leica camera, so it'sjust I was pretty heavily
(04:27):
involved in just leica itselfand so that was kind of the
connection point when, um a rolecame around to to assist them
with marketing, kind ofre-establishing the brand of the
us, because I feel like theywere kind of the king of optics.
Uh, you know, at the beginningum, this is before a lot of the
other brands kind of came aroundand and filled the void of what
they they weren't.
A lot of the other brands kindof came around and and filled
(04:47):
the void of what they theyweren't doing and so, um,
they've kind of they've uh hiredme and uh brought me on board
to kind of reestablish the brandand kind of reestablish, you
know, like uh in the Westernmarket and a few other ones.
So, um, yeah, so that's that'skind of like the history of my
relationship with Leica and nowbeing the director of marketing
just helping them kind of get afoothold, get some organization
(05:09):
around what they're doing, whythey're doing it.
You know, working with a ton ofgood writers in the industry
that know optics way more than Ido, so I don't pretend to be an
expert in optics at all, sinceI've only been here for about
six months.
So I've been pretty heavily onthe product team and other
individuals that have been herefor decades.
So that's really what's reallycool about the leica brand is a
(05:29):
ton of the sales guys have beenhere for, you know, 15, 18, 20
years, and so, uh, hamilton, whoI, who I knew through mystery
ranch, um, who's been part ofthe, the leica brand for it
seems like many decades, um,he's, uh, he's a good friend of
mine.
He just brand for it seems likemany decades, he's a he's a
good friend of mine.
He just reached out and he'slike hey, you're looking for a
(05:52):
marketing role and so we justchatted and connected and that's
kind of like no, no.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
So this episode is brought to you by American made
maps.
American made maps is thepremier company producing
printed and digital maps of allkinds.
It doesn't matter what yourproject is.
If you want the highest qualityaerial imagery overlaid with
customizable icons and labels,american Made Maps is the spot
(06:15):
for you to go.
So listen, check outAmericanMadeMapscom to learn
more information and sign up fora free consultation.
You'll be glad you did.
So let's kind of dive in alittle bit to some of the
products that I know thatthere's going to be some launch
later on the year and you knowwe'll have you back and kind of
discuss those, or maybe inHamilton then to kind of, you
know, go into some more details.
But as far as some of the onesnow, I mean you know one of the
(06:36):
ones right here, the GeoVid ProAB+, the Applied Ballistics Plus
, this is by far the bestrangefinder binoculars I have
ever used.
They are super clear, amazing,accurate as could be, and I am
just blown away and I'd love foryou to maybe talk a little bit
about those.
And, you know, with the AppliedBallistics and some of the
software developments and someof the things that you can link
(06:57):
up, because I mean that'ssomething you can also do with
the other scopes.
And you know range finders, thestandalones, and you know what
is happening these days, I think, when some people used to hey
this range finder, cool, I canjust show as far as how far this
is.
But there's different.
There's so much technology nowin the software side of things
that I'd love to kind of talkyou know a little bit about that
(07:18):
and let listeners understandthe evolution of that and how
that can be a game changer, theevolution of that and how that
can be a game changer, whetherthat's, you know, in your
hunting relation or in yourprecision long range shooting or
whatever that may be.
Uh, so if you wouldn't mind,you know, maybe kind of tackle a
little bit of that and we'llkind of go to a few other things
here in a little bit and we'llchat on those too.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Yeah, so like um, just from a Lika's perspective,
uh, the goal is to make umhardware and software software,
you know, interconnected andit's to make it more of an
ecosystem of many differentsoftwares out there and maybe
some hardware integrations aswell.
So for Leica it's less about,like you know, if you buy our
(07:58):
things you have to be a part ofthis proprietary system that we
design, that we control, thateverything is designed by Leica
and that that's the only stuffthat you can integrate with.
And that's what most of ourcompetitors are doing today.
Leica is taking more of anapproach of an open ecosystem
where we integrate with the besttechnology in the industry,
which I feel like is you knowwhoever had that mindset?
(08:18):
It was most likely Matthias,who's in Germany, and then a few
other team members, but that'skind of their focus is like how
can we integrate with the besttechnology in in the industry?
And so with the leica ab plus um, that's an approach to work
with applied ballistics andactually before my time of
(08:40):
getting really into shooting, Ithought kestrel and applied
ballistics were the same thingand so kind of diving down the
deep rabbit hole.
You know, applied Ballistics isits own company and then it
integrates with all thesedifferent companies to help
improve, you know, shooting andjust having access to more of
your data.
And so with the AV+, that wasan attempt to, and it was
completed, with obviously theAV+ having Applied Ballistics on
(09:03):
board your binocular, withobviously the AB plus having
applied ballistics on board yourbinocular, and so that's the
only binocular in the industrythat actually has applied
ballistics on board.
So what's different is likeapplied ballistics.
If you don't have it on board,obviously you might be using a
Kestrel, you might have a GarminFortrex or another style of
watch, so that would be offboard, right.
But um, so by having appliedblixx on board, you're able to
(09:27):
make a more calculated decisionwithin, within your binoculars,
as opposed to having toreference another tool.
Obviously, once you go to therange, you get that all set up
and then it becomes a, a toolthat's just right there in front
of you.
So that's kind of like the, theprocess that they're going
through from a productdevelopment standpoint, and
applied ballistics is definitelythat, that that's pushing the
industry forward.
(09:47):
So most companies are trying toplay catch up with what we're
doing there, and that's theinteresting thing about Leica is
that we've been making the bestglass, the best hardware and
now working with some of thebest software.
You're getting best of bothworlds, of having the best
hardware and software at thesame time, and no one's really
ever talked about it like it,and so here I am.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
That's great man.
Well, it's, it's phenomenal.
You know, I've uh, like I said,I've I've used like a range
finding binoculars before andhad the experience and just
second to none glass, and I mean, whenever I started kind of
getting into precision longrange shooting, that was the one
that my buddy was like, hey, hebuilds rifles and he's like
this is the only glass I use,this is the only range finding
binocular, this is the mostaccurate, I love it.
(10:29):
And he's shooting out two milesand such.
So like I was like, okay, I'mgoing to take your word for it,
Cause I'm.
You know, I was at the 800 yardthese up.
Just the clarity, the ability tojust get spot on ranging, was
something that was phenomenal.
But then, you know, diving intothe software side of things has
(10:53):
just been pretty mind blowingas far as what you can do and
being able to integrate thattechnology, which is just
another level and another stepforward, which, like, is just
kind of improving that game, youknow.
And the other thing, I was gotthe AmpliSix here.
This is one of the many rivalscopes that Leica has.
I really like this.
The clarity, of course, again,is just absolutely amazing.
(11:14):
But being able to integratethis with the Calinex Sight SE
the thermal.
You know, a lot of times youhave a standalone thermal unit
right and I've had those whereyou can have like a quick detach
and you know, most of the timesit'll kind of go pretty close
back to center.
But the ability now using theuh russon is that how you say
say it, the uh as far as theadapter being able to.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
I say I say russon, but it's I.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
I don't know if that's totally accurate, but
yeah I'm gonna go with yoursbecause, uh, I'm not sure, but I
the adapter being able tointegrate these together and be
able to have that as a one pieceto where you could kind of take
it off and it does have a QDability to kind of pull it back
off, but the being able to havesomething kind of using as a
spotting scope and then beingable to then put it back on and
having that ability and thatthermal is absolutely amazing.
(12:00):
I'd love for you to maybe talka little bit about that and that
integration and if there'sanything you know coming out
soon it looks like there's someyou know thermals that are going
to be coming out on the markethere later on in the year if you
want to go ahead and maybe diveinto that and talk about kind
of the success of this and theCalinex and what that's been
looking like for you guys.
I know there's a few differentbrands.
There's the Sight no-transcript.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Yeah, so obviously you just covered the fact that
we're trying to integrate prettymuch with every tool that you
might need, and so with theGeoVid AV Pluses that we just
talked about, then you have likean amplis scope.
We have obviously like a PRSscope, but the amplis is
specifically more of like a.
It's a better use case for,like your Western Hunter, it has
(12:54):
many different reticles has.
It's super durable.
It's a little bit thicker tube.
It allows you to select a.
You know what's going to workfor your use case.
We have our like a ballisticsapp where you can actually load.
Once you actually set up yourgun profile, you can go in there
and select the reticle with theleica scope that you're that
you're using, and then you canactually get your subtension
(13:16):
reads just off that reticle.
The nice thing about that isthat we've also, since we work
with Applied Ballistics on ourLeica app in Applied Ballistics
Quantum, now that feature isactually in there as well, so
you can use any scope, you canget all your subtensions, you
can get all that informationright there in the app.
So by having you know, like acomplete ecosystem, what I'm
(13:41):
talking about and soon that willbe some things like with the
spotting scope and some other uhhardware that we're making.
But, yeah, the amplis isdefinitely one of those products
that we never really likeofficially launched in the us,
and so we're we're excited tokind of continue to talk about
that and bring some attention tothe fact that we do make rifle
scopes and then they alsointegrate with our thermal stuff
(14:03):
.
So a little history about Leicaitself.
If you think about this way,leica has been making cameras
for almost 100 years and so wemade sensors, you know, from a
digital camera standpoint, thatcaptures light, and now we're
making digital cameras thatcapture heat.
So any company that's out thereright now that's making thermal
(14:27):
um, they may have been doing itand they're innovative, but you
know, like has been doing itfor a lot longer time from a
sensor standpoint, like when youtalk about like being, from a
portrait photography standpoint,the best in the world.
Now we're applying that sameknowledge to our thermal digital
stuff.
So it's pretty monumental.
(14:48):
I don't think that peoplereally fully grasp that.
So it's kind of a fun story anda few topics to talk about, um.
So it's it's kind of a funstory and a few uh topics to
talk about.
Um, the nice thing he talkedabout with the Ruson adapter is
that, you know, most a lot ofguys have, or gals have their,
you know, the rifle scope andthey don't necessarily have the
funds to go invest in a wholenother thermoscope.
(15:08):
And so for us, with the clip-ontechnology which is, you know,
it's not clip-ons are not massmarket, you know but we feel
like from european standpoint,from also us standpoint, like
why don't you just takesomething that's already there
and then just integrate with it,and so you don't have to go buy
a new, a full new scope?
You can just buy a colinoxclip-on.
(15:29):
So the colinox clip-on thatyou're you're showing there is
the colinox one.
We'll be coming out with thecolonox two here, hopefully, um,
by july this year, um, but thatcolonx two and the ruson
adapter.
The ruson adapter you can put,you could put multiple ruson
adapters on the size ofobjective that you have per
scope, and then you could simplyjust move that thermo from
(15:50):
scope to scope to scope.
So now you just like tooksomething where it's like a
single unit and now you justhave to buy an extra ruson
adapter for that other objectiveand now you have a thermoscope
for any scope that you own, solike yeah, so I just feel like
yeah yeah, there's tons of them.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
I was looking at the list on, you know, matching it
up to what you have.
I mean tons of different scopesthere they're made, it is not.
I mean there are a lot ofdifferent scopes there, they're
made, it is not.
I mean there are a lot ofdifferent options that some
people might already have on topof their rifle and their safe.
That is going to be easilypaired up with that with the
colonel.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Yeah, for sure.
Yeah.
And since we partnered withRoussan, that's a whole nother
company and they do all themeasurements, they use all the
tools to make sure it's accurate.
So they, they use all the toolsto make sure it's accurate.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
Um, so it was.
They've done all the hard workfor you.
So, yeah, yeah, well, they arephenomenal, you know, um, I I
want to definitely touch basetoo.
I also have the rangefinder CRFpro here, um, which is going to
be great because, you know, asfar as you know, sometimes you
get the big rangefinderbinoculars.
Obviously, if you're going toget something out there, you're
going to need to have somethingthat's a little larger.
But you know, you're in thattight space.
We've got turkey season comingup and I definitely think having
(16:59):
a range finder that you canhave handheld, super light,
super accurate, and it'ssomething that you know you can
range out there a little bit hey, where are those birds coming
in?
And making sure you have, youknow, your range for shotgun or
even if you're doing archery.
I'm going to be doing that thisfall with this and I'd love to
talk a little bit about that too.
And again, these are otherthings that are, you know, again
(17:19):
, can be integrated.
A lot of the.
I've played around with theBluetooth technology on, you
know, these different units here, and I've been very, very
impressed, but I'd love for youto maybe talk about that a
little bit.
And that one also has appliedballistics as far as technology
available with it as well.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Yeah, so the CR-Pro does and allows you to integrate
with that same appliedballistics technology as well.
And on a range finder, just anyrange finder in general, when we
measure our range findingperformance, we are ranging
against non-reflective objects,and so that's probably different
than most of the industryranging against non-reflective
(17:56):
objects, and so that's probablydifferent than most of the
industry does.
So we, you know, actuallyarrange real things and that
gives us real data about what wefeel like is where the
performance is going to be.
So, yeah, you get the best ofboth worlds.
And if you have a pair ofbinoculars that you already
appreciate, you know they don'tnecessarily have a range finder
in there, but you pay, you know,a good amount of money for
(18:16):
those things because no matterwhat brand you buy, they could
be a good chunk of money.
So, yeah, the handhelds aregreat for that.
So we have the CRF-R and theCRF-Pro and then we're hopefully
going to come up here laterthis season with another
improvement as well.
So, yeah, we're always kind ofpushing the envelope as far as
like handhelds go.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
And what are some of the units that you're taking out
in the field and what are youkind of as far as your personal
experience now, obviously you'vehad, you know, some connection
with Leica for many years andnow working with them.
What is it that?
Speaker 2 (18:46):
what's been your experience and your thoughts and
, you know, what would you liketo tell listeners about as far
as with Leica sports optics andwhat you see coming in the
future for, like the US marketand really kind of bringing
things back, because some ofthese existed elsewhere, but now
we're going to be seeing them alot more here in the in the
year, in years to come, and I'dlove for you to just kind of
maybe talk to that a little bitand you know your thoughts on it
(19:07):
yeah, I feel like the industryis just shifting, like, if you
look at it, from like the hunterwho used to, you know, has a
gun safe, they, they pull theirrifle out once a year, you know,
a week before the season, andthen go shoot, you know, get
their zero, make sure they'reout to you know a hundred or 200
yards where there's zeropreferences, and then maybe they
(19:30):
throw a couple of lob, a coupleout there at three or 400 yards
and they're like all right, I'mgood and good, um, and you know
that's worked for a really longtime.
But then the industry hasreally shifted to, um, you know,
more of like a preppermentality where you're, you know
, going out to competitions,like maybe you're going out to
nrl hunter, maybe you're doing aprs match, but from nrl
standpoint, you know it's.
It's become this thing where,at least for me, where it's,
(19:54):
it's shifted my mentality ofbeing more prepared out in the
field because you know,positional shooting is a is a
big thing.
I I think it's less.
I think it's even less aboutlike long range.
Like long ranges meanssomething different for everyone
, right, right.
So some people might think longrange is 300 yards, some people
might think long range is athousand yards.
(20:16):
You know it just depends onwhat application or where you
grew up or how you use that tool.
But actually find thatpositional shooting, even at two
to three hundred yards, can bequite difficult, especially at
nrl match where you have like astage that has two different
points and you have to engagetwo different targets and then
shift and then engage those sametargets at a different
(20:37):
viewpoint.
You have to find the target,figure out where it is.
So, having that field of viewand being comfortable with your
reticle, knowing the check downsand all that stuff.
So I think the biggest thingfor me is like learning and
watching during matches.
I've been a range officer acouple different times,
(20:58):
specifically when I was atMystery Ranch we used to do a
competition nearby here inMontana but it's interesting to
watch people and the people thatreally have their stuff dialed,
the people that have the mostsimple process but their
technique is really good, and sothat's kind of the place that
we want to sit as a Leica brand.
(21:20):
Is that we're?
We really want to make surethat we are developing good
shooters.
We're not hoarding theinformation that we have.
We're trying to share it andthen share it as a community, be
involved in the community ofshooters.
So we'll be sponsoring the, thePRS series this year and also
the NRL series, and so we reallydo sponsoring the, the prs
series this year and also thenrl series, and so we really do
want to be involved in ourobviously being a part of some
(21:42):
local matches more on thewestern side, western side.
So, um, yeah, that's where I'vekind of see like and where we
sit, and then obviously we havea really good dedication to our
hunting community as well, andso how help me engage there with
events?
You know, things like totalarchery challenge we'd like to
be a part of in the future.
That's something I worked on atmystery ranch for a long time
(22:05):
when total archery challengefirst even got started.
So, yeah, bringing a lot of ourproducts.
We have many different thingsavailable for everyone.
So, yeah, that's kind of whereI see the direction going, and
so I even got involved in thisyear and setting up my own rifle
for the first time, like ifyou've never set up a rifle
first time.
It really teaches you all thecomponents.
You know it's like if you justbuy it.
(22:26):
You know a rifle off the shelf.
You don't get to experiencelike what it's like to buy.
You know your own trigger umpurchase your own chassis.
Find your own trigger um.
Purchase your own chassis.
Find your own bolt and thenlearn about all the different
ways a bolt can be made.
Uh, it's pretty intense.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
Yeah, indeed.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
What did?
Speaker 1 (22:43):
you end up putting together.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Um, I, I worked, um, you know, I I really gravitated
towards, uh, mdt, uh, for achassis.
Um, I really liked their ACCelite.
I just liked the way it looked.
When I was, I was at shot show,I was just kind of like walking
through every single booth andjust saying like, okay, like, if
I'm going to start from scratch, where do I start?
I just started walking aroundadvice okay, did you check out
mbt before?
And so, um, I, I went with thatacc elite and then I built the
(23:08):
second one, that 126, um kind ofmore of their lightweight
carbon.
But, uh, yeah, I built thechassis or had to purchase the
chassis from them and then got aproof barrel for the ACC Elite.
I got a preferred barrel forthe 126 because preferred seemed
like a good brand too.
So I'm just going to test outthe waters.
But getting a trigger tech andthen, after a lot of research,
(23:34):
ended up going with a DefianceDefiance Ruckus.
And then I a lot of research, Iended up going with a Defiance,
defiance Ruckus, and then I canremember the anti, the titanium
one I can't remember the exactname.
So yeah, it's been fun to kindof go from like starting from
scratch, learning all the thingsand then maybe even using DFAT
for training in your garagebefore you actually go out to
(23:57):
the range, so you're notshooting all your ammo that
you're trying to reload, justdoing practice on the trigger
and getting all your techniquedown.
So yeah, it's been fun to kindof go through that process and
then seeing how I can utilizewhat Leica is making, because
when you get into reticles, Imean you can go way down the
rabbit hole as far as reticlesgo Sure, and you can go way down
(24:21):
the rabbit hole as far asreticles go sure, and you can
have many different preferences,like I think a lot of it can be
more cognitive than you think.
Um, if you have too much stuff,like if you're, if you have a
little bit of anxiety aroundshooting, like a lot of us do,
or just like the stress of thesituation and you know, like
having too much christmas tree,you know dots and windage on
there, as far as like what thatgoes, and if you're actually
doing holdovers or not, that canfeel like it's just too much.
(24:42):
And so you know a cleanerreticle, it just has your, your
wind and elevation, maybedifferent tick marks.
Whether you're shooting mill orMOA just kind of depends on
what you're, what you're doingthere.
So it's interesting how you youknow like has been thinking
about that in the past, and thenhow we're going to improve that
in the future and you know howwe make radicals, whether first
focal or second focal one,depending on where you're
(25:05):
geographically located.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
I think sure, yeah but I I do say, like, also with
the amplis 6, like being able tohave the um, you know the, the
illuminated dot in the middlehas been I'd love that.
Look, because there's beenother ones I've used, you know,
and there's there's plentydifferent name brands out there
that people have used as well,where, you know, sometimes you
have your x and y that's all litup and it can be a little bit
(25:29):
much, and being able to havejust that one little tiny dot
like that was a really coolthing.
That when I first turned thaton and tried it I was like, oh
okay, I love that.
It made it just so much simpler.
And, like you said, to theChristmas tree reticles and
things, sometimes you know it,it there's, there's a tool for
every toolbox and for every use,right, but sometimes, uh, that
that whole kiss method is is alittle bit easier to go with.
(25:51):
And being able to have all thetechnology there and be able to
dial something in and be able tokind of also use, you know,
software applications, I feellike you can um it kind of just
simple up symbols, up theprocess a little bit.
For me and you know that thatilluminated dot really was
something that I was, uh, reallyhappy to see and, as far as you
know, just wasn't as busy man,I was just like, oh, cool, and
(26:12):
10 different degrees of beingable to have it, you know, as
brighter as, uh, as dim as youwant and for whatever set.
And setting uh really easy touse, just little turn the dial
there, I love that and you knowwhy that you like that so much
is because it's a.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Your eye always wants to find center, right, it
doesn't want to look at otherthings.
You know, like that's why weappreciate when you can dial, is
that you get to look at center.
Yes, because holdovers are veryunnatural for the eye.
Yeah, it's like it wants tocreep back up and look at center
, but then you're like trying toput it.
You know a holdover, you'retrying to put it in a different
(26:48):
spot and your eyes it's likewait a minute, we're supposed to
be looking at center.
So obviously, both are, bothare very helpful and obviously
different applications.
So, like, if it's a militaryapplication, obviously holdovers
are much faster.
You're not going to dial everysingle shot.
You won't have enough time.
And maybe that's similar for,like, an inner hole match or a
(27:10):
PRS match.
That learning your holdovers isjust as important, especially
if something doesn't function orwork right.
So, like, if you have all your,if you have all your data, um,
you and you know all your clicks, obviously, um, before you jump
on the course, um, yeah, itjust depends.
But um, yeah, so it's been.
It's been great to kind oflearn that and be a part of it
(27:32):
and just like watch thedevelopment help influence it.
You know we're developing areally cool community of people
that are either into shooting orjust into hunting or lifestyle,
so it's it's been fun to kindof start to develop another, the
next phase of like in the us.
I'm excited for the future.
It's only been six months forme, so it's it's uh, it's been a
(27:52):
whirlwind to start but um, yeahwe're going to slowly work on
building that and just beingmore engaged generally.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
That's great, well, and you jumped in right before
the show season and there's alot of travel.
I know we've talked kind of inbetween when you're bouncing
here and there and meet withpeople and you know it's been
really cool to see this steppingup in, you know, developing
even more and talking to youabout what's coming down the
line, and I look forward tohaving you back on and and
(28:21):
talking more.
As you know, some new productlines come out and just to kind
of see the overall success of ofLeica sporting optics and being
able to see where this is.
Uh, you know, moving in the U Sand this market obviously been
a leader, uh, worldwide for along time.
I've had, you know, many yearsof experience and, uh, I'm going
to be using, you know, like aproducts only for this next year
.
So, as I go out on my hunts andyou know, some of the long range
(28:41):
stuff I'll be doing, I'll besharing a lot of videos and and
reviews about things and sendingout some links.
So, uh, you know, for thosebelow I will have all the links
uh for, like us, so, some of theproducts we talked about today
and then, as a, as you know, thenew ones come out here later on
in July and the summer.
I'll kind of update those linksand what you know either you or
Hamilton or you know someonecome back on and talk about.
(29:02):
You know some of the newproduct lines but you know, for
those who may want to followalong your journey, as far as
you know the stuff that you gotkicking on personally, can you
go ahead and give your socialsand then maybe tell us a little
bit about where you'd like todirect people to go?
Look at some of these thingsthat we talked about here at
Leica.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
Yeah, for sure.
And then one last thing is froma software ecosystem stuff.
We're signing up with OnX thisyear.
So another cool feature ofworking with OnX and being able
to arrange and drop a pinno-transcript but, um, yeah,
(29:45):
that's, that's gonna be great,um, for me personally, um, just
on instagram mostly.
Um, ryan underscore, underscorehome, holm.
And then we also have ourInstagram for like us or like a
hunting USA, follow us there.
So that's probably where you'llsee most of our social or
things that we're posting thatare new.
(30:05):
If we're working on any sort ofcollaborations this year, like
another one is like all-in.
We'll have some stuff fordigiscoping, whether on your
spotting scope or yourbinoculars.
Well, that'll launch this year.
So follow along on that one.
We've got a couple of cool,interesting ones that I can't
release yet, but you'll beexcited Nice.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
Well, when they come out, I'll definitely be sharing
those.
And hey, man, I'm really stokedthat you are, you know, kind of
behind the drive here andtaking everything into the US by
storm.
I know you've had a lot ofsuccess through all your
marketing, everything you'vedone before in the industry, and
I know that this is just goingto be a great fit as it
continues to develop and evolve.
(30:47):
And, like I said, I just likethe best of the industry that
I've used.
I absolutely love them.
I'm very excited that we got tochat a little bit today and
we'll have part two sometimesoon, man.
So, yeah, thank you so much,ryan, for joining me and looking
forward to seeing everythingthat comes down the pike.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
Yeah, thanks man.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
Cheers.
You have a good one, man.
Today we're taking a closerlook at the GeoVid Pro and Pro
AB Plus binocular.
Both models deliver Leica'ssignature premium optics precise
mechanics, powerful processors,atmospheric sensors and
advanced laser technology.
The range targets as close as10 yards and out to an
incredible 3,200 yards.
(31:26):
The GeoVid Pro is equipped withApplied Ballistics Ultralight,
giving you elevation and windcorrections up to 875 yards.
The binocular also allows youto store five custom ballistic
profiles in the Leica Ballisticapp.
The Pro AB Plus is powered byApplied Ballistics Elite.
It also features Leica'sexclusive use of the shot
probability analysis tool,allowing you to confidently take
(31:49):
long distance shots withprecision.
The Leica GeoVid Pro and Pro ABPlus binocular where precision
optics meet advanced ballistictechnology.
Discover the difference todayat your authorized Leica dealer.
Hey, ryan, how you doing today?
Man, good, how are you doing?
Fantastic.
Hey, I'm really excited to chatwith you.
We got a lot to cover.
Today we're going to be talkingabout Leica Sports Optics, your
position there, and I reallylike to start a lot of my
podcasts giving a little bit oflot to cover.
Today we're going to be talkingabout Leica Sports Optics, your
position there, and you know Ireally like to start a lot of my
podcasts giving a little bit ofbackground to my listeners, for
my guests, and I really wantedto maybe kind of dive back.
Why don't you talk to me alittle bit about where you grew
(00:35):
up, how'd you get involved withworking in the outdoor lifestyle
and your love of that?
And you know we'll just kind ofthrow the needle from there
cool.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Yeah, I mean, um, I grew up a midwest kid, um, so a
lot of a lot of walleye fishingwith my dad, um, but never,
never, actually was into.
We never got into huntingbecause my dad was, um, he had
that kind of a bad experience.
When you know, his firstexperience with hunting went out
with a few friends and thatended up having different
activities is what they thoughtas far as what hunting was, um,
(01:04):
and so, um, yeah, just grew upin the midwest, um, doing a lot
of wildlife fishing, outdoorcamping.
We travel all across the us and, you know, camping in the back
of our vehicle and stuff.
So, yeah, that's how it kind of, uh, initially was kind of
introduced to the outdoors andin that, in that lifestyle.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
So yeah, nice and then you ended up.
You've been in the industry, inthe outdoor industry, for quite
a while.
Why don't you tell me about howyou kind of got your your first
steps in there and then we'llkind of, you know, maybe talk
about how you got involved withlike and what you got going on
now?
Speaker 2 (01:35):
yeah, it's, it's a.
It's a.
It's a big question becauseI've been in the industry for
probably like 25 plus years,right, so it's a hard.
It's hard to know where to evenstart from, but maybe ones that
are more recognizable, or, youknow, I worked for Mystery Ranch
for about 13 years, kind ofdeveloped that entire brand from
scratch.
You know we were a one personmarketing team when I first
(01:55):
started there and at the end ofit we ended up selling that to
Yeti and so, yeah, I got, I cutmy teeth in the in the hunting
realm there.
Before that I was justprimarily into climbing and
backcountry skiing and stufflike that and so yeah, so now
now being in the with MysteryRanch, got exposed to hunting,
(02:18):
backcountry hunting, bow hunting, rifle hunting, precision style
shooting, you know all of thosethings that kind of come with
the territory of working in thatrole, yeah, and so that's kind
of what really kind ofcatapulted my career into
getting way more involved intothe outdoor hunting space.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Well, you just talked a lot about, you know, as far
as some of the things, as far asprecision shooting, hunting,
bow hunting, all the things thatyou know, all the, all the
different products that areavailable through Leica Sports
Optics really kind of fall intoa lot of those different
categories and I was just kindof curious how is it that you
ended up finding yourself inthat role and what does that
look like for you on aday-to-day right now?
(02:57):
Is, you know, I've been awareof Leica for a long time.
Obviously, photography, I meanlenses there's some amazing
camera work and then, uh, havehad a little bit of exposure, uh
, with some of the other stuffas far as, like their range
finding binoculars.
I've been using those now forabout four years.
Um, second to none out there,and you know I have some here
we'll kind of go through thosein a little bit that I've been
working with, uh lately and just, you know, phenomenal, some of
(03:19):
the best glass I've ever used inmy entire life, and so I I'd
love to, you know, kind of divein a little bit on that.
But I was just kind of curious,how did you get involved in?
And you know what's thatday-to-day looking like for you
right now as far as kind ofbringing this into the U?
S and taking it to that nextlevel.
Maybe a little bit of historyof the brand as well, if you
don't mind.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Yeah, you know, I I've known like a through
mystery ranch for probably sincelike 2010, when we were doing
some content creation and wewere collaborating with like a.
Back then that was kind of thatwas before like media hunting,
media was even really a thing.
I feel like that was kind ofthe the precipice of like, just
you know, when hunting kind ofexploded into this whole realm,
of going out and shooting videocontent, photography about
backcountry hunting and like thewhole lifestyle process and
(04:05):
everything like that, and soLeica was a partner of ours, uh,
during that and uh, so I thinkI was.
I've been spoiled since thebeginning as far as like optics
go.
Um, since I have, you know, Ibought a lot of my, you know,
bought a spying scope, I boughtbinoculars, um, I've, you know,
owned a Leica camera, so it'sjust I was pretty heavily
(04:27):
involved in just leica itselfand so that was kind of the
connection point when, um a rolecame around to to assist them
with marketing, kind ofre-establishing the brand of the
us, because I feel like theywere kind of the king of optics.
Uh, you know, at the beginningum, this is before a lot of the
other brands kind of came aroundand and filled the void of what
they they weren't.
A lot of the other brands kindof came around and and filled
(04:47):
the void of what they theyweren't doing and so, um,
they've kind of they've uh hiredme and uh brought me on board
to kind of reestablish the brandand kind of reestablish, you
know, like uh in the Westernmarket and a few other ones.
So, um, yeah, so that's that'skind of like the history of my
relationship with Leica and nowbeing the director of marketing
just helping them kind of get afoothold, get some organization
(05:09):
around what they're doing, whythey're doing it.
You know, working with a ton ofgood writers in the industry
that know optics way more than Ido, so I don't pretend to be an
expert in optics at all, sinceI've only been here for about
six months.
So I've been pretty heavily onthe product team and other
individuals that have been herefor decades.
So that's really what's reallycool about the leica brand is a
(05:29):
ton of the sales guys have beenhere for, you know, 15, 18, 20
years, and so, uh, hamilton, whoI, who I knew through mystery
ranch, um, who's been part ofthe, the leica brand for it
seems like many decades, um,he's, uh, he's a good friend of
mine.
He just brand for it seems likemany decades, he's a he's a
good friend of mine.
He just reached out and he'slike hey, you're looking for a
(05:52):
marketing role and so we justchatted and connected and that's
kind of like no, no.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
So this episode is brought to you by American made
maps.
American made maps is thepremier company producing
printed and digital maps of allkinds.
It doesn't matter what yourproject is.
If you want the highest qualityaerial imagery overlaid with
customizable icons and labels,american Made Maps is the spot
(06:15):
for you to go.
So listen, check outAmericanMadeMapscom to learn
more information and sign up fora free consultation.
You'll be glad you did.
So let's kind of dive in alittle bit to some of the
products that I know thatthere's going to be some launch
later on the year and you knowwe'll have you back and kind of
discuss those, or maybe inHamilton then to kind of, you
know, go into some more details.
But as far as some of the onesnow, I mean you know one of the
(06:36):
ones right here, the GeoVid ProAB+, the Applied Ballistics Plus
, this is by far the bestrangefinder binoculars I have
ever used.
They are super clear, amazing,accurate as could be, and I am
just blown away and I'd love foryou to maybe talk a little bit
about those.
And, you know, with the AppliedBallistics and some of the
software developments and someof the things that you can link
(06:57):
up, because I mean that'ssomething you can also do with
the other scopes.
And you know range finders, thestandalones, and you know what
is happening these days, I think, when some people used to hey
this range finder, cool, I canjust show as far as how far this
is.
But there's different.
There's so much technology nowin the software side of things
that I'd love to kind of talkyou know a little bit about that
(07:18):
and let listeners understandthe evolution of that and how
that can be a game changer, theevolution of that and how that
can be a game changer, whetherthat's, you know, in your
hunting relation or in yourprecision long range shooting or
whatever that may be.
Uh, so if you wouldn't mind,you know, maybe kind of tackle a
little bit of that and we'llkind of go to a few other things
here in a little bit and we'llchat on those too.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Yeah, so like um, just from a Lika's perspective,
uh, the goal is to make umhardware and software software,
you know, interconnected andit's to make it more of an
ecosystem of many differentsoftwares out there and maybe
some hardware integrations aswell.
So for Leica it's less about,like you know, if you buy our
(07:58):
things you have to be a part ofthis proprietary system that we
design, that we control, thateverything is designed by Leica
and that that's the only stuffthat you can integrate with.
And that's what most of ourcompetitors are doing today.
Leica is taking more of anapproach of an open ecosystem
where we integrate with the besttechnology in the industry,
which I feel like is you knowwhoever had that mindset?
(08:18):
It was most likely Matthias,who's in Germany, and then a few
other team members, but that'skind of their focus is like how
can we integrate with the besttechnology in in the industry?
And so with the leica ab plus um, that's an approach to work
with applied ballistics andactually before my time of
(08:40):
getting really into shooting, Ithought kestrel and applied
ballistics were the same thingand so kind of diving down the
deep rabbit hole.
You know, applied Ballistics isits own company and then it
integrates with all thesedifferent companies to help
improve, you know, shooting andjust having access to more of
your data.
And so with the AV+, that wasan attempt to, and it was
completed, with obviously theAV+ having Applied Ballistics on
(09:03):
board your binocular, withobviously the AB plus having
applied ballistics on board yourbinocular, and so that's the
only binocular in the industrythat actually has applied
ballistics on board.
So what's different is likeapplied ballistics.
If you don't have it on board,obviously you might be using a
Kestrel, you might have a GarminFortrex or another style of
watch, so that would be offboard, right.
But um, so by having appliedblixx on board, you're able to
(09:27):
make a more calculated decisionwithin, within your binoculars,
as opposed to having toreference another tool.
Obviously, once you go to therange, you get that all set up
and then it becomes a, a toolthat's just right there in front
of you.
So that's kind of like the, theprocess that they're going
through from a productdevelopment standpoint, and
applied ballistics is definitelythat, that that's pushing the
industry forward.
(09:47):
So most companies are trying toplay catch up with what we're
doing there, and that's theinteresting thing about Leica is
that we've been making the bestglass, the best hardware and
now working with some of thebest software.
You're getting best of bothworlds, of having the best
hardware and software at thesame time, and no one's really
ever talked about it like it,and so here I am.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
That's great man.
Well, it's, it's phenomenal.
You know, I've uh, like I said,I've I've used like a range
finding binoculars before andhad the experience and just
second to none glass, and I mean, whenever I started kind of
getting into precision longrange shooting, that was the one
that my buddy was like, hey, hebuilds rifles and he's like
this is the only glass I use,this is the only range finding
binocular, this is the mostaccurate, I love it.
(10:29):
And he's shooting out two milesand such.
So like I was like, okay, I'mgoing to take your word for it,
Cause I'm.
You know, I was at the 800 yardthese up.
Just the clarity, the ability tojust get spot on ranging, was
something that was phenomenal.
But then, you know, diving intothe software side of things has
(10:53):
just been pretty mind blowingas far as what you can do and
being able to integrate thattechnology, which is just
another level and another stepforward, which, like, is just
kind of improving that game, youknow.
And the other thing, I was gotthe AmpliSix here.
This is one of the many rivalscopes that Leica has.
I really like this.
The clarity, of course, again,is just absolutely amazing.
(11:14):
But being able to integratethis with the Calinex Sight SE
the thermal.
You know, a lot of times youhave a standalone thermal unit
right and I've had those whereyou can have like a quick detach
and you know, most of the timesit'll kind of go pretty close
back to center.
But the ability now using theuh russon is that how you say
say it, the uh as far as theadapter being able to.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
I say I say russon, but it's I.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
I don't know if that's totally accurate, but
yeah I'm gonna go with yoursbecause, uh, I'm not sure, but I
the adapter being able tointegrate these together and be
able to have that as a one pieceto where you could kind of take
it off and it does have a QDability to kind of pull it back
off, but the being able to havesomething kind of using as a
spotting scope and then beingable to then put it back on and
having that ability and thatthermal is absolutely amazing.
(12:00):
I'd love for you to maybe talka little bit about that and that
integration and if there'sanything you know coming out
soon it looks like there's someyou know thermals that are going
to be coming out on the markethere later on in the year if you
want to go ahead and maybe diveinto that and talk about kind
of the success of this and theCalinex and what that's been
looking like for you guys.
I know there's a few differentbrands.
There's the Sight no-transcript.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Yeah, so obviously you just covered the fact that
we're trying to integrate prettymuch with every tool that you
might need, and so with theGeoVid AV Pluses that we just
talked about, then you have likean amplis scope.
We have obviously like a PRSscope, but the amplis is
specifically more of like a.
It's a better use case for,like your Western Hunter, it has
(12:54):
many different reticles has.
It's super durable.
It's a little bit thicker tube.
It allows you to select a.
You know what's going to workfor your use case.
We have our like a ballisticsapp where you can actually load.
Once you actually set up yourgun profile, you can go in there
and select the reticle with theleica scope that you're that
you're using, and then you canactually get your subtension
(13:16):
reads just off that reticle.
The nice thing about that isthat we've also, since we work
with Applied Ballistics on ourLeica app in Applied Ballistics
Quantum, now that feature isactually in there as well, so
you can use any scope, you canget all your subtensions, you
can get all that informationright there in the app.
So by having you know, like acomplete ecosystem, what I'm
(13:41):
talking about and soon that willbe some things like with the
spotting scope and some other uhhardware that we're making.
But, yeah, the amplis isdefinitely one of those products
that we never really likeofficially launched in the us,
and so we're we're excited tokind of continue to talk about
that and bring some attention tothe fact that we do make rifle
scopes and then they alsointegrate with our thermal stuff
(14:03):
.
So a little history about Leicaitself.
If you think about this way,leica has been making cameras
for almost 100 years and so wemade sensors, you know, from a
digital camera standpoint, thatcaptures light, and now we're
making digital cameras thatcapture heat.
So any company that's out thereright now that's making thermal
(14:27):
um, they may have been doing itand they're innovative, but you
know, like has been doing itfor a lot longer time from a
sensor standpoint, like when youtalk about like being, from a
portrait photography standpoint,the best in the world.
Now we're applying that sameknowledge to our thermal digital
stuff.
So it's pretty monumental.
(14:48):
I don't think that peoplereally fully grasp that.
So it's kind of a fun story anda few topics to talk about, um.
So it's it's kind of a funstory and a few uh topics to
talk about.
Um, the nice thing he talkedabout with the Ruson adapter is
that, you know, most a lot ofguys have, or gals have their,
you know, the rifle scope andthey don't necessarily have the
funds to go invest in a wholenother thermoscope.
(15:08):
And so for us, with the clip-ontechnology which is, you know,
it's not clip-ons are not massmarket, you know but we feel
like from european standpoint,from also us standpoint, like
why don't you just takesomething that's already there
and then just integrate with it,and so you don't have to go buy
a new, a full new scope?
You can just buy a colinoxclip-on.
(15:29):
So the colinox clip-on thatyou're you're showing there is
the colinox one.
We'll be coming out with thecolonox two here, hopefully, um,
by july this year, um, but thatcolonx two and the ruson
adapter.
The ruson adapter you can put,you could put multiple ruson
adapters on the size ofobjective that you have per
scope, and then you could simplyjust move that thermo from
(15:50):
scope to scope to scope.
So now you just like tooksomething where it's like a
single unit and now you justhave to buy an extra ruson
adapter for that other objectiveand now you have a thermoscope
for any scope that you own, solike yeah, so I just feel like
yeah yeah, there's tons of them.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
I was looking at the list on, you know, matching it
up to what you have.
I mean tons of different scopesthere they're made, it is not.
I mean there are a lot ofdifferent scopes there, they're
made, it is not.
I mean there are a lot ofdifferent options that some
people might already have on topof their rifle and their safe.
That is going to be easilypaired up with that with the
colonel.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Yeah, for sure.
Yeah.
And since we partnered withRoussan, that's a whole nother
company and they do all themeasurements, they use all the
tools to make sure it's accurate.
So they, they use all the toolsto make sure it's accurate.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
Um, so it was.
They've done all the hard workfor you.
So, yeah, yeah, well, they arephenomenal, you know, um, I I
want to definitely touch basetoo.
I also have the rangefinder CRFpro here, um, which is going to
be great because, you know, asfar as you know, sometimes you
get the big rangefinderbinoculars.
Obviously, if you're going toget something out there, you're
going to need to have somethingthat's a little larger.
But you know, you're in thattight space.
We've got turkey season comingup and I definitely think having
(16:59):
a range finder that you canhave handheld, super light,
super accurate, and it'ssomething that you know you can
range out there a little bit hey, where are those birds coming
in?
And making sure you have, youknow, your range for shotgun or
even if you're doing archery.
I'm going to be doing that thisfall with this and I'd love to
talk a little bit about that too.
And again, these are otherthings that are, you know, again
(17:19):
, can be integrated.
A lot of the.
I've played around with theBluetooth technology on, you
know, these different units here, and I've been very, very
impressed, but I'd love for youto maybe talk about that a
little bit.
And that one also has appliedballistics as far as technology
available with it as well.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Yeah, so the CR-Pro does and allows you to integrate
with that same appliedballistics technology as well.
And on a range finder, just anyrange finder in general, when we
measure our range findingperformance, we are ranging
against non-reflective objects,and so that's probably different
than most of the industryranging against non-reflective
(17:56):
objects, and so that's probablydifferent than most of the
industry does.
So we, you know, actuallyarrange real things and that
gives us real data about what wefeel like is where the
performance is going to be.
So, yeah, you get the best ofboth worlds.
And if you have a pair ofbinoculars that you already
appreciate, you know they don'tnecessarily have a range finder
in there, but you pay, you know,a good amount of money for
(18:16):
those things because no matterwhat brand you buy, they could
be a good chunk of money.
So, yeah, the handhelds aregreat for that.
So we have the CRF-R and theCRF-Pro and then we're hopefully
going to come up here laterthis season with another
improvement as well.
So, yeah, we're always kind ofpushing the envelope as far as
like handhelds go.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
And what are some of the units that you're taking out
in the field and what are youkind of as far as your personal
experience now, obviously you'vehad, you know, some connection
with Leica for many years andnow working with them.
What is it that?
Speaker 2 (18:46):
what's been your experience and your thoughts and
, you know, what would you liketo tell listeners about as far
as with Leica sports optics andwhat you see coming in the
future for, like the US marketand really kind of bringing
things back, because some ofthese existed elsewhere, but now
we're going to be seeing them alot more here in the in the
year, in years to come, and I'dlove for you to just kind of
maybe talk to that a little bitand you know your thoughts on it
(19:07):
yeah, I feel like the industryis just shifting, like, if you
look at it, from like the hunterwho used to, you know, has a
gun safe, they, they pull theirrifle out once a year, you know,
a week before the season, andthen go shoot, you know, get
their zero, make sure they'reout to you know a hundred or 200
yards where there's zeropreferences, and then maybe they
(19:30):
throw a couple of lob, a coupleout there at three or 400 yards
and they're like all right, I'mgood and good, um, and you know
that's worked for a really longtime.
But then the industry hasreally shifted to, um, you know,
more of like a preppermentality where you're, you know
, going out to competitions,like maybe you're going out to
nrl hunter, maybe you're doing aprs match, but from nrl
standpoint, you know it's.
It's become this thing where,at least for me, where it's,
(19:54):
it's shifted my mentality ofbeing more prepared out in the
field because you know,positional shooting is a is a
big thing.
I I think it's less.
I think it's even less aboutlike long range.
Like long ranges meanssomething different for everyone
, right, right.
So some people might think longrange is 300 yards, some people
might think long range is athousand yards.
(20:16):
You know it just depends onwhat application or where you
grew up or how you use that tool.
But actually find thatpositional shooting, even at two
to three hundred yards, can bequite difficult, especially at
nrl match where you have like astage that has two different
points and you have to engagetwo different targets and then
shift and then engage those sametargets at a different
(20:37):
viewpoint.
You have to find the target,figure out where it is.
So, having that field of viewand being comfortable with your
reticle, knowing the check downsand all that stuff.
So I think the biggest thingfor me is like learning and
watching during matches.
I've been a range officer acouple different times,
(20:58):
specifically when I was atMystery Ranch we used to do a
competition nearby here inMontana but it's interesting to
watch people and the people thatreally have their stuff dialed,
the people that have the mostsimple process but their
technique is really good, and sothat's kind of the place that
we want to sit as a Leica brand.
(21:20):
Is that we're?
We really want to make surethat we are developing good
shooters.
We're not hoarding theinformation that we have.
We're trying to share it andthen share it as a community, be
involved in the community ofshooters.
So we'll be sponsoring the, thePRS series this year and also
the NRL series, and so we reallydo sponsoring the, the prs
series this year and also thenrl series, and so we really do
want to be involved in ourobviously being a part of some
(21:42):
local matches more on thewestern side, western side.
So, um, yeah, that's where I'vekind of see like and where we
sit, and then obviously we havea really good dedication to our
hunting community as well, andso how help me engage there with
events?
You know, things like totalarchery challenge we'd like to
be a part of in the future.
That's something I worked on atmystery ranch for a long time
(22:05):
when total archery challengefirst even got started.
So, yeah, bringing a lot of ourproducts.
We have many different thingsavailable for everyone.
So, yeah, that's kind of whereI see the direction going, and
so I even got involved in thisyear and setting up my own rifle
for the first time, like ifyou've never set up a rifle
first time.
It really teaches you all thecomponents.
You know it's like if you justbuy it.
(22:26):
You know a rifle off the shelf.
You don't get to experiencelike what it's like to buy.
You know your own trigger umpurchase your own chassis.
Find your own trigger um.
Purchase your own chassis.
Find your own bolt and thenlearn about all the different
ways a bolt can be made.
Uh, it's pretty intense.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
Yeah, indeed.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
What did?
Speaker 1 (22:43):
you end up putting together.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Um, I, I worked, um, you know, I I really gravitated
towards, uh, mdt, uh, for achassis.
Um, I really liked their ACCelite.
I just liked the way it looked.
When I was, I was at shot show,I was just kind of like walking
through every single booth andjust saying like, okay, like, if
I'm going to start from scratch, where do I start?
I just started walking aroundadvice okay, did you check out
mbt before?
And so, um, I, I went with thatacc elite and then I built the
(23:08):
second one, that 126, um kind ofmore of their lightweight
carbon.
But, uh, yeah, I built thechassis or had to purchase the
chassis from them and then got aproof barrel for the ACC Elite.
I got a preferred barrel forthe 126 because preferred seemed
like a good brand too.
So I'm just going to test outthe waters.
But getting a trigger tech andthen, after a lot of research,
(23:34):
ended up going with a DefianceDefiance Ruckus.
And then I a lot of research, Iended up going with a Defiance,
defiance Ruckus, and then I canremember the anti, the titanium
one I can't remember the exactname.
So yeah, it's been fun to kindof go from like starting from
scratch, learning all the thingsand then maybe even using DFAT
for training in your garagebefore you actually go out to
(23:57):
the range, so you're notshooting all your ammo that
you're trying to reload, justdoing practice on the trigger
and getting all your techniquedown.
So yeah, it's been fun to kindof go through that process and
then seeing how I can utilizewhat Leica is making, because
when you get into reticles, Imean you can go way down the
rabbit hole as far as reticlesgo Sure, and you can go way down
(24:21):
the rabbit hole as far asreticles go sure, and you can
have many different preferences,like I think a lot of it can be
more cognitive than you think.
Um, if you have too much stuff,like if you're, if you have a
little bit of anxiety aroundshooting, like a lot of us do,
or just like the stress of thesituation and you know, like
having too much christmas tree,you know dots and windage on
there, as far as like what thatgoes, and if you're actually
doing holdovers or not, that canfeel like it's just too much.
(24:42):
And so you know a cleanerreticle, it just has your, your
wind and elevation, maybedifferent tick marks.
Whether you're shooting mill orMOA just kind of depends on
what you're, what you're doingthere.
So it's interesting how you youknow like has been thinking
about that in the past, and thenhow we're going to improve that
in the future and you know howwe make radicals, whether first
focal or second focal one,depending on where you're
(25:05):
geographically located.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
I think sure, yeah but I I do say, like, also with
the amplis 6, like being able tohave the um, you know the, the
illuminated dot in the middlehas been I'd love that.
Look, because there's beenother ones I've used, you know,
and there's there's plentydifferent name brands out there
that people have used as well,where, you know, sometimes you
have your x and y that's all litup and it can be a little bit
(25:29):
much, and being able to havejust that one little tiny dot
like that was a really coolthing.
That when I first turned thaton and tried it I was like, oh
okay, I love that.
It made it just so much simpler.
And, like you said, to theChristmas tree reticles and
things, sometimes you know it,it there's, there's a tool for
every toolbox and for every use,right, but sometimes, uh, that
that whole kiss method is is alittle bit easier to go with.
(25:51):
And being able to have all thetechnology there and be able to
dial something in and be able tokind of also use, you know,
software applications, I feellike you can um it kind of just
simple up symbols, up theprocess a little bit.
For me and you know that thatilluminated dot really was
something that I was, uh, reallyhappy to see and, as far as you
know, just wasn't as busy man,I was just like, oh, cool, and
(26:12):
10 different degrees of beingable to have it, you know, as
brighter as, uh, as dim as youwant and for whatever set.
And setting uh really easy touse, just little turn the dial
there, I love that and you knowwhy that you like that so much
is because it's a.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Your eye always wants to find center, right, it
doesn't want to look at otherthings.
You know, like that's why weappreciate when you can dial, is
that you get to look at center.
Yes, because holdovers are veryunnatural for the eye.
Yeah, it's like it wants tocreep back up and look at center
, but then you're like trying toput it.
You know a holdover, you'retrying to put it in a different
(26:48):
spot and your eyes it's likewait a minute, we're supposed to
be looking at center.
So obviously, both are, bothare very helpful and obviously
different applications.
So, like, if it's a militaryapplication, obviously holdovers
are much faster.
You're not going to dial everysingle shot.
You won't have enough time.
And maybe that's similar for,like, an inner hole match or a
(27:10):
PRS match.
That learning your holdovers isjust as important, especially
if something doesn't function orwork right.
So, like, if you have all your,if you have all your data, um,
you and you know all your clicks, obviously, um, before you jump
on the course, um, yeah, itjust depends.
But um, yeah, so it's been.
It's been great to kind oflearn that and be a part of it
(27:32):
and just like watch thedevelopment help influence it.
You know we're developing areally cool community of people
that are either into shooting orjust into hunting or lifestyle,
so it's it's been fun to kindof start to develop another, the
next phase of like in the us.
I'm excited for the future.
It's only been six months forme, so it's it's uh, it's been a
(27:52):
whirlwind to start but um, yeahwe're going to slowly work on
building that and just beingmore engaged generally.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
That's great, well, and you jumped in right before
the show season and there's alot of travel.
I know we've talked kind of inbetween when you're bouncing
here and there and meet withpeople and you know it's been
really cool to see this steppingup in, you know, developing
even more and talking to youabout what's coming down the
line, and I look forward tohaving you back on and and
(28:21):
talking more.
As you know, some new productlines come out and just to kind
of see the overall success of ofLeica sporting optics and being
able to see where this is.
Uh, you know, moving in the U Sand this market obviously been
a leader, uh, worldwide for along time.
I've had, you know, many yearsof experience and, uh, I'm going
to be using, you know, like aproducts only for this next year
.
So, as I go out on my hunts andyou know, some of the long range
(28:41):
stuff I'll be doing, I'll besharing a lot of videos and and
reviews about things and sendingout some links.
So, uh, you know, for thosebelow I will have all the links
uh for, like us, so, some of theproducts we talked about today
and then, as a, as you know, thenew ones come out here later on
in July and the summer.
I'll kind of update those linksand what you know either you or
Hamilton or you know someonecome back on and talk about.
(29:02):
You know some of the newproduct lines but you know, for
those who may want to followalong your journey, as far as
you know the stuff that you gotkicking on personally, can you
go ahead and give your socialsand then maybe tell us a little
bit about where you'd like todirect people to go?
Look at some of these thingsthat we talked about here at
Leica.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
Yeah, for sure.
And then one last thing is froma software ecosystem stuff.
We're signing up with OnX thisyear.
So another cool feature ofworking with OnX and being able
to arrange and drop a pinno-transcript but, um, yeah,
(29:45):
that's, that's gonna be great,um, for me personally, um, just
on instagram mostly.
Um, ryan underscore, underscorehome, holm.
And then we also have ourInstagram for like us or like a
hunting USA, follow us there.
So that's probably where you'llsee most of our social or
things that we're posting thatare new.
(30:05):
If we're working on any sort ofcollaborations this year, like
another one is like all-in.
We'll have some stuff fordigiscoping, whether on your
spotting scope or yourbinoculars.
Well, that'll launch this year.
So follow along on that one.
We've got a couple of cool,interesting ones that I can't
release yet, but you'll beexcited Nice.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
Well, when they come out, I'll definitely be sharing
those.
And hey, man, I'm really stokedthat you are, you know, kind of
behind the drive here andtaking everything into the US by
storm.
I know you've had a lot ofsuccess through all your
marketing, everything you'vedone before in the industry, and
I know that this is just goingto be a great fit as it
continues to develop and evolve.
(30:47):
And, like I said, I just likethe best of the industry that
I've used.
I absolutely love them.
I'm very excited that we got tochat a little bit today and
we'll have part two sometimesoon, man.
So, yeah, thank you so much,ryan, for joining me and looking
forward to seeing everythingthat comes down the pike.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
Yeah, thanks man.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
Cheers.
You have a good one, man.
Today we're taking a closerlook at the GeoVid Pro and Pro
AB Plus binocular.
Both models deliver Leica'ssignature premium optics precise
mechanics, powerful processors,atmospheric sensors and
advanced laser technology.
The range targets as close as10 yards and out to an
incredible 3,200 yards.
(31:26):
The GeoVid Pro is equipped withApplied Ballistics Ultralight,
giving you elevation and windcorrections up to 875 yards.
The binocular also allows youto store five custom ballistic
profiles in the Leica Ballisticapp.
The Pro AB Plus is powered byApplied Ballistics Elite.
It also features Leica'sexclusive use of the shot
probability analysis tool,allowing you to confidently take
(31:49):
long distance shots withprecision.
The Leica GeoVid Pro and Pro ABPlus binocular where precision
optics meet advanced ballistictechnology.
Discover the difference todayat your authorized Leica dealer.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.