1/18/2011

Carl Zeiss Sports Optics has named John Zent winner of the 2010 Carl Zeiss Outdoor Writer of the Year Award.

The award was presented on January 17, 2011 at the company’s annual writers party during SHOT Show week in Las Vegas. In addition to receiving a plaque recognizing his innumerable contributions to the hunting and shooting sports and the preservation of our Second Amendment rights, Zent also received a ZEISS Victory 10x45 T* RF laser rangefinding binocular.

“John Zent is a true gentleman whose passion for our industry resonates throughout his well-crafted articles, television appearances and his day-to-day leadership as Editorial Director of the NRA Publications,” said Erik Schumacher, President of Carl Zeiss Sports Optics.  “John’s love of hunting and the outdoors and his thirst for knowledge of all that comprises our industry – firearms, ammunition, the engineering behind precision optics and more – make his articles and TV appearances especially informative and engaging. He is a true ambassador for the shooting and hunting sports and ardent defender of our Second Amendment rights.”

After graduating from Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania with a B.A. in English, John decided to pursue a career in outdoor writing. At that time he was living on the Chesapeake Bay in Cecil County, Maryland, and began providing fishing and hunting reports for publication in local newspapers. Then in August 1982 he was hired by the Publications Division of the National Rifle Association. That employment has extended more than 25 years. Initially John was hired as an entry-level Assistant Editor on American Rifleman, and was soon given the added responsibility for editing NRA’s competition-shooting monthly, American Marksman. In 1987 John was transferred to American Hunter, and in the decade that followed he advanced to become that magazine’s Editor in Chief.

Since 2004, John has been serving NRA Publications as Editorial Director, and as such is directly responsible for day-to-day editorial operations and content for six monthly magazines and affiliated online sites covering all facets of shooting and hunting. Included are industry leaders American Rifleman, American Hunter and America’s 1st Freedom, along with the special-interest titles Shooting Sports USA, NRA’s magazine for competitive shooters, NRA InSights for junior members, and NRA’s first newsstand journal, Shooting Illustrated. With a combined circulation of more than 3.5 million copies per month, this represents the world’s largest continuing communications outreach to shooters and hunters.

In addition, John oversees production of NRA’s American Rifleman TV and American Guardian TV shows on the Outdoor Channel, and takes an active role with on-camera appearances on both programs. John has authored more than 240 bylined articles and continues to write on subjects covering the gamut of NRA editorial coverage interests including: firearms evaluation and performance, history and care; shooting instruction and competition; hunting; conservation and wildlife management; Second Amendment issues and gun-rights; NRA programs, events and history; and hunting and shooting accessory evaluation and performance. John was the editor of the NRA Firearms Sourcebook, a comprehensive technical reference to all things related to firearms and shooting, now in its second printing.

John hunts extensively and has represented NRA on hunting assignments in 41 U.S. states, Canada, Mexico, Africa, Europe and South America. He has taken most of the different kinds of North American big game as well as a wide variety of upland birds, waterfowl and small game. He also participates in bulls-eye rifle and pistol, silhouette, skeet and sporting clays competitions.

Established in 2003, the Carl Zeiss Outdoor Writer of the Year Award is in its eighth year. The previous winners are:  Wayne van Zwoll (2003), David Fortier (2004), David Petzal (2005), Ron Spomer (2006), John Barsness (2007), Terry Wieland (2008) and Craig Boddington (2009).  Carl Zeiss has also honored several writers with Lifetime Achievement Awards. These went to Bill McRae (2003) and Jim Carmichel (2008).