Hunting trips gone bad...

[jepp2]

Something that will hold their setting as is when covered. I am totally against having exposed turrets.

Don't you have the ability to zero the turrets after you complete sight in for your rifle?

I hunt varmints and big game with scopes that have exposed turrets, but always zero the turrets before my hunts. Check them from time to time, they do get moved occasionally.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

Equipment problems happen. I thought more when hunts GO BAD. I was out calling coyote and red fox on a lake in the winter. Had a fox zip in downwind, right on the lake side of a cattail patch. Fox reversed direction, I thought if I got to the edge quick I could get a shot at it. Several muskrat houses looked to allow an easy way to the edge of the cattails. 2nd muskrat house I step off, down though the ice. Turned in mid dunk and jammed the stock into the rat house. Waist deep in water,not feeling bottom, I crawled up and made it back to shore. It was well below zero that day, and I was pretty cold long before the 1/2 mile walk to the truck was done.

 

[Gargoyle]

@HuntClub I commend you for your humble post about your experience. There are many men, of lessor constitution, who wouldn't post their misfortune or errors. So, that was the sugar, now here is the medicine!

I'm not superstitious, but I have had my ass handed to me by "Murphy" enough times I am always trying to stay ahead of him. Looking at your situation, Murphy saw a non-exposed turret guy buy an exposed turret scope. I think you might have inadvertently shot a flare his way with this! A non-exposed turret BDC reticle unit would have served you better. I would also suggest a higher quality scope offering from Leupold above their Freedom line. I don't understand why people skimp on the eyeball for the gun, and also on the only piece of equipment that actually touches the animal, the bullet! Anyway, another thread.

My "Murphy Management" tool is KISS. Murphy doesn't seem as enthused to mess up my leisurely range sessions too much, so I do have a FF plane H59 reticle on an exposed turret ELR gun. However, I am looking at and dialing those things on a regular basis, so it's harder to mess up the settings. Zero stops are handy though Murphy practically sits on my shoulder during hunting! For hunting rigs I keep my reticles simple duplex, sometimes with an illuminated dot. All my hunting cartridges have a similar trajectory of 1.5" high at 100yds, and 8" low at 300yds. (+/- 1" at 300yds) If I don't have time to dial elevation I know those drops and apply shot placement accordingly. If I can dial my VX5 or VX6 CDS dials to match the range I will certainly do it, but as you see, it's a nice option/backup feature. As mentioned already, the VX line have a button zero stop on them.

This system works for me because 300yds I still consider a long poke in hunting conditions. (I shoot 1 mile in ELR too) For those who like the long baller "hunting" with turret manipulation then maybe not the best for that kind of fellow. Well, that's all the coffee brain I have for this subject. Hope I was able to help!

 

[jd9770]

My fix for dancing turrets is to use a thin tipped permanent marked to put witness marks on the turrets when zeroed. I put them off to one side. easy to check and adjust if turret got bumped. If I swap the scope to a different rifle a little cleaner and elbow grease removes the marks so I can put new ones on.

 

[drover]

OP - The simple answer is to buy a scope that does not have exposed turrets. As previously stated exposed turrets on a carried hunting rifle are inviting trouble.

drover

 

[joshb]

About 30 years ago, my father and I booked a salmon fishing trip in Labrador. When the float plane landed landed in front of the lodge, the guides looked dejected. Turned out the pack ice was blocking the mouth of the river and the fish couldn’t get in. $8000 down the tubes. We fished all week, hoping, but never saw a fish.

 

[Gargoyle]

My worst hunting trip was the one where a "hunting partner" shot at me in anger...

 

[hogpatrol]

My 2¢, FFP scopes with exposed turrets and zero stop.

 

[P1ZombieKiller]

My worst hunting trip was the one where a "hunting partner" shot at me in anger...

uuummm..... Sorry about that... In my defense..... I told you not to mention her name ever again.

 

[dthomas]

I really like the locking turrets on the vx6hd.

 

[K22]

Maybe this will make you feel better. About 20 years ago I'm hunting in Potter County, PA (big woods of PA). Know the area well and I'm perfectly posted on an upper end of a funnel, a long-time proven area to see deer moving over the mountain. Sure enough, about 8am, a really nice eight point is making his way through the funnel.

I have my reliable and very accurate 308 Rem 700 with 150 Sierra Pro Hunter bullet reloads, a 1/2 moa combo. I happen to be standing next to an oak tree, stretching my back when I see him. I take aim using the tree as a rest and when he's about 120 yards away, perfect broadside shot, I sent one. Shot feels good - really good.

He jumps and takes off. I really believe I hit him - can't miss at that range so I believe. Wait about 30 minutes and start tracking. No blood, no hair, no deer. After 2 hours of an intense search still no signs. I'm fairly sure I missed him since I see no signs of a hit. I can't believe it!

I take a hell of a ribbing from the guys at the camp. I set a target out at 100 yards and leaning against a post, shoot 5 rounds, all within a 3-inch circle to simulate the shot at the deer. Nothing wrong with the gun. Missing that deer still haunts me. At least you can blame your mishaps of an equipment issue - in my case it was me. 

After that, I began hunting deer like I hunt ground hogs, shooting sticks and a portable sportsman's chair. Never missed a deer since. Shot the of the biggest buck of my hunting career 2007 and another big one in 2011 in Berks County PA both off the sticks and chair.

 

[Just Say Moe]

The current trend is to click scopes for every shot. Leupold pushes this with the cds dials. Their new locking turret i bet was a compromise between the clickers and the victims.
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You can tell turret twisters have influenced the market as Leupolds Boone and Crockett and Varmint reticles are hard to find nowadays. I prefer holdover marks to turrets - less room for error IMO. The push button release seems like a good fix to the issue.

 

[spaniel]

I have plenty of scopes on hunting rifles with exposed turrets and many miles carrying them...can't say I've had one move. But I always glance at the turrets when I'm setting up the rifle just in case. I've had a few misses but I can only blame user error. I have shot far enough the ability to dial up the shot is valuable, I do NOT like hold-overs.

My worst hunting trip gone bad tale has nothing to do with gear. One year I took a guy I had known for a couple year but never hunted with on a back country, public land long hike-in elk hunt...roughly 10 miles one-way. Long and short of it was he talked a big game but mentally folded at the first adversity. Unfortunately I shot an elk before I realized this and the pack-out was a fiasco. He ended up putting both our lives in danger due to grizzlies/weather and some meat was lost. Needless to say I "lost" his number after that trip.

 

[rickiesrevenge]

Its all in how you look at it. My hunting buddy and I recently got back from a cow elk hunt on Raspberry Island which is just north of Kodiak, AK. We took my 18' rubber raft to the Raspberry from the end of the road. It was a long slow trip but we made it. We found elk in an area we could get to on the second day. Got within range and killed a couple. During the pack out we had a brown bear come and take some meat. We were ferrying loads at the time. It got 1/2 of a rear quarter and and entire front quarter. When we got back to where we started we found that a bear had been to base camp. We had packed up everything before we left. Hung our food in a tree. Bear tore up one of my dry bags, ripped the case of my 8-man kifaru tipi, and various other stuff. I decided to hike down to the beach were we stashed my raft. It was completely destroyed. Chewed up a gas can, all the life jackets, throwable, broke the bucket with tools and repair kit, and broke one of the two pumps I brought for the raft. I've spent a good amount of this week patching my dry bags!

 

[LoganDon]

It has always amazed me how stuff like that happens on a trophy buck…never on a damn doe. They carry a different level of luck sometimes. I’ve had freak stuff happen on a couple…hate it for you.

I do fine on bucks and bulls, but every couple of years I try to shoot a doe in the head and I miss completely. I also do fine on cow elk. I think it is all in my head as my father never let me shoot a doe so I subconciously pull off and I miss them.

 

[Brians356]

I've never (yet) suffered buck fever myself, and have made some fairly long shots (off a bipod, never offhand, standing or kneeling ) But, after the kill I get the shakes and have a strong urge to lie down and take a long nap.
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