Worst Dad ever????

[Tod osier]

Well I know that isn’t true, but… Damn.

Had a scope fail on my son’s rifle for his first shot at a buck. He was ready this year for deer and this was his first year of legal age in our state (12). We hunted several times this past week during the youth opener and saw several deer.

He had a deer he wanted to shoot on Saturday that presented a nice controlled shot – a nice 8 point that was chasing does and then stopped to make a scrape and feed. He was set up perfectly with a steady rest and the shot was well within his skills.

He shot with me watching in binoculars, a hit and a short run! Deer is on his feet still. Shoots again, maybe a miss. Deer is stumbling a second hit and a short run. At this point the woods are getting thicker and a final shot before the deer is out of range. We watched the deer stand for a couple minutes then disappear.

Not a bit of sign found over the course of 2 days looking even though I was watching in binoculars over his shoulder marking the location of the deer from first to last shot.

Shot yesterday afternoon to check the rifle. The scope was off 7-8 inches right at the distance he was shooting with the deer heading left on the 2 shots where he made obvious hits.

Over the past several years, we have expended hundreds of centerfire rounds and thousands of .22 rounds to get him there, ringing as much steel and shooting paper as much as he could stand. He is a great marksman and was ready, I feel like I let him down with my gear choices. Damn.

 

[Antarctica]

Probaly as much of a lesson in missing a deer as getting one. That's how it goes - in hunting and in life...

 

[Wmmichael20]

That just plain stinks, it's over and done now all you can do is replace that scope, cuz if you don't you nor he will ever have confidence in it. Get rezeroed and try again and just chock it up to bad luck.

 

[Tod osier]

I know what you are saying, but since it was my gear choice and a gear failure - what is the lesson??? Dad is a dumbass.

Probaly as much of a lesson in missing a deer as getting one. That's how it goes - in hunting and in life...

 

[Tod osier]

Yup and thanks. New "nicer" scope is on. Going to the range tomorrow (wind/rain today).

That just plain stinks, it's over and done now all you can do is replace that scope, cuz if you don't you nor he will ever have confidence in it. Get rezeroed and try again and just chock it up to bad luck.

 

[Wmmichael20]

I know what you are saying, but since it was my gear choice and a gear failure - what is the lesson??? Dad is a dumbass.

The lesson I believe is that sometimes mechanical things just fail no body's fault, just be glad it was you that made the decision and it went bad cuz you can get past it, if your kiddo had made the choice of equipment and it failed that may have had a worse outcome as far as his confidence goes.......

 

[Yooper]

Shit happens, and you know what, it'll happen again sometime, just different. But how about this instead. You've spent countless hours with your son in the field teaching him about hunting, shooting, probably some other lessons tossed in there. You see the miss, but you know what, your boy just sees the time he spent with you. I remember all the times I got to hunt with my dad. We had some success and we had some failures, but I just remember feeling really special getting to share a hunt with my dad and I'd give up any set of antlers to just have that time with him. I'm sorry for the miss, but I wanted to say congrats on being there for your boy and raising a good kid. Far too many parents aren't willing to do that anymore. You'll get the next one!

 

[IdahoElk]

I know what you are saying, but since it was my gear choice and a gear failure - what is the lesson??? Dad is a dumbass.

No, as in life s$it also happens hunting,learn from your mistake and you move on.
You're still a great dad to him.

 

[NevadaZielmeister]

Tod,

As a parent, I can feel your pain in believing that you let your child down. You didn't.

I will say it is good sign that you care so much as to talk about it and make it right. These are signs of a good parent and the scope failing was not your fault.

Just don't trust that scope brand again and tell us which scope failed so I as a dad can avoid the same issue. My son is 8 now and looking forward to getting him out in 4-5 years. He is already banging steel with his 10/22 at 100 yards consistently.

 

[Clarence]

You fixed the problem with a new scope. When you're son has a bang flop, or a fast lethal kill, it will be a great lesson. Sometimes there are failures in life, but you do everything in your power to correct a situation, then you can find success after the issues is addressed. You don't quit or give up. You also don't forget about the error, and try not to make the same mistake again. Sometimes there are trials before success. Plenty of talking points here dad! Kids are more resilient than we give them credit for. He's watching how you handle these situations. Don't beat yourself up, come back stronger! Keep up the good work dad! I still relish the memories of my early years of hunting with my father, and rarely did it follow the script.

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[huntsman22]

Youth package deal?

 

[Tod osier]

You fixed the problem with a new scope. When you're son has a bang flop, or a fast lethal kill, it will be a great lesson. Sometimes there are failures in life, but you do everything in your power to correct a situation, then you can find success after the issues is addressed. You don't quit or give up. You also don't forget about the error, and try not to make the same mistake again. Sometimes there are trials before success. Plenty of talking points here dad! Kids are more resilient than we give them credit for. He's watching how you handle these situations. Don't beat yourself up, come back stronger! Keep up the good work dad! I still relish the memories of my early years of hunting with my father, and rarely did it follow the script.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

Thanks Guys, I know, I know. Just a bummer that was hard to watch as a parent. I know I did a lot of things right (like not smashing the scope with a hammer after figuring it out ). After all that he was really glad to see the bullets hit right on the target.

 

[5MilesBack]

Live and learn. When I was 15 I bought my first big game rifle.......a used Remington 700 BDL 30-06 with a Burris 3x9 on it. My first elk hunt I'm lining up for a shot and I can't even see through the scope.....it's fogged up......on the inside. Cheap piece of crap. Live and learn. I took it off in camp and used open sights to shoot an elk.

 

[cattleman99]

What optic was it that failed?

 

[Tod osier]

Youth package deal?

Ha, Ha... No I wish. Each part put together with care and careful thought. He is a little small for his age and I started him shooting at 10, so he needed a real light package, so he has a Savage LWH in stainless that I put a brake on for him and cut the stock way down and he shoots reduced handloads that I worked up for him.

Scope was chosen because it was the lightest "quality" scope out there and a frequently recommended scope for lightweight rigs where a variable is looked for. Leupold VX-2 2-7. Scope has maintained zero through several hundred rounds and appeared to be functioning perfectly thought its use. I checked zero before the season and it was literally perfect.

 

[Tod osier]

It is interesting, thinking back where the scope came from... I took it off the only other rifle I've ever had seriously loose zero in a hunting situation, so this was the second time the scope lost zero. The first time I was in AK on a Caribou hunt (see avatar pic) and leaned the rifle on the raft only to have the raft bounced on (probably by said son) and eject the rifle. It was off after the fall and I had to re-zero. I had the scope and it was perfect for his rifle, so I put it on thinking it was justifiable for the scope to be off after a drop, but still be functional if it behaved well after.

I own a bunch of Leupolds and I have had the commonly described experience that the zero can be off a bit when checking zero and needs to be touched up and their failure to really track correctly when zeroing them.

This scope has totally shit the bed as I wasn't able to get it rezeroed yesterday, it was jumping around all over the place, both up and down with windage adjustment.

 

[5MilesBack]

Scope was chosen because it was the lightest "quality" scope out there and a frequently recommended scope for lightweight rigs where a variable is looked for. Leupold VX-2 2-7.

I wouldn't say you screwed up, but I'd wonder how and when it got out of zero. I have one of those scopes and it's been perfect once it was set up. I've had Leupolds from the 1970's on up and not a one of them has ever gone out of zero.......even my dial turret Mark 4's. If you had said "Tasco" I would have agreed with you blaming yourself.

Edit: After your next post........I guess it was your fault. LOL.

 

[jorgensen.travis]

I did this same thing to my dad a couple of years ago. He missed a great buck. The cause was loose screws, not the scope. Whenever I get a scope out of zero, it’s always been from something becoming loose. I bet your boy learned a lot over those 2 days of searching for sign and tracking.


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[CBECK61]

I took my wife out last year on her first big game hunt for Mule deer in Utah. Put a pretty nice scope on her 6.5 that I had laying around. Issue was that the reason it was laying around was that I didn't really like the performance of it. Got her on a great deer and a very makable shot but she "still being new to hunting" really struggled to get behind the scope at max power (15x). I was using a second focal plane scope and only had the reticle to use for dope. We had to back the scope off to 10x to get her a shot and in my hast I couldn't do the sub-tensions properly and gave her bad dope on a 400 yard shot. She's a great shooter and if I have my gun dialed she can hold 1.5 moa at a 1000 all day long. She missed a couple inches low on a 180 buck. Worst part is I have scopes (same cost but better performance IMO) on several of MY rifles and put a scope that I felt was good enough on her rifle. It cost her a buck and I feel like the worst husband ever. She now has what I consider the perfect big game hunting scope for her needs.

 

[tntrker]

Looks like he just learned a lesson to always check the rifle, even if it is given to him and told "it's on". Hate that for him, but turn it into a lesson and always take him to make sure it's sighted in, if he asks..