Worst Dad ever????

[ChrisAU]

Knew it was Leupold when I read the first post. Which saddens me.

 

[SWOHTR]

You’re being too hard on yourself. I’ve had scope failures and missed and bad hits, all at a young age. Figure out the problem and move on! Live and learn, it’s a great teaching point.

Hell two years ago I didn’t check the zero on my rifle before season because it had always been on for the previous 15 years. That year I shot twice at a buck and missed. It was 18in high at 100 yds. Lesson learned, don’t do it again, move on.

 

[Beendare]

Take your son hunting....Ugh, no...you are the best dad ever....stuff happens and the sooner these kids learn that everything isn't always going to go smoothly...the better.

 

[ShortMountain91]

You are there for your son and took him hunting. Automatically removes you from getting worst dad ever status

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[Fishn4eyes]

Stuff happens.

I was hunting with my daughter when she was 12 and I usually carried the gun for her.

Had a nice six point bull walking toward us and we quickly laid down and I got her set up behind the rifle.

Bull walked up to about 75 yards and I instructed her to slide the safety off and squeeze the trigger.

CLICK!!! Bull whirled and ran off. Dumb Dad forgot the chamber a round for her.

Thankfully the bull stopped at about 300 yards and she drilled him.

Saved me from being the worst Dad ever that year but it was damn close!

You'll redeem yourself!

 

[Tod osier]

Maybe if I was going for biggest dick dad of the year I'd throw that in his face.

He shot it and confirmed zero in practice and I confirmed zero on the bench at a later date when he was in school. There was no indication of a problem leading up to this. Unless you are suggesting that zero be confirmed immediately before every shot...

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..

 

[Tod osier]

Thanks for the stories everyone. I appreciate it.

I'm feeling better about the situation, but really puzzled where to go from here on scopes. I 've been screwing around long enough limping this stuff along begging them to behave. For myself there are some pretty clear options for heavier more reliable scopes, but I hate the idea of adding a 1/2+ pound to his rifle. I have a new VX-3i 2.5-8 that I had on the shelf on it that I'll sight in tomorrow.

Stuff happens.

I was hunting with my daughter when she was 12 and I usually carried the gun for her.

Had a nice six point bull walking toward us and we quickly laid down and I got her set up behind the rifle.

Bull walked up to about 75 yards and I instructed her to slide the safety off and squeeze the trigger.

CLICK!!! Bull whirled and ran off. Dumb Dad forgot the chamber a round for her.

Thankfully the bull stopped at about 300 yards and she drilled him.

Saved me from being the worst Dad ever that year but it was damn close!

You'll redeem yourself!

 

[rob86jeep]

Did you ever confirm what happened to the scope? It could have easily been the rings as opposed to the scope. I would send it back to the manufacturer to test and see what happened.

Also, you stated the deer was hit twice. Were they bad hits because of the zero being off? It's pretty surprising to hear of a deer being hit by a center fire rifle cartridge twice and still getting away with no blood trail.

 

[Rich M]

I got my first muley with a rem 770 243 and the cheap Bushnell scope on it. 215 yards. LOL! Dad lok tited the base on so I could not get the blessed thing off to put a Leica I have on there.

Buddy o mine missed 2 muleys on that trip and wouldn't check his zero. Hello!

Go easy on yer self, pops.

Kudos for taking your boy out. This is just a blip in time.

That vx3i should solve the problem. Make sure the mount is on there tight, some folks don't tighten the screws right.

Should not have been an issue w that vx-2. Not a bad scope at all. I used a vx-2 3-9 for antelope out to 350 and for WT to 225. Did swap out to vx3i cause I got a great deal on one.

 

[Tod osier]

Did you ever confirm what happened to the scope? It could have easily been the rings as opposed to the scope. I would send it back to the manufacturer to test and see what happened.

Yes, I checked it, when we went to the range the next day. It was not rings in this case. The scope was way off and would not adjust back to zero. Windage adjustments were jumpy and had a large elevation change when only adjusting windage. The scope was off say 6 MOA right, I adjusted to zero and it went 8 or 9 MOA left and 2 MOA high. Knowing how leupold scopes often operate I went back right only 1 moa and it moved 2-3 moa right and 2-3 down. This pattern repeated itself with similar small adjustments. It was holding the individual zeros between shots (grouping very well). All screws were properly torqued on install and loctited on install and were tight when checked before I took it apart. I will obviously send back to get the famous Leupold workover and then sell with disclosure.

Also, you stated the deer was hit twice. Were they bad hits because of the zero being off?

Yes, the scope was off 7 inches, so it is hard to hit where you want on a deer-sized target. The deer was obviously hit 2 of 4 shots. The 3 last shots were through narrow gaps in the trees and a rifle hitting far right would likely hit the bracketing trees if you were shooting through a small window 12" window. I'm really happy he hit it 1 of 3 times on the follow up shots. the deer was in a world of hurt from shot 1 consistent with gut shot. Range was increasing with each shot, so that would increase the error.

It's pretty surprising to hear of a deer being hit by a center fire rifle cartridge twice and still getting away with no blood trail.

Yep, but it happens.

 

[tntrker]

Maybe if I was going for biggest dick dad of the year I'd throw that in his face.

He shot it and confirmed zero in practice and I confirmed zero on the bench at a later date when he was in school. There was no indication of a problem leading up to this. Unless you are suggesting that zero be confirmed immediately before every shot...

Whoa, I was by no means throwing you or him under the bus and I didn't read where it was a issue with the scope being broken. I apologize if it read that way. You have your kid in the woods making memories, FAR from being a bad dad in my book..Good luck to you both on making many great memories together!!

 

[Tod osier]

It's all good. Dont worry about it. We shot sunday for him to get his mojo back and I'm at the range doing the two-step to walk his rifle in to a good zero. Think I'm there.

Whoa, I was by no means throwing you or him under the bus and I didn't read where it was a issue with the scope being broken. I apologize if it read that way. You have your kid in the woods making memories, FAR from being a bad dad in my book..Good luck to you both on making many great memories together!!

 

[orionsbrother]

SMH!!!

I’m going to throw you under the bus for the lack of dad sophistication.

Sure, maybe something got screwed up. Maybe you screwed something up. Maybe not. You still need to take ownership and offer yourself before the wife.

Pay attention.

“Honey. I really screwed up and Junior had his hunt messed up because of it. I feel terrible. I feel like I really let him down. I want to make it up to him and try to recapture some of that precious Dad bonding time. I’m going to take him on another hunt to (OTC Bucket List State) for a week and then fishing for a while in (Bucket List State). We’ll miss you and call. I really don’t want Junior to be scarred for life. We’ll send post cards. I know that you know how important it is to focus on these relationships “

Chit happens. Adapt and be creative.

 

[Tod osier]

SMH!!!

I’m going to throw you under the bus for the lack of dad sophistication.

Sure, maybe something got screwed up. Maybe you screwed something up. Maybe not. You still need to take ownership and offer yourself before the wife.

Chit happens. Adapt and be creative.

Missed this post yesterday....

I do pretty well getting the kid out, wife would be DOUBLE EXTRA PISSED if we left her home, however.

She was getting a little tired of me complaining though - so I may work that angle some. .

 

[Formidilosus]

I'm feeling better about the situation, but really puzzled where to go from here on scopes. I 've been screwing around long enough limping this stuff along begging them to behave. For myself there are some pretty clear options for heavier more reliable scopes, but I hate the idea of adding a 1/2+ pound to his rifle. I have a new VX-3i 2.5-8 that I had on the shelf on it that I'll sight in tomorrow.

Add a half pound with a SWFA, or have a likelihood of another scope failure. Since October I have seen at least 4 total scope failures hunting. Two were Leupold.

I see dozens of Leupolds shot throughout the year. The average Leupold will have a failure that will cause a miss on a game animal inside 400 yards before 400 rounds. So will Vortex. So will just about every other scope that will be named. Live a little and buy a scope with an extremely low probability of failure. A SWFA SS fixed 6x42mm is sub $300, and is completely usable from muzzle to 600+ yards.

 

[Tod osier]

Add a half pound with a SWFA, or have a likelihood of another scope failure. Since October I have seen at least 4 total scope failures hunting. Two were Leupold.

I see dozens of Leupolds shot throughout the year. The average Leupold will have a failure that will cause a miss on a game animal inside 400 yards before 400 rounds. So will Vortex. So will just about every other scope that will be named. Live a little and buy a scope with an extremely low probability of failure. A SWFA SS fixed 6x42mm is sub $300, and is completely usable from muzzle to 600+ yards.

I have been following your comments for the past couple years. I had decided to try a SWFA 3-9 for myself after the season. I hate tools that don't work, especially if the issue is intermittent or voodoo BS. Nearly every Leupold I own I have to bullshit around with to zero and I have had my share of mystery things happen (mostly at the range). I dearly want to be able to just sight it in and stay there. I think after this I'll get one for myself and one for my son and see how it goes.

 

[Lawnboi]

For someone who isn’t dialing the nightforce SHV is good as well, for a reliable option.

That half pound will be barely noticeable carrying but help a lot shooting, I wouldn’t sweat it

 

[Tod osier]

For someone who isn’t dialing the nightforce SHV is good as well, for a reliable option.

That half pound will be barely noticeable carrying but help a lot shooting, I wouldn’t sweat it

I always make him carry his rifle and we are planning a big hunt next year with a lot of carrying. He totally noticed just the weight increase going from the 2-7x33 to 2.5-8x36. If he was 16 wouldn't be an issue since his rifle is so light already.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

That's one way to teach a hunter to check zero before hunting.

 

[Scoot]

That's a bummer, but reread Antarctica and Beendares posts. If I had a dollar for every "dad fail" in the outdoors id be set! Crap happens and things don't always go perfectly. As much as losing that deer sucks, you guys will have much worse things in life to deal with. Helping him see that perspective is of great value.