The question should be "if the rifle sat in the case/safe all year and was sighted in the year before, why was adjustment necessary?"
Your making an assumption that it even was still sighted in at the close of the season. I’m sure many don't check zero before every hunt. Some are probably hunting half the season with a rifle that will kill a deer but not really sighted in. This is why I say they will survive.
I'm making the assumption that no jarring event happened in between, yes. Also assuming that if they dropped the rifle, fell out of an ATV etc - they re-checked.
My point was more that a scope that doesn't do much but sit there 11 months out of the year, likely spends its hunting time slung over a shoulder or in the corner of a shoot house - shouldn't lose zero. Regardless of brand. Yet some do, it's why "sight in days" at the local range are packed the 2 weeks prior to opener and yet people accept this - philosophically.
I need to check my rifle before opener. It's off - I'll adjust.
Never asking why it's off or if it should be off.
I get your point - people like that are why brands survive or maintain market share etc. I was talking more broad than Leupold and the OP's question.
Zero depends on other things besides the scope/sights and lots of people apparently don't know that. For instance a wood stock is not a stable platform. It shrinks, swells and warps, all of which will change pressure on the barreled action and cause shifts in POI. There can also be POI shifts simply from holding a rifle slightly different from day to day. This is why one person shouldn't sight in a rifle for another. When I shot in small bore competition it was SOP to check zero prior to shooting for record at each and every practice or match. This on an indoor range with micrometer sights on wood stocked match rifles that were always treated with kid gloves. It was absolutely normal to need to adjust a click or two from day to day.
