Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 4X Scope on a .308

Battue,

This is one of the hardest questions anyone ever asked me about hunting.

A few years back, the gel layer at the back of my right eye was peeling. I think I passed on at least half a dozen deer I had set up on, all inside 200 and some inside 100, for the sole reason that I could not focus on the cover well enough to know pretty much exactly where the deer was so I had a good idea of where to start looking for blood if things went sideways. I have never lost a deer I put the first bullet into and rather than shoot, which I could see well enough to do with the cross hairs, I wound up not shooting one that year.

I hunt adjacent to willow swamps with chest high grass in them. You can literally stumble over a deer and still not see it. The next year I shot one in the last seconds of legal light almost 300 yards out in a cut hayfield. The scope made it easy, but by the time I unloaded, climbed down and walked out to her it was so dark I could not range the box stand I shot her from. I knew pretty exactly where I'd have to start looking for her blood, but I still gave up a little meat and high shouldered her so she did not run.

This year I shot one at about 60 yards in the last seconds. I was using a specific load and velocity I was testing and needed to put the bullet in just behind the shoulder and through the off side shoulder to get a close comparison to a couple other deer shot with other test loads. I was close enough to be comfortable that the deer would die quickly. The deer did not give me a blood trail! By the time I had crawled +- 50 feet with a good light looking for blood I was pissed at myself. I held up and waited for one of my partners to show up and then we got methodical in the aspen cutting and found the deer dead ~100 feet away.

I've made golf ball size holes all the way through through deer and got a very sparse blood trail for my trouble, and cursed my bad judgement for leaving me the prospect of a hard night in the swamp on my hands and knees.

Generally, my stands are in or on the edge of a willow swamp and I am shooting at deer in a generous shooting lane or on a field. I get pretty twitchy about shooting when the deer has less than 50 yards to make it into that kind of cover and mostly pass. If they are close enough to clip the brain stem (under 50) and they oblige with a perfect angle and stand stock still I kill them.

I will say that just at sunset when the last rays are very flat, I will pass on deer even with a high end Euro because I often just cannot see well enough. A few minutes later Bambi may catch hell though if he sticks around.

I think the answer to your question is really if I am dead certain I can either kill the deer and drop it in its tracks or I can walk directly to where the deer stood without trouble or if I have snow, the distance is what it is. In fifty odd years I have never killed a deer past 300. I have given it careful consideration, and I have rifles set up to do the job, but all the right things just have never all come together to get me to pull the trigger.

My Leupy 1.5-5x20 is on my 30-30 because it's not bright enough to give me dead certain kills at 100 yards when it get to 29 minutes after sunset and my target might be in deeper shadow on the edge of a cutting. I do not want to "handicap" a rifle I am happy with at from 100 to as much as I might need then. I have only just decided my eyes need help even on the 30-30 which is mostly just used when I have to chase down a wounded deer.

I know where a Swaro 1.1-4x24 is that looks to be much brighter that I can snag probably for $600. I am thinking of moving the Leupy and buying the Swaro.