Well I'm back from the HBR Nationals in Casper and had a great time catching up with old and new friends. However, the shooting side of things was alot to be desired. Struggling thru the 100 yd and 200 yd events on Tuesday and Weds, I really couldn't figure out why I couldn't hit the broadside of a barn. Shots were falling out for no reason, other than for the rains and winds of Casper. Well Thursday proved to be a new day starting a new agg. Warm-up looked good and it looked like I was back on track. That is until match one. Lost three pts with a snowman and a 9. Conditions were very calm. Then match two arrives. First two shots side by side in the 10 ring. Go to Bull #5 and shoot a solid nine? Move up to Bull #4 and align my dot, and the reticle starts to fall in the sight picture. Thinking my eyes are going bad, I knock on the scope with my hand and try to align the dot, but the reticle continues to fall. Had to get the charity rifle to complete my target and dropped 4. But when my speed screw was cranked up for shooting the #3 & #4 bulls the dot now was sighted onto the wind flags infront of the target frame.So having a scope go while at the Nationals is just the cats meow. Put on my Leupold Compact AO back-up but the damage had already been done. Again in our high tech field of optics that are available for shooting hunter, the scope is still the weak link.
I'll be sending this one back to Weaver to get a determination on how it died. I'll keep everyone posted. Already told Todd N. since he has the record at three.
Well look forward to next years HBR Nationals and hope the scope situation doesn't bite me again.
Take care.
Mike