Saturday, September 5, 2009

Big Bucks Doesn't Guarantee Top Performance


Last year, before starting RedHunter LLC with my partner John Hunter, I bought a nifty, new tactical riflescope from a company internationally known for its quality optics. It cost me a good amount of money so I assumed that was an excellent quality scope.  I mounted it on my 25-06 and sighted it in at the range.  I achieved excellent results with teeny, tiny groups.  Naturally, I was very pleased with its performance.
As soon as I had a chance I loaded up my gear, picked up my hunting buddy and drove to the desert to do some coyote hunting.  My super-accurate Tikka T3 Lite with its new tactical scope was all sighted in and ready for business.
Our first two coyote calling stands were dry and we had just begun the third when at about 10PM, a nice coyote came into the call.  Mr. Coyote locked up at about 150-yards but thanks to the lighting skill of my buddy Ken, I had a bead drawn right on the coyote’s boiler room.  I squeezed off a round and heard that unmistakable sound of a bullet hitting flesh.  I looked up, confident that the Hornady 75-grain V-Max had done its job and the coyote was dead before it hit the ground.  NOT!  The coyote was up and starting to run off.  I fired again and he went down.  I was amazed that he could survive my 25-06 when I knew exactly where I had placed the rounds.
After checking around us 360-degrees, we set the laser on him and walked out.  Low and behold, the animal was still alive.  I had to put him down with one more shot.  I wounded an animal twice.   Something I consider inhumane and troubling.  But why were my points of impact not agreeing with my point of aim?  I was right on him and I knew where I placed the shots.  This really bothered me.  Naturally, Ken teased me about my marksmanship but I knew something wasn’t right.
The next morning I set a can out at about 100-yards and shot at it with my scope set at 3-power, our usual night setting.  I was resting on sand bags and held steady.  The round impacted about 4-inches low and to the left.  I fired again and the same thing happened.  Hmmmmm….the scope was dead-nuts on at the range.  Then I remembered that while sighting in at the range, I set the scope at 16-power so I could see the target better and shoot for the tightest groups.  So, I cranked up the power to 16 and fired at the can again.  The result was a clean, dead-on shot through the middle of the can.  Something was definitely wrong with the scope because points of impact should not change when you change power settings.
After we got home, I removed the new tactical, big name scope from the rifle and sent it back to the manufacturer for testing.  They tested it and concluded that the scope was bad.  They sent me a brand new replacement scope. 
Another lesson learned.  You can bet from now on when sighting in my hunting rifles at the range, I’ll be checking the point of aim at different powers.  You might want to check yours too.  Remember also that if you don’t reload your own ammo, purchase and use the exact brand ammo and bullet weight you originally sighted in with to retain a consistent point of impact.
Good sportsmanship dictates that when we shoot an animal, it needs to be dead before it knows what happened.  I did not enjoy dispatching that poor coyote after I had wounded it.  I hate to see any animal suffer.  Learn from my experience and check those points of impact at different levels of scope magnification.
At the 2009 Shot Show in Orlando, Florida, John and I closely examined every scope manufacturer there.  We wanted RedHunterLLC to offer the best possible optics for the dollars spent.  After two solid days of examination, testing and comparison, we determined the HAWKE optics line as the brand of optics we wanted to offer our customers.  HAWKE is new in the United Stated but well known in England.  HAWKE offers an incredible value for your hard-earned dollars.  MY 25-06 is now topped with a HAWKE 4 X 16 – 50 Sidewinder and I love it.  The HAWKE optics are clear, sharp, work great in low light and are reasonably priced.  The warranty is great too.
All of RedHunterLLC’s products are field proven by John and I and we don’t sell products we don’t believe in or use ourselves.  Side-by-side, HAWKE optics outshine the competition and perform like optics costing three times the price.  We don't show every HAWKE optic (rifle scopes, spotting scopes, binoculars, etc) in our RedHunterLLC web store but we can order any product you want and have it shipped to you quickly.    

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