Went deer hunting today

[rci2950]

Took my project Remington 742 with me and the old Tasco scope that came with it. Stopped along the way with a piece of plywood and a few targets. Attempted to sight in. The horizontal adjustment has no clicker and is springy. First goof up. I never checked that before i decided to use it. Got it pretty close. about a baseball size pattern at about 60 yards. Not wanting to give up i continued on. I finally got a day to go hunting. Golly gee I'm not stopping now. I get to the spot. I know there are deer here i seen them before and there are tracks everywhere. Old train trackbed with a ditch and an overgrown field. I find a hollow to sit in where i can see everything and begin my wait. Im sitting real quiet. Im getting over a cold. Still got a cough so i am sipping a bottle of DM cough syrup the doc gave me. Seems to be working. Need to STFU so the deer don't spook. Getting sleepy because I was quartermaster last night. Thats why i got today off. I was thinking ahead. I brought a Red bull so i pound that. Golden. Good to go. So i am still waiting. starting to get dark. Perfect time. Heart just pounding. I could have chewed through a deer like a lion with all that cough syrup and red bull in me. thinking about how wired i am when 6 deer stroll out about 200 yards away. Not trusting the rifle i decide to crawl on my belly in the wet ditch. till i was about 60 yards away from the deer. Soaked i slowly slide up out of the ditch still in the prone position and line up on the biggest one... I can't see. What the %!?@ My scope is fogged up. INSIDE! I tried real hard to see through it. I thought i saw the outline of the deer i was aiming at. Fired two quick shots and missed by a mile. All the deer ran off like bat out of hell.


on the bright side i found my spent brass after about 10 minutes of searching with a flashlight. 6mm Remington is rare these days. Nobody has it so i roll my own.

[Dan Morris]

Leaving in the morning to set up camp....Tony has to work so he will be up tomorrow night. Looking at weather forecasts.....I may be bat shit crazy for going the late season! Praying for a safe and successful trip. If I do not return, I've enjoyed my time on earth and GN.
Dan

[Schuetzenman]

What brand of POS scope fogged up on you? You need to replace that ASAP! Man that would piss me off so bad I'd probably take it off with a rock!

[Justin]

Your story is getting me psyched for rifle season. Whitetail rifle season doesn't start in PA until the beginning of December. I still went out turkey hunting today though. I called and called this morning but didn't hear anything in response. I plan on going out again tomorrow morning; hopefully I'll have better luck this time.

[rci2950]

What brand of POS scope fogged up on you? You need to replace that ASAP! Man that would piss me off so bad I'd probably take it off with a rock!

Tasco. But in its defence it is probably as old as the rifle. It was purely my over estimating its functionality based on cosmetic appearance that caused this issue.

[Altarboy]

Thats why I only use iron sights. But then where my stand sits, I can only see maybe 120 yards. My longest shot has been maybe 80 yards.

[Schuetzenman]

There's a ton of quality scopes out there purged with Nitrogen that won't fog. An old Tasco is an abysmal thing.

[Kadmos]

Thats why I only use iron sights.

Optics can be great, but iron sights as backups seem like a must.

Really surprised you would go out knowing you had busted gear, and then seeing it got worse you still took the shot.

[Oswald Bastable]

Any scope that impinges upon iron site use is already suspect and should be discarded.

[skorpion]

Bummer to hear about a bad day in the woods. At least you didn't give up! Find a Leupold to throw on top of that rifle and you'll be golden. Ditch any other Tascos you have lying around. Whenever I'm at gun shops and gun shows, I always notice plenty of used Tascos floating around. There's a reason for that!

[Altarboy]

Speaking of bad days in the woods, you guys ever go out and get to the woods and realize you didn't dress warmly enough and freeze your ass off?

[rci2950]

Usually my issue is over dressing and sweating

[Helen Keller]

I wish my german shepard could shoot... he's too much of a pussy to handle a masuer but he'd manage an Uzi just fine.


damn deer are all over, them and their turkey friends.

[Justin]

Speaking of bad days in the woods, you guys ever go out and get to the woods and realize you didn't dress warmly enough and freeze your ass off?

That's why I hunt in a blind, and keep two propane heaters with me lol.

[5.56NATO]

Iron sights, the only all weather no muss no fuss sight.

[jet3534]

I looked out the window today at about 4PM and there was an 8 point Buck 50 feet from the house. He made rub marks on one of my apple trees -- then proceeded to harass a non-receptive doe chasing her in circles. At that point a smaller 6 point buck made an appearance. The larger Buck immediately forgot about the Doe and chased the smaller Buck into the field in front of my house. Fighting (in the deer world) apparently takes priority over fucking. It was a good show - my dog (who normally ignores deer) even got riled up and barking. I normally see Doe on a daily basis, but I haven't seen a Buck - let alone a large one in years.

[jet3534]

Any scope that impinges upon iron site use is already suspect and should be discarded.

I am starting to think that for any shooting most of us will ever do with a rifle (other than out West), a red dot sight makes the most sense. On a related note, one thing I find rather strange is that in all of the years I have belonged to various gun clubs I only see people shooting from a bench rest -- ergo the widespread use of scopes.

[Oswald Bastable]

I am starting to think that for any shooting most of us will ever do with a rifle (other than out West), a red dot sight makes the most sense.

I'm not particularly concerned with any add on sight, as long as the iron sights are still usable. All other optics can fail at some point, whether it's a fogged up sight as in the OP, a broken sight, a mudded/obscured sight, or a sight where the batteries have died. If they obscure the use of the iron sights, when they fail, you have nothing, potentially at a critical moment.

[Dan Morris]

Usually my issue is over dressing and sweating

For the first time, I did not over dress......................-9. Bought a new bib and was comfortable!
Dan