Yet Another Vortex Going in for Warranty

Watched Season 10 of Meateater. Steve has two misses from solid rests at reasonable shooting distances. He talks about how he can’t figure out how he missed. I have a theory……

Listening to Steve talk about ballistics and the factors that go into missing in a podcast about his goat hunt made it pretty clear that he doesn't know much about how all this stuff works. I have similar thoughts though about his vortex scopes and I've had those same thoughts in relation to tv misses by people using CDS scopes.
 
Listening to Steve talk about ballistics and the factors that go into missing in a podcast about his goat hunt made it pretty clear that he doesn't know much about how all this stuff works. I have similar thoughts though about his vortex scopes and I've had those same thoughts in relation to tv misses by people using CDS scopes.
I agree. It’s painful to listen to. Even Janis, their ballistics and handloading “expert”, falls short of what I would describe as an intermediate handloader.
 
At one point in time I got sucked into the hype machine that is vortex. After owning four of their scopes in the $500-$1400 range and having three of them fail I believe there is a reason they have such a good warranty because they know their crap is going to fail.
Still have one on my AR for coyote and deer hunting, my mindset with that is it’s not if it’s going to fail it’s just when it’s going to fail.
 
Watched Season 10 of Meateater. Steve has two misses from solid rests at reasonable shooting distances. He talks about how he can’t figure out how he missed. I have a theory……View attachment 212049
View attachment 212051

He's shooting steep uphill, and I doubt he spent several hours at the range practicing that scenario. It'll throw things out of whack but because the cheek is on the stock and the butt plate is against the shoulder, everything seems OK. I've recently seen three different videos of that same situation, all with the same result.
 
I’ve got a set of vortex binoculars, and like them just fine, but after reading this thread I think I’ll shell out for something a little higher quality in the future.
 
If you account for the shot angle in your ballistics and have a level on your rifle to ensure the mountain doesn't play tricks on your brain regarding level vs canted, its just a regular old shot.

You are more likely to have your scope smack you in the face as the rifle will tend to pivot upward more with recoil and I guess that could cause a flinch. If you have good shooting technique then the difference in recoil shouldn’t change the point of impact; especially not by a foot or more.

I’ve also heard folks say it creates a parallax issue when your face isn’t in the exact same cheek weld on the stock as normal, but that’s why scopes have parallax dials.
 
A lot of the 80s Bushnells were made by Bausch and Lomb in Japan. That scope is higher quality than you’re giving it credit. No one had glass as clear or coatings as bright as today, and some technological advances related to scopes, machines for manufacturing and materials have happened since then as well. It’s unlikely that scope could compete with something newer in terms of clarity, or brightness, and the seals may crack and leak and your scope might fog, BUT that 80s Bushnell wasn’t a low quality scope.
Man best scope I ever had was a burris 3-12x with a posi loc
zero’d in in 1992 carried it from the equator to the artic circle multiple times, never had to rezero once ! ( sold in 2017 unfour tally)
these dial a distance scopes are pure garbage and IMO engineered to fail over time ( to many moving parts and nuts loose behind the stock) , if you’re reliant on technology and have zero skills your doomed to fail
skills 75% of today’s hunters lack are
1. shooting by muscle memory ( those mulie & elk @ 250 yards are now 400-600 after doping a scope)
2 .reading a map ( no gps ) paper
3. Being arrogant / takin crazy stupid shots
 
There’s a guy on rokslide that tests scopes. His latest vortex testing didn’t go well. It didn’t even hold zero from a soft 6” drop. Like your gun tipping over when it’s bipoded out. Of course this places beloved leupolds don’t fair to well either during those tests.
 
There’s a guy on rokslide that tests scopes. His latest vortex testing didn’t go well. It didn’t even hold zero from a soft 6” drop. Like your gun tipping over when it’s bipoded out. Of course this places beloved leupolds don’t fair to well either during those tests.
It's no wonder the meateater crew seems to unexplainably miss animals every season, at distances that they shouldn't. They all use vortex.
 
Watched Season 10 of Meateater. Steve has two misses from solid rests at reasonable shooting distances. He talks about how he can’t figure out how he missed. I have a theory……View attachment 212049
View attachment 212051
Didn't Randy miss on a mountain goat at a steep angle this year too? He missed because he was using a Leupold scope.

Only makes sense right?

Or maybe... just maybe he made a mistake?

Vortex has a lot better reputation in terms of tracking reliability than leupold does.
 
It's no wonder the meateater crew seems to unexplainably miss animals every season, at distances that they shouldn't. They all use vortex.
Those idiots don’t realize they are shooting way to far , one little thing wiggle or jiggle @ 400+ meters = a big zero
I see guys bragging about 700 mete shots every day on rockslide
 
Those idiots don’t realize they are shooting way to far , one little thing wiggle or jiggle @ 400+ meters = a big zero
I see guys bragging about 700 mete shots every day on rockslide
400 yards isn't that far. I'm not in the business of setting universal ethical distances for anyone. Everyone has their own level of skill, capability, practice, experience, etc when it comes to shooting (gun or archery). Know and accept your limitations.
 
Didn't Randy miss on a mountain goat at a steep angle this year too? He missed because he was using a Leupold scope.

Only makes sense right?

Or maybe... just maybe he made a mistake?

Vortex has a lot better reputation in terms of tracking reliability than leupold does.
Randy checked his zero on level ground and it was still on. So no. It was not his Leupold scope. I imagine it was incorrect ballistics correction or canted gun.

Did Steve check his zero on level ground afterward? I dunno. They didn't say. If it was off and they suspected it was the fault of one of their sponsors products then I'm sure they'd leave that part out of the story.
 

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