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stupid scope

Joel

Senior Member
3,049
113
Centerburg, Ohio
I've been practicing and practicing all through the off season. New strings since one was a little frayed, tested the boradheads, shot through a screen with a broadhead, everything was good. Shot at a doe this morning and she jumped up in the air, spun around and took off towards me. Thought she was going to run through my ground blind and came within three feet of it which honestly was a little scary- I was bracing myself for an impact. Sat there for a half hour and got out. Couldn't find the arrow, didn't see a drop of blood. Looked and looked, nothing and I saw the exact path she took. Not one drop of blood, hair- nothing.

After scratching my head and looking around for an hour I set the block up at 20 yards and shot a broadhead at it. 10 freaking inches high and right. Shot the practice tip broadhead, same thing. Field point, same thing. FUGG!

Must have bumped the cheap ass scope getting it in and out of the truck or something. On the bright side, it was a doe and not the buck I'm after. Also she was standing broadside facing to the right with her head down at 25 yards so if I think I just nicked her if I hit her at all. Might of been a neck shot if her head was up. Why can I hit a bullseye 100 times in a row and not seem to be able to kill my first deer with this crossbow? Dammit!

Taking a day or two off from hunting now and maybe a little longer at this spot.
 

"J"

Git Off My Lawn
Supporting Member
56,745
274
North Carolina
Damn, sorry to hear this.... It happens from time too time and we learn from it and move on.... At least you've put it into perspective... It wasn't a buck of a lifetime....
 

Jackalope

Dignitary Member
Staff member
38,841
260
Sucks buddy. Just put a new scope on it, sight her in and get back in the saddle. It'll happen for you just keep at it.
 

xbowguy

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
29,633
234
Licking Co. Ohio
Come to think of it, we had a girl post on here at one time. She said her scope went bad and Barnett mailed her a new one. they didn't even want the old one back which leads me to believe they already knew there were some scope problems.
 

"J"

Git Off My Lawn
Supporting Member
56,745
274
North Carolina
Do some research on crossbow scopes and pick one up.... There's a wide swing in prices on scopes and sticking with higher end name brands are recommended..... It's money well spent that's for sure....
 

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
39,721
248
Ohio
Buck or doe, I would take a complete miss over a wounded deer ANY day. Let me kill the deer or miss completely. Those are my thoughts. Hang in there Joel.
 

dante322

*Supporting Member*
5,506
157
Crawford county
Sucks for sure. At least it wasn't a booner buck, then you'd really be mad.

Keep at it bud, early season is the time to work out kinks like this.
 

Joel

Senior Member
3,049
113
Centerburg, Ohio
Thanks guys, I was frustrated this morning but I'll get it over it. Thanks for the scope offers too and thanks for your advice, Xbowguy. I am going to adjust this scope here and shoot a bunch of arrows with it. It never moved before like that and normally the bow shoots pretty well. Thinking it's more likely that I bent the scope rail after thinking about it. Probably the way it was in the front seat of the truck or the way I pulled it out might have bent the rail which would explain it. Arrows moving 10" at 20 yards after something getting bumped doesn't make as much sense as the rail being bent but we'll see if it holds after I sight it in again.
 

Joel

Senior Member
3,049
113
Centerburg, Ohio
Glad I got to get out and redeem myself by shooting that doe the same evening. I had to do like 30 clicks left, 30 or so clicks down on the scope to get back to the center at 20 yards. The adjustments knobs are getting so stiff I had to smack one with a screw driver (carefully) to get it to move. I shot real close to where I was aiming a few times, went and sat in the blind and was given another chance when that doe approached at 20 yards. Arrow went exactly where I wanted it too.

BUT, tonight I loaded one up and shot it at the block and it was back off 8" or so to the right and a little high. After a little research these scopes have issues and many have been returned. I emailed Barnett through their website and hoping they send me a better one. We'll see. Not enough confidence in this bow to shoot it at a big buck so I guess I'm out of the game until I get the scope situation figured out. Thinking I may go to Cabelas just to get one quick and we'll see what Barnett says.

The crossbow will most likely get replaced with something better down the road. I wanted a decent one that wasn't too expensive to see if I was gonna get into it. Yep, I'm into it alright lol.