Fellow Hunters,
During a December deer hunt on Kodiak Island, Alaska, I stepped on a large surface root, that was concealed under the snow, belonging to a spruce tree that I was passing by.
My foot slipped sideways and after a couple of never before seen dance steps, I fell face forward, bashing my scope hard enough to bend it well.
My scope was a 6x Leupold and it was in Ruger rings, atop an old Ruger Model 77, in caliber .270 Winchester.
This was in 1985 or thereabouts, during early to mid 1980’s anyway.
And so being in the folly of my youth, it was one of those silly, incomplete looking rifles, with a slick barrel, no iron sights on it.
Anyway, there I sat, a longass hike through the mountains from camp with, in the event of spotting a deer, no way to be sure of hitting it in a vital spot.
From that day forward, I have not and will not ever own a rifle without iron sights on it.
After this long rant, perhaps it’s redundant to say that, if I had iron sights on that now long gone .270, and my scope in lever rings then, upon bending said scope, it would’ve been child’s play to pop it free, drop it into my back pack and continue hunting.
Iron sights, don’t leave home without them.
And best quality, quick detachable scope rings are worth the extra money.
Otherwise, if a scope gets ruined, far from camp, one must carry a proper tool in his hunting kit to remove it and clear the way for then using the iron sights.
Cheers,
Velo Dog.