BURRIS SCOPES are great

I need to tell the story about my 4.5-14X 42mm Burris Fullfield II scope.  I have used it for a few years and I have taken a lot of game with it.  It is easy to use and is always right on target for me when I shoot.  I have to do my part shooting -- like holding still and squeezing the trigger -- but as for the Burris it is way more consistent than I am.  I took this scope to Namibia, Africa once and took several animals with it, like oryx, hartebeest, blue wildebeest, zebra, and warthog .  I have taken deer, bear, elk, and pronghorn in the USA with it.  I have used it to shoot at longer distances thanks to its "ballistic plex" reticle with good success.

An issue came up.  I am getting older and my eyes are gradually dimming.  I was shooting targets the other day and I noticed my scope was not as clear as it used to be.  I inspected the lens and it was clean.  I looked backwards through the lens from the objective end and noticed some dust had gathered on the lens interior.  I think some small particles from manufacturing had come loose or something.

I boxed it up and sent it to Burris with a request to clean it up inside and ship it back to me.  I know they have a LIFE TIME warranty.  The scope left my post office on a Monday and I received an e-mail that the folks at Burris had the scope and were working on resolving the issue my scope had on Thursday.  10 days later a UPS package arrived at my house from Burris in Greeley, Colorado.  It was a brand new scope of the exact model I had sent in.  WOW was I surprised.  I thought they could repair my scope but Burris choose to send me a new one.

THANKS TO BURRIS !

Burris Fullfield II 4.5-14X 42 mm

 ballistic plex reticle

Spike Elk hunting in the Book Cliffs area of Utah

The reason it is called hunting, is because it is "HUNTING," not just harvesting.  I understand this and accept the possibility of not taking any game on a particular hunt.  I am OK with not always getting meat for the freezer.  It kind of ticks me off but it is also what makes the chase so rewarding.


YES -- you guessed it -- We didn't get an elk on the spike hunt.  It is OK, I kind of like mac and cheese anyway.  No backstrap steaks or tacos made with elk burger for me 'til next year.  I admit it -- I was not so lucky in the downing game this year.  We hunted for about 5 days and ended up with only taking one very long shot at a spike.  I wasn't the shooter and the results were no animals were injured in this hunt.  On the plus side --

I had a great time hunting with my sons and all of my grandsons.  My youngest grandson is only 6 years old (soon to be 7) and I think he had more fun than most of us.  He ate chocolate twinkies and filled cupcakes (halloween treats) for several days and was permanently grinning with chocolate around his mouth.  What a cute boy -- no front upper teeth, chocolate in the corners of his mouth, and a black hole smile dressed in blaze orange.  We were 6 guys walking in the junipers and pinion forests trying to be quiet and listen for and look for elk.  We knew if we could just see a herd of them there would be a spike in there for us to harvest.  {Really, how quiet do you think we were?  No so quiet I am sure.}

On opening morning around 10:30 a.m. we were more or less lost in the forest.  Out of the still morning came a big time bull bugle.  It rattled the trees around us.  The area ruler was calling for his harem to come gather around.  The call to group up came from just 80 yards or so ahead of us in the thick forest however we could not see the bulging bull nor his girls but we could hear the bugle as if it were in our back pockets. WOW!  we quickly made our way to a ridge where we could see more country.  We looked and saw the Duke of Pinion, ruler of the area bugling again and again.  He was an extra big old guy.  A 6 points on one side and 7 on the other a back scratching antler toting Master of the Forest.  I was so glad the younger boys could see him in action.  I was so glad they could hear his calls.  To see big bulls on video is one thing but to be actually in the forest and within reasonable distance it is totally something else.  You would have had to be there to appreciate the moment.

We shifted over the top of the ridge just a few yards and my son laid down with his rifle resting on its bipod.  We were looking through our binos at a spike elk in the herd of cows obeying their Master's command to herd up.  My son was steady and asked me to range the spike for him.  I pressed the Leupold button and said it was 455 yards.  He took careful aim and sent the shot off.  Just as he pressed the trigger the spike elk moved to the south.  With the flight time of the bullet and the quick movement of the spike elk the bullet impacted just behind the elk.  Elevation was perfect but the bullet hit the dirt behind the elk.  A clean miss, much better than a gut shot.  At the shot the entire group of elk took off into the more dense parts of the forest.  We would see partial light brown elk patches of hide moving through the trees but never a whole elk and no way to identify which is a cow and which is the spike.  The elk quickly left the area and moved over the ridge to their south.  They were gone.

As I have said before -- CRAP-O-RAMA !  We had a chance and we were not lucky enough.  We continued to hunt for a few more days and saw 4 or 5 other herds of elk.  We even saw one really big bull kind of down in a deep drainage.  I guess this big bull might have scored around 380" or so.  He was a big one.  Now I am hoping for my son or I to get another any bull tag for this trophy area  and find him again.  I like the big old boys.  Just seeing him was thrilling.

All in all, we had about 2,000 pounds of fun.  We were together and it was great family time.  I love my sons and I love my grandsons and we were all together in nature.  It just doesn't get any better.  Glad I went.  Glad my boys could take some time off work and go.  Glad my grandsons could "accidentally" miss a little bit of school and come along.  Maybe next year the females in the clan can come too?  God has been good to me.  I thank Him.

ANTELOPE IN WYOMING. . . . OH -- O.K. ! ! !

We, my son Dax and I, have been putting in for antelope (pronghorn) tags in Wyoming for some time now -- like 4 years.  Finally, one of us drew a tag.  Ya--hoo ! ! !  I don't care if I have the tag just as long as I can go on the hunt.  I totally love being with family and friends exploring nature and looking for some game.  I have pretty good binoculars and really enjoy the effort of looking for animals out on the prairie.

My son drew a tag in an area of Sublet County near La Barge, Wyoming.  It is a grand place to look for pronghorns.  There are lots of animals and few tags issued.  Overall we hunted for sometime and never saw another hunter in all our time and miles traveling around the area.  The oil field guys had made numerous roads through the area for their work and access for us is rather easy.  I drive a white Chevy pickup just like a multitude of oil field workers so the antelope were unaware we were hunting them by our vehicle.

The first day we arrived around 3 p.m.  We set up camp and proceeded to drive around the area to remember the roads from last time we were there and look for possible targets.  Crap-O-Rama we saw so many buck antelope I started making a tally sheet.  I marked for 23 buck antelope on the first afternoon driving around.  We had binoculars and a spotting scope to look for that special one. We saw about 3 of the 23 bucks that I thought were potential shooters.  Dax said "it is only the first afternoon, I am going to be picky and find just the right one."  I agreed.  There were no other hunters chasing the bucks around.  I assumed the boys would stay somewhere near where we saw them for the next while.

We saw a large harem of does in a ravine to the south of our look-out point.  The entire sisterhood was controlled by a single big old pronghorn buck.  He had an interesting horn on the right side.  He was reasonably long, maybe 14" over all but the diggers were exceptional.  I think he would have scored high because of the mass on the prongs.  The right horn digger protruded out to the right at about a 75º angle and not straight forward. {Maybe he was a Republican?}  Where he had the right turned digger and was herding around a mass of 20 plus does we named him Donald.  We watched and the animals and they were not really heading anywhere in haste.  Finally, Dax decided to look at Donald through the 3-9X 50mm scope on his rifle.  He laid down, set up the bi-pod legs and took a steady hold.  He watched for a long time.  I watched through my spotting scope placed in a window mount.  Donald was trying to keep his harem in line and didn't worry about the white truck 400 yards away at all.

I offered Dax my back up rifle with a 6.5-20X 50mm scope.  He said he wanted to see how Donald looked through the larger magnification scope.  I handed him the rifle.  The scope is a Burris ballistic plex reticle and I told him to hold on the 3rd stadia line on the vertical crosshair if he were to shoot at the distance we had lazered.  Dax watched for several minutes through the big scope.  He even did a dry fire to practice the trigger control on a borrowed rifle.  Donald was a dead antelope walking.  Finally, Dax  said  "Not today on this one" and we loaded up our gear and drove off.  Donald doesn't know how lucky he is.

We continued to see buck antelope on the way back to camp.  It was growing dark and we were tired from the drive up from Utah.  We had a fine dinner, courtesy of Dax, of pasta and sausages.  I hit the sack early as I am not so tough as I once was.

Up the next morning early.  Breakfast was hot chocolate and a sweet roll (a hunters breakfast) and we were out looking for more buck antelope.  Our plan was -- we would hunt until noon and then eat good and have a nap before the evening hunt.  We started seeing bucks again right away.  Maybe 400 yards from camp was the first buck sent to greet us.  I started a new tally sheet and marked all the buck antelope we saw with the accuracy of a tax accountant.  I had marked 54 bucks by noon when we saw a buck that caught Dax's attention.  He told me to stop and he looked closer with his binoculars then bailed out of the truck with his rifle and its 3-9X scope and walked to a fence line 30 yards from the road.  He took his rifle and kneeled down to steady the .338 Win. Mag. on a fence post.  He aimed at a buck antelope who was quickly walking about 90 yards from us north to south.  Dax fired and the antelope ran.  I think he shot high.  The antelope ran to a ridge about 350 yards away slowed and looked back to scoff at us and Dax took another shot.  This one hit low and the antelope ran over the hill out of sight.

Dax told me to stay there and he would follow the buck on foot.  When he shot again he said I could drive up to meet him in the truck.  I waited.  I watched Dax leg march the distance to the top of the hill where we had last seen the buck.  NO BUCK to be seen.  Dax used his binoculars to look around and I decided to drive up there.  When I arrived I saw a buck all alone on the next hill over.  I put my spotting scope on him and thought it was the one we were after.  Dax laid down in the road and asked me how far?  I lazered the buck at 465 yards.  Dax took careful aim and fired a single round.  The impact took a moment to echo back to us.  The antelope fell with out taking a step.  I can certify the .338 Win Mag firing 225 gr. bullets is plenty powerful to kill and buck antelope even at distance.  Dax always says "you can't kill 'em too dead".

I looked at my watch and it was 1:20 p.m.  We had a buck down and the hunt was a total success with less than 24 hours afield.  I accused Dax of missing the closer shots to "SHOW OFF" about his long distance shooting skills.  I was indeed impressed.

Lat. North 42º29.581'

Long. West  110º23.446'

elevation  8,042

There were other adventures on this trip.  We had a bit of a snag with the pickup loosing all its oil, getting towed in to Kemmerer and a great meal at a chinese cafe in Kemmerer.  Maybe another day?