If I remember correctly, someone here recently said that on modern scopes, a bump or drop would not affect the zero on the scope.
Definitely not true in my case.
I dropped my rifle, about 4 feet on soft ground, last week getting into a shooting house. Didn't shoot it to see if it needed adjustment.
Yesterday morning about 9am, I see a huge bodied buck on the powerline about 180 yds out. Not a spectacular rack, but heavy beamed 8 point. Had to be 5-6 years old, deep body, sagging belly, short legs, huge shoulders and rump, looked like a yearling steer.
Been a long time since I shot that far and figured he was all he was ever going to be so I decided to take him. Had good rest and he was standing broadside and still. Squeezed a shot off and he just stands there, doesn't know where it came from.
Stands there for about 5 minutes and walks off in the direction he was headed.
Get back home and shoot the gun to see where it's shooting. Shot at a feed sack at 50 yds and didn't even touch the target. About 12-14 inches high and about that far left, can't even imagine how far off it was at 180 yds.
When in doubt, shoot the gun to see where it's shooting. A rookie mistake from an old fart that's been shooting for 60+ years. Shame on me!

That's sucks! Hopefully you get another shot at him! Twice in the past month I've had my rifle leaned against a tree and had it slip off and hit the ground. I was scared to death it was off so I squeezed a shot off right when I pulled in the gate yesterday to make sure it was on, and thank goodness it was cause I only had 2 bullets left to hunt with. Only time I've had my scope knocked out of whack in the 22 years I've had it was when I ran it over with the truck.

It depends on the "modern scopes". Cheap crap is just that. Good stuff with good mounts rarely move in my opinion. The amount of force scopes and mounts take every time you squeeze the trigger is far greater than what they take from a small fall.

I would think the scope quality, mount quality and ring quality would make a lot of difference.

I haven't had one move that I can recall, but if I drop my gun or anything like that, I will check it.

Only scope issue I ever have had was when a Leupold kept shooting all over the place sent it back in and they fixed another scope. Said something about the reticle itself being loose.

even a great scope properly mounted in perfect rings can go awry on a drop like that. perhaps the reticle let go. have you tried to re-sight it yet?

Just curious, why didn't you shoot again? Have had good luck with weaver grand slams. They have four points of contact instead of two or three.

OLD or new, cheap or high end, when in doubt check it out! ONe shot will tell you. I don't think any of us has never bumped our rifle and not wondered. THe further the shot the more it will be off.
For me if you miss a mature buck you usually don't get another chamce. SOrry Ron.

I don't care how expensive of a scope or mounts you got. If you drop it you better go shoot it. I promise it will come back to bite you one day.

Never too old too learn. If you even bump the scope check it. If you stand your gun up and it falls over check it. Have a backup gun in a hard case for that time you can't check it. Dropped a few myself made me real mad quick.

May never be too old to learn - but probably too stubborn to change. I see it at least once every year - experienced hunter, don't kill as many deer as they once did, and for some reason haven't even taken a shot with their rifle in a while, and never even think about just shooting a couple times before season. Finally get a chance to "shoot at" a decent buck - and......completely miss. Then I here the same thing I've heard 50 times with different variations - "it was fine when I killed that deer two seasons ago". Really tough for me to understand.

That may be a little off topic, but kinda the same point already mentioned.

VEry good point Turkey, practice makes perfect !

I'll shoot mine a few times during the season, whether I bump it or not...now not every little tap...but if I have any question I'll check it...

...With that said, I use Leupold rings and bases...cant remember moving the crosshairs more than a few clicks over many years...

Dropped mine this year and shot one at 200+ yards afterwards. Never checked it. I think it varies scope to scope

That's way off. Four feet is a long way to drop a gun.

i gut shot a deer last year, and thought it was all me; shot was off-hand. turned out the reticle in the old japan made bushnell scope had turned loose; aim point had moved left several inches and would not adjust at all. i had not dropped the rifle and scope in the interim; scope just had gone south from age, i reckon. it was 35-40 years old, and not worth repairing ...

I dropped my rifle 16 ft out of a tree one time, stalk snapped in half, I sent it off to kimber to get the stalk replaced (scope mounted on the gun) dead on when I got it back still. Also had a buddy zero in his rifle then missed 2 big bucks in the same hunt later in the season. He never bumped or dropped his gun. It was 34 clicks off on windage. Both scopes are Zeiss conquests. There is no answer to this

i said in a post , a good scope that is set up with good mounts and set up right is mighty hard to knock off and i stand by it . you don't just bump a scope and it move inches from where you have it sighted .


the guns i intend to hunt with get shot twice before season . if it shoots right that's all i shoot . i see no need to burn through a few boxes of shells in my case. hell if i can't hit with my guns by now i need to put them up .

yeah , some body moved it , for what ever reason.

My leupold vari-x 3 was sighted in 17 years ago. I've never had to touch it since.I dropped it a few years ago, about 8' and it landed on the scope. I shot it and it was dead on. You need to shoot your gun, if you can before hunting with it. I have leupold mounts and blue loctite was used on the screws. I'm very confident that a bump wont knock it off, but i'll shoot it to make sure.